"THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD'S (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 12/18/25

“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.” (II Chronicles 20:15)

A great army surrounds Judah, and all hope seems lost. Earlier, enemies had snuck around the territory, preparing to attack, and by the time King Jehoshaphat discovered the plot, it was already too late. This was an evil, malicious campaign seeking to conquer believers in Judah and Jerusalem; nothing more. The people came together to seek the Lord, and Jehoshaphat offered a prayer in which he listed all the ways God had proven himself faithful in the past and detailed God’s impeccable character. Whether calamity comes to them through judgment, plague, or famine, they will stand in the Lord’s presence and call out to him in their distress. God will hear them and save them. After this, Jehoshaphat presented their problem to the Lord. He rooted his prayer in the facts of the past and applied them to the present. He ended the prayer by admitting their lack of power and that their eyes were fixed upon the Lord.

In response, God spoke through Jahaziel, a Levite and son of Zechariah. The Lord told them not to be afraid or discouraged in the face of the vast army because it’s God’s battle, not theirs. Then he told them where the enemy would be coming from and where to march. They were to take their positions, hold the line, and they would see His deliverance.

The large number of adversaries gathered was clearly troubling to the King as well as the city inhabitants, but they received solid comfort and reassurance. Out of the mouth of the Prophet, God speaks. He tells them to stop worrying because the fight is no longer theirs. In truth, it never was. The moment these heathens began threatening and messing with God’s people, it became His - and God doesn’t lose. The people could dry their eyes because they had nothing to worry about.

It happened a few years back when the St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Chicago Cubs, that a massive benches-clearing brawl erupted in one of the last innings. Now, these two teams are archrivals, so it was not totally uncommon for fights to occur, but, unlike hockey, where it’s just part of the game, here it is frowned upon. Baseball fights are always kind of funny because all the players from both bullpens will jump out and sprint downfield to join, but the fight’s usually over by then. Anyway, a Cards player got a ball thrown at his ribs by the Cubs pitcher, and the whole stadium exploded. Fans and players alike were scrapping with each other, and the batter, who was a young guy, crumbled to the ground instantly. Immediately, Yadier Molina flew out of the dugout to stick up for his teammate. He took up the fight, and it was now Yadi’s. On a much bigger, more critical scale, this was what God promised Judah. The fight was His; there was no need to worry.

On the following day, the people marched toward the enemy, and the Lord set ambushes against them. Praise and faith led the way to a battle they did not have to fight. This reminds me of the “battle” of Jericho in Joshua 6, where faithful Israel also didn’t need to do any actual fighting to provide entrance into the city. Instead, they needed to be strong and courageous, trusting that God would provide their victory. Here, the enemy destroyed each other while the men of Judah marched to the battlefield. When they arrived, they saw the dead bodies of their enemies. The fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms surrounding Judah and Jerusalem. God gave Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah rest on every side of the kingdom.

No matter what’s going on in our lives, we must trust that God is questing for us and there is no problem too big for Him. The fight is not yours when God is on your side. God will fight for you, and he alone will do the work; you need not strike a stroke.