Trusting God's Plan in the Battle: Lessons From the Life of JehoshaphatEsimerkki

Day 16: Enemy Fought Themselves

“As they began to sing and praise….” Let that sink in for a minute. Last we saw the Israelites, they were praising God in front of their enemies like an angelic choir. But that spontaneous worship unleashed something in the heavenlies that they would have never expected. The Lord himself set ambushes amongst their enemies. God laid traps for them!

The men trying to invade the land of Judah suddenly began fighting each other. As the praise songs of the Hebrews kept filling the desert, their enemies began annihilating each other. You can’t make this stuff up! I’m picturing one of the praise singers who loved to sing with his eyes closed just belting out his worship to God with no idea what was happening below. Later, when he opens his eyes, he sees a scene of complete devastation before him. The enemy soldiers literally killed each other. There were no survivors.

Jehoshaphat and some men went to carry off all the plunder, all those swords, bows and arrows, clothing, etc. There was so much spoil that it took them three days to get it all. Talk about wiping out your enemy. And just think, the people of Judah didn’t have to lift a finger. They simply stood and praised God right in front of their enemies and God won the victory for them!

What can we learn from this? God told them they had to take their positions, stand firm and see His deliverance against their enemies. God did not tell them how He would win the battle and how long it would take. He just told them to face their enemies and watch Him fight for them. Their faith was activated when they took God at his word and obeyed him!

Questions:

1. What does taking your position, standing firm, and watching look like for you in your battle?

2. God never asked the people of Judah to praise Him, so why do you think Jehoshaphat did that with the people?

3. What does taking the plunder look like for you in your battle?