Jehoshaphat’s Great Victory for the Kingdom of Judah

"...the battle is not yours, but God’s." 2 Chronicles 20

Jehoshaphat led one of military history’s most unusual great victories. He was the 4th king of Judah, the southern kingdom from which ancient Israel (the northern kingdom) broke away, and he ruled from approximately 870 - 849 BC.

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The men of Judah under Jehoshaphat had never gone to war. They were still enjoying the peace and great prosperity King Solomon’s reign had established generations earlier. Not since the days of King David (when Israel and Judah were still one kingdom) had any foreign adversary threatened them, and frankly they were not ready for war.

So when the news came that an unprovoked attack from Moab, Amman and Mount Seir was imminent, Judah was terrified. The only thing they knew to do was to gather together every man, woman and child and pray for God to save them.

Jehoshaphat fervently led the people’s prayers with faith and boldness.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon one man Jahaziel who told them, “Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’”

Then he gave specific instructions. “Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!”

In thanksgiving “Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground” and the people rejoiced praising God.

Early the next morning the makeshift army went out carrying weapons most of them likely did not know how to use very well, determined to at least look like a viable army. The king spoke, reminding his men to believe the promises of the Lord and believe his prophets.

Jehoshaphat then “appointed those who should sing to the Lord…prais[ing] the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army…saying: ‘Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.’”

As they began singing praises to the Lord, Ammon and Moab attacked Mount Seir and completely destroyed it, then Ammon and Moab turned on each other in the confusion.

When Judah finally arrived, “they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.”

There was nothing left to do but carry away the spoils of war, “precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much.”

Soldiers in the ancient world would often wear valuable talismans or amulets with precious or semi-precious gemstones for protection and good luck.

Front & back of the Talisman of Charlemagne, 7.3 cm long, 9th-century. Originally, the reliquary had 2 large sapphires and a supposed lock of St. Mary's hair inside.

On the 4th day, after all the spoils were gathered, the army gave thanks to the Lord and returned to Jerusalem to praise God “with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.”

News of God’s great victory spread quickly, and no one dared attack Jehoshaphat again. “God gave him rest all around.”

Jehoshaphat, like his father King Asa, did right in the sight of the Lord. But toward the end of his reign, instead of relying on God, Jehoshaphat made an alliance with Israel’s evil king Ahaziah. (After Israel broke from Judah, every one of Israel’s kings was evil.) Much time was wasted and none of their plans with Israel came to fruition.

The long bow requires great strength and takes 10 years to master.

2 Chronicles 20

Jehoshaphat’s Great Victory

20 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. ² Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). ³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷ Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? ⁸ And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ⁹ ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them— ¹¹ here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹⁴ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

¹⁸ And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. ¹⁹ Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

²⁰ So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” ²¹ And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.”

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. ²³ For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.

²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. ²⁶ And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. ²⁹ And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

The End of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

³¹ So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. ³² And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. ³³ Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.

³⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

³⁵ After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly. ³⁶ And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷ But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.