Thematic Bible: When surrounding nations attacked him he trusted in the lord and gained a great victory 2ch 20


Thematic Bible



Syria and Israel continued without war for three years. In the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And [Ahab] king of Israel said to his servants, Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we keep silence and do not take it from the king of Syria? read more.
And [Ahab] said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead to battle? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first, I pray you, for the word of the Lord today. Then [Ahab] king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I hold back? And they said, Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. Jehoshaphat said, Is there not another prophet of the Lord here whom we may ask? [Ahab] king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good for me, but evil. Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say that. Then [Ahab] king of Israel told an officer, Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting in [royal] robes [or armor], each on his throne in an open place [on a threshing floor] at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron and said, Thus says the Lord: With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed. And all the prophets agreed, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand. The messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, Behold now, the prophets unanimously declare good to the king. Let your answer, I pray you, be like theirs, and say what is good. But Micaiah said, As the Lord lives, I will speak what the Lord says to me. So he came to the king. King [Ahab] said, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we hold back? And he answered, Go and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand. And the king said to him, How many times must I charge you to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord? And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills as sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, These have no master. Let them return every man to his house in peace. Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? And Micaiah said, Hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? One said this way, another said that way. Then there came forth a spirit [of whom I am about to tell] and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. The Lord said to him, By what means? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. [The Lord] said, You shall entice him and succeed also. Go forth and do it. So the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets; and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you. But Zedekiah son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to you? Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself. [Ahab] king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, carry him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, And say, The king says, Put this fellow in prison and feed him with bread and water of affliction until I come in peace. Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me. He [added], Hear, O people, every one of you! So [Ahab] king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your [royal] clothing. And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. But the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, Fight neither with small nor great, but only with [Ahab] king of Israel. And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. They turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. But a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote [Ahab] the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn around and carry me out of the army, for I am wounded. The battle increased that day, and [Ahab] the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and at nightfall he died. And the blood of his wound flowed onto the floor of the chariot. And there went a cry throughout the army about sundown, saying, Every man to his city and his own country,

Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and paid in tribute to the king of Israel [annually] 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams, with the wool. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Joram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. read more.
And he sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to war against Moab? And he said, I will go; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Joram said, Which way shall we go up? Jehoshaphat answered, The way through the Wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. They made a circuit of seven days' journey, but there was no water for the army or for the animals following them. Then the king of Israel said, Alas! The Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into Moab's hand! But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here by whom we may inquire of the Lord? One of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha son of Shaphat, who served Elijah, is here. Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So Joram king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your [wicked] father Ahab and your [wicked] mother Jezebel. But the king of Israel said to him, No, for the Lord has called [us] three kings together to be delivered into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before Whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you [King Joram]. But now bring me a minstrel. And while the minstrel played, the hand and power of the Lord came upon [Elisha]. And he said, Thus says the Lord: Make this [dry] brook bed full of trenches. For thus says the Lord: You shall not see wind or rain, yet that ravine shall be filled with water, so you, your cattle, and your beasts [of burden] may drink. This is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will deliver the Moabites also into your hands. You shall smite every fenced city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop all wells of water and mar every good piece of land with stones. In the morning, when the sacrifice was offered, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, gathered and drew up at the border. When they rose up early next morning, and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water across from them as red as blood. And they said, This is blood; the kings have surely been fighting and have slain one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil! But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. And they went forward, slaying the Moabites as they went. They beat down the cities [walls], and on every good piece of land every man cast a stone, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until only the stones [of the walls of Moab's capital city] of Kir-hareseth were left standing, and the slingers surrounded and took it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he [Moab's king] took his eldest son, who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall [in full view of the horrified enemy kings]. And there was great indignation, wrath, and bitterness against Israel; and they [his allies Judah and Edom] withdrew from [Joram] and returned to their own land.