1 Kings 11 is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible. It's when we read that Solomon's heart turns from the Lord. "He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David." God said to Solomon that because you have not kept My covenant and My statues, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hands of your son. However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen. v 11-13.
After the death of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was split into two Kingdoms. The Kingdom of Israel, and the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Israel included the northern 10 tribes of Israel, and the Kingdom of Judah included the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. Benjamin was assimilated into Judah, and the two are often referred to as one tribe. Solomon's son Rehoboam was the King of Judah after Solomon's death. The King of Israel was Jeroboam. The capital of Judah was Jerusalem, and the capital of Israel was Samaria. Judah and Israel were always at odds, and as you read the stories of the Kings it's very heartbreaking. Most of the Kings on both sides did not follow God and led God's people astray which brought about the Prophets. The story of Israel and Judah's Kings are written in 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles. The books of the Bible like Isaiah and Jeremiah just to name a couple were prophets to these Kings to try and bring them back to God. As you read Kings and Chronicles, every now and again you'll come across a King who turns back to God.
One of my favorite stories is found in 2 Chronicles 20. It's a story of a King of Judah-Jehoshaphat. In Chapter 20 we read that the mortal enemies of Judah assembled and came to do battle against them. This was an army built for one purpose to destroy Judah. The Moabites, Ammonites, and people from Syria came against them, and as they were on the way word reached Jehoshaphat in verse 4. "Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the LORD and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from the cities of Judah, they came to seek the LORD."
I love these next few verses as it paints a picture of a humble leader relying on God and not the strength of his army or his ability to win the war. Jehoshaphat stands up in front of everyone and gives an amazing speech and prayer. "Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 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?" He continues to cry out to God in these passages and ends the prayer with a very profound statement that we should remember in our own daily lives. "...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. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon (my new hero), Jahaziel in the midst of the assembly, 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. Tomorrow go down against them...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." Talk about the boldness and the confidence that Jahaziel had to deliver these words. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the LORD, worshipping the LORD." Then an all-out spontaneous worship service started. "Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathies and of the childen of the Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high." I love this picture that after hearing the words of the prophet they praised the LORD with voices loud and high declaring and praising God with their voices. I wish I could have been there that night to experience such an amazing picture of God's people worshiping the LORD together in unity. The story continues...
They arose early the next morning and went out to meet their enemies in boldness and confidence in the LORD. Jehoshaphat continued to encourage them by saying, "Believe in the LORD your God...! They had so much confidence in God that King Jehoshaphat put those that sing to the LORD, and who would praise the beauty of His holiness, and they went out before the army and were saying; Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever." He didn't put the infantry first, or the archers first. He put the singers and the people who would praise the LORD first before the army. To me this signifies total trust and reliance on God to bring about the victory. "For the battle is not ours but Gods." "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on You." "Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Syria, who had come against Judah, and they were defeated." The Bible says there was so much spoil to gather that it took Judah 3 days to collect it all.
We may not have the Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites coming against us, but we do have an adversary. The adversary that is from the beginning-the devil. Peter tells us, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8(NLT). Even though the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion we are not to fear him. Peter continues to encourage, "Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you and He will place you on a firm foundation. " 1 Peter 5-10. That firm foundation is Jesus Christ! The chief cornerstone. Jesus has already defeated the devil, and the devil has no power over us because of what Jesus did for us on the cross and rising from the dead. It's not by our power, but through the power of God at work in us through Jesus Christ.
Jehosophat feared, but he called a fast and set himself to seek the Lord. Whatever we are facing, and whatever we're going through if we position ourselves to seek the Lord, stand still, stand firm, and praise the Lord then we will see a great victory. When we fear we can build our faith by getting our eyes off whatever is causing us to fear and put our eyes on Jesus. Like Jehoshaphat said, "I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you. We can know that the battle belongs to the LORD, and that's it already been won by Jesus. We don't even have to fight. All we need to do is Praise. Praise is our pathway to victory. All we have to do is lift our voices loud and high and give Jesus the highest praise. Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.
