the pre-play of our own salvation

The Word for today:
2 Chronicles 21:1-22:9

mark this: 2 Chronicles 20:17
Stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf.

Over the last couple of days I've tried to ready you for one of the greatest chapters in the Bible.

I built this up, and raised your expectations--knowing that I could not overstate it--because Jehoshaphat's deliverance is a comprehensive picture and prophecy of the greatest battle ever fought, the greatest miracle ever wrought.

Two days ago, I stressed the fact that the people needed faith to make this miracle a reality.

Yesterday I stressed the fact that the people were powerless, utterly incapable of saving their own doomed lives, so they looked to God to save them.

And thus we arrive at the scene of the greatest battle ever fought.

The first thing we note is that God told the people not to fight at all!
You will not need to fight in this battle. (2 Chronicles 20:17)

He told them to just stand there!
Stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf. (2 Chronicles 20:17)

Because, you see, the LORD God was going to fight and win this battle alone:
Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the battle is not yours but God's. (2 Chronicles 20:15)

And then the battle commenced. It was the most astonishing victory ever achieved, because God caused his enemies to defeat themselves!--
The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. (2 Chronicles 20:23)

***

Somewhere in the back of your mind is a rustling, a stirring, as you read the account of the deliverance of Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel. There is a vague sense that you've somehow witnessed this battle before.

That's because we have. In our hearts and in our understanding, we stand -- here in 2 Chronicles 20 -- at the pre-play of our own salvation.

Helpless to defend ourselves, we stand.

We stand and we watch as God, utterly alone, fights the battle for us. We watch as he who knew no sin became sin (1)--turning sin against itself.

Then we watch him die, turning death against itself.

We stand, in awe, and see the salvation of the LORD on our behalf.

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(1) 2 Corinthians 5:21