Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 20:15

From this incident we learn:

I. That God has many ways at His disposal of which we know nothing. God can touch the reason of men, God can touch the eyes of men, so that a man shall mistake his brother for an enemy.

II. In the training of our highest life we want principles as well as detailed laws. The principle here referred to is, "The battle is not ours, but God's." God is far more concerned about us than we can be about ourselves. We make all the noise, but He does all the work.

III. In the culture of our highest life we must regard extremity as one phase of Divine discipline. Jehoshaphat was driven into a corner. He said openly in the hearing of his people, "We have no might against this great host." The text addresses all who are trying to live in the fear and love of God under discouraging circumstances. "The battle is not yours, but God's."

IV. The text also addresses a word (1) to all who are bearing Christian protest against evil; (2) to all who are undergoing severe temptation; (3) to all who are labouring for the good of the world; (4) to all who are engaged in controversy on behalf of Christian doctrine. If we had to defend everything and to fight everything in our own strength, and for our own ends, the case would be perfectly different; but when God says to us, "Ye have this treasure in earthen vessels; the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man," when He teaches us that we are servants and not masters, creatures and not creators, with no grasp of eternity, it becomes us patiently to wait, to stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.

Parker, City Temple, 1871, p. 15.

I. The history of the Church is full of instances of this law of Divine procedure. An old saying of the German Reformers was this: "One with God on His side is a majority." Every cause which God originates starts with only Gideon's three hundred.

II. From this law of God's working it is clear that in spiritual affairs the balance of power does not depend on numbers. Votes have very little to do with it. It depends on spiritual forces. It depends on insight into the spiritual wants of the world, on consecration to God's service, on the power of prayer, on spiritual discovery of the side on which God is, and specially on intensity of Christian character.

III. It is a great thought on this subject that the human race furnishes but a small part of the holy ministries of this world. The ministry of angels probably swells what we call minorities to secret majorities.

IV. Success in spiritual affairs often loses the character of a conflict, so overwhelming and so easy is the working of Divine auxiliaries.

V. Minorities of honest and earnest men, devoted to a great cause, should never be opposed heedlessly. Let us be on the look-out for such men. Let us greet them with a "Godspeed" when they make their Divine credentials clear.

VI. Within the Church of Christ itself is to be found a minority of believers whom God regards with peculiar complacency. As a spiritual power, they are the vanguard of the Church. They are the spiritual aristocracy of Christ's kingdom.

A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 21.

2 Chronicles 20:21

Anybody can sing the Te Deum when the battle is over. The difference between an ordinary man of war and a Christian is this: a Christian shouts before the victory, because he knows it is sure to come.

I. We learn here, first, a lesson of patriotism. The foreign policy of Ammon and Moab seemed very brilliant for a time. They carried everything before them, but in due time they were overthrown. We must not trust in the number of our soldiers, in the boundless resources of our country, but in the beauty of holiness, in the justice of our cause, in the purity of our motive, in one word in the blessing of our God.

II. The special object of the lesson is to illustrate the history of the Christian Church, for the Christian Church is engaged in a holy war. If we go forth to war, we must do as Jehoshaphat—we must be clothed with the spirit of holiness. God came down to fill the hearts of His children; then they were ready for the great work. The pentecostal blessing delivered the early Christians from the three hindrances to the progress of the Gospel—cowardice, selfishness, and ignorance. Catch the spirit of the Apostles, and you will save the whole world.

H. P. Hughes, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 152.

References: 2 Chronicles 20:20.—Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 185. 2 Chronicles 20:26.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 140. 2 Chronicles 20:30.—E. Monro, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 97.

2 Chronicles 20:37

I. The example of Jehoshaphat is a warning to us. There is something of infinitely greater consequence in the world than making a fortune. What you have to settle first and foremost is the moral basis on which you are proceeding; you must get the full consent of your judgment, and heart, and conscience before you give yourself up to any commercial course. Have God for your Partner if you would make your business, in the highest sense of the term, honourable and successful.

II. The principle of the text is expansive enough to include other subjects of equal importance. For example, the subject of marriage is fairly within the scope of its application. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" "What communion hath Christ with Belial?"

III. The principle of the text bears upon evil companionship generally. "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not." Men cannot confederate themselves against God and succeed. Better stand alone than be found in the association of evil men. Better never hear a friendly voice than be allured by the deceit of evil men. Better be found in unpitied loneliness, yet with a conscience void of offence, than lift up our heads amongst the most influential and illustrious servants of the devil.

Parker, City Temple, 1870, p. 301