2 Chronicles Chapter 20

Jehoshaphat Defeats Moab and Ammon

¹ After that, the Moabites, Ammonites, and some Meunites came to attack Jehoshaphat. ² Some people brought him a report, “A large army is coming out of Edom from the other side of the sea. They’re in Hazazon-tamar (En-gedi).” ³ He was afraid, set himself to look to Yahveh, and declared a fast throughout Judah. ⁴ Judah gathered from all the towns to look to Yahveh for help. 2 Ch 20:1-4

⁵ Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in Yahveh’s Temple in front of the new court,

⁶ “Yahveh our ancestors’ God, aren’t you God in the sky? Don’t you rule every nation? You have such power and strength that nobody can stand against you. ⁷ Didn’t you drive out the people in this land, and give it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever? ⁸ They’ve lived in it, built a sanctuary there for your name, and said, ⁹ ‘Should misfortune come on us—the sword, judgment, disease, or famine—we’ll present ourselves at this Temple (because your name is here), and call out to you in our distress. You’ll hear us and deliver us. ¹⁰ You didn’t let Israel invade the Ammonites, Moabites, or Mount Seir when they came out of Egypt. (They turned aside and didn’t destroy them.) ¹¹ Now they’re rewarding us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us. ¹² Our God, won’t you judge them? We’re powerless in the face of such a big army. We don’t know what to do but look to you for help.”                                                                                                                    2 Ch 20:5-12

¹³ All Judah was standing before Yahveh with their infants, wives, and children.

¹⁴ Then in the assembly, the Spirit of Yahveh came on Jahaziel Ben-Zechariah (Ben-Benaiah Ben-Jeiel Ben-Mattaniah the Levite, descendant of Asaph),

¹⁵ “Listen, Judah, people in Jerusalem, King Jehoshaphat. Yahveh says, ‘Don’t be afraid or intimidated by that big army. The battle is not yours but mine. ¹⁶ Go down against them tomorrow. They’ll come up by the ascent of Ziz. You’ll find them at the end of the valley east of the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You won’t need to fight in this battle. Take your positions. Stand and watch my^Y salvation for you.’ Don’t be afraid or intimidated. Go out to face them tomorrow; Yahveh’s with you.”

¹⁸ Jehoshaphat bowed to the ground, and Judah and the people in Jerusalem fell down in worship to Yahveh. ¹⁹ The Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to give loud praise to^Y God of Israel.                                              2 Ch 20:13-19

²⁰ They got up early the next morning and went out to the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they went, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Judah and Jerusalem, trust Yahveh and you’ll be safe. Trust his prophets and you’ll succeed.” ²¹ When he’d advised the people, he appointed the ones that sang and praised Yahveh in holy attire to go out ahead of the army, “Thank Yahveh because his love endures forever.” ²² When they began singing and praising, he^Y set ambushes against the Ammonites, Moabites, and Mount Seir; and they were routed. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the people from Mount Seir and destroyed them completely. When they’d finished that, they helped destroy one another.

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower over the countryside, they looked toward the army. Corpses were lying everywhere; nobody had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found lots of equipment, clothes, and valuable things, more than they could carry. They took spoil for three days, there was so much of it. ²⁶ On the fourth day, they met in the Valley of Beracah to “bless” Yahveh. That’s still its name. ²⁷ Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came back happy with Jehoshaphat in the lead, because Yahveh made them celebrate over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem to the^Y Temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets. ²⁹ All the kingdoms dreaded God when they heard that he^Y had fought Israel’s enemies. ³⁰ Jehoshaphat’s kingdom had peace because his God gave him rest in every direction.      

    2 Ch 20:20-30

Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

³¹ Jehoshaphat was 35 when he became king and ruled Judah in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother was Azubah Bat-Shilhi. ³² He followed the way of his father Asa. He did what was good, ³³ but he didn’t take away the high places. The people hadn’t yet directed their hearts to their ancestors’ God. ³⁴ The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, are recorded in The Chronicles of Jehu Ben-Hanani and The Book of the Kings of Israel.

³⁵ After that, Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel. That was a bad decision. ³⁶ He did it to build ships in Ezion-geber for going to Tarshish. ³⁷ Then Eliezer Ben-Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against him, “Because you’ve allied yourself with Ahaziah, Yahveh has destroyed what you’ve built.”                                                                                         2 Ch 20:31-37