《The Pulpit Commentaries – 2 Chronicles (Vol. 2)》(Joseph S. Exell) 13 Chapter 13

PART AND TO DO OUR WORK, whatever that may be. "Go ye down against them" (2 Chronicles 20:16); "Set yourselves, stand ye still" (2 Chronicles 20:17). To do this may have been too much for the inclination of the cowardly or the indulgent; it may have been too little for the active and the militant among the people; but it was enough for the obedient and the trustful. God will have us bring our contribution of activity as well as devotion to the great spiritual campaign. But it may not be just that kind or just that measure which we should select if we had our choice. We must let him choose our service as well as our inheritance (Psalms 47:4) for us; and whether that be high or humble, greater or smaller, we should be more than content that he is calling us to the field in which Christ is our Captain.

V. THAT A SPIRIT OF REVERENT GRATITUDE IS ALWAYS BECOMING. (2 Chronicles 20:18, 2 Chronicles 20:19.) Before the shouts of victory are in the air, while we are going forth to the battle in which God is leading us, while we are serving under a Divine Saviour, while we are anticipating the issue, so long as we are trustful in him and not confident in ourselves, we do well to let our hearts be filled and to let our songs be heard with reverent joy.—C.

2 Chronicles 20:23-37

At and after the battle: lessons.

Armed with a holy trust in God, the king and his people advanced to meet their multitudinous enemies with bounding heart and tuneful lip. Nor were they unwarranted in so doing; the event completely justified their hopes. We learn—

I, THAT OUR ENEMIES SOMETIMES DISPOSE OF ONE ANOTHER. (2 Chronicles 20:23.) We sometimes find that the enemy is best "left well alone." Let Shimei "cast stones" at us; even though they be words of false accusation, they will do him much more harm than they will do us. Let the enemy blaspheme; his profanities will be a dead weight in his own balances. Let men make virulent attacks on our holy religion; they will answer one another; we can better spend our time (as a rule) in positive endeavours to build up the kingdom of God.

II. That, under God's hand, THE EVIL WE FEAR IS MORE THAN BALANCED BY THE GOOD WE GAIN. When the Jewish army returned from the wilderness of Tekoa, richly laden with spoil (2 Chronicles 20:25), they would doubtless have said that it was much better for them to have had their agitation followed by their success than not to have had any invasion of the enemy. They certainly congratulated themselves upon the entire incident, and, in their hearts, blessed those Moabites and Ammonites for giving them such an opportunity of enrichment. When God is on our side we may expect that our dangers will disappear, and that from the things that threaten us we shall ultimately derive blessing. Such is now and ever "the end of the Lord" (John 5:11; Job 42:10). Only we must make quite sure that God is on our side; and this we can only do by making a full surrender of ourselves to him and to his service, and by seeing to it that we choose the side of righteousness and of humanity, and not that of selfishness and of guilty pride.

III. THAT GOODNESS OF HEART SHOULD FIRST TAKE THE FORM OF GRATITUDE. Whither but to "the house of the Lord" should that jubilant procession move? (2 Chronicles 20:28). Gladness finds its best utterance in sacred song, its best home in the sanctuary of God. Thus and there it will be chastened; it will be pure, it will be moderated, it will leave no sting of guilty memories behind. Moreover, if we are not first grateful to God for our mercies, but rather gratulatory of ourselves, we shall nurse a spirit of complacency that is likely to lead us astray from the humility which is our rectitude and our wisdom.

IV. THAT IT IS WELL WHEN OUR TRIUMPH IS LOST IN THE FURTHERANCE OF THE CAUSE OF GOD. It was much that Jerusalem was safe; but it was more that "the fear of God was on all the kingdoms" (2 Chronicles 20:29). We may heartily rejoice that our own person, our own family, our own country, has been preserved; we may much more rejoice when the cause and kingdom of Christ has been greatly advanced. This should be the object of our solicitude and of our rejoicing.

V. THAT REST IS THE RIGHTFUL PURCHASE OF LABOUR AND OF STRIFE. (2 Chronicles 20:30.) The country that has won its religious liberty by heroic suffering and strife (as with Holland) may well settle down to a long period of rest and peace. The man who has gone through several decades of anxious and laborious activity may well enjoy a long evening of life when the burden is laid down and the sword is sheathed. The quieter service of the later years of life seems a fitting prelude to the peaceful and untiring activities which constitute the rest of immortality.

VI. THAT THE WORTHIEST HUMAN LIVES DO NOT CORRESPOND TO OUR IDEAL. If we were to construct an ideal human life, we should not introduce another unwise combination (2 Chronicles 20:37)add a disastrous expedition to cast a shadow on its closing years. Yet this was the case with Jehoshaphat. Our lives, even at their best, do not answer to our conceptions of what is perfectly beautiful and complete. We must not look for this, for we shall very seldom find even the appearance of it. We must take the good man as God gives him to us, with a true soul, with a brave spirit, with a kind and faithful heart, with a character that is very fair and perhaps very fine, but that leaves something to be desired; with a ]ire that is very useful and perhaps very noble, but that bears marks of blemish even to the end.—C.

HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW

2 Chronicles 20:1-4

An alarm of war-an invasion from the East.

I. A STARTLING REPORT. The safety of Jehoshaphat's empire was threatened by a formidable foe.

1. The composition of the enemy. (2 Chronicles 20:1.)

2. The number of their army. "A great multitude" (verse 2) had often before assailed Israel (2 Chronicles 14:11; 6:5; Joshua 11:4), and afterwards did assail Judah (2 Chronicles 32:7). When Solomon spoke of Israel as a people like the dust for multitude (2 Chronicles 1:9), it was rhetoric.

3. The place of their entrapment. Hazazon-tamar, or "the pruning of the palm tree" (Genesis 14:7)—"a name probably preserved in that of the tract called Hasasah, 'pebbles' near 'Ain-Jidy"—otherwise Engedi, or "fountain of the kid," the modern 'Ain-Jidy—was situated on the west coast of the Dead Sea, about the middle and directly opposite the mountains of Moab. "Few landscapes are more impressive than the sudden unfolding of the Dead Sea basin and its eastern wall from the top of the pass of Engedi" (Tristram, in 'Picturesque Palestine,' 3.191). The allied forces had probably not crossed the lake (Josephus), but rounded its southern extremity.

II. AN UNEASY APPREHENSION. The fear felt by Jehoshaphat was justified by a variety of circumstances.

1. The character of the invasion. It was the first time Jehoshaphat's kingdom had been exposed to the horrors of war within its own borders. Heretofore Judah's campaigns had been beyond the limits of her own territory, as at Ramoth-Gilead (2 Chronicles 18:28). Foreign wars are apt to be invested with a spurious glory; war at home discovers its repulsive features to all. When a land becomes a battle-field, then—

"All her husbandry doth lie on heaps,

Corrupting in its own fertility.

Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,

Unpruned dies," etc.

('King Henry V.,' act 5. sc. 2.)

2. The combination of powers. It was three against one; yet Jehoshaphat had no scruples in combining formerly with Ahab against Benhadad, or afterwards with Israel and Edom against Moab (2 Kings 3:7). "With what measure ye mete," etc. (Matthew 7:7), applies to kingdoms and kings no less than to private individuals.

3. The prediction of Jehu. Hanani's son had spoken of wrath upon Jehoshaphat for helping Ahab: was this invasion a fulfilment of that threatening? Jehoshaphat might well tremble as he turned his thoughts southward to Engedi.

III. A PRUDENT RESOLVE. In the sudden and dangerous emergency Jehoshaphat concluded to do three things.

1. To set himself to seek the Lord. So David had commanded Israel (1 Chronicles 16:10 : Psalms 105:3) and Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:19), if they would prosper as people and sovereign. So had Oded's son, Azariah, directed Asa and his subjects if they would protect themselves against all future assailants (2 Chronicles 15:2). So Asa and his subjects did; and the Lord gave them rest round about. Jehoshaphat, perhaps recalling these details of national history, possibly also remembering how disastrously he had fared by going up against Benhadad without Jehovah's help, decided that the first thing to do was to draw more closely together the alliance between himself and Jehovah, by a more diligent observance of worship and a more faithful performance of duty. Like all sincere reformers, whether in Church or state, Jehoshaphat began with himself (Luke 4:23; Romans 2:21-23), and began in earnest, setting his heart in it as a work he delighted in and intended to carry through.

2. To proclaim a fast throughout all Judah. Fasting a usual accompaniment of religious exercises in Israel, especially in times of anxiety and distress, whether individual or national. Witness the cases of David (2 Samuel 12:16, 2 Samuel 12:21), Esther (Esther 4:16), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:4), Daniel (Daniel 9:3), Darius (Daniel 6:18), and of the Jews at Mizpeh ( 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6), the returning exiles at Ahava (Ezra 8:21), and the Ninevites (Jonah 3:5). It was intended as a sign of self-humiliation, an expression of sorrow, and a confession of guilt.

3. To hold a national convention at Jerusalem. Whether he actually summoned the heads and representatives of the people, as Asa previously did (2 Chronicles 15:9), is not stated; but the princes, chiefs of the fathers' houses, and principal men out of all the cities of Judah hastened to the capital to ask help of Jehovah in the crisis that had arisen.

LESSONS.

1. The hostility of the world-powers to the Church of God, exemplified in this combination against Judah.

2. The distinction between fear and cowardice in front of danger, illustrated by the behaviour of Jehoshaphat.

3. The place and value of fasting in religion.

4. The best defence for a nation in the time of peril—prayer and piety.

5. The duty and advantage of kings and peoples standing shoulder to shoulder when their safety is threatened.—W.

2 Chronicles 20:5-19

The prayer of Jehoshaphat.

I. THE SCENE.

1. The place.

(1) Jerusalem, the metropolis of the land, whose safety was imperilled.

2. The assembly.

3. The suppliant. Jehoshaphat acted as the mouthpiece for himself and his people. Standing forth in the centre of the congregation, he offered "without form or any premeditation (?) one of the most sensible, pious, correct, and, as to its composition, one of the most elegant prayers ever offered under the Old Testament dispensation" (Adam Clarke).

II. THE PRAYER.

1. The Being addressed—Jehovah. Adored as:

2. The pleas offered.

3. The petitions urged. That Jehovah would

III. THE ANSWER.

1. From whom it proceeded. Jehovah (2 Chronicles 20:15), or the Spirit of Jehovah (2 Chronicles 20:14). No answers to prayer except from him. Human lips can reply for God only in so far as God puts his words into them (Isaiah 51:16; Ezekiel 3:17; Jeremiah 5:14).

2. Through whom communicated. Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph; a man of

3. To whom it was addressed. To all Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to Jehoshaphat, the persons in whose name and on whose behalf the prayer had been offered.

4. Of what it consisted.

IV. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

1. By the king. "Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground" (vers18), in token of humility and reverence, as well as of adoration and submission (2 Chronicles 29:30; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 24:26; Exodus 4:31; Exodus 34:8; Joshua 23:7).

2. By the people. "All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord," in a solemn act of worship.

3. By the Levites. Those belonging to the children of the Kohathites and the children of the Korahites "stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with an exceeding loud voice," adding notes of thanksgiving and rejoicing to those of adoration and self-humiliation which Jehovah's gracious answer inspired.

Learn:

1. The sorest need of man—a God to flee to in the hour of trouble and day of calamity.

2. The highest glory of God—that he can hear prayer and rescue the perishing.

3. The greatest peril of the Church's enemies—the fact that Jehovah fights against them.

4. The surest guarantee of victory for the Church of Jesus Christ—the fact that the battle is the Lord's.

5. The brightest hope for an anxious sinner—that he only needs to stand still and see the salvation of God.—W.

2 Chronicles 20:20-30

A victory without a blow.

I. THE MARCH TO TEKOA. (2 Chronicles 20:20, 2 Chronicles 20:21.)

1. The composition of the army.

2. The time of its setting forth. "Early in the morning," i.e. the next after Jahaziel's assurance. An indication of

3. The address of its king. Standing in the city gate as regiment after regiment filed into line and sallied forth, Jehoshaphat exhorted them (successively) to calm confidence in the ultimate success of the campaign upon which they were entering.

4. The arrangements or its march. Jehoshaphat made special preparations for encountering the foe.

5. The advance towards the foe. A singular method of warfare it must have seemed—as ridiculous as the march of Joshua's warriors round the walls of Jericho and the music of their rams' horns must have appeared to the inhabitants of that old Canaanitish fortress (Joshua 6:12-16).

II. THE SCENE FROM THE WATCH-TOWER. (Verse 24.) This "watch-tower," a height in the wilderness of Tekoa which overlooked the desert of Jeruel, where the invading host lay encamped (verse 16), was probably the conical hill Jebel Fureidis, or the Frank Mountain, from which a view can be obtained of the Dead Sea and the mountains of Moab ('Picturesque Palestine,' 1:137). From this elevation Jehoshaphat and his soldiers beheld the whole ground strewn with corpses, and not the vestige of a living foe to be seen. The enemy had been:

1. Completely slaughtered. The dead bodies were so numerous that "to all appearance none had escaped" (Keil); but the Chronicler manifestly intended to describe a case of not apparent, but real extermination. Not merely all whom the men of Judah beheld prostrate on the field were dead, but of all who had come up against Judah none had escaped.

2. Self-destroyed. They had fallen on and annihilated one another. That perhaps was not remarkable; thieves, robbers, and wicked men in general often fall out and destroy one another. The pity is they do not always do so before attacking other people. In this case two things were remarkable—the time when and the mode in which it happened.

III. THE GATHERING OF THE SPOIL. (Verse 25.)

1. The articles.

2. The quantity. So abundant that three days were occupied in collecting it, and when collected it was found to be more than they could carry. The ear-rings taken by Gideon's warriors from the Midianites weighed seventeen hundred shekels of gold ( 8:26); that obtained by Hannibal's soldiers at the battle of Cannae was so great "ut tres modios aureorum annulornm Carthaginem mitteret, quos e manibus equitum Romanorum, senatorum et militum detraxerat" ('Eutropii Historia Romana,' 41.).

IV. THE MUSTERING AT BERACHAH. (Verse 26.)

1. The place. The valley, afterwards named from the incident of which it was the scene, must have adjoined the battlefield. A trace of it has been recovered in the Wady Bereikut, to the west of Tekoa, near the road from Hebron to Jerusalem. There is no ground for identifying it (Thenius) with the upper part of the valley of Kidron, afterwards called the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, Joel 3:12).

2. The time. On the fourth day after their arrival at Tekoa, the three intervening days having been employed in collecting the spoil.

3. The business.

V. THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM. (Verses 27, 28.)

1. Without delay. After causing the wilderness to echo with anthems to him who had smitten great and famous kings (Psalms 136:17, Psalms 136:18), they had nothing to detain them from their homes.

2. Without loss. Though they had gained a glorious victory, not one of their company was left upon the battle-field. "Every man of Judah and Jerusalem' that marched to Tekoa returned to the capital.

3. Without disorder. The same solemn and orderly procession that had characterized their going forth now distinguished their coming back.

4. Without sorrow. Few returns from the battle-field are without saddening recollections; theirs was marked by unmixed joy, to which they gave formal expression with psalteries and harps and trumpets in the house of the Lord.

Learn:

1. The best evidence of faith—prompt and cheerful obedience.

2. The true secret of national as of individual prosperity—belief in God and in God's Word.

3. The value of sacred song as a means of exciting religious feeling and sustaining religious fortitude.

4. The necessity of holiness in them who would command or lead the Lord's host.

5. The ease with which God could make the enemies of his people annihilate one another.

6. The rich spoil that belongs to faith.

7. The joyous home-coming of all God's spiritual warriors.—W.

2 Chronicles 20:31-37

The biography of Jehoshaphat.

I. JEHOSHAPHAT'S PARENTAGE.

1. His father. Asa, a good king who enjoyed a long and honoured reign. Though good fathers have sometimes bad sons, as in the case of Jehoshaphat himself, yet there is a presumption in favour of a parent's piety being reproduced in the son. "Lord! I find the genealogy of my Saviour strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations.

I see, Lord, from hence that my father's piety cannot be entailed: that is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary: that is good news for my son".

2. His mother. Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. Otherwise unknown, she was, nevertheless, the wife of a good man, the consort of a pious king—alas! also the mother of a wicked son. She was probably herself a woman of worth, and to her credit her name has been transmitted to posterity rather as her father's daughter and her husband's spouse than as her son's mother. In her case the hand of Providence has drawn a veil over her misfortune.

II. JEHOSHAPHAT'S REIGN.

1. When it began. When he was thirty-five years old. There was no room in this case for the royal preacher's woe (Ecclesiastes 10:16).

2. How long it continued. Twenty-five years—a quarter of a century; during which time he and his people experienced much of the Divine favour and blessing.

3. When it ended. When he was sixty years of age; i.e. before he reached the allotted space of three score years and ten (Psalms 90:10), and after a shorter life than was afterwards enjoyed by some of his less worthy successors, e.g. Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:3) and Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:1)—a proof that the promise of long life as a reward for piety was not intended, even under the Old Testament, to be accepted universally and without exception.

III. JEHOSAPHAT'S REALM.

1. Its extent. He reigned over Judah, the southern kingdom.

2. Its condition. Quiet. With the exception just mentioned it had suffered no invasion. It was disturbed by no internecine feud or civil strife.

3. Its Protector. Jehovah. "God gave him rest round about."

IV. JEHOSHAPHAT'S NEIGHBOURS.

1. Their attitude. They stood in awe of Jehoshaphat and his people. Compare the terror of the peoples through the midst of whom Jacob passed on his flight from Shechem to Hebron (Genesis 35:5), and the fear which fell upon the city of Jerusalem on beholding the miracle of Pentecost (Acts 2:43).

2. The reason of it. They heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel (verse 29). So Miriam expected the report of Jehovah's victory over Pharaoh would paralyze the surrounding peoples through whom the ransomed host had to pass (Exodus 15:14-16).

V. JEHOSHAPHAT'S CHARACTER.

1. Pious. Like his father Asa, he walked in the way of the Lord.

2. Persevering. He departed not from doing right in the sight of Jehovah, i.e. in the matter of worship.

3. Defective. Not perfect in the sense of being faultless, he allowed the high places dedicated to Jehovah to remain, though other similar high places dedicated to idols were removed (2 Chronicles 17:6); and though he was better than his people, whose hearts were not prepared for a thorough-going reformation, he yet in a blameworthy spirit of complaisance yielded to their demands and permitted the unhallowed altars to stand.