God's Gonna Cut You Down

All right, thank you, Pastor Milton. I just have, two other items before we get into the message this morning. One is, is, we've got a couple of our missionaries visiting with us. We have, Sean and Jessica Ransom right here in the back from the Expositor Academy.

Let's welcome them. So if you wanna, go visit with them, this evening, that'd be great. We so appreciate their ministry to pastors in the Philippines and the outreach there, in Asia, keep praying for them as as their home on, on furlough and, teammates with the Greens. So I hope, you're able to visit with them tonight also, because we are meeting next week.

starting at 9:30 for our equipment school, that means our music practice will start at 7:30, which means many of our setup people are gonna be here around 6, 6:30, so we're looking for some help, right around 7 o'clock. So if you'd like to talk, wanna come early to help out, you can talk to Eve or Brian, if you, we'd really appreciate the help, next week. Well, turn in your Bible to 2 Chronicles chapter 18. You can also, if you don't have the sermon notes, you can get them on our website or on the app, or you can text rejoice to 319-96.

That's the same place where we have the song lyrics down at the bottom. Rejoice 31996, as Pastor Milton indicated, the title of our message is God's Gonna Cut You Down. I've been listening to some Johnny Cash this week. And seemed to fit with our text in some respects.

I really appreciate the series that we've been in in the book of Revelation. I don't know about you, but it, it gives me great comfort when I'm reminded that Jesus Christ is the ruler over the kings of the earth, and that he is the almighty one. Two weeks ago, Pastor Milton said this, John notices that something bright and sharp is coming out of his mouth. Something that is both beautiful and dangerous.

Something like a sharp two-edged sword. Something that could cut you to pieces in both directions. In fact, in Revelation 19:15. this sword will smite the nations, unquote.

That two-edged sword is no less than the word of Jesus Christ, the ruler over the kings of the earth. And we're gonna be talking about that word, that sword in our text this evening. In 2 Chronicles 18, we see two kings who are pursued by the Lord. And both heard the word of the Lord.

They both had physical ears to hear, but they both acted contrary to the word. However, they experienced extraordinarily different outcomes. The sword of the Lord cuts two directions. The Lord kills and makes alive.

But what accounts for the difference in the outcome of these two kings? This evening, we're gonna look how our own stories fit into the grand story of the Alpha and the Omega, by looking at 6 scenes in our text. But before we look at those scenes, let's, let's start by setting the stage. And let's cheat a little bit by looking at the end of the story.

You're not supposed to do that, but look at chapter 19. Particularly verse 2. Where Jehu, the son of Hannani, the seer, went out to meet him, that is Joseph Jehoshaphat and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked? And love those who hate the Lord.

Therefore, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. In such a statement, Jehu gives us the Lord's assessment of what has just transpired. And he also gives us the outline of our text in chapter 18. Remember last week, Pastor Milton in preaching from Revelation chapter 2 in verse 6, Jesus says, but this you have to the Ephesians, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

The Ephesians hated what Christ hated. In our text tonight, we're gonna see that Jehoshaphat loves somebody who hates the Lord. And that's part of his fatal flaw. So we're gonna, this evening, we're going to see how the sword of the Lord cuts in two directions.

And our own story is how it fits into the story of the Alpha and the Omega, as we look at 6 scenes. Let's look at the first scene in your outline. Jehoshaphat is persuaded to make an alliance to help the wicked Ahab. Look at verse one.

Jehoshaphat Had riches and honor in abundance. Jehoshaphat, by the way, by the way, means Jehovah judges, and he had riches and honor in abundance. This is not a criticism of Jehoshaphat. If you look at the previous chapter, it's actually a blessing.

In 2 Chronicles 17:3, it says the Lord was with Jehoshaphat. And and he walked in the ways of his father David. In 2 Chronicles, in fact, in Chronicles and Kings in general, anytime you're compared to David, it's a good thing, because one of the themes of Kings and Chronicles is the sure mercies of David or the covenant that is made with through David, the type of Christ. And so Jehoshaphat walks according to David.

And he sought God, his father and walked in his commandments. Verse 5, therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah gave him presents, and he had riches and honor. So this riches and honor actually from the Lord, part of his connection to David. And then in verse 6 of the previous chapter, and his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord.

So Jehoshaphat is a king who took delight in the ways of the Lord. In fact, Jehoshaphat, up to this point in the in the history of Judah, this is the the highest, the best king, to this point. If you remember the line of Judah, we had Reaboam and Abijah and Asa was a very good king, but when you get to Jehoshaphat, this is the best of the best. And so this would, there would be a sense in which Judah might think that this is the promised king, this is the branch.

This is the one that's gonna come and and deliver us. He's he's causing people to go back into the ways of the Lord. In fact, he's sending out Levites to teach people the Torah and the ways of the Lord. Blessing is upon his kingdom.

Peace and Shalom begins to come. In fact, he begins to have peace, even with Ahab, which brings us to the next part of this verse. And by marriage, he allied himself with Ahab. And all God's people said, oh no.

That's exactly what you'd be saying if you were a citizen of Judah. We thought Jehoshaphat was the man, and now he is aligning himself with wicked King Ahab. Now just like everybody gets compared to David, and after this, many are gonna get compared to Jehoshaphat. You wanna talk about wicked?

Everybody after this gets compared to Ahab. In fact, in chapter 16 of First Kings, it says now Ahab, the son of Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him, and it came to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam. Jeroboam, you think Jeroboam was bad. Ahab was worse, and everybody gets compared to Ahab.

Not only that, is we're gonna see this. This alignment is an alignment through marriage, and if Jehoshaphat could do this over again, he would have. What comes out of this marriage is a a marriage that produces Ahhaziah. we have this this marriage between Ahazaiah and Alia Alethea.

And she is the the wicked king that we'll read about a little bit later. Then verse two, after some years, if you wanna know the date of what's going on here, it's around 1852 BC. After some years, Jehoshaphat went down to visit Ahab in Samaria. This is about 32 miles away, and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance, for him and the people who are with him.

So he wines and dines, Jehoshaphat and his entourage. And then it goes on and says, and he persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth, Gilead. The word here persuaded is, is a word that means allure. He enticed him.

He diverted Jehoshaphat to go up with him to Ramoth, Gilead. First Kings chapter 22, the parallel passage tells us part of the way in which he persuaded or allured Jehoshaphat. Ahab spoke to his servants and basically reminded them that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and yet we are hesitating to go up and take it. We are not acting like men, we are hesitating.

And so Jehoshaphat overhears this. by the way, this is a, an area that was a, a city of refuge. It was, it did belong to Israel. It was a Levite town.

It did belong to them. Ahab should have taken it. He should have finished off Ben Hadad, but he let him go and was later rebuked by a mysterious prophet. And and so perhaps Ahab is wanting to make things right, and, and he's wanting to go back and finish what he should have done before.

verse 3, so Ahab, king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, will you go up with me against Ramoth Gilead? Ahab knows he can't do this alone. He doesn't have the army that military that Jehoshaphat has. Look back at chapter 17 sometime on your own.

Jehoshaphat has almost a million in his standing military, just a huge army. What does Jehoshaphat say? And he answered, I am as you are and my people as your people. We will be with you in the war, which translated means, yes, I will go into battle with you.

But notice that this sounds very much like an oath, or at the very least, he is giving his word. he is giving his word to. To Ahab. So, in this particular scene, we have Jehoshaphat giving his word to help the wicked king.

And thus Jehu later in our narrative says, should you help the wicked? The sword of the Lord cuts in two directions. Let's look at scene two, where we see Jehoshaphat loves Ahab, who hates the Lord and his prophet. Remember Jehu says in chapter 19 verse 2, Should you help the wicked?

And love those who hate the Lord. Should you really love those who hate the Lord? Well, how is Jehoshaphat loving those who hate the Lord? Look at verse 4 and following.

Also, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire for the word of the Lord today. Jehoshaphat has already given his word to Ahab. Now he wants to hear Yahweh's word. That's good, right?

He wants to hear from Yahweh. Verse 5, then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together. 400 men, it's the same number that we see back in chapter 18. These are probably the leftover prophets of Ashira left over from Mount Carmel.

And he said to them, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or shall I refrain? So they said, go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand. So these prophets for hire, probably prophets of Ashira, say to their boss, go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand.

I don't know if you noticed anything about the way they phrase that, but this is very ambiguous. Which God? Deliver what? To which king?

Which makes John Gill say this is just like the oracles of the heathen, that they're so ambiguous, so that the credit of their prophecy would be very secure, no matter who won. Well, Jehoshaphat smells a rat. And so in verse 6, Jehoshaphat said, is there not still a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him? So Jehoshaphat won't quite call them false prophets at this royal gathering, but he is asking for a prophet of Yahweh.

Verse 7, so the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat. There is one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord. By the way, why isn't he calling for Elijah? Well, Elijah and his Padwan learner, Elisha would not be in Samaria at this time.

They're off doing what Elijah does. He just appears. He's probably in Jezreel, but he's clearly not present. And so, but there is one prophet that is there, and, but Ahab says, I hate him.

Because he never prophesized good concerning me, but evil. His name is Makah, the son of Imlah. So this prophet, Ahab hates. Makaya, by the way, his name means who is like the Lord, is perhaps first seen in First Kings chapter 20.

There's several times where a nameless prophet shows up in the annals of Ahab, and many people suspect that Makaya is that prophet. In fact, the Jewish writers in the Targum suggest, just that. And by the way, Ahab did recognize a particular prophet. I don't know if you remember the prophet that was had somebody smite him and he comes bandaged up and then he takes the bandages off and Ahab recognizes him and and so many think that this is indeed Makah.

Jehoshaphat said, Oh, tsh tsh, let not the king say such things. Now no, Ahab hates the true prophet of the Lord. How will this affect his relationship with Jehoshaphat? Let's see, verse 8.

Then the king of Israel called one of his officers, probably a eunuch, that's what the Hebrew says, and said, Bring Makah, the son of Imla, quickly, right now. And he can bring him quickly, probably because Makah is on house arrest from his last prophecy, and thus Ahab keeps him on retainer. Verse 9, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne, and they sat on a threshing floor that's a flat area for a nice regal gathering at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, where all such events would take place, and all the prophets prophesized before them.

This is pomp and grandeur.

if you and I were transported into a scene like this, like the kids in Super Book, if you've ever watched that, I think we'd all be a little bit freaked out by this quasi pagan ecumenical gathering. but enter now the entertainment for the evening, verse 10. Now Zedekiah, the son of Kanana, had made horns of iron for himself, and he said, thus says Yahweh. Now we get the name of Yahweh is being called upon, no doubt for the sake of Jehoshaphat.

With these, you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed. Church was always a lot of fun when Zedekiah was there. Prophets, by the way, they like visual aids. and by the way, there is a Torah text behind this very unusual activity in Deuteronomy 33:17.

We see that there is a prophecy of, of Joseph and the tribe of Joseph goring his enemies with horns and Ahab, by the way, came from the tribe of Joseph. Verse 11, and all the prophets prophesized, so and saying, go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for Yahweh will deliver it into the king's hand. Now everybody is joining in on the Yahweh speak after Zedekiah. Notice they are all unanimous.

Everyone is having a good time. Meanwhile, back at King Ahab's rehabilitation center for hated prophets. Verse 12, then the messenger who had gone to Makaya spoke to him, saying, Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Therefore, please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement.

Can't you just go along with the program for once? Makah, surely you can control the word. You can make it say something positive for once, be a pal. Verse 13, Makah said, as the Lord lives, that's an oath.

Whatever my God says that I will speak. And so now we have the tension set in this scene, verse 14. Then he came to the king, and the king said to him, Makayah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain? And he said, Go and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.

The record screeches what. Is Makaya caving in? No, as we see in the context here, this is just the regular routine. Look at verse 15.

So the king said to him, How many times must I, in the Hebrew here, it's a participle. Must I keep on making you swear that you will tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord. He notices that Makah 1 did not speak in the name of the Lord. He doesn't believe that he's really given them the truth, and they've been through the same court routine many times.

that's why one of the commentaries says it would seem from this that Ahab on former occasions had consulted Makayah and been dissatisfied, dissatisfied with his answers. Ahab says, by the way, that he wants the truth, lots of laughs. Let's do this again. Makaya says, so to speak, and so Makayah gives him two visions.sion number 1 verse 16.

Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd, and Yahweh said, these have no master. Let them each return to his house in Shalom. That doesn't sound very good, does it? Verse 17, the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, he gets the message, Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?

No doubt this is part of the persuasion. Ahab hates the truth, but he's trying to convince Jehoshaphat the truth has not been told. Vision number 2, the word of the Lord cuts two ways, verse 18. Then Makah said, therefore, hear the word of the Lord.

Let me call upon the name of the Lord for you now. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne. And all the hosts of heaven standing on his right hand and his left. This is a higher throne than your threshing floor, and these are angels, not just your Ashira prophets on pay.

Verse 19, and the Lord said, who will persuade Ahab, king of Israel, to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead. Now the word persuade here in the Hebrew is a different word. It's actually a stronger word. The idea of who will open up their lips and cause Ahab to fall in.

So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner, probably from the left and the right. Verse 20 then a spirit or literally the spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh. The text here, the spirit probably means the evil spirit, i.e. Satan, who comes forward, not from his left or his right, not from the host, but comes before him and says, I will persuade him, same evil word.

I will open the mouth and cause him to fall in. Yahweh said to him, in what way? Verse 21, so he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets, not the Lord's prophets. Notice the power of one spirit to control 400 false prophets simultaneously.

And Yahweh said, you shall open up the mouth and cause him to fall in. You shall persuade him and prevail. Go out and do so. The power of the Lord to control all things.

It reminds us somewhat of what happened with Jesus and Judas in John 13:27, where it says then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into Judas, and Jesus said, what you are going to do, do quickly. Verse 22. Makaya gives basically the interpretation of this second vision. Therefore, behold.

Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and Yahweh has declared disaster against you. And a hush comes over the room. At this point, commentators and readers get very uptight about the Lord deceiving Ahab in this passage. But let me make what should be a very obvious observation here.

The Lord is telling Ahab what is going on. It's not deception if God is telling him what he is going to do. This is actually a mercy. And by the way, God has sent Ahab more than his share of true prophets.

We need to remember that one of the ways that the sword of the Lord of the of the Lord's word cuts is by revealing truth. But once that truth is spurned, he may cut by concealing it. Remember in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9, speaking of that time during the tribulation, during the day of the Lord, it says, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish. Why?

Because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. They're culpable. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie and that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure and unrighteousness. What you see in here is divine compatibility that God is involved in decreeing things according to people's suppression of the truth in unrighteousness, and in God's mind, there is no contradiction.

Remember when Saul had rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord sent a distressing spirit upon him. Look at verse 23. Then Zedekiah, our entertainment gets involved again. The son of Kanaah went near and struck Makaya on the cheek and said, which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to you?

Which is somewhat difficult to interpret. One commentator puts it this way, how is it possible that the same spirit should tell us one thing and you quite something contrary? By the way, Makah is probably the same prophet who got struck back in First Kings chapter 20, as many early Jewish writers say, and so he's used to this thing, doesn't seem to mind it a bit. Verse 24, Makah said, indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide, implied, you're gonna be running for your life when Ahab dies.

Verse 25, then the king of Israel said, Take Makah, return him to Ammon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son, and say, thus says the king, put this fellow in prison and feed him on the bread of affliction, water of affliction until I return in Shalom. Bread of affliction basically means barely enough to eat. And so he's returned, not just back to his his house where he was on retainer, but now he's put in a an actual prison. Verse 27, but Makah said, if you ever return in Shalom, Yahweh has not spoken by me, and he said, take heed all you people.

Whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear. And basically, time will tell. Let's just wait and see what happens. The true prophet's word will be revealed.

Verse 28. So how does Jehoshaphat respond to all this? Jehoshaphat has just watched what's happened. He's seen the 400 give their unanimous prophecy.

He's watched Zedekiah's antics. He's seen Makah come in and contradict and give two visions. How does he respond so? The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth, Gilead.

Record screech right here. Question, what? So let's summarize, Jehoshaphat Makaya are on different sides now, though they are both believers in Yahweh. Jehoshaphat and Ahab are together, though Ahab is wicked and Jehoshaphat is a righteous king.

Yahweh is using the spirit that is the devil, and in the next scene, Ben Hadad, the king of Syria, is also gonna be an instrument of Yahweh. And this all makes us just stand back and say, Jehoshaphat, what are you thinking? Why are you doing this? Well, he had given his word to Ahab.

Ahab's cause was just. There is this unity between Israel and Judah that had not been had for a long, long time, 150 years. Maybe like Elijah, Jehoshaphat may be trying to believe the best about Ahab. Ahab did turn over a new leaf after letting Ben Hadad go.

Maybe this is just part of Ahab's penance. But again, remember what Jehu says his assessment of this whole incident. Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Ultimately, Jehoshaphat is loving those who hate the Lord.

The sword of the Lord cuts in two directions. And this I wanna suggest in our next scene is actually a sign of the wrath of the Lord, which brings us to our next scene. The remaining scenes are gonna go much more quickly. See 3, the wrath of the Lord comes upon Ahab and Jehoshaphat.

Don't miss that. The wrath of the Lord comes upon Ahab, we expect that. But it also comes upon Jehoshaphat. We don't expect that.

Again, notice 19:2, Jehu says, therefore, the wrath of the Lord is upon you. It's on you. It's on you. Verse 29, how do we see the wrath of the Lord on these two?

1 verse 29, the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I'm inserting that, by the way. I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes. And maybe part of the explanation is, by the way, you're not the target of Syrian rage. You're not the subject of Makay's prophecy, and you can take the honorable place of battle.

So what happens? So the king of Israel disguised himself and They went in to battle. Record screech. Jehoshaphat, what are you thinking?

But what is Ahab thinking? Ahab thinks he can hide from the sword of the Lord. We're gonna see that can't happen. Jehoshaphat just stops thinking.

And I think that's the evidence that the wrath of the Lord is on him at this moment. He is not reasoning. He is no longer processing the revelation of Makah. He's not processing things properly.

could it be that the Lord has pulled wool over Jehoshaphat's eyes, and he's just taking stupid pills? Now we see in, even in the New Testament, we're warned as, as believers to be careful of the devil, right? We, we're not ignorant of his devices. We have to watch out for deception.

There's warnings all over the place. And here in this context, Jehoshaphat is in trouble. Cut now to the army of Syria or Iran. Verse 30, this is part again of this wrath that is on them.

Now the king of Syria or Aramea, is what the Hebrew says, which is Syria, had commanded the captains, that is 32 captains of the chariots who were with him saying, fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel. This isn't looking good for Jehoshaphat. have you ever put yourself in a situation that you should not have been in? If you'd just listen to the word of the Lord.

I don't know about you, but this is one of the reasons why I love this passage, and I've been drawn to this passage for a long time. I've put myself in situations that I should not have been. If I would have listened to the Lord, all of a sudden I find myself in a place, and I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm just sure the sword's coming down, and it's gonna be over.

And I know I deserve it. Jehu does say. Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore, the wrath of the Lord Jehoshaphat is on you.

So which direction does this sword cut for Jehoshaphat? Let's look at scene 4. Scene 4. Jehoshaphat cries out, and the Lord helps him escape with his life.

This is completely unexpected. Look at verse 31. So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, it's the king of Israel. Therefore, they surrounded him to attack.

What do you think Jehoshaphat was thinking at that moment? I think if I was Jehoshaphat for at least for a split second, I would be saying, Oh no, this is exactly what I deserve. Perhaps the lights came on for just a moment. I put myself here.

Now I am going to die. But what does Jehoshaphat do? But Jehoshaphat. Like Abijah, his grandfather, like Asa, his father cried out.

He cried out, like we see in Psalm 107, again and again and again. He cried out, and what does the Lord do? The Lord helped him. How is Yahweh helping?

Jehoshaphat, how is he helping him? And why would he help the one who was helping the wicked in loving God's enemies? Jehoshaphat's name means Jehovah judges, but here he is getting mercy. How does God show mercy?

It says in the text, and God diverted them from him. Now that word diverted is the exact same word that's used in verse two when it says Ahab persuaded or allured or diverted Jehoshaphat to go up to Ramoth, Gilead. Ahab had diverted Jehoshaphat. Now the Lord diverts the Syrian captains.

in Psalm 56:9, it says, when I cry out to you, then my enemies will turn back. This I know because God is for me. Jehoshaphat gets to see in real time. That while he had put himself in a situation he should not have been in, he had acted contrary to the word of the Lord.

The Lord was for him. Look at verse 32, and so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. This is what makes Matthew Henry say in his commentary, we should be cautious of entangling ourselves in worldly undertakings of evil men. Amen.

And still more, we should avoid engaging in their sinful projects. But when they call upon him, God can and will bring his faithful people out of the difficulties and dangers into which they have sinfully run themselves. Such a beautiful statement from Matthew Henry. So oftentimes, God's people put themselves in situations by their own sinful choices.

It was Pilgrim and, and, and faithful, who had put themselves in doubting Castle. Actually, it was Hope, Pilgrim and Hope had put themselves there, and yet the promises of God delivered them. The sword of the Lord cuts in two directions. In this case, we see beauty and mercy.

But let's look at the 5th scene. Wounded in battle, Ahab props himself up and dies. Verse 33. Now a certain man.

Drew a bow at random. Let me just talk about that certain man for a second. We don't know exactly who this man is, but the Targum, that's an Aramaic translation or interpretation of the Hebrew Old Testament, suggests that this man was Namon, the leper. We don't know for sure, but it's an early Jewish tradition.

A certain man drew a bow at random. And struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor, between his breastplate and the scale armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded. A random arrow.

This is no doubt meant to be irony, just a random arrow. It doesn't mean that a Namon or whoever it was just shot at nothing. They shot at a soldier, but not knowing that it was Ahab and hit Ahab between his armor. Verse 34, the battle increased that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up.

In his chariot facing the Syrians until evening, and about the time of sunset, he died. Notice he propped himself up. The other text says was propped up it's probably a combination. He's trying to prop himself up, his charioteers trying to help him.

But what you don't see is Ahab does not cry out to the Lord. He tries to stand bravely in battle. He props himself up in his chariot until he bleeds out at sunset. Over in the parallel text in First Kings, we have this gloss.

Then someone washed the chariot at the pool and Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken. The sword of the Lord cuts two ways. Moses reminds us in Numbers 32, be sure your sin will find you out. This isn't karma.

This is your own personal Jesus. The sword of the Lord cuts in two ways. And in this case, it's not beauty and mercy, it's danger and wrath. Which makes Benson say this, Who can hurt those whom the Lord will protect?

And what can shelter those whom the Lord will destroy. Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes. Ahab is killed in his armor. The sword of the Lord cuts in two directions.

Let's look at the final scene. Jehoshaphat returns home safely. I chastised, but then goes out again to bring the people back to the Lord. Notice chapter 19 verse 1.

Then Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned literally in Shalom. Ahab said, when I come back in Shalom, We'll see Ahab does not come back, but Jehoshaphat comes back in Shalom to his house in Jerusalem. And as prophets do, a prophet appears all over kings and chronicles. Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?

Therefore, the wrath of the Lord upon you. The idea is the wrath of the Lord on you. It was on you. It is on you.

It's on you. This is the same idea of David, the wrath that was upon David for counting and numbering his troops and pestilence came down. It reminds us of Habakkuk, chapter 3 verse 2, where we see the prophet say, oh Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid in wrath. Remember.

Mercy And that's exactly what we see in verse 3. Jehu the prophet says, wrath of the Lord on you. But then in verse 3, there's a nevertheless, there's a but God, good things. Good things are found in you.

Are found, found by whom? Found by the Lord. The Lord is the one who calls to mind Jehoshaphat's previous deeds. Good things are found in you and that you have removed or you have cut down the ashira poles, the wooden images from the land and have prepared your heart.

You would determined previously to seek God. Why did Jehoshaphat have the wherewithal to cry out to the Lord in the middle of his trouble? Why did he cry out so instinctively in battle? No doubt it was a reflex born a previous decision and determination.

He had prepared his heart to seek the Lord, and though he had despised the word of the Lord and had gone contrary to the word of the Lord when he was surrounded by the enemies, his enemies, he cried out instinctively to the Lord because he had prepared his heart. To seek the Lord. Then in verse 4, so Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem, and he went out again, because he had done this previously, among the people from Beersheba all the way in the south, to the mountains of Ephraim to the northern part of his kingdom.

And brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers.

He went and did the first works. He went back to what he had been doing previously, getting the teaching out through the Levites and bringing people back to the Lord. The sword of the Lord cuts in two directions. I think we see in this narrative, the truth of James chapter 4 that God resists or opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

If we lament and mourn and weep, if we cry out and humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, he will lift you up. it'd be great. If this episode of the Chronicles of Judah ended with Jehoshaphat riding off into the sunset with no remaining issues with sin and weakness. But our author wrecks everything for us by telling us about Jehoshaphat's yet another alliance with Ahhiziah, and how his business venture had to be shipwrecked by Yahweh for him to finally learn his lesson.

That's actually one of the themes that we see in Chronicles and Kings, and really in the whole Bible, for that matter, that when you get to a nice place where you could just tie things up in a nice neat little bow and say, there you go. Everything gets wrecked, and now we're left looking for another king. Jehoshaphat is still considered a good king. He's a he's he's referred to as one of the most godly kings, who, who governed in a good way according to the sure mercies of David.

But one of the things that we're reminded of in this narrative and really throughout chronicles, is there's only one hero, the Alpha and the Omega, the King of kings. His name is not Jehoshaphat, Yahweh judges. His name is Jesus, Yahweh saves. And so let's make some applications of our text, going off of what we heard last week, the idea of remember, repent and repeat.

Let's make some applications underneath those headings. First of all, remembrance. Jehu said, nevertheless, good things are found in you. The Lord remembered what Jehoshaphat had done, and he was gracious to bring that back to Jehoshaphat's memory.

And remember, in 2 Chronicles 16, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to him. And so the Lord looks out at us tonight and he reminds each one of us to remember the things that we have done for the Lord previously, not to earn favor, but as a recognition of the fruit that the Lord has done in our lives. Remember Jehoshaphat did delight in the Lord. He loved the Lord and the Lord blessed him according to the sure mercies of David, but he had gotten off track.

And the Lord calls him to remember what he had done before. He also reminds them that you'd cut down the wooden images from the land and, and you had determined to seek after God and so we can also remember to seek after our God and to continually go to the word of the Lord and trust the merciful slice in which through which God wishes to heal his people. Let's talk about repentance. Let's ask a question.

As you read this text, do you find yourself in the category of Jehoshaphat? Or Ahab. Are you Jehoshaphat? Or are you Ahab?

What's the difference? And how do Well, from this text, I think we see the difference. Are you propping yourself up in your chariot, waiting to die? Or you crying out to the Lord in humility.

Listen to What, Psalm 10 says, actually, before we read that. You might say to yourself, as I've said to myself at times, but I'm having trouble humbling myself and I don't know that I really have ears to hear. I'm trying to humble myself and I keep welling up with pride, and I'm trying to listen and I keep disregarding the Lord. Listen to Psalm 10:16.

Yahweh is king forever and ever. Verse 17, Yahweh. You have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart.

You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear. Hard work is the Lord's work. You can't do it.

That's the point. He does the work. You cry out to him, he prepares the heart, and then he opens his ear to you as you cry, and then he opens your ears and gives you ears to hear. Jehoshaphat's name means Yahweh has judged, but Jesus' name means means Yahweh saves.

And we see both in the Old and the New Testament, this reminder that the Lord says, I will give you the sure mercies of David. David, that type of Christ, the covenant of David reminds us that we're talking about a unilateral covenant that depends upon God, not upon ourselves. It's his promises that he puts over us and promises to protect us as we merely cry out in faith. this week I have to confess that I was listening to Johnny Cash in that song that God's gonna cut you down and I recommend the lyrics.

They're actually incredible lyrics, but I was reading down in the comments below and I read this testimony of an individual that said for 20 years. I've tried to reject Jesus. Early this year, the Lord hump. Sorry, humbled me.

More than my wildest dreams. God cut me down, and now it's. building me up. And there are people all over this parking lot, that have that same testimony.

What about your story? What about my story? This, this is one of the reasons why I love this chapter. so much.

Because I do identify with Jehoshaphat. Poor Makah is there and should, should have some help from Jehoshaphat, but Jehoshaphat leaves him high and dry in prison and goes out into battle with the Lord's enemy. And yet the Lord helps the one who is helping wicked Ahab. Luke 20 Jesus says this, he will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others, and when they heard it, they said, certainly not.

This is the Pharisees. Then he looked at them and said, what then is this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. We're called cornerstone here. What is this cornerstone gonna do according to Jesus?

Well, whoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Whoever falls on Christ will be broken, and it's a broken and contrite heart that the Lord loves and can't resist responding to. But those who will not fall upon the cornerstone will have it fall upon them, and will be grinded to powder and will be stricken down as Ahab was in his sin. As you consider repentance, renounce false loves as we talked about last week.

Just be repenting, period. I'll ask again, when's the last time you repented? Have you repented this week? We should be repenting daily.

Repentance is something that gives us hope. It's not just to make us feel bad. It gives us hope that there's something that we can do rather than just trying to prop ourselves up until we bleed out. Let me read from This hymn of the faith by Johnny Cash.

You can run for a long time. Run on for a long time, run on for a long time. Sooner or later, God, he'll cut you down. Go tell them.

Go tell that long tongue liar. Tell them God's gonna cut them down. It's one way that it slices. In the following verse, he says, well, goodness gracious, let me tell you the news.

My head's been wet with midnight dew. I've been down on bended knee, talking to the man from Galilee. He spoke to. Sorry, I shouldn't be crying on a Johnny Cash song.

Although that is country, but He spoke to me in a voice so sweet, and I thought I heard the the shuffle of angels' feet. And, called my name, my heart stood still when he said, go do my will. It can cut both ways. And if we would just simply humble ourselves and bow the knee, the Lord will give us great grace.

So we can remember, we can repent, but we can also repeat, go back and do the first works. Read back through this story. Ask the Lord to open up your eyes. Jehoshaphat went back up throughout his kingdom, and he, he reinvigorated his evangelism ministry and saw many people come back to the Lord, even after his severe blunder, and even after his remaining blunders with Ahhiziah.

And then we can, let me add a 4th are we can rely. We can rely upon Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega. This is his story. There's a lot of craziness in this story.

We've got people who should be on the same side that are on different sides. We've got the Lord in control, but he's using his host, but he's also using the devil. We've got Makah, a good prophet. We've got a share of prophets who are thought to be prophets of the Lord.

There's just a lot of confusion. But ultimately, this is the story of the Alpha and the mega. It's his story. He reigns over all, and just as a final demonstration of just the mystery of of how the Lord is weaving the story together, that in one of these campaigns, perhaps this very campaign, an Israeli girl is captured by the Syrian army and brought back to Syria.

And becomes the slave of Namon, and then testifies to Namon, Hey, there's a prophet named Elisha. If you go to him, he'll heal your leprosy. Namon, an enemy of the Lord, goes to Elisha, gets healed as he dips 7 times in the river and becomes a Yahweh worshiper. Who can dream up such stories?

What God is this that can have all of these pieces moving and save an enemy of the Lord while he's executing justice on Ahab, and at the same time showing mercy on Jehoshaphat? What God are we dealing with? This is inscrutable. Revelation 1:16.

He had in his right hand 7 stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Probably expecting.

Judgment But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, do not be afraid, for I am the first and the last. Let's bow in prayer Our eternal God, we are greatly humbled by the text before us that is your sure word, according to the mercies of David who points us to Christ. You are unchanging and mysterious. Your ways are unknown.

Your boundless love is unfailing. We see in this text your. Your righteousness, your judgment. But your grace and your mercy.

We see angels surround your glorious throne, raising their voices to you. And tonight we say hallelujah. And we praise you. We recognize, Lord, that we are weak and we are frail, and we are helpless, amidst the fog and the storms of this life.

And we ask this evening that you would surround us. With your angels and that you would hold us secure in your arms. Lord, that our enemy is cold and ruthless. And it is his pleasure to do us harm.

And so we cry out to you that you would rise up, O Lord, knowing that he will flee before our sovereign God. You rule all things by the power of your word. We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, our King, and all God's people said, Amen.