I was reading a passage in 2 Chronicles the other day that completely took me off guard, in that its narrative events were simply saturated with symbolism, foreshadowing, and implications of the gospel.
And even though we should be expecting to see Christ and the stage of redemption being set all throughout the Old Testament—since, in fact, Genesis-to-Revelation is all about God’s glorious grace to redeem all things through Christ—this story in particular preached the gospel in a unique way, declaring the hope of the coming Messiah, nearly 900 years before Christ was born.
Indeed, all of the Old Testament is constantly pointing to Jesus—the perfect King, perfect Prophet, and perfect Priest—with the neon lights of symbolic foreshadowing. In fact, Jesus explicitly states this truth to his disciples in Luke 24:27, which reads, “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
As you read this passage, read it through the lens of Luke 24:27, which is how it should be read in the first place. That is, if you trust that Jesus is reading the Bible correctly… ha
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,
“Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.
When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah (Blessing), for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah (Blessing) to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.
(2 Chronicles 20:18-30 ESV)
I hope you already began to notice how this historical account teems with symbolic foreshadowing of the gospel and its implications. Here are some points that stuck out to me:
For example:
1) God never tells us to ‘do’, but to believe // (Jn 3:16,18,36; 6:40; 1 Jn 3:23, 5:5)
Not surprisingly, God gives salvation in the same manner in both the Old and New Testament, essentially because his character remains unchanging (Hebrews 13:8). For instance, in this story, God calls the people to do nothing but to wait and believe on His power and work for victory. Remarkably, the gospel says the same thing: “salvation is not of your own works so that no man can boast but is a gift of grace” (Eph 2). Jesus was one who said, “It is finished”, not partially finished for us to then add to. God tells us to wait (to do nothing) and to believe just like He told the Israelites to do—to wait and believe on Him to act. Indeed, the fact that God calls the Israelites to wait and believe for battle-salvation reveals to us the nature of God’s character and the sufficiency of His work for us—something we can truly and only boast and delight in. Which leads to the 2nd point…
2) We are called to marvel at the victory and receive the rewards
This story of God bringing victory to the Israelites significantly points to the implications of the gospel, because after the battle is won, those whom God gives victory also receive abundantly more than just an escape from defeat—they receive a treasury that is so large it requires 3 days for the men to accumulate. In this case, their large spoil afforded them security, stock, gifts, comfort, and many more ‘precious things’—that were unmerited blessings coming from an unobligated giver, God. In the same way, this story parallels and points to the gospel of Jesus. It declares the good news that Jesus—by living the life we could not live and dying the death we should have died—not only gives us victory against the battle of Satan, sin, and death (not only an escape), but also rewards us an overflowing deposit into the account of our life. He got the penalty of our condemnation so that we could get his position of favor, the rewards of his obedience (2 Co. 5:21). Indeed, nothing is required of us, but to only believe on God’s Son (1 Jn 3:23, 5:5), and to joyfully share in his rewards as redeemed co-heirs with him (Eph 1).
3) All of history is at God’s power
This story shows that the God of Israel cannot be stopped, and that He will not and cannot be thwarted. Though Israel was a virtually defeated nation, the God behind them, with them, and before them alone holds the battle results in the unchangeable purposes of His will.
Even the most powerful nations on earth are like chess pieces in God’s hands that He uses to accomplish His purposes. In Scripture, we see God direct people and people groups, establish and demote kings, and fulfill simply unbelievable prophecies so that His plans may unfold. Nothing stands in his way, and who could? (Jer. 49:19). And even in the darkest hours when all seems like God is not in control, He proves all along to be working behind the scenes, only to be priming the stage for the highest glorification of His Son, Jesus. Indeed, the spiritual nature of the gospel is achieved through and validated in and through historical events—the gospel is physical reality, not just a mystical or ethereal belief. Rather, it is firmly anchored in history, where both physical and historical proof gives substance to how the gospel applies to all levels of life.
In addition, the reality that God is completely good and completely powerful can offer the human soul much rest, peace, and confidence. This tells us that we have a stronghold to lean our weight of our life’s trust against, knowing that we cannot be shaken because the force we lean on is both unconditionally good and circumstantially immovable. Indeed, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Ps 46).
And though we can attest to God’s power which is demonstrated throughout Scripture, we also see His good, gracious character too. And we can see the epitome of this at the cross, where He dies in our place to redeem us to Himself—He proves that His love for us is unwilling to let us go and that He is willing to do whatever it takes to get to us. We can believe in the spiritual validity of God’s love because the cross and resurrection are historical, eye-witness events (1 Co. 15). The substance of God’s love is not merely an ethereal word from a book that we must groundlessly believe in; rather, the power and love of His good news can be believed because it is substantially and immutably anchored in history. History makes a difference in theology—because it reveals God’s unstoppable power and sovereignty at work in the preparation of Jesus and proves God’s character.
4) Salvation is unconditionally based on God’s unconditional character and work
“Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever”. This very song of praise is characterized with deep theological truths. Its saying, “give thanks to the Lord”, highlights the fact that salvation is given from the Lord, and not achieved by man (Jonah 2:10; Eph 2:8-9). This leaves no room for human boasting, but only thankful praise and adoration. And the second half of this verse, “His steadfast love endures forever” is simply a condensed version of Romans 8, which declares that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God given in Christ—not danger, hardship, storm, persecution, nakedness, famine, angels, demons, forces, nor any power in all creation. This anthem of the Israelites is the same anthem of praise for the Christian because its motivation is anchored fully and only in the full and only work of God.
5) Extreme Symbolism of 3 days
It took the Israelites 3 days to gather all the rewards from this victory of a battle. In the same way, for those who place their faith in Christ reap the rewards of the 3-day transaction between Christ’s death and resurrection—the proof that Christ’s work for us was in fact an honorable and worthy sacrifice to God to justify and reconcile sinners. The rewards we reap consist of and come from our new identity of becoming children of God, where we will be coheirs with Christ. Being God’s own gives us eternal security, eternal approval of the One whose opinion only truly matters, qualification, deliverance, transference of identity to another kingdom and power, redemption, forgiveness, and every spiritual blessing in Christ (Col 1, Eph 1). The rewards that we reap from the 3 days between Christ’s death and resurrection far surpass all the money that could ever be acquired in 3 days, because we get God, who is now for us because of Christ. Not to mention, he owns everything anyways.
6) The Valley of Blessing
The Israelites were deemed victors and received their spoil in the valley—however, it did mark the end of the story. Even though the Israelites rejoiced in their victory, their journey was not yet complete and their joy was not yet full. In the same way, we Christians are in the “valley” of blessing, i.e. Earth, because while we have been deemed victors and received our spoil in Christ’s work, our journey is not yet complete and, thus, our joy is not yet full. In fact, we are currently in the lowest state we will ever be, and history is constantly moving closer towards it end, where we shall ascend to be with Him forever in the new heaven and new earth. We are in the valley of blessing now, but we are moving towards Zion, the New Jerusalem, the new Heaven and the new Earth day by day, where our journey will then reach destination and our joy will then reach completion.
7) God is directing us home
The men leaving from the valley of blessing to Jerusalem paints a perfect illustration of the Christian’s resurrection to be with Christ in the new heaven and new earth, where the new Jerusalem will be, and where our joy shall be complete in the presence of the Lord. Like the story, there will be much rejoicing and music as we proceed to enter the Temple of the Lord, forever.
8) God alone gives us rest
The reality of Jesus’ accomplished work for sinners does nothing but afford rest to the redeemed sinner. There is no work that he/she could have done to earn such security, hope, peace, and joy. And there is nothing he/she can do to substantiate it anymore than what has already been done. The resurrection has God’s stamp of approval on Christ’s work, the Holy Spirit in you through faith marks you with a permanent seal of ownership to the worthy King. Nothing is based on our past, present, or future doings or misdoings. This gives us only a reason to greatly rest, rejoice, and boast in the person and work of Jesus on our behalf. The sinner’s rest and glorification of God’s Son brings much delight to the Father.
In effect, this story preaches the gospel of “when the Lord fights for you, you reap the abundance of his rewards, and find rest, security, joy, and love like never before”. He suffered and won for us, so that we didn’t have to suffer from trying to win or suffer from failing to win.
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” -Jesus
