Reading and discussing passages of scripture as a group is
always fun. Being part of this on a regular basis is very healthy, promotes
great conversation and allows you to think through something in a way that
doesn’t happen when only listening to someone speak about it. Dialogue and
interaction is vital for believers, we all have a part to play whether we think
we do or not. The last time I was involved in a discussion, the passage we were
examining started to sound familiar. I came across something interesting
(although I am sure it is not an original thought).
I have written before regarding various ways the New
Testament uses the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament).Often times the writer takes
a well-known story and does a retelling of it in the life of another. The most
prominent examples are perhaps “Moses” stories in the life of Jesus.
Not as frequently referenced are stories in certain books of
the Hebrew scriptures that offer a recapitulation or reenactment of an earlier
story found in earlier writings such as the Torah. As the group was discussing
the story in this particular passage, I stumbled upon (without looking for it) an
amazing correlation.
The text being examined was 2 Chronicles 20. A short summary
of the story is about king Jehoshaphat who was in trouble, the “sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together
with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.” (2Ch 20:1).
As it turns out, this king “Jehoshaphat
was afraid and turned his attention to seek the LORD” (2Ch 20:3).
Unfortunately, this was not the norm for Judah’s monarchs (“seeking the Lord”).
He proclaims a fast and has the people of Judah come together as in the days of
old.
The king stood in the temple (house) of the Lord, declaring
the Lord’s majesty, crying out, “O LORD,
the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler
over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that
no one can stand against You” (2Ch 20:6). He references the power of “God’s
hand” and goes on, “Did You not, O our
God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give
it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? They have lived in it,
and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 'Should evil come
upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before
this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in
our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.' Now behold, the sons of Ammon
and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out
of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them),
see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession
which You have given us as an inheritance. O our God, will You not judge them?
For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor
do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You" (2Ch 20:7-12).
In the midst of all this, the spirit of the Lord comes upon
a Levite and he declares to the assembly, “Do
not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not
yours but God's. 'Tomorrow go down against them…You need not fight in this
battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your
behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to
face them, for the LORD is with you" (2 Ch 20:15-17). Realizing that
this was from the Lord, the Levites “stood
up to praise the LORD God of Israel, with a very loud voice” (2Ch 20:19). They
began a celebration of praise and thanksgiving for a victory that technically did
not belong to them yet! Remember though, when God speaks authoritatively about
the future (through whatever medium), in the view of his people, it is so
certain that it can be spoken of, celebrated and treated as though it has
already taken place.
Of course because their God was “fighting for them”, it happened just as the spirit proclaimed
through the voice of the Levite. What
transpired after the battle was that they “came
to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold,
they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped…Jehoshaphat and his people came to take
their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments and valuable
things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry” (2Ch 20:24-25).
Watching all of this develop, it’s no wonder that “the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of
the lands when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of
Israel” (2Ch 20:29). As fascinating as this story is, the kicker is that it
had taken place before, or at least it’s a story that had been told in a
similar way before. This story has the structure of Exodus 14-15.
In Exodus, some of the same thematic elements are exhibited:
1. A dire situation with no hope but God’s
intervention, and the people crying out to the Lord (14:1-12).
2. A declaration of God’s provision in his fighting
and that “salvation” would be accomplished before them(14:13-14)
3. Singing and praise to God for his victory and
destruction of Israel’s enemies (Ex. 15)
4. The “dead bodies” strewn about (14:30)
5. Following God to his sanctuary, house, habitation
(15:13)
6. The people around were terrified of Israel’s God
(15:14-16)
There is also mention in the Jehoshaphat story about the
plunder of their enemies. While it is not directly in the same narrative
chapter, not long before, Israel, in the Exodus story had plundered the
Egyptians (12:36), which is part of the same story.
The point to both of these stories has to do with the
“salvation” of the Lord. Moses’ (as the God ordained leader of the people) message
as well as the Levite’s prophetic declaration (this was not a theophany of the
pre-incarnate Jesus) was, “Do not fear!
Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you
today” (Ex 14:13) and “You need not
fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the
LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed”
(2Ch 20:17).
The salvation presented not only these passages, but in a vast
amount of the Hebrew scriptures is a more tangible manifestation regarding
salvation than that familiar to most twenty-first century Christians. We generally
have been accustomed to thinking in terms of “spiritual” and “physical”, as
though there are two differing spheres of God’s operational dynamics. We have
to be very careful with context and not being anachronistic readers when
reading the Bible.
The practical sense of these stories is obvious. God is in
the business of saving. In neither case
did it have to do with the specific “belief system” of those being saved. There
was no sense of having a correct perspective of doctrine, right belief or
anything that conservative Christians seem to value in the highest sense today.
Sometimes we forget, God is asking that people act in
obedience to what he has commanded, and believe in the one who he has sent. The
Christian systematic approach has often been guilty of over-complicating this.
“When Israel saw the
great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared
the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses” (Ex 14:31)”
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