WHEN GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN STAND AGAINST US?

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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.”

“And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.”

“As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken Him. God is with us; He is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

2 Chronicles 13 and 14:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In times of trouble in life, especially when we face opposition in some way, perhaps no other words in scripture offer as much solace as these from the apostle Paul as he wrote to the Christians in Rome:

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39

Friends, should this not give all believers a uniquely supreme confidence when it comes to living?

For those who place their faith and trust in the Lord might be in the world but they aren’t of the world and they certainly don’t belong to the world. No, they belong to a God who loves in them so much that nothing in creation can separate them from Him. Not even sin.

You see God took care of sin as well. That was part of the love package God gave His people. For He loved the world so much that He gave up His only Son Jesus as an atoning sin sacrifice so that those who would choose to believe in that Son as Savior would not perish but have everlasting life.

In other words, those who place their hope and trust in Jesus are victorious people now and forever. Nothing can take away the salvation promise they have been given and one day they will conquer death and the grave to live with God forever, just as Jesus did.

Yes, God is indeed with those who believe and trust in Him, the same God who formed the heavens and the earth and all within them. This God is the God that anyone opposing us must come up against and no one has the might to stand against Him.

If you want an example of this, look at our scripture passage from 2 Chronicles, Chapter 13. There we find a conflict brewing that was inevitable, a civil war between the Israelites who sided with Jeroboam after rejecting Rehoboam’s rule and the Israelites who remained in Judah, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. All things considered equal, every person lined up for battle was an Israelite but there was one major factor that separated them. The Israelites of Judah who were now under the rule of Rehoboam’s son Abijah were following God, worshiping Him fully and obedient to His commands. Conversely, the Israelites loyal to Jeroboam were worshiping false gods in the form of golden calves.

So who was going to come out on top of the ensuing battle?

Go back to Paul’s words for your answer:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Abijah certainly led with this kind of confidence. In fact, he tried and convince Jeroboam not to fight, to reconsider what he was about to do knowing that it wasn’t Abijah and his men that Jeroboam and his followers were battling but rather God Himself. And such a battle would not end well for the people who had forsaken God.

But Jeroboam would have nothing of Abijah’s suggestion. In fact, scripture tells us that while Abijah was speaking, Jeroboam’s army was forming up an ambush behind Abijah and his men, an ambush that was sprung as soon as he finished speaking. Predictably, this was not a good idea because Abijah and his men routed Jeroboam’s army, killing 500,000 losing and leaving Jeroboam powerless. The Lord took care of Him, striking him down dead.

The lesson to be learned?

Opposing someone who God is with is a fruitless endeavor. For no one can stand against God and expect victory.

This truth is so very precious and valuable to us, not just on this day but every day God blesses us with, every day He is with us. For if we are to truly focus our efforts on completing what Jesus called us to do -  to make disciples of all nations - then we can’t be concerned about those who would stand in our way and oppose us. This is why we need to ever keep in mind that God is with us, ensuring that we are and will always be victorious in accomplishing His purposes as we live for Him.

And nothing can separate us from His love in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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