We come to our final look at the revival recorded in 2 Chronicle 20. Judah’s King Jehoshaphat’s leadership rooted in trust and obedience resulted in one of the greatest deliverances in all of redemptive history. The people of Judah were exemplary in their response to Jehoshaphat’s leadership. May we take to heart these final two lessons we observe in the mighty revival in ancient Judah.

F. God upholds those who believe Him and His Word (vv. 18-28).

Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed."

And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever."

And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD (vv. 18-28, ESV).

In response to Jahaziel's ministry, Jehoshaphat led the people to worship God by bowing down with their faces to the ground. The Levites then sang praises to God "with a very loud voice" (v. 19). This response of sincere worship demonstrates their genuine faith in God and in what He had spoken through His prophet. Their response is truly a model for all believers to follow—worshiping God and thanking Him for His deliverance before the result.

Jehoshaphat is here himself a model of obedience to God's Word as he, in verse 20, rose early the next morning to fulfill God's command. He then encouraged people to put their trust in the Lord and in His prophets. One commentator observed, "Jehoshaphat's words of encouragement to the army are also beyond what the prophet counselled; they are a firm declaration of trust, and attest to the profound transformation wrought in Jehoshaphat as a result of the Lord's intervention. The fearful and bewildered victim has become a decisive leader."

Jehoshaphat commended the word of the prophets to the people. Walter Kaiser asked, "For how will we ever know how to live or think if we do not have the Word from His holy prophets and apostles? Indeed, without such a faith in the Word of God, we shall be denied every opportunity for success and for a genuine revival in our day."

Jehoshaphat appointed singers to go before the army and when they began singing, the Lord caused their enemies to destroy each other. The exact source of the "ambushes" is not certain. Some believe that there were no super-human forces involved. Some see "the heavenly army" as the source for the ambush. Another commentator offered this explanation: "They could not be men of Judah: they were not to fight, but to be passive spectators of their own deliverance. Did the allies set an ambush for Judah, and was it thus that they were afterwards led to mistake their own people for enemies? Or does the chronicler intend us to understand that these 'liers in wait' were spirits . . . or that . . . there fell upon them a spirit of mutual distrust, jealousy, and hatred, that had, as it were, been waiting for them there? But whatever the cause, a quarrel broke out amongst them; and they were smitten."

Whatever the ambush was, God caused it and He caused His enemies to be defeated in the presence of the Jews so that "no one had escaped" (v. 24). Not only did the Jews now have peace from these defeated enemies, but they came and gathered the spoil that was among them - blessing upon blessing! There is no mention of the people offering any of the spoil to God, but they did return to the temple to worship God and celebrate His victory. When God's people believe Him and His Word, He upholds them and brings them through the trial in great victory. Oh the blessings that belong to those who will take God at His word!

G. God uses those He delivers as a testimony to others (vv. 29-30).

And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around (vv. 29-30, ESV).

In the final two verses of the revival account, it is reported that fear came upon all the surrounding nations when they heard the news that the God of Israel had defeated His enemies. William Johnstone noted, "Israel's vocation among the nations of the earth has been fulfilled in exemplary fashion."

W. H. Bennett concluded, "They had experienced a deliverance that might rank with the Exodus; and as at that former deliverance they had spoiled the Egyptians, so now they had returned laden with the plunder of Moab, Ammon, and Edom. And all their neighbours were smitten with fear when they heard of the awful ruin which Jehovah had brought upon these enemies of Israel. No one would dare to invade a country where Jehovah laid a ghostly ambush of liers in wait for the enemies of His people. The realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, not because he was protected by powerful allies or by the swords of his numerous and valiant soldiers, but because Judah had become another Eden, and cherubim with flaming swords guarded the frontier on every hand, and 'his God gave him rest round about.'"

The peace that comes only to God's children is a testimony to the watching world that the God of the Christian is One who does mighty works on their behalf. It may be that God works on behalf of His own, not only for the good of His own, but to convict the watching world and reveal Himself to them. May our prayer life produce such wonderful results as these observed in the revival of King Jehoshaphat.