Text: 2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34
Topic: The unstoppable will of God

• Illustration: Magary's dad moved his family from Arizona to Illinois when Magary was 16, to his great dismay.
• Proverbs 19:21 tells us, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
• It is a good thing God does not always give us what we want.

• I would like for us to consider the effectiveness of the will of God in accomplishing its intent.
• Second Chronicles 17-20 tells the story of the reign of King Jehoshaphat.
• Chapter 18 shows us that knowledge of the will of God must be allowed to affect every aspect of our lives.
• The opening verses of this account make it clear that the will of God has made us what we are, and we are accountable for what we do with what he has done for us.
• King Jehoshaphat followed the commandments of God and didn't act like Israel, so the Lord firmly established the kingdom under his control, and all of Judah gave him gifts until he had an abundance of wealth and honor.
• Jehoshaphat kept growing greater and greater. But then he made an alliance with King Ahab (and his son marries Ahab's daughter).
• This alliance was not what God desired.
• This is clear from the opening part of chapter 19, where the writer tells us that when Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem, Jehu the seer went out to meet him, saying: Just who do you think you are? Are you supposed to help the wicked? Why are you joining forces with those who hate the Lord?
• He had nothing to gain, because the Lord had already given him everything.
• Knowledge of the will of God must be allowed to affect every aspect of our lives.
• The will of God has made us what we are, and we are accountable for what we do with what he has done for us.

• Jehoshaphat says to Ahab in verse 4, "First seek the counsel of the LORD." So Ahab the king of Israel summoned the prophets—400 of them.
• The prophets agreed that he should go and take Ramoth Gilead.
• Jehoshaphat is still not convinced, so he seeks counsel from Ahab's prophet.
• All the other prophets prophesied: Go for it. Go up against Ramoth Gilead. Enjoy success. The Lord has given it into your hand.
• It seems like a unanimous word from the Lord, right, but have you ever noticed the absence of truth in crowds? The more people, the less truth.
• Micaiah's response in the 13th verse is simple and unequivocal: "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says."
• Micaiah prophesied: I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like a flock without a shepherd, and the Lord said, "These no longer have a master. Let each one return to his home in peace."
• Micaiah then gives Ahab and us a rare glimpse into the heavenly throne room of God.
• The message from God is two-fold: there is going to be disaster, and God is fed up with the corruption of King Ahab.
• The real issue in this text is the rule and will of God in this world and among God's people, and whether that will can be obstructed or diverted by anyone or anything deliberate or incidental.
• The good news is that even incidental matters of everyday life play into the will of God.
• There was not a single prophet or administrative official or man or woman on the streets of Samaria who was not up to living consciously and deliberately as a child of God. It's just that they had all let their lives get flabby and indulgent, and they started listening to what the crowd had to say.
• This text raises weighty objections to our often unreflective ways of carrying out our roles as leaders, rules that have become lives shaped and sanctioned by the culture and the crowd.
• The moral level of American culture is an atrocity, and the spiritual integrity of the church is increasingly compromised, because the people of God continue to turn their lives over to the crowd.

• Both Jehoshaphat and Ahab would have to learn the hard way that the will of God cannot be out-maneuvered.
• The text says in verse 28 that Ahab and Jehoshaphat went on up to Ramoth Gilead, but for some reason King Ahab decided to dress down and disguise himself, and they went into battle.
• The king of the Arameans had given the orders to his chariot captains: Fight only with the king of Israel.
• When the chariot captains saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was the king of Israel, and they surrounded him to attack him.
• Jehoshaphat cried out to God, and "God drew them away."
• Ahab is soon discovered and killed by Syrian soldiers in a distant bunker.
• Jehoshaphat was in the middle of a battle which he should never have been fighting—at no small risk to his life and the life of God's people—and yet God graciously and inexplicably delivers him.
• The will of God knows no obstacles.

• Ahab might have been a hero or an inspiration to his people, but he was fighting a battle he would never win, because he chose to be resistant to God.
• King Ahab had lived in darkness for years. Now he could be in darkness forever.
• Knowledge of the will of God must be allowed to affect every aspect of our lives.
• Our lives and plans and ministries must always be responsive and faithful to God's will and plan.
• Remember, God is at work for his purpose in and through, but also against, human forms of planning and power.
• The rest of this year is in the hands of God—not your board, not that big giver, not world leaders, not the special interest groups, and especially not the media.

• Our responsibility is to be faithful, to be responsive to him and to what he desires to do in our lives and in this world.
• If we allow the will of God to affect every aspect of our lives, then we will be able to live and serve where we must all live and serve.