11 tonight We want to read verse 34 and then we're going to turn over to 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 and That's the 2nd Chronicles. That's in the Old Testament As a kid, I'd always turn to 2nd Corinthians and wonder where dad was at so that's why I say that but Hebrews 11 in verse 34 and These, again, who through faith quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. And that's the phrase we're looking at again tonight. And if you'll turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, we're going to look at Jehoshaphat, an example of one who turned to flight the armies of the aliens. And as you're turning there, we'll be reading much in chapter 20. This is after David, after Solomon, and after Solomon, the two kingdoms. The northern ten tribes are called Israel. The southern two tribes are called Judah. There was a split, and the southern two tribes of Judah centered around Jerusalem in that area, and they had the temple. They maintained the worship and the service of the Lord. They weren't perfect, but they had the temple and the worship of the Lord, whereas the northern ten tribes, they just began to go off, set up worship in Dan and Bethel and made false images, and just began to really go down a bad path from the get-go. And so here we are, several kings in, and I didn't go back and count how many we're in, I didn't look at my chart that I have about the kings, but we're in quite a ways. And Jehoshaphat, he's one of the good kings. And so verse 1 of 2 Chronicles chapter 20. It came to pass, after this also, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and that is the Dead Sea, on this side Syria. And behold, they be in Hazazan Tamar, which is Engaddi. And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah in Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God? who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land, before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend forever. And they dwelt therein, and have built Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name, saying, If when evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in Thy presence, for Thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now behold the children of Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and destroyed them not. Behold I say how they reward us. to come to cast us out of Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit, O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee. And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Verse 14 Then upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Madaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And He said, Hearken ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you. Be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites of the children of the Koethites and of the children of the Korhites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord for His mercy endureth forever. Verse 22, And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and to destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away. And they were three days in gathering of the spoil. It was so much." Verse 26. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Baraka, which means blessing, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of the same place was called the valley of Baraka unto this day. Then they returned every man of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again to Jerusalem with joy. For the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about. And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty and five years old when he began to reign. And he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Zuba, the daughter of Shilhai. And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord." Now we're going to be looking here tonight in these verses of 2 Chronicles 20. And we want to take a look again, as we said, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, as an example of one who, through faith, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. So first of all, if you would, tonight, let's look at the background. Let's establish this. As we often say, let's put the Scriptures, or leave the Scriptures, in their setting. Because the setting of Scriptures is always important. And you can take anything out of the context and prove just about anything. But let's look at the background here in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. First of all, back up one chapter to chapter 19. And we notice here in verses 4 down through verse 11, and I'll not go into this in depth, but I want to read these verses and I want you to see here that a revival had occurred in Jerusalem and in Judah. And it was a spiritual revival. And it was one where the people turned unto the Lord in this way. And this is important because it says in chapter 20 and in verse 1, it came to pass after this also. So we're showing when this happened. When did Moab and Ammon and Seir, when did they come upon Jehoshaphat and Judah? When did that happen? Well, it happened after the revival had taken place. And so in verse 4 of chapter 19, it says, And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to Mount Aphraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment. Verse 7, Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat say of the Levites and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies when they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and with a perfect heart. And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgment? Ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord. and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren. This do, and ye shall not trespass. And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord. And Zebediah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king's matters, also the Levites, shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with you." with the good. So here we find that there was revival through Jehoshaphat. And he had set things in the kingdom in order. He had put judges, he had put those throughout the land, even in Jerusalem, and he said, you're not to judge by respecter of persons, but according to thus saith the Lord. Certainly, this would be an effect of a revival in any nation, and it would also cause a revival to continue when just and righteous laws are upheld. And so we find that this was one of the effects of that. It was a real revival. If you'll turn back to 2nd Chronicles, chapter 17, it was a real and genuine revival. Not a going through of the motions. Not just a going through of things. You know, churches will say, well, we're going to have a revival. Well, it doesn't mean they're actually going to have a revival. And it's good for people to desire revival and to pray revivals down. And in Brother Pew, he wrote some time ago, he said, used to be revivals were prayed down by God's people and now they work them up within themselves. It's all emotionalism. But this wasn't emotionalism. It wasn't walking the aisle. It was real and genuine because it took place in the heart. Look in 2 Chronicles 17 and verse 6. It says, and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and the groves out of Judah. That's Jehoshaphat that's being written about there. And it tells us here in this passage of Scripture that his heart was lifted up, and there's many things that hearts get lifted up in, but his heart was lifted up in the Lord. And that's always a good thing. And so here it was done. And you can read in the previous verses and just read over this the whole time beginning in chapter 17 of 2 Chronicles and just read all of this through. And just read over Jehoshaphat's life and how that he turned and he sought the Lord and God used him mightily because of those very things. No wonder revival was brought in the land. We also find that in this, as you turn back to our text of 2 Chronicles chapter 20, that revival does not mean that opposition goes away. It doesn't mean that at all. And certainly, as you have no doubt found, and it's true, and it is so, that whenever a child of God, whenever a church of the Lord, whenever a family seeks to walk closer with the Lord, you will find new and harder opposition that you'll face against. It's always that way. And so here was Jehoshaphat and it says, that's the background, chapter 20 and verse 1, it came to pass after this. So after his heart was lifted up in the Lord, after he had his heart and he had sought the Lord, after he had gone about the land and set things in order and put them the way they were and he charged the people. And remember, he didn't say, you're going to answer to me. He said, you're going to answer to the Lord. And he reminded the judges and the priests, he said, it's the chief priest, who is a type of Jesus Christ, he said, you're under him. He always pointed to the Lord, didn't he? And so Jehoshaphat is just setting things in God's order. And you know, you think, well, we've got everything in order now. Everything's going to run smooth. We had revival. We've got services. We've got the judges. We've got the rulers. We've got the priests. We've got the singers. Everything ought to run like a fine oiled machine. Finely tuned. And then we find opposition comes. And it comes from without, doesn't it? And so here we find that this is it. Now I'd like you to note, secondly, the armies of the aliens. The armies of the aliens. Because again, who through faith turned to flight the armies of the aliens. And that's who needs to be turned to flight are the armies of the aliens. And you notice here in these verses, in verse 1, where it says that the children of Moab, remember Moab, and the children of Ammon, remember Ammon, it says, and with them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. And you can look in verse 2, and I'm not going to it, but at another time, perhaps later this evening or tomorrow, and you wake up and you're eating breakfast, open your Bible and go to the map and look where Engaddai's at. I mean, they were knocking on the doorstep of Judah's land and Jerusalem. He said they had come from the Dead Sea, in between the Dead Sea and Syria. And you look in your Bibles, and if you have a Bible map that shows those things, you'll see that that area was inhabited by Moab, Ammon, and then you have Edom, or Mount Seir. And you can just see these things, and they're all right there. And He says, Behold, they be in Hazazon Tamar, which is En Gaddai. They're on the doorstep, Jehoshaphat. They're right there. They're on our borders. And they're coming. And so here are the armies of the aliens. Look over in verse 22 and 23. It says, and when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. So we have three listed here. A triumvirate of enemies. And not to sound like a broken record, but we have enemies too, don't we? A triumvirate of enemies. The world, the flesh, and the devil, don't we? And so Israel, here, three enemies came. And I want to look back in some of the background of the armies of the aliens. I'd like you to turn, if you would, to Genesis chapter 36. Genesis chapter 36. Who is this Mount Seir? Who is Mount Seir? Well, Mount Seir was a place that God had given to the Edomites. And who are the Edomites? Well, those are the descendants of Esau. So, I want you to understand this, these were relatives. I mean, if you can't see that, here's an example of our very flesh, and maybe even some kinfolk that try to drag you down from serving God. Here it is. Here in Genesis chapter 36 and verse 8. Thus dwelled Esau in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Enamites in Mount Seir. So that's who this is. And then I'd like you to turn over to Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19. Who are these Moabites? And who are these Ammonites? Well, let's read here. And when we say Genesis 19, automatically ought to pop in your head Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what ought to come. And we find here in Genesis chapter 19, if you'll read with us, in verse 36, and I'm sure you remember the story of Lot from Sunday school, and how that Lot, and he'd come out of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God delivered him, and his daughters got him drunk, and they slept with him, and then they bore children by their own father. Well, let's read. Verse 36, Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bear a son, and called his name Moab, the same as the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bear a son, and called his name Ben-Ami, the same as the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. So here we find, these are Israel's relatives, aren't they? I mean, you've got Esau, which is Jacob's brother, and you have Lot, which is the nephew of Abraham. And these are their children. And they have come up to war, and to fight, and to destroy, and to remove Judah out of the heritage that God had given them. Isn't it funny? They say politics make for strange bedfellows. I'll tell you what, serving the Lord, you'll find out your enemies will find some strange bedfellows. Because I doubt very seriously if there was any love between Mount Seir or the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. But the enemy of my enemies is my friend. And the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites all hated God and they hated His people. They despised them. And so here they were, and it's something, they all got together. It's kind of like, you know, you read the Baptist history and when the Protestants broke off from the Church of Rome and there were some foolish Bapsts at all, we've got some folks and they're going to, you know, here they are, they're breaking away from them, we're going to get some relief. And they persecuted the Baptists just as bad as the Church of Rome did. Now, they turned to flight the armies of the aliens, and these were aliens. As Ephesians 2 and verse 12 says, they were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. That's exactly who Moab, Ammon, and the Edomites were. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Again, the armies of the aliens. And let's notice here that God had put a provision in, in the Word of God, about the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. He had put a provision in His Word to Israel about those three groups of people. And in Deuteronomy chapter 23, And if you would, in verse 3, an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever, because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse thee. Nevertheless, the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days forever." So God flat out says to Israel, He says they cannot come in under the tenth generation into the congregation of the Lord. He says not one of them. He says that they tried to curse you, they hired a prophet to curse you, one of my prophets, and I turned it into a blessing. He says you're not to seek their peace nor their prosperity all the days forever. We'll look at Jehoshaphat's prayer here in the future. And Jehoshaphat, he didn't try to go out and meet them and say, well, what can we do to appease you? Because he couldn't because of what God had said. He couldn't try to make peace with them because God said you can't make peace with them. Then I'd like you to notice, if you would, Deuteronomy chapter 2. Deuteronomy chapter 2. And notice here, if you would, beginning at verse 4. God told Israel, to leave them alone. So we need to understand here that Israel, Judah, in particular Jehoshaphat and Judah, they had not gone out and tried to attack the Ammonites, the Moabites, and Mount Seir and try to take their land. He said, you leave them alone. You don't touch them. We're not supposed to intermingle in the world, are we? We're supposed to be, as Christ said, we must be about our Father's business. And so here in Deuteronomy 2 and in verse 4, He says, And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren, the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves, therefore meddle not with them. For I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a footbreadth. And you know what a footbreadth is? It's the breadth of your foot. He said, I'm not going to even give you that much of their land. Because I've given Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. He said, I've given it to them. You can't take it. And I'm not going to give it to you. Then look down, if you would, into verse 9. Deuteronomy 2 and verse 9, And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle, for I will not give thee of their land for a possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. And then look down in verse 19, And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them, for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. So here we find, God says, don't meddle with them. Don't try to take their land. I'm going to give you, I have another land that I've given unto you. And they did it. Israel did it. And notice how Mount Seir, or Edomites, the Moabites and the Ammonites, they came against them. I mean, I could get it if Jehoshaphat and Judah had gone out and tried to take their land, and this is a counterattack, if you would, but they had not meddled with them. They had believed what God said and left them alone. And yet, here they were, those nations, though well treated by God and His people, despised the Lord and Israel, hated the Lord and Israel, and now we're coming upon Judah in a time of spiritual revival. The world, the flesh, and the devil will never, never stop. They are relentless. Our enemies are relentless. And so here we find that this is the occasion. Now thirdly, and we will not be able to finish tonight, but thirdly, in verses 3 of our text of 2 Chronicles chapter 20, in verses 3 down through verse 13, in these 11 verses, we find the faith of Jehoshaphat and all of Judah. And I'd like to just begin to get into this, and we'll finish our message for tonight, but we will not be able to finish all of what took place here. And I'd like you to notice in these verses, first of all, that all of this was done by faith. But before that faith took place, we read in verse 3, when Jehoshaphat heard this, number 1, It says, and Jehoshaphat feared. He feared. And I tell you what, I would too. If the news of this, as the Bible puts it, there cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria, and behold, they be in hazes on Tamar, which is in Gadah. Well, I'll tell you what, it's kind of like they used to say Hannibal was at the gate. And it struck fear in people. And here they were. And the first thing that Jehoshaphat did was he became afraid. Now, fear in and of itself is not sin. It's what we do with that fear where it becomes sin. Because there's times when you've been afraid and I've been afraid, and what we're to do with it is turn to the Lord. You think it was some circumstance, if you would, that He was afraid? That these three had come up? Certainly not. God was in control over all of this. And here they were in revival, and I believe that God was not yet done reviving them. And this would be further into this revival that would take place. It says, Jehoshaphat feared. Well, what was he afraid of? Well, he feared man, didn't he? The Bible says that the fear of man bringeth a snare. But notice, Jehoshaphat didn't linger at the fear, did he? He didn't dwell long at the fear. But rather, he turned to the Lord. And the Bible tells us, and it tells us what he did, in the next few verses here, we'll look at those tonight. The writer of David said in Psalm 55 and verse 22, Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. And that's exactly what took place here. King Jehoshaphat had an uneasiness of mind from a sense of danger. And that's exactly what fear is. It's an uneasiness of mind. Because there's a sense of danger. And what did he do with that fear? He turned to the Lord. And he casted it upon the Lord. Jehoshaphat, if he would have been in unbelief, he would have went and did something else, but because of faith, his fear was swallowed up, wasn't it? Instead of his fear swallowing his faith. The Scriptures tell us here in verse 3, 4, and 5, that Jehoshaphat feared, but it did not stop him from seeking the Lord. His fear did not stop Him from not only seeking the Lord, but from leading the people of God. His fear did not stop Him from leading them in spiritual things as He proclaimed a fast. And as He gathered all of Judah to Him before the temple of the Lord, and they cried out in accordance with Scripture what God had previously told them to do. Observe, first of all, as we look at this in verse 3, that after Jehoshaphat feared, it says, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. First of all, it says he set himself to seek the Lord. We find here that this was done, and it showed his faith. An amplified text of this says that Jehoshaphat determinedly as his vital need to seek the Lord. He determined to seek the Lord because it was his vital need. Look over, if you would, in Acts chapter 6, and just to draw in comparison, Acts chapter 6. And here we find that this was an occasion in the church when there were some Grecian widows who were being neglected in the daily services and the apostles said, listen, we're not going to stop tending to the ministry that God has given to us. They said, you need to seek out some men and appoint some deacons to handle this thing. And in Acts 6 and verse 4, notice what they said, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And that's exactly what Jehoshaphat did here, is he set himself to seek the Lord. The Hebrew word here that is rendered set in the Hebrew is Nathan. And as soon as I looked at that word up and looked it up, I said, I know exactly what that is. Because I've known for years that my name, Nathaniel, means gift of God. And Nathan means gift, and you put the L on the end of it, and it adds God in the Hebrew. And so as soon as I saw Nathan, I said, that means that Jehoshaphat gave himself to seek the Lord. His whole being, his body, his soul, his spirit, everything that he had, all of his possessions that God had given him that he was steward over, he set all of it to seek the Lord. His time, his energy, everything was put into it. He set himself, or he gave himself, It was the single thing that he didn't do anything else. His breathing, his heartbeat, everything was involved in this. Everything. All the things that required the king's attention, that required a father's attention, that required a husband's attention, it all got sat down as he sought the Lord. He said, this is the most important thing right now. And there's times when that has to happen. There's times when you have to set things aside and say, I've got to tend to this right now. And there's nothing else more important than that. Well, I'll always be seeking the Lord, but here was an occasion where everything got put to a halt, a stop, everything. And he says here, he goes on a little further, and I'd like you to notice that it says in verse 3, "...and set himself to seek the Lord." He didn't delegate it. He didn't authorize someone else to do it. He didn't say to his wife, honey, you take care of this. He didn't say to the chief priest over Israel, you go ahead and you seek the Lord on my behalf. He didn't look to the prophets and tell them, you seek the Lord. He didn't turn to any of the mighty men of valor or warriors of Judah. He did it Himself because you cannot seek the Lord by proxy. Cannot be done. He was King alone. And as such, only He could do this. And if He did not do it, He did not say, well, God will raise someone else up to do it. No, Jehoshaphat, He set you as king over His people, and you are to do it. We find, what did He do? What did He set Himself to do? He set Himself to seek. The word seek literally means to follow or to pursue after or to diligently inquire. You know, Jehoshaphat didn't set himself to go tell God what God ought to do. We're real good at that sometimes, aren't we? Well God, this is what you need to do. And you know, God's probably, and I don't like to say what God's probably doing, but you can just imagine As the Bible says in Ephesians 3.20, I'm going to do something exceedingly abundantly above what you could even ask me or even think to ask me. That's what Scripture tells us. It says I'm going to seek the Lord. I'm going to inquire with God. I'm going to pursue after God. I'm going to diligently inquire with Him. I'm going to follow after Him. He gave Himself to do this. And I'm reminded of what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 8, that bodily exercise is profitable in this life and in the one to come. This is godly exercising. Seeking after the Lord, following after Him, pursuing Him, chasing after God, and it's profitable now and in the life to come. This is it. This is an example of godly exercise. And then notice in verse 3, whom did he seek? He sought the Lord. There was a time, you can look and we read about it, how they used to have groves. And they had high places where other gods were worshipped. He took those down. We read it. And he didn't go build them back up either, did he? He didn't seek unto Ahab. He didn't call up to the northern kingdom and say, listen, King Ahab, or whoever was up there, I need your assistance because the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites are coming. He didn't call over to Egypt as other kings had done and would yet do and say, I need to make a confederacy with you. He didn't hire any mercenaries, but he sought the Lord, didn't he? He didn't gather a bunch of wise men, allegedly. He didn't gather his military might and say, what do you think we ought to do? He didn't get his cabinet together, but he sought the Lord. That's who he set himself to seek. And the word LORD here, if you'll notice, is in all caps. It means Jehovah. And it means, Jehovah means the self-existent One. So, who He was seeking after, and I don't have time tonight to go into the whole name of Jehovah. But you can study it out, we'll get there one day in our Sunday School lesson of our examination of God when we get into His names. But He said, I'm going to seek after Him who is self-existent. And this name Jehovah is the chief name of deliverance. It's the name that He had when He came and delivered Adam and Eve out of their sins. It's the name that He had when He appeared unto Abraham. It's the name that Jesus said, I am that I am. It's the name that God gave to Moses when He went into Egypt and said, you tell them that I am that I am hath sent you. That's His name, Jehovah. And this is who Jehoshaphat goes after. This is who he pursues diligently and inquires of. This is who he gave himself to seek after. Now, in closing, what does this reveal about Jehoshaphat? Well, number one, it reveals to us that he believed that the danger was real. He believed that the armies of the aliens were a real, genuine threat unto Israel or unto Judah. Because if he didn't, He wouldn't have turned to the Lord and sought the Lord, would he? He believed that the things that were happening, and when he heard the report that those enemies were at En-Gaddai, he believed again that it was a real, genuine threat. It also reveals unto us about Jehoshaphat that he believed that he was powerless against the enemy. Faith trusts in God, not in anything else. Faith has God as its object, and not anything else. It is the person of God, not a doctrine, that saves. And his faith, he says, when he sought the Lord, He admitted that He was powerless to do anything. And He turned to God. And those who are here and without Jesus Christ, you too will have to turn to God. And in doing so, you will admit you're powerless to do anything to save yourself. and we that have turned to God and repented of our sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, we didn't all of a sudden become powerful when God saved us in and of ourselves. We're still that same powerlessness. Without Him, or without me, Jesus said in John 15, ye can do nothing. And that's still true. And Jehoshaphat, he had not left off that principle. He knew he didn't have power. He was king, but he didn't have any power, did he? Thirdly, it reveals unto us that Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat, I might get it right yet, that he trusted God alone. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 17 and in verse 12 and in verse 13, we find that the Bible says, And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly, and he built in Judah castles and cities of store, and he had much business in the cities of Judah. And the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem. And the Bible says in verse 14, and these are the numbers of them according to the house of their fathers, of Judah the captains of thousands, Adam the chief, and with him mighty men of valor, three hundred thousand. But you know, he didn't trust in any of those, did he? I mean, here he had tassels, he had cities of store that he built, he had a bunch of business. Means he had a lot of money. He had mighty men of valor. You can finish reading. It tells you how many mighty men of valor there were. And yet Jehoshaphat turned to one and only one, and that was the Lord. He didn't call up, as it says here, Adna the chief, and his mighty men of valor, 300,000, said, Adna, I want you to go down there to En-Gaddai, and I want you to go deal with the Moabites, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. No. He didn't set himself to seek Adna. He set himself to seek the Lord, didn't he? He didn't turn to anybody but the Lord God. He did not trust in these. He did not trust in chariots. But he trusted in the Lord. Another thing that we learn about Jehoshaphat is that he knew his Scriptures. We know this because he didn't try to barter with the Edomites, the Moabites, or the Ammonites. Because he knew he couldn't make peace with them. We already mentioned that in Deuteronomy. He didn't send out an ambassador to try to find middle ground. No, Jehoshaphat was firmly planted and thus saith the Lord. We find as well that Jehoshaphat actively sought the Lord. Many do not actively seek the Lord if they seek Him at all. Jehoshaphat was actively seeking the Lord. One writer said, it behooves us to take active measures. To enlist and secure the merciful and mighty help of Jehovah, we must make our earnest and importunate appeals to Him with faith and perseverance. I mean, this just wasn't God help us, our enemies in Eden were dying or scared. I mean, you keep reading here in these verses and study in preparation for next week. I mean, Jehoshaphat is calling, if you would, as the expression is, he's calling to God's mind the covenant that God had made with Israel, with Judah, concerning the temple, concerning Abraham. He says, listen, Abraham, my friend, you gave this land to him and to his posterity. He was actively seeking the Lord. Boy, he knew his Scriptures. We come before God in our prayers. We don't have nothing, do we, sometimes? Jehoshaphat is telling God about all the covenants that he had made. He's saying, God, are you going to keep your covenant? And he knew he would because he is the covenant-keeping one. But he puts those up and he shows his faith. He says, God, you said this and I'm holding you to it. And that's exactly what God's people should do, is hold God to His Word, because as the Bible says, every promise is in Him, yea, and in Him, amen. Every one. He will keep His Word. And that's the faith of Jehoshaphat here, and the faith of Judah. This was the first thing Jehoshaphat did. He had fear. But what did he do with it? He cast it on the Lord, didn't he? I mean immediately. He set himself to seek the Lord. We'll look at this some more in the next lesson. And we'll notice how Jehoshaphat, through faith, turns to flight the armies of the aliens. But this is just that first part. May God help us, we'll put this into practical use.