The Lord Drew Them Away - 2 Chronicles 18:31

 

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. 2 Chronicles 18:31 CSB

Jehoshaphat is one of the great names in the bible. I just had to say that. By the way, it means Yahweh is judge.

Okay.

Jehoshaphat was a king of Judah, and he was a mixed bag as kings go. He did some really good things, and he did some dumb and dumber ones too. But I’ll let you look that stuff up. It’s great bible history.

And Jehoshaphat was right in the middle of one of his not-so-smooth moves when the events in this passage happened.

He was in a battle. And it wasn’t even his battle; it was Israel’s King Ahab’s fight. Jehoshaphat was along for the ride, a ride he should have never taken. If the name Ahab doesn’t ring a bell, remember this: he was Jezebel’s husband. For many, her name is synonymous with evil.

So Jezebel’s husband, King Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to go out fighting with him.

And though Jehoshaphat was way out of line even hanging out with Ahab, he had the presence of mind to suggest they inquire of a prophet of the Lord about the battle. Now, Ahab groaned and complained about that idea, but he must have wanted Jehoshaphat’s help pretty bad, so he agreed to ask the prophet Micaiah about the expedition.

And at first Micaiah says, “Sure go do it.”

Then, a weird thing happens: Ahab tells him to tell the truth. See, he knows that Micaiah is holding back. 

So, Micaiah prophesies that Ahab will die in the battle. And he even tells the kings that God showed him that He sent lying spirits to whisper in the ears of Ahab’s 400 prophets. It's 400 against one. 400 prophets of Baal, one prophet of God.

Micaiah's speech goes over like a party pooper at a feast, so Ahab punishes Micaiah for the prophesy.

And we don’t really know why, but Jehoshaphat agrees to fight even after listening to the prophet of the Lord. Maybe he wanted to impress Ahab. Maybe he didn’t want to look like a wimp. But whatever the case, he goes against the prophesy and fights.

Now, let’s cut to the battle.

In the thick of it, Jehoshaphat awakens to the fact that things are going horribly wrong. This is no walk in the park. He knows that he is about to die. So he cries out to the Lord.

And God answers him.

Did you catch that?

Jehoshaphat was smack dab in the middle of one bad decision after another; he cries out to the Lord, and the Lord moves. God helped him. He drew the enemy away from Jehoshaphat!

It's not just kings; I think all believers get stuck in the mud of their own making sometimes. I sure have.

When I find myself up to my neck in it, my temptation is to try to work my way out of it. That’s like a two year old who toddles out into the street with cars and decides to figure out how to get back to Mommy by himself.

I have tried to push through on my own power, over and over, but the Lord wants me to cry out to Him even when I have made a royal mess of it.

In fact, I must depend on Him in all things. Easy days. Hard days. Hard decisions. Scary, out-of-my-mind situations. I must depend on Him.

He is already with me. All I have to do is ask. And He answers.

Lord, teach me to depend on you in all. I need you. Now. Even when I’ve made a mess of it. And maybe especially when things seem like smooth sailing, when I’m temped to think I got this. I don’t got this. Jesus take the wheel. Today. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.