‘He is risen, and he reigns in the hearts of the children who will love while the nations rage‘ – Rich Mullins
This morning I awoke to the news that, as expected, Russia had invaded Ukraine. As I searched for some sort of response to this tragedy, a couple of things happened.
The first was that I remembered the story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, received terrible news that an alliance of nations had arrayed against him and was marching on Jerusalem. The Chronicler reports that he was ‘terrified by the news and begged the Lord for guidance.’ Jehoshaphat ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting, stood before his community in front of the Temple courtyard, and offered up one of the most amazing prayers in all of scripture:
‘O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity, such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear and rescue us. And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help’ (2 Chronicles 20:6-12, NLT).
In the wake of this prayer, God spoke to the people of Judah through a prophet who told the people not to be afraid, but to go out to meet the enemy, not to fight, but to watch the Lord deliver them. The people received this news by bowing before the Lord and worshipping.
The next morning, they marched out to meet the enemy. At the front were neither warriors nor chariots, but a choir, singing, ‘Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!’ The moment their song began, the armies arrayed against Judah began fighting among themselves. By the time the Judeans arrived at the battlefield, the enemy was gone. Victory had been won without the raising of a single Judean sword, and the Lord established peace for Judah throughout the remainder of Jehoshaphat’s reign.
Now, I know, things don’t always work out like that. It may not in Ukraine. But the story is nonetheless a beautiful example of what can happen when God’s people pray. It is a beautiful example of what God’s people should do when threatened: instead of relying on their own power, or trusting in chariots, as the Psalmist puts it (see, Psalm 20:7), they should rely solely on the power of the Living God. As Jehoshaphat prayed, when we don’t know what to do (and in all honesty and humility, we never do), we must turn to God for help.
The second thing that happened was that I received an image from my son in Rwanda, Emmanuel, of a group of Ukrainian Christians kneeling in the snow, praying for the deliverance of their country.
I didn’t know what the picture was at first, but when Emmanuel told me, tears came to my eyes. Here was the remnant of Jehoshaphat’s people. Here was the Kingdom of the Lamb.
In recent weeks, I have read reports of grandmothers and small children training to fight the Russians when they come (which they now have). The images were startling. It seems that many believe the answer to war is more war; to strike against one’s enemies by using their tactics. As I’ve beheld those images, I’ve recalled Jesus’ warning in Gethsemane to Peter to put his sword away, to not meet violence with violence, because ‘those who live by the sword die by the sword’ (Matthew 26:52).
Jesus teaches us that there are other forms of resistance, other ways to stand against the dark powers that seek our destruction. Paul refers to these other ways in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, where he wrote:
‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’
I love Paul’s use of the words, ‘on the contrary;’ he is telling us that while the weapons of the world do not ultimately work (they only beget more violence), the weapons in the arsenal of Christianity have power to achieve things. Weapons such as prayer and love are, he is telling us, the most powerful weapons in the world. And, more importantly, the only weapons followers of Jesus are permitted to use. In the Kingdom of the Lamb, the only way to overcome enemies is with love and prayer.
Jesus himself is our example in this. As is the early church, who, when beset by enemies, gathered and prayed:
‘Why do the nations rage, and the people’s plot in vain? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; they gathered together against the Lord and his anointed one…Oh Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus’ (See, Acts 4:25-30).
We need to take the example of Jehoshaphat, the early church, and those Ukrainian believers kneeling in the snow, to heart. We live in unraveling times. The leader of Russia has become (likely has always been) a madman intent on building an empire. China too is eyeing the expansion of their own. In America, we have a former President, who may become one again, praising Putin even as he makes his power grab, and the bitter prospect of rising autocracy within our own borders. What does one do in times such as these?
The nations rage. The peoples plot in vain. Those with worldly minds, who follow the way of the dragon, strike back, meet force with force, violence with violence, hurt with hurt.
But the children of the Lamb pray, in the snow and elsewhere. They sing ‘Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!’ They conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (see, Revelation 12:11). They pray for the redemption of their enemies, or, failing that, some other intervention by God to establish peace. They do not live by the sword. They live by love. They pray. They model peace. They may not know what to do themselves, but they look to the Living God for help.
Today I ask all who read this to pray. Pray for the people of Ukraine. Pray for the miraculous transformation of Vladimir Putin’s heart. Pray for the transformation of all who would use violence or do evil in this world. Pray for the dramatic intervention of God. Pray for the establishment of peace. Pray believing that the God of Jehoshaphat is still on His throne and still mighty to save. For He most certainly is.
This is the way of the Lamb’s Kingdom.
May we walk in it.
Under Christ’s Mercy,
Brent