Jehoshaphat Worship Is Warfare

As I worked on my manuscript, I caught a couple of mistakes, so I would encourage you to read the transcript. As we continue our message from two weeks ago, we see that the book of Revelation is not only a book on worship; it is a book about worship as warfare. As we sing the New Song that names the name of the Lord Jesus explicitly (Revelation 5:9-10, 11-14), the heavenly hosts wage war on our behalf (Revelation 8:6ff.). Numbers 10:1-10 describes the purpose of the silver trumpets, and the walls of Jericho fell down with the blowing of the ram's horns and the shout of praise (Joshua 6:16-20; Hebrews 11:30). The battles of King Jehoshaphat (872-848 BC) illustrate the principles of praise and warfare. When he allies himself with the wicked King Ahab of Israel, he almost loses his life in 853 BC (2 Chronicles 18:28-34). When Jehoshaphat joins in an alliance with Ahab's son, King Jehoram of Israel, and the king of Edom, he is defeated by King Mesha of Moab after he sacrifices his son to Chemosh, the demonic god of Moab (2 Kings 3:6-27). But when Jehoshaphat has no one to depend on but the LORD, he acknowledges he doesn't know what to do, but he puts his eyes on Yahweh (2 Chronicles 20:12). He follows the LORD's instructions through his prophet and arranges for loud praise to God. "As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated." (2 Chronicles 20:22)