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2 Chronicles 20:1-19 - When We Don't Know What To Do, God Knows What To Do · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, good morning there, friends and faithful listeneris
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  Speaker 1: and Hi. My name is Jen. I am the host
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  Speaker 1: of the Bible Explained podcast. We're going to be in
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  Speaker 1: second Chronicles twenty talking about a beautiful, beautiful portion of
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  Speaker 1: scripture that I think is going to be an encouragement
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  Speaker 1: to every single person listening in some way or another,
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  Speaker 1: because this story is talking about something that we all experience,
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  Speaker 1: which is trials, but how God is right there with
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  Speaker 1: us through all of it. So stay tuned for a
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  Speaker 1: great episode. Al righty, faithful listenaries. So before you begin
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  Speaker 1: the episode, an update on the casinos that were sponsoring
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  Speaker 1: like this one, So keep that in mind for the future.
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  Speaker 1: If you hear another weird advertisement on this podcast. And
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: speaking of advertising, here's a quick word from a sponsor.
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  Speaker 1: listen to this episode and right after that whole spiel
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  Speaker 1: casino advertisement. Oh, I hope not. All right, let's go
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  Speaker 1: ahead and read it. Second Chronicles twenty one through nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: Grab your cup of coffee or your cup of tea
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  Speaker 1: so that we can sip our hot beverages and read
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  Speaker 1: this passage of scripture together this morning. I'll be reading,
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  Speaker 1: as always from the web version, but feel free to
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  Speaker 1: grab the version of the Bible that you prefer this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and read it. Second Chronicles twenty one
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  Speaker 1: through nineteen. After this, the children of Moab, the children
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  Speaker 1: of Amin, and with them some of the Ammonites came
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  Speaker 1: against Jehashafat to battle. Then some came who told Jehashafat saying,
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  Speaker 1: a great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea,
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  Speaker 1: from Syria. Behold there in Hazazen Tamer, that is and Geddi.
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  Speaker 1: Jehashafat was alarmed and set himself to seek Yahweh. He
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  Speaker 1: proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together
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  Speaker 1: to seek help from Yahweh. They came out of all
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  Speaker 1: the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh. Jehashafat stood in
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  Speaker 1: the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in Yahwei's house before
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  Speaker 1: the new Court, and he said, Yahweh, the God of
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  Speaker 1: our fathers. Aren't you God in heaven? Aren't you ruler
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  Speaker 1: over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might
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  Speaker 1: are in your hand so that no one is able
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  Speaker 1: to withstand you. Didn't you, our God, drive out the
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  Speaker 1: inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give
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  Speaker 1: it to the offspring of Abraham, your friend forever they
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  Speaker 1: lived in it, and have built you a sanctuary in
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  Speaker 1: it for your name, saying, if evil comes on us,
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  Speaker 1: the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before
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  Speaker 1: this house and before you, for your name is in
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  Speaker 1: this house, and cry to you in our affliction, and
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  Speaker 1: you will hear and save. Now behold the children of
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  Speaker 1: Ammon and Moab and Mount Seer, whom you would not
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  Speaker 1: let Israel invade when they came out of the land
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  Speaker 1: of Egypt. But they turned away from them and didn't
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  Speaker 1: destroy them. Behold, how they reward us to come and
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  Speaker 1: cast us out of your possession, which you have given
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  Speaker 1: to us to inherit our God. Will you not judge them,
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  Speaker 1: For we have no might against this great company that
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  Speaker 1: comes against us. We don't know what to do, but
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  Speaker 1: our eyes are on you. All Judah stood before Yahweh
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  Speaker 1: with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then
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  Speaker 1: Yawe's spirit came on Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the
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  Speaker 1: son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of Matania,
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  Speaker 1: the levite of the sons of Aesaf, in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the assembly, and he said, listen, all Judah, and
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  Speaker 1: you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. Yaways says
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  Speaker 1: to you, don't be afraid and don't be dismayed because
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  Speaker 1: of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours,
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  Speaker 1: but God's tomorrow. Go down against them. Behold, they are
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  Speaker 1: coming up by the ascent of ziz You will find
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  Speaker 1: them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness
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  Speaker 1: of Jerul. You will not need to fight this battle.
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  Speaker 1: Set yourselves stand still and see the salvation of Yahweh
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  Speaker 1: with you, Oh Judah and Jerusalem. Don't be afraid nor
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  Speaker 1: be dismayed. Go out against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is
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  Speaker 1: with you. Jehashafad bowed his head with his face to
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  Speaker 1: the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: fell down before Yahweh, worshiping Yahweh. The Levites, of the
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  Speaker 1: children of the Coathites and of the children of the
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  Speaker 1: Korahites stood up to praise Yahweh, the God of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: with an exceedingly loud voice. Now, the story is one
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  Speaker 1: that we don't really see anywhere else in scripture. This
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  Speaker 1: is the only time it's talked about. It was not
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  Speaker 1: mentioned in the Kings, So it was kind of cool
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  Speaker 1: because a lot of the times when you're going through
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  Speaker 1: second chronicles, it's very similar to first and second Kings.
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  Speaker 1: But in this case, you know, this is a totally
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  Speaker 1: new story that we haven't heard about anywhere else. So
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  Speaker 1: it says after this, the children of Moab, the children
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  Speaker 1: of Amen, and then some of the Ammonites came against
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  Speaker 1: Jehashafat to battle. So what I mentioned after this, that's
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  Speaker 1: talking about after Jehashafat got back from Israel, because you'll
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  Speaker 1: remember that he had recently gone up to Israel to
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  Speaker 1: help King Ahab in a battle against the Syrians. But
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  Speaker 1: that did not end well at all. In fact, King
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  Speaker 1: Ahab ended up dying, and it didn't end well for
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  Speaker 1: johash Fat either, because even though johash Fat came home
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  Speaker 1: safe and sound, God was angry at Jehoashfat for actually
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  Speaker 1: going and helping evil King Ahab in this battle. So
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  Speaker 1: God actually told jehash Fat, there is wrath on you
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  Speaker 1: because of what you have done. But after this, you know,
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  Speaker 1: jehosh Fat it kind of seemed like took that prophecy
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  Speaker 1: to heart. He never went up to Israel again that
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  Speaker 1: we know of, and he also continued with the reform
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  Speaker 1: that he was doing in Judah. A few chapters back,
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  Speaker 1: we saw that after jahash Fat became the king, he
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  Speaker 1: actually sent the Leevites out into the land of Judah
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  Speaker 1: to preach the law wherever they went, and that was
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  Speaker 1: something that was biblical. That was something that God actually
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  Speaker 1: wanted the Levites to do, and so jehash Fad actually
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  Speaker 1: went ahead and did that, which was kind of cool.
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  Speaker 1: And he also did a judicial reform as well as
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  Speaker 1: a spiritual reform. So he got rid of all the
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  Speaker 1: corrupt judges in the land and the appointed brand new
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  Speaker 1: judges that were presumably better and told them that they're
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  Speaker 1: not judging the people for the sake of the people.
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  Speaker 1: They're judging the people for the sake of God. So
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  Speaker 1: they needed to be on guard with everything that they did,
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  Speaker 1: make sure that they don't take bribes or twist justice
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  Speaker 1: in any way. So that was something that we talked
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  Speaker 1: about in the last chapter. And so after all of that,
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  Speaker 1: it says the children of Moab, the children of Amin,
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  Speaker 1: and with them some of the Amonites came against Jehoshafat
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  Speaker 1: to battle. And you might be wondering here why the
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  Speaker 1: Ammonites are mentioned twice, because it says the children of
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  Speaker 1: Amen and with them some of the Ammonites came against
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  Speaker 1: jehosh Fat. The reason being is because the Hebrew, if
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  Speaker 1: you go back to it, it actually does say that.
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  Speaker 1: It just says the Moabites the Ammonites, and with them
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  Speaker 1: some of the Ammonites came against Jehoashafat to battle, but
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  Speaker 1: the Subtuagint actually translated it as the Moabites, the Ammonites,
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  Speaker 1: and some of the Munites came against Jehashapat to battle.
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  Speaker 1: So depending on what version you read, I think if
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  Speaker 1: you read out of the NIV or the ESV, it'll
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  Speaker 1: say Unites instead of Ammonites. And later on in Jehashfat's
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  Speaker 1: prayer that we're about to get into, Jehashfat distinguishes them
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  Speaker 1: as the people of Mount Seer. So the overall consensus
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  Speaker 1: is that some of the Arabs also came against jehash
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  Speaker 1: Fat in this battle as well. So definitely the Mobiites,
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  Speaker 1: definitely the Ammonites, and also some Arabs that lived in
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  Speaker 1: the general region, they came against Jehoshafat to battle. So
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  Speaker 1: these people came up against Judah and encamped in and Getdi.
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  Speaker 1: So Ingeeddi was actually a little oasis that was very
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  Speaker 1: close to the Dead Sea, and it was a beautiful oasis,
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  Speaker 1: I guess, with a lot of palm trees. And Arabs
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  Speaker 1: came up against Jehoshafat, And you might be wondering why
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  Speaker 1: did they come up against Judah? You know, because Jooshfat
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  Speaker 1: didn't do anything to these people. He didn't target them
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  Speaker 1: in any way. So why are they coming up against Judah. Well,
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  Speaker 1: there's a possibility that the Moabites and the Ammonites saw
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  Speaker 1: their chance to take Judah down because of that disastrous
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  Speaker 1: battle that Jehashaphat had gone into with Israel and it
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  Speaker 1: was so disastrous, you know, King Ahab ended up dying.
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  Speaker 1: It was a bad defeat for the Israelites, and Judah
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  Speaker 1: and King Jehoshaphat were part of that. So it could
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  Speaker 1: be that the Ammonites and the Moabites are looking at
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  Speaker 1: this and they're like, wow, you know, Judah is really weak.
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  Speaker 1: This is our time to strike. If we want to
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  Speaker 1: take that land, let's take it now, because they can't
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  Speaker 1: even fight against the Syrians, so let's do it. Or
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  Speaker 1: it could just be that they wanted the land, that
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  Speaker 1: they were envious of Judah and wanted to take it
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  Speaker 1: and thought that if they gathered multiple nations against to
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  Speaker 1: Judah that that would be beneficial for going out to
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  Speaker 1: battle with them. So johash Fat obviously was alarmed because
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  Speaker 1: this was a huge multitude, much bigger than the army
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  Speaker 1: that a Hashafat had. And so it says he set
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  Speaker 1: himself to seek Yahweh. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah,
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  Speaker 1: and Judah gathered themselves together to seek help from Yahweh.
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  Speaker 1: They came out of all the cities of Judah to
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  Speaker 1: seek Yahweh. So, in other words, there was this big
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  Speaker 1: gathering of all of God's people to come together to pray.
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  Speaker 1: And there really is something about praying together as a community. Obviously, yes,
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  Speaker 1: God listens to our individual prayers, but when there's a
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  Speaker 1: collective unity between God's people, that is very, very powerful.
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  Speaker 1: And we're praying to God for one thing, God's going
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  Speaker 1: to hear that, especially if it's the overall consensus that
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  Speaker 1: the entire nation is turning toward Yahweh. You know, God
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  Speaker 1: is going to see that. And so all of these
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  Speaker 1: peoples from every city in Judah come together to worship Yahweh.
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  Speaker 1: And so it says verse five that Jehasha Fat stood
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  Speaker 1: in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in Yahweh's house
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  Speaker 1: before the new Court. And I really like that the
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  Speaker 1: author of Second Chronicles adds that little detail in there
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  Speaker 1: that this was a new court. Most people think that
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  Speaker 1: the author of the Second Chronicles was Ezra, who was
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  Speaker 1: a high priest, and you can see by his writings
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  Speaker 1: so far in the chronicles that he's very, very focused
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  Speaker 1: on the temple itself, Like that's kind of the author's
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  Speaker 1: goal to talk about the spirituality of Judah and also
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  Speaker 1: the temple and everything that happened in the temple. So
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  Speaker 1: it's really funny that this little detail was added in
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  Speaker 1: there that there was a new court in Yahweh's house,
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  Speaker 1: even though I don't believe it was mentioned that Johashfat
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  Speaker 1: built a new court. Just kind of funny that the
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  Speaker 1: author threw that little detail in there. So josh Fat
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  Speaker 1: standing in the new court in God's house and he
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  Speaker 1: begins to pray, and he prays one of the most
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  Speaker 1: beautiful prayers I have ever heard, says Yahweh, the God
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  Speaker 1: of our fathers. Aren't you God in heaven? Aren't you
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  Speaker 1: ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and
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  Speaker 1: might are in your hand so that no one is
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  Speaker 1: able to withstand you. Now, don't forget what Judah is
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  Speaker 1: facing at this time. They're facing a huge threat, two
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  Speaker 1: and a half nations coming up against them, multitudes of warriors, fighters,
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  Speaker 1: weapons that Judah just didn't have. And so he praised
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  Speaker 1: this public prayer. You know that everybody is hearing, and
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  Speaker 1: he says, God, you are mighty, You are the only God.
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  Speaker 1: You rule over all the nations on the earth, not
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  Speaker 1: just over Judah, not just over Israel, but all the nations.
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  Speaker 1: You are the ruler. Power and might are in your hand,
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  Speaker 1: and no one is able to withstand you. So he's
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  Speaker 1: giving this encouragement in the middle of this prayer, reminding
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  Speaker 1: his people God is supreme that no matter what nations
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  Speaker 1: come up against Judah, if God is on Judah's side,
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  Speaker 1: they are not going to prevail because God has power
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  Speaker 1: over everything. He rules over all the kingdoms and all
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  Speaker 1: the nations. That he continues, he says, didn't you are God,
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  Speaker 1: drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel,
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  Speaker 1: and give it to the offspring of Abraham, your friend forever.
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  Speaker 1: And this is something we see in a lot of
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  Speaker 1: prayers in scripture, is reminding God of his promises, saying
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  Speaker 1: to him, God, you did this before. This is the
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  Speaker 1: promise that you gave us, So keep your promise. Essentially,
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  Speaker 1: you gave us this land, and these Moabites and these
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  Speaker 1: Ammonites and these Unites are trying to come up against us.
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  Speaker 1: But yet God, you actually drove them out from the beginning.
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  Speaker 1: Don't forget that you promised it to us. You promised
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  Speaker 1: it to Abraham, your friend, and we know that your
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  Speaker 1: promises stand. And then he says, our ancestors lived in
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  Speaker 1: it and have built you sanctuary in it verse eight,
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  Speaker 1: for your name, saying, if evil comes on us, the sword, judgment, pestilence,
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  Speaker 1: or famine, we will stand before this house and before you,
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  Speaker 1: for your name is in this house, and cry to
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  Speaker 1: you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.
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  Speaker 1: So now jehash Fad is repeating the words of his
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  Speaker 1: I think it's great great grandfather Solomon. Remember when Solomon
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  Speaker 1: first built the temple, he gave this really long prayer
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  Speaker 1: where if anybody was sinning, if Israel was sinning and
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  Speaker 1: something bad happened to them, if they came to the
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  Speaker 1: temple and admitted their sin and turned toward God, God
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  Speaker 1: would hear from the temple and help them and eventually
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  Speaker 1: bless them once again. And now that's exactly what Judah
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  Speaker 1: is doing with Jehashvad. They are standing at the temple
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  Speaker 1: praying to God, saying, God, this bad thing is happening
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  Speaker 1: to us. This multitude is coming up against us, and
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  Speaker 1: we don't know exactly what to do. As Solomon and said,
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  Speaker 1: we are standing here begging for your mercy. We will
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  Speaker 1: stand before this house verse nine, and before you, for
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  Speaker 1: your name is in this house, and cry to you
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  Speaker 1: in our affliction, and you will hear and save. Then
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  Speaker 1: he says in verse ten, Now behold the children of
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  Speaker 1: Ammon and Moab and Mount Seer, whom you would not
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  Speaker 1: let Israel invade when they came out of the land
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  Speaker 1: of Egypt, but they turned away from them and didn't
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  Speaker 1: destroy them, to come and cast us out of your
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  Speaker 1: possession which you have given us to inherit. I like
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  Speaker 1: that little statement that johash Fat gives because he's like,
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  Speaker 1: look how these people are rewarding us for the kindness
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  Speaker 1: we did to them. God, our ancestors could have destroyed
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  Speaker 1: them seven hundred years ago when they came out of Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: but they didn't. They didn't because you didn't let them.
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  Speaker 1: You didn't let us destroy them. And now look how
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  Speaker 1: they are repaying us and you. They are trying to
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  Speaker 1: kick us out of your inheritance, out of the land
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  Speaker 1: that you gave us to inherit. I really love that
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  Speaker 1: johash Fat brings all of that back to God. He's like, God,
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  Speaker 1: this land isn't actually ours, it is yours, and you
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  Speaker 1: can give it to whoever you want, but you did
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  Speaker 1: promise it to Abraham, our ancestor, and now we are
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  Speaker 1: living in it. And now these other people who you
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  Speaker 1: showed kindness to so many years ago are trying to
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  Speaker 1: kick us out of this land that is yours that
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  Speaker 1: you gave to us. So don't let them do this,
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  Speaker 1: our God, verse twelve. Will you not judge them? For
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  Speaker 1: we have no might against this great company that comes
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  Speaker 1: against us. We don't know what to do, but our
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  Speaker 1: eyes are on you. I wonder if Josh Fad at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time, is remembering his father, King Aesa,
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  Speaker 1: and how Asa had a very similar situation where a
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  Speaker 1: million Ethiopian soldiers came up against Judah and tried to
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  Speaker 1: destroy it. At that time, you know, Asa also cried
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  Speaker 1: out to God and he didn't know what to do
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  Speaker 1: because a million warriors coming up against Judah that was
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  Speaker 1: a death sentence for everybody. But Asa cried out to
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  Speaker 1: God and God listened to Asa back then. I wonder
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  Speaker 1: if Joosh Fad is remembering that story and also hoping
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  Speaker 1: and believing that God is going to answer him too.
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  Speaker 1: He says, God, we don't know what to do, but
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  Speaker 1: our eyes are on you, so we're gonna wait for
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  Speaker 1: your direction, is what Jeoshfad is saying. I love that prayer.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's a beautiful, beautiful prayer. You know, johash Fat,
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  Speaker 1: you can tell is clearly scared, but he's trying to
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  Speaker 1: be strong for his people. He's worried about his people.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't know what is going to happen in this situation.
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  Speaker 1: He knows that if God is not on his side,
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  Speaker 1: that these Ammonites and these Moabites are going to be
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  Speaker 1: successful in their takeover of Judah. I can't rely on myself,
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  Speaker 1: I can't rely on my people, I can't rely on
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  Speaker 1: my weapons, because the Mobites and the Ammonite they have
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  Speaker 1: far more and they're going to be successful if they
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  Speaker 1: come up against Judah without your help. So we don't
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  Speaker 1: know what to do. So this prayer covers all the
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  Speaker 1: basis of a prayer that you and I should pray
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  Speaker 1: if we're in a circumstance that we just cannot figure
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  Speaker 1: out on our own obviously we're not going to be
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  Speaker 1: in the same circumstances josh Fat here, but there are
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  Speaker 1: certainly trials we're going to go through when we're just like,
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  Speaker 1: why is this happening? How is this happening? And I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if I can survive this? How am I
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  Speaker 1: possibly going to get through this? And scripture gives us
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  Speaker 1: encouragement by showing how God always shows up when we
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  Speaker 1: cry out to him. Reminds me of my favorite Psalm,
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  Speaker 1: Psalm Chapter forty, verses one and two. It says, I
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  Speaker 1: waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he
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  Speaker 1: turned me and heard my cry. He lifted me out
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  Speaker 1: of the pit of despair, out of the mud and
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  Speaker 1: the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and
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  Speaker 1: steadied me as I walked along. I love those verses
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  Speaker 1: some of my favorite verses in the Bible, because when
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  Speaker 1: we cry out to God, he does hear us, and
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  Speaker 1: sometimes it takes him a while to answer, which is
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  Speaker 1: why you know in that Psalm, David said, I waited
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  Speaker 1: patiently for the Lord to help me, so you have
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  Speaker 1: to also have patience. But in the case of jehash
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  Speaker 1: Fat here, he actually didn't need patience because God answered
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  Speaker 1: him like right after this prayer was done, it says
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  Speaker 1: in verse thirteen that all Judas stood before Yahweh with
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  Speaker 1: their little ones, their wives and their children. So this
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  Speaker 1: prayer is done, and so now maybe people are breaking
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  Speaker 1: up into groups to pray. And then it says at
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  Speaker 1: that time in verse fourteen, Yahweh's spirit came on Jehaziel,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Zechariah, the son of Benea, the son
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  Speaker 1: of Jel, the son of Matania, the Levite of the
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  Speaker 1: sons of Asaf, in the middle of the assembly. So
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  Speaker 1: immediately God sends a prophecy to this man named Jehaziel,
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  Speaker 1: who was one of the Levites, and he had a
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  Speaker 1: big name in the levitical tribe as well, because he
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  Speaker 1: was a descendant of Asaf Okay and Asaph was the
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  Speaker 1: really famous Levites that wrote a few psalms and also
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  Speaker 1: was very close to King David. So this man Jehaziel,
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  Speaker 1: stands up in the middle of the assembly and proclaims
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  Speaker 1: a prophecy from God. He says in verse fifteen, listen,
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  Speaker 1: all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King
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  Speaker 1: jehash Fat. He always says to you, don't be afraid
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  Speaker 1: and don't be dismayed because of this great multitude, for
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  Speaker 1: the battle is not yours, but Gods. Oh, I love that.
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  Speaker 1: I love that verse. And you know what, it makes
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  Speaker 1: so much sense because jehash Fat was just saying that
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  Speaker 1: that land they were on was not theirs, but it
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  Speaker 1: was God's. So obviously, if people are coming against that
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  Speaker 1: land to try to take it for themselves, they're not
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  Speaker 1: really fighting a battle against the people of Judah. They're
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  Speaker 1: fighting a battle against God, who owns that land. So
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  Speaker 1: God tells his people this is not your battle. This
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  Speaker 1: is actually my battle. So don't be afraid and don't
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  Speaker 1: be dismayed of this great multitude. Tomorrow verse sixteen, go
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  Speaker 1: down against them. Behold, they are coming up by the
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  Speaker 1: ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end
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  Speaker 1: of the valley, before the wilderness of Jerule. You will
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  Speaker 1: not need to fight this battle. Set yourselves stand still
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  Speaker 1: and see the salvation of Yahweh with you, oh Judah
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  Speaker 1: and Jerusalem. Don't be afraid nor be dismayed. Go out
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  Speaker 1: against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is with you. And if
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  Speaker 1: that is not a test of faith, you know, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know what is God could have just struck all
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  Speaker 1: of those people dead without the Judaites having to go
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  Speaker 1: down there at all to witness it. But God purposely
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  Speaker 1: wanted the people of Judah to go down into that
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  Speaker 1: battle without going to battle. He wanted them to see
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  Speaker 1: the multitude, to see all of the people coming against Judah,
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  Speaker 1: but to stand still and not to fight at all.
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  Speaker 1: So this was definitely a test of their faith. And
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  Speaker 1: that shows right there that God sometimes puts us in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of battle just to show us his great might.
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  Speaker 1: You know, all of us, we don't want to be
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  Speaker 1: part of these battles. We don't want to see them,
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  Speaker 1: we don't want to have to deal with them. But
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  Speaker 1: sometimes God puts us in the middle of them specifically
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  Speaker 1: to show us who he is. And that's what he's
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  Speaker 1: doing right here for Israel. He is showing them exactly
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  Speaker 1: who he is. Because if he just you know, struck
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  Speaker 1: all these Ammonites and Moabites down dead right now, the
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  Speaker 1: people of Judah would never experience seeing God's great power
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  Speaker 1: working for them, and they also wouldn't have that test
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  Speaker 1: of their faith to see how strong they actually are.
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  Speaker 1: So God had several reasons for having the Israelites go
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  Speaker 1: down to battle to literally just stand there and watch
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  Speaker 1: as if they're just viewing a TV show essentially. So
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  Speaker 1: God says, don't be afraid nor be dismayed, go out
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  Speaker 1: against them tomorrow, for Yahweh is with you. And jehasha Fat,
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  Speaker 1: after this prophecy is over, it says he bowed his
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  Speaker 1: head with his face to the ground, and all Judah
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  Speaker 1: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh worshiping Yahweh.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: The Levites of the children of the Koathites and the
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: children of the Korah heights stood up to praise Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, with an exceedingly loud voice. So
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: the people respond to this prophecy. They respond to this
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  Speaker 1: message in faith. Jehash Fat starts prostrating himself immediately in
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: just probably relief that God answered him, and all of
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Judah also prostrated themselves and start worshiping God, and the
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  Speaker 1: Levites started praising God or what he had just said
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  Speaker 1: he would do. So there's definitely a lot we can
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  Speaker 1: learn from today's story, and I'll conclude the episode with
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: those points right after this quick word from a sponsor.
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  Speaker 1: So there's definitely a few things we can learn from
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  Speaker 1: this story. The first being that we have to go
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  Speaker 1: through trials. Everyone has to go through trials. Jesus said
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  Speaker 1: that we do. He said, in this world, you're going
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to experience tribulations, but take heart, because I have overcome
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  Speaker 1: the world. And that's the case right here with jahash Fat,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: in all of Judah, they had to experience this because
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  Speaker 1: they live in a fallen world. Just because they believe
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  Speaker 1: in Yahweh does not mean that they're going to be
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: free of all trouble in life. That's not how things work.
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  Speaker 1: So that's the first thing we can learn from this.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: The second thing we can learn is that God answers us.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when we genuinely seek God and cry out
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  Speaker 1: to him and pray to him, he hears us, and
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  Speaker 1: He will answer us. Sometimes it takes a while, like
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: the Psalmist said in Psalm forty where he says he
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: had to wait patiently for the Lord. Or sometimes it
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: doesn't take any time at all, like in the case
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: right here with Jehashaphat and Israel. How he just finished
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: this prayer and God basically immediately answers him. God works
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  Speaker 1: on his own time, and we have to be patient
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: for God to work because he knows the exact and
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  Speaker 1: most proper time to lift us out of the mire.
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  Speaker 1: As the Psalmist would say, so we have to be
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  Speaker 1: patient for God to hear us, because He will hear
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  Speaker 1: us when we cry out to him. And the third
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  Speaker 1: thing that we can learn from this is that God
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  Speaker 1: teaches us things through our trials. You know, the times
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: when I have grown the most in my life is
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: not when things are going super well for me. Usually
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: I stagnate during those times. It's the times when I'm
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: going through something that I absolutely hate, some sort of trial.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the times in my life that I grow.
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  Speaker 1: And I hate to admit that because I don't want
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: to go through any more trouble in the future, but
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: sometimes it is necessary for us. There's a verse in
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the New Testament that says that when we go through
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: trials and persecutions and tribulations and just problems in life,
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  Speaker 1: it's an opportunity for great joy because it produces endurance
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  Speaker 1: in our life and we learn from those trials that
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  Speaker 1: we went through. And secondly, God often shows his power
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of our trials, and that reminds me
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: of another verse in the New Testament where it says
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: that when I am weak, that's when He is strong.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: So in the case of the Israelites here, they were weak.
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  Speaker 1: They couldn't go up against these Ammonites and these Moabites
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  Speaker 1: by themselves. But yet God was showing his power through
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  Speaker 1: their weakness honestly to benefit them. And God does the
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: same thing for us as well. He shows us his
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  Speaker 1: power at the times when we are the weakest, when
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: we think we can't do anything, he is right there
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: showing us his power. He's with us through these trials,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: and there's a reason for the trials that we go through.
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  Speaker 1: We don't know what it might be right now, but
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  Speaker 1: God knows, and God is going to lift us out
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  Speaker 1: of those and show us what the reason was in
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: his proper time. So, faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: today's episode and learned something from it. If you did,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: share it on your social media platforms and tell people
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: that the Bible Explained podcast exists, and faithful listeners, I'll
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: see you guys tomorrow, bright and early six am or
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: whenever you choose to wake up for an episode from
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: the book two Timothy in the New Testament, all right,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: faithful listeners, have a wonderful rest of your day, happy listening,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and God bless. I just want to take a second
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: with me on the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: you go to life audio dot com you will find
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.