DCLM Daily Manna 4 December 2022
KEY VERSE: 2 Chronicles 13:12 – “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.”
TEXT: 2 Chronicles 13:1-16
1. Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
3. And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men; Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
4. And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;
5. Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
6. Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.
7. And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
8. And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.
9. Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
10. But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business;
11. And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening; for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.
12. And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
13. But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them; so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.
14. And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind; and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
15. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
16. And the children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
There is definite truth in the Scripture that says, “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: [and that], a mighty man is not delivered by much strength” (Psalm 33:16). As long as God’s people remain abiding and trusting in Him, their battles become the Lord’s.
The battle between backslidden Israel under Jeroboam with a host of eight hundred thousand soldiers and Judah with four hundred thousand men is very instructive. In spite of their numerical advantage and war tactics, Jeroboam and Israel were defeated with Judah killing half a million of the Israeli army! God was with Judah as their Captain and He fought for them.
God’s intention has always been to fight for the united Israel against all her enemies. He delivered them from the Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand and led them through the wilderness to establish them as a nation with Himself as their Leader and Guide. As long as Israel walked with God, He was always there for them and He kept them in peace. The “Israel of God” today, that is the Church purchased by Christ, has God’s assured presence always and has been given “the whole armour of God” to wrestle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:11,12). Evil forces like the army of Jeroboam are many and highly intelligent but with God on the side of the believer, he is more than a conqueror.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: With God on our side, victory is always certain.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 9-12
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – If God Be For Us – by Pastor W.F Kumuyi
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Daily Manna 4 December 2022
