2 Chronicles 20:12 [Let Us Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of Our Faith]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. In the days of Jehoshaphat, the fourth king of the southern kingdom of Judah, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, together with some of the people of Maon, came to fight against Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:1). Because they were a great multitude, it was a battle that Jehoshaphat and Judah could never win by their own strength. In such a situation, Jehoshaphat prayed to God as written above. What can we learn through this prayer of Jehoshaphat?

2. As a result, God gave Jehoshaphat and Judah victory (2 Chronicles 20:27-30). However, we must pay more attention to Jehoshaphat’s prayer than to this "victory in battle." This is because some people try to believe in Jesus and pray only for victory, that is, for the fulfillment of their own desires and for the solving of certain problems. But there is clearly something more important for us than that.

3. In truth, because all things are possible with God (Job 42:1), from God’s perspective, it may not be such an important matter who wins or loses when people wage war against one another. From this point of view, through Jehoshaphat’s prayer above, we can know that God used the strong enemies around Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah so that they would "look only unto God." Before their powerful enemies, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah could do nothing, and the only thing they could do was to "look only unto the Lord." Just as God said that He does not desire sacrifices or burnt offerings, but desires our broken spirit (Psalm 51:16-17), God wanted their hearts to be directed wholly toward Him alone. When we say, "peace and safety," it seems that it is often hard and difficult for us to "look only unto the Lord." But when we can do nothing by our own strength, and when a situation comes that cannot be solved by anything in this world, only then do we seem to "look only unto the Lord." If even at such a time we still cannot look only unto Jesus, that is truly a sorrowful thing.

[Decision and Application]

Thus, what God desires from us is that we "look only unto the Lord." Therefore, God may use enemies around us, or allow various tribulations and trials to come upon His beloved children, in order to cause us to look only unto the Lord. Nevertheless, because we do not understand this will of God, we may instead become discouraged because of the problems around us, or complain and murmur because of various trials and sufferings. Or we may become obsessed only with taking revenge on our enemies and winning. Truly, what matters to us is not that all the problems around us disappear according to our own desire, nor that we escape from various trials and sufferings. Rather, whether in times of peace or in times of trouble, what must always matter is that we "look only unto Jesus," our Lord. This is the lesson of truth that is taught to us through Jehoshaphat’s prayer above.

[For reference, in the Old Testament period, the "Lord" was "Jehovah." But now, through the gospel of the New Testament, the "Lord" is "Jesus" (Romans 10:8-13). That is why we call Jesus "the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17). Ultimately, Jehovah and Jesus are the same Lord, that is, "God."]

Things such as victory in battle, which we may have been more interested in before, are no longer the important issue for us. This is because our Lord Jesus can change the times at any moment (Daniel 2:21). In other words, if Jesus gives victory, even a battle against a very great enemy can be won easily at any time. In the case of Jehoshaphat above, God gave Jehoshaphat and Judah victory over those great enemies without them even "lifting a hand" (2 Chronicles 20:21-24). Therefore, even if we find ourselves in a hard and difficult situation, rather than seeking only the solution to the problem, we should seek "faith that looks only unto Jesus" in that difficult situation. This faith gives great joy to Jesus, and then Jesus will solve our problems so easily, just as He did in the case of Jehoshaphat. King Asa below was also a man who had this kind of faith.

2 Chronicles 14:10-12 "10Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude... 12So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled."

Thus, when King Asa believed that there was no one but the Lord who could help, whether with the strong or with the weak, and trusted in the name of God, God caused the Ethiopians to be defeated before Asa, just as He had done for Jehoshaphat, and gave him victory in that battle. Therefore, the most important thing is our "heart" (Proverbs 4:23). Just as a little child does not want to be separated from his mother’s arms, because to the child his mother is all his help, we too must now become people who, like Jehoshaphat and Asa, have faith that looks only unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 10:38-39 "38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."

Amen.