20140818 Monday, August 18 2014
2 Chronicles 20: Jordan's West Bank Invasion

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle"

The territory and the people of the country that is known today as Jordan, or the Kingdom of Jordan (officially, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) has had a long history with Israel. The LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) renamed Jacob as "Israel" in what is today Jordan (see Where Jacob Became Israel).

Most of what is now Jordan was given to some of the tribes of Israel in the time of Moses (see The Israel Of East Jordan). Those original boundaries of Israel could have existed today if the people of Judah had been more patient in the time of the British Mandate of "Palestine" and "Transjordan" (see A History Of Jerusalem: The British Mandate).

In reality, the so-called "West Bank" was merely a creation of Jordanian military forces who temporarily captured it in the war at the time that the modern-day state of Israel was created in 1948. It was a perfect opportunity for Jordan to create a "Palestinian state" for their "Muslim brothers" there, but Jordan kept the territory for itself. When Jordan lost the "West Bank" in a later war with Israel, Jordan then hypocritically demanded that Israel give away the same territory for the creation of a supposed "Palestinian state" (see the Fact Finder question below to understand where "Palestine" is and always has been) - which Jordan itself refused to do in all of the time that they held it.

Amon and Moab were the children of Abraham's nephew Lot who were born after Lot fled the destruction of Sodom (see Why Did Lot's Wife Look Back?). The Ammonites and Moabites settled in parts of what is today Jordan. They too have had a long history with Israel - sometimes peacefully (Ruth, a key ancestor of King David, was from Moab; see The Messianic Role Of Naomi, Ruth And Boaz), while at other times they were at war, as they were in the time of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

"20:1 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.

20:2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 20:4 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." (2 Chronicles 20:1-4 KJV)

Jehoshaphat's primary battle was to do what was righteous (see Jehoshaphat's Judges and Jehoshaphat's Castles). In so doing, the LORD would defend the kingdom: "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."

"20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 20:6 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? 20:7 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 for ever? 20:8 And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 20:9 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.

20:10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 20:11 Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 20:12 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.

20:13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

20:14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

20:15 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. 20:16 To morrow 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. 20:17 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; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 20:19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

20:20 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. 20:21 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 for ever." (2 Chronicles 20:5-21 KJV)

There was peace with Jordan until Jordan invaded Israel. Then, "the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten," after which "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."

"20:22 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. 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

20:24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 20:25 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. 20:26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

20:27 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. 20:28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.

20:29 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. 20:30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about." (2 Chronicles 20:22-30 KJV)

Jehoshaphat remained an overall righteous king of Judah for the 25 years of his reign. His major troubles happened when he associated himself with the corrupt kings of Israel (see The Two Kinds Of Patriotism).

"20:31 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 Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 20:32 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. 20:33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

20:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 20:36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish." (2 chronicles 20:31-37 KJV)

Fact Finder: How did the Philistines of Gaza come to be called "Palestinians"?
See Where Is Palestine?