JEHOSHAPHAT’S BATTLE WITH THREE KINGS
[2
Corinthians 20:1-4]
In this time
of the history of Israelites, their kingdom is divided into two nations: Judah
and Israel, but they were all Israelites. At this time Jehoshaphat was the King
of Judah, and three kings rose up together against him.
When he
heard, the first step he took was to set him to seek the Lord. [1Chromicles
20:3]. He prayed to God.
2chromicles
20:11-13
Immediately,
God answered their prayers and spoke through one of the members of the
congregation.
2 Chronicles
20:14-17. Verse 18:19 Exodus 15:3
2 Chronicles
20:20-25
Jehoshaphat
got his army together and put singers ahead of them, so what were God’s
strategies for this fight of faith. He told them:
1.
Believe in
God and you shall be established [Verse 20]
2.
Believe His
prophets and you shall prosper [Verse 20]
3.
Go! they
were to take a step of faith, and they went.
THE FIGHT OF FAITH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
God told
king Jehoshaphat who is a man of the old covenant, that he is not supposed to
fight this battle, how many more of us who are found in the new covenant that the
Bible says I established upon better promises [Hebrews 8:6]
Joshua
13:1-7
This means
that Joshua did not give the people all the promised Land. He took them in, but
they did not get it all. Obadiah 17:21 brings out another important point,
because when the Bible talks about Zion, it refers to the church, showing that
the promised land was far beyond what Israel alone could possess.
Hebrew
4:7-10 psalm 95:7-8 verse 8 of Hebrews 4 is not referring to Jesus Christ but Joshua. The Greek rendering of Joshua is Jesus. He said if back in
the Old Testament, Joshua actually gave the people rest, God would not have
talked about another rest coming, read verse 10.
PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS
We need to
understand properly our warfare in Zion. Ours is a battle that has been won
already. In Zion, we don’t have to fight like those who are not sure of the
outcomes.
We have come
into the rest of God, and we are reigning with a mission to ensure that the
kingdom of God expands. 2Corinthians 10:3-5
In this
scripture, the Bible didn’t say that we should cast down demons like a lot of
people thought but we are charged to cast down theories and doctrines of men.
The
strongholds we have to pull down our thoughts and theories of men that are not aligned
with the gospel of Christ.
JESUS PULLED DOWN STRONGHOLDS BY TEACHING
Mark 6:1-5
These people
had their own ideas; they thought they knew Him that was why they did not
believe Him. And because they did not believe Him, He could not perform mighty
works there.
It is the
same thing today, if the minds of folks are filled with the wrong ideas and
they don’t really know God’s word, they can’t walk by it and receive victories
through it.
That is why
a lot of Christians are still walking in defeat today. How did Jesus deal with
their unbelief, Mark 6:6
By His
teaching, Jesus destroyed those unbelieving ideas they had, and great miracles
began to happen and the teaching of the word God cripples the forces of
unbelief, fear and doubt. That is the way to pull down the stronghold.
PAUL PULLED DOWN STRONGHOLDS AT EPHESUS
Ephesus was
a city that was wholly given to idol worship. Of his experience at Ephesus,
Paul said …”I have fought with beasts at Ephesus”.. [Corinthians 15:32]
How did he
fight with beasts? Was he referring to bulls, some ugly animals or was he
referring to demons? Not really, because we don’t read of him fighting like
this anywhere in the scriptures.
The fights
he fought have to do with doctrines of men that sought to keep men in bondage.
The word of God grew and prevailed in Ephesus so much that their magicians
brought out their costly occult materials to be burnt.
Acts
19:18-20
So Paul
fought and prevailed in Ephesus by teaching the word of God when you teach the
word of God, the minds of the people can be renewed, they are transformed in
the Spirits of their minds. They can then serve God the way they ought to, and
live a life of constant victory.