| LESSONS FROM THE BATTLEFIELD |
| What made Judah win some wars and lose others? |
| Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king os Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with uss than with him. 32:7-8 |
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| No king of Judah had a wholly peaceful reign. As a result, much of the action in 2 Chronicles takes place on a battlefiend. And, in a nutshell, here is the book's philosophy of war: "Humble yourself and rely totally on God - regardless of the odds against you. If you rely on your own military might or that of powerful neighbors, you will lose." Listening to the Prophets Chapter 12, for example, tells of a grave crisis facing Judah's very first king. Five years into Rehoboam's reign, a huge military machine from Egypt rolled in with chariots and battering rams. Surrounded, Rehoboam wanted a word of hope from a prophet. Instead, he got a rebuke: "This is what he Lord says, 'You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak' " (12:5). God was using the armies of Egypt to pnish Judah for its errors. This first invasion set a pattern: whenever an immoral king corrupted the nation, God sent an invading army as punishment. Often the kings of Judah ignored their prophets' hard advice. But in this first case, King Rehoboam repented and humbled himself, saving his country from even greater devastation. A Wrong Way and a Right Way Few kings had the faith to believe in God alone at moments of great peril. Even the best of them reached into the royal treasury and purchased help from neighboring nations. When they did, Judah usually ended up weaker |