Bible In One Year-Day 168 (Monday, June 17, 2013)

Commentary: 2Chronicles13-15. Abijah, the great grandson of Solomon, became king after the death of his father, Rehoboam. He inherited two battles; foundational battle and the battle with Israel (Political feud). He was victorious in the latter but lost the battle in the former. Uncontrollable sexual demon was in his foundation;

2 Chronicles 13:21 “But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.”

He invested God’s blessing into sin. His strength was linked with promiscuity.

The account of Abijah’s battle with Jeroboam was a miraculous victory in his favor, though Jeroboam still outlived him. Only chapter13 talked about him in this book. His speech showed that he trusted in the Lord God of Israel but there was no record of worship or any form of dedicated devotion to Him. He probably used religion to fight a political battle. Many are using religion to fight foundational battle which cannot work. The wisdom in his victory was in allowing the right weapon to be in the hand of the right people; the TRUMPET of deliverance and victory was in the hand of the priests, 1Chron16:42/23:30/25:1&3. When the trumpet was sounded, it was a cry of mercy unto the Lord and execution of prophetic judgment upon the adversary.

Psalms 149:5-9 “Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.”

Sounding a trumpet of praise is a form of executing the “written judgment”. There is power in praises. Abijah had half the number of Jeroboam’s men of war. We could recall that Jeroboam was an army general during the reign of Solomon (1Kings11:28). Though Jeroboam was older and more experienced, but Abijah used the right weapon and people. The experience of Jeroboam was in good order; battle in the front and at the back;

2 Chronicles 13:13 “But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.”

Abijah’s victory was of the Lord’s mercy;

2 Chronicles 13:14 “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.”

This is war between the experience of man (or skill) and God’s mercy. Peter found himself in this situation. Jesus gave him instruction on how to catch fish, he argued with Jesus that he had experience in catching fish. But when he submitted to God’s way, his life took a total turn around. It is not about age, education, experience, etc but about total yielding to the way of the Lord. You may have the experience or the skill, victory is of the Lord;

Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD”.

The Psalmist asked God to teach him His way and lead him in His path.

Psalms 27:11 “Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.”

Are you facing an all round battle? Remember the weapon of praises. I adopt this song for your consideration;

CHORUS
Bigger than all my problems, Bigger than all my fears
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see
Bigger than all my questions, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Verse 1
Bigger than all the shadows that fall across my back
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see
Bigger than all the confusion, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Verse 2
Bigger than all the giants, fear and unbelief
God is bigger than any mountain I can or cannot see
Bigger than all my hang-ups, Bigger than anything
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see

Anyone who fights someone who praises God with the heart is fighting God. Abijah knew the written judgment and he declared it to Jeroboam.

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.”

What Abijah did was what Joshua did to pull down the wall of Jericho; the power of praise and trust in the Lord.

2 Chronicles 13:15 “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.”

The use of the Trumpet of deliverance is like the barking of a toothless and clawless dog letting the landlord know of the impending danger at the corner. When you pray, you are in battle with the enemy on the ground level, but when you praise the Lord, you are lifted to higher level of honor as the psalmist made us to know. Abijah TRUSTED and PRAISED the Lord in a life threatening battle. These two are part of God’s armor which we could use against invading enemy. However, the enemy that was already seated at Abijah’s foundation was an issue that needed to be dealt with. This is the type of enemy that prays with us, fasts and breaks fast with us; inherited disease. This enemy is not outside but within. Such enemy supervises evil pattern of the family in terms of sicknesses, errors, marital woes and tragedies. Deliverance is needed in such cases. I want us know a truth about bondage before the issue of deliverance;

2 Peter 2:19 “… for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

When one is in bondage, it means the person has been overcome and therefore powerless; otherwise, such wouldn’t have gone into bondage in the first place. To break free from this bondage, such needs help from a stronger power, not to appease to the binding power but to break the yoke and set the captive free. This is the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Luke 11:22 “But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”

Therefore, when you stand on deliverance ground, you are joining your faith with the calling of the man of God to break the yoke. In John5:5-9, Jesus asked the sick “do you want to be made well?” His eventual agreement with Jesus made him free from 38years bondage. Jesus is the greatest deliverer; He works through the anointing of His elects in whose hands are the trumpets of deliverance. That trumpet shall sound in your situation in the name of Jesus and you shall testify shortly. However, let us trust in His name and stay away from every form of iniquity; this was the defeat of Jeroboam. Sin is a defeat (1John3:8); we need to stand against it in the name of Jesus.

1 John 3:8 “He that committeth sin is of the demon; for the demon sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the demon.”

To overcome sin, you can’t do it on your own but in the light of the Holy Spirit. If one is not delivered from this foundational bondage, one cannot be a real Christian but a religious person who goes by the law. Foundational battle makes our service to the Lord so religious and pulls us back into besetting sin. It weakens our devotion to the Lord even if we declare our allegiance to Him like Abijah did. Foundational bondage prays, fasts and breaks fasts with us; the yoke must be broken in the name of Jesus, otherwise, our worship and services become religious exercises without touching the spirit.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 2Chronicles16-18. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA