2 Chronicles 20:4, 5 "So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court."
Jehoshaphat stood up, but he didn’t pick just any place to make his stand. He stood in the house of the Lord before the new court because it was there that God had promised to hear the cry of His people. Jehoshaphat reminded God:
Verses 8, 9 "And (you) have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, “If disaster comes upon us-- sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine-- we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save."
Jehoshaphat’s request was based on an appeal made by King Solomon at the dedication of Israel’s temple. Solomon asked in 2 Chronicles 6:20, 28-30 that God’s
"eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men)."
It was not just any prayer voiced by anyone in any place that gained God’s attention. The Lord’s eyes and ears were fixed upon the temple where His Name was exalted by His people. God promised that no matter what type of evil afflicted them, He would hear and save those who appealed to Him from His temple.
The categories of affliction declared in this passage are inclusive of every type of situation you might be facing:
-“The sword” speaks of direct Satanic attacks that are unexpected, cutting, and wounding.
-“Judgment” refers to false accusations, stereo-typing, and evil judgments raised against you by others as well as recompense for sinful conduct.
-“Pestilence” represents lingering, aggravating, and destructive circumstances.
-“Famine” refers to the dry, desolate times of life when God seems far away and you feel forsaken by everyone.
No matter what affliction you are facing God hears and answers prayer when you take your stand in the right place.
The Bible is filled with accounts of how God directed people to specific locations for spiritual purposes:
-God told Ezekiel to arise and go to the plain and he would talk with him there in Ezekiel 3:22.
-Jeremiah was told to go to the potter’s house and there God would cause him to hear His words in Jeremiah 18:2.
-Elijah was told to go to a widow in Zerephath and there God would sustain him in 1 Kings 17:9.
-Jacob was instructed to go to Egypt and there God would provide for him during the famine in Genesis 45:11.
-Moses was told to come into the mount and there receive God’s law in Exodus 24:12.
-It was in the tabernacle, that God promised to meet with the children of Israel in Exodus 29:43.
-God told Moses to stand in the cleft of the rock and He would reveal Himself to him in Exodus 33:21; 34:5.
-It was on mount Zion that the Lord commanded blessings forevermore in Psalms 133:3.
-The Prophet Hosea said that at Bethel God spoke to His people in Hosea 12:4.
-Joseph was told to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt and wait there until God gave him further direction in Matthew 2:13.
-Jesus told His followers to go to Galilee after His death and they would see Him again in Matthew 28:10.
Jehoshaphat made his appeal to God from an actual physical location. He stood before the temple, in the presence of the Lord, where God had placed His Name. Where is that special place we must stand in the presence of the Lord and make our appeal with confidence that He will hear and answer?
Jehoshaphat, stood before an actual temple in God’s presence to make his appeal, but the New Testament teaches that you are the temple of God:
1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
As the temple of God, your spiritual being is inhabited by the Holy Spirit:
1 Corinthians 6:19 "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"
Your inner being is where you stand up against the enemy. As long as you allow the enemy to threaten and intimidate, he will do it. Paul warned, “Do not give place to the devil” because he knew whenever you give place to Satan he always takes it!
When you are at your wit's end don’t cower in dismay before the enemy. Instead, stand on the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ, and declare your victory.
You are God’s temple and His presence dwells in you according to Ephesians 2:22. Because His Name is there your deliverance from the enemy is assured.
Psalm 91:14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name."
You do not have to go to a physical place to gain God’s attention, for you are the temple of God, inhabited by His presence. Let your spirit man rise up there within you and face your enemy.
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