The books of Chronicles and Kings are full of battles, which make for a good read, but what do they teach us Christians today? In the passage from 2 Chronicles, the good king Asa cries out to God:
“LORD, there is no-one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this great army. O LORD, you are are God; do not let man prevail against you.” (2 Chron 14:11)
This sounds like the kind of prayer we might pray – but what is the equivalent situation of coming up against “this great army”?
1. These enemies of God’s people are those who prevent them from enjoying rest in the land – in the kingdom of God. The enemies that threaten our rest in the kingdom of God are not physical armies, but Satan and his demons. These were defeated by Jesus at the cross (Col 2:15, Heb 2:14-15) – and so the ‘army’ we come up against is one that has already been defeated!
2. Satan does however still have power and influence in this world, even though he does not hold the power of death over believers. We do still have a fight to be fought – and so we are to put on the full armour of God (Eph 6:10-18). This prayer of Asa’s would be a good one to pray when facing temptation, when feeling guilt, or doubt, all of which can be used by Satan to undermine our faith.
3. Perhaps there is a more mundane parallel to the ‘army’ that was against Judah. In those days, kings went out to war (usually in the spring! – 1 Chron 20:1.) So in some sense, as well as this battle having a spiritual aspect to it – “let not man prevail aginst you” (i.e. God) – it might also be paralleled with the ‘normal’ frustrations of life that we face. An unfair employment situation, family illness or bereavement, relationship breakdown. Asa prayed, remembering God’s power, and put his trust in God not in his own strength. We are not promised miraculous deliverances in all these situations – but we can be confident that in them God works for our good, and will not ultimately let us perish or fall away from faith.
We need to remember that the God we pray to and trust in is the ‘Lord of armies’ (often translated ‘Lord of hosts’ or ‘Lord almighty’ in our translations.) He is the one who fought the battles for his people in the Old Testament, he is one who is sovereign even over the most wicked and powerful forces in the world, he is the Lord of legions of angels who do his bidding.
When faced with circumstances beyond his control, Asa didn’t look to himself, but to the Lord, who was mighty and powerful to save. We should do the same, remembering that the God who can defeat vast armies of thousands, and has defeated Satan once and for all at the cross, is more than powerful to keep us safe and sustain us through whatever we are facing. If we are God’s people, then for our enemies ultimately to prevail against us, they would “prevail against you [God]” (2 Chron 14:11). And we can be confident that this will never, ever happen!
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