When You Feel Overwhelmed. (2 Chronicles 13: 1-22)

This Podcast is part of season 23 of a project to complete an in-depth study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes:

My title for this episode is “When You Feel Overwhelmed.”  And I suspect that’s something every one of us has experienced at some point and understands.

 All of us have lived through moments when life felt bigger than our strength. Moments when we felt outnumbered, outmatched, or simply out of options.

Sometimes it’s not one big single crisis; it’s the slow accumulation of pressures that finally becomes too much. Sometimes it’s the unexpected blow that knocks the wind out of our sails, or it follows a long season of discouragement that wears us down.  Whatever form it takes, we all know what it is to feel overwhelmed.

 And so, my question is: What do you do when that happens and how do you respond?

 In the Old Testament, one king found himself in exactly that situation. He was factually outnumbered and overwhelmed, facing an enemy he could not defeat, a crisis he could not control, and consequences he could not escape. And what he did in that moment is exactly what we should do in ours.

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Bible Journey Daily Podcast. Welcome wherever you are and however you're listening. It's great to have you with me here again as we continue our study time together through the Book of Two Chronicles. A book that doesn't just record Israel's history but can also speak directly into the pressures, the fears, and the struggles we all face these days. My title for today's study is When You're Feeling Overwhelmed. And I suspect that's something every one of us have experienced at some point in our lives and indeed understands. All of us have lived through times or moments when situations felt bigger than our strength could handle. Moments when we felt overwhelmed, outnumbered, outmatched, or simply out of options. Moments when the collapses of finances, perhaps, maybe the loss of a job, the breakdown of a relationship, sadly for some, even marriage, or the failure of a business left us feeling weak, exposed, and defenseless. Sometimes, of course, it's not just one big single crisis, it's the slow accumulation of pressure, the wearing down that finally becomes too much. Sometimes it's the unexpected blow out of nothing that comes out and knocks the wind out of our sails, so to speak, or it can follow a long season of discouragement that, like I said, wears us down. But whatever forms it takes, I think most of us know what it likes to feel overwhelmed at some point. And if you don't, I'm glad you've been blessed, but I hope this still prepares you if it happens at some point in the future. So my question today is what do you do when something like that happens? Where do you turn? How do you respond? Now, in the Old Testament, one king found himself in exactly that situation. He was, let's be clear, factually outnumbered and overwhelmed, facing an enemy he knew he could not defeat in their own strength. A crisis that he could not control and the consequences of previous decisions made by him and previous generations meant he could not escape. And what he did in that moment, I believe, is exactly what we should do in ours. So the answer to that question of what we should do and how we should respond is found way back here in 2 Chronicles chapter 13, where a king called Abijah faces a national crisis that exposes both the nations and his weakness, yet still reveal God's mercy. I believe our chapter today can show us what happens when our maybe our feelings of self-confidence or even a false sense of pride collapses, and what happens when God allows pressure to in fact humble us, and what happens when an overwhelmed person or overwhelmed people simply turn back to the Lord. So today we're going to walk through all of 2 Chronicles chapter 12, 22 verses, and we're going, I hope, to reveal and discover a pattern, a biblical pattern for responding when things feel just too heavy or too frightening or too overwhelming for us to handle on our own. So turn with me to 2 Chronicles 13 and let's learn to do together what to do when you feel overwhelmed. In today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast, Okay, turn with me. If you're using a Bible as you follow along, I'll be reading it, of course, verse by verse as we progress. We're looking at a passage that teaches a deeply practical spiritual lesson today. One I need, we'll all need in some point in life when we feel overwhelmed. The setup in the opening verses, we will see prosperity and blessing turn to a false sense of pride. Verse 1 opens the narrative. So the writer here, the chronicler, as I call him, immediately synchronizes the reign of Abijah, Judah's new king, with that of Jeroboam, who we've read about in the north. The chronicological order point marked here reminds us that God's redemptive history is moving forward in real time and real history amid political friction and division. Abijah now steps onto the stage and he has inherited a fractured kingdom, demonstrating how the consequences of past generational compromises, those of Solomon and Rehuebam, inevitably flow down through the next rulers that follow. Verse 2, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years, and his mother's name was Mecca, a daughter of Urael of Gibeah. So, Abaijah's brief three-year reign signals for us an unstable tenure, underscoring that human brilliance or military ambition cannot be a substitute for wholehearted decision to walk with God. Furthermore, in mentioning his mother's lineage, it introduces a subtle reminder of the compromised heritage that behind this situation, Micaiah, the daughter of Urael, is linked to Absalom's family background. This shows how deep-seated cultural and familial idolatry can continue to cast a long shadow over the southern throne for generations and generations to come. Verse 3. Ibujah went into battle with an army of 400,000 able fighting men, and Jerobam drew up a battle line against him with 800,000 able troops. So, mathematically and strategically, this situation looks hopeless. Well, hopeless for Judah anyway. Jerobam fails an army twice the size of Judah's force, 800 to 400,000, we're told. Now, of course, in the dramas of human power, numbers tend to dictate the outcome, the reality of a situation. Yet Scripture frequently uses these stark numerical disparities to highlight a recurring spiritual truth, being that human might, sheer size, worldly resources, pale when pitted against the sovereign purposes of God. Judah is outmatched, cornered, and forced to look beyond themselves. Verse 4 says, Ibijah stood on Mount Zimmerim in the hill country of Ephraim and said, Jerobam and all Israel, listen to me. So before a single arrow is fired or a sword is drawn, Ibijah pauses for an appeal to reason and divine history, standing on Mount Zimmerim, which is deep in the hill country of Ephraim, right in enemy territory, in other words, he calls for a sort of ceasefire of words. And this again mirrors the biblical pattern where spiritual alignment with God and truth take precedence over potential war or just brute force. So Abijah does not just act immediately as some sort of warrior king, but he is here presenting himself as a voice pointing back to the original covenant God made with his people. He says, verse 5, 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? So Abijah anchors his entire argument in divine history, appealing to the Davidic covenant, a covenant of salt, he reminds them, which signifies a permanent binding and incorruptible agreement. Salt symbolized both preservation and loyalty. Despite Judah's recent failures, and Rehobam stumbles, God's ultimate promise to the house of David remains intact, he reminds them. History is not going to be governed by the whims of rebellious usurpers, but by the unfailing fidelity of God's oath and his willingness of his people to embrace it. Verse 6 continues, yet Jerobam, son of Nabat, an official of Solomon, son of David, rebelled against his master. So Abijah here strips away the romanticized veneer of Jerobam's political revolution that he's trying to lead. Jerobam was not a righteous liberator, he says. He was meant to be a trusted servant, and he's now turned traitor against his God ordained master. Human rebellion against spiritual authority, of course, often is used to mask itself as some sort of progress or step towards freedom. But God views it through the lens of betrayal, for that is what it is. Disunity in Israel began when men traded divine submission for their own self-promotion. Verse 7. Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Jehovah's son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them. Do you remember that? The chronicler highlights the catalyst behind this fracture of the kingdom. Those unprincipled opportunists, those young friends of his, worthless scoundrels that caused him. They take advantage of this young Arian's leader, causing him to ignore the wise counsel given to him at the time, and instead follow their advice. This is spiritual failure and institutional division are being accelerated by the bad counsel he accepted, his own personal moral weakness, and of course, lying behind it, opportunist elements who are capitalizing on a leader's lack of spiritual grounding and maturity. Verse 8. And now, he says, you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hand of David's descendants. You are indeed a vast army, and have with you the golden calves that Jerobam made to be your gods. I'll just pause there. So here's the climax of Abijah's opening address. Jerobam's massive army, he says, is return is rendered entirely hollow because of one fatal flaw. They are fighting against the kingdom of the Lord. The weaponizing that these guys are trying, this man-made religion, in this case the golden crafts, to justify their rebellion and to prop up their army, they're trusting in number and sort of false plastic, almost substitutes for God, completely blind to the reality that a vast number cannot protect a people who have submitted to the living creator of the universe simply for idols of their own making. Verse nine. But didn't you drive out the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron and the Levites, and make priests of your own, as of the nations of the other lands around you do? Anyone who comes consecrating himself with a young bull, seven rams, can become a priest, you said, a priest of what are not gods. So Abigah is exposing here the religious corruption that lies at the heart of the Northern Kingdom at this time. To secure his political borders, we saw, of course, Jerobam dismantle God's ordained system of worship a couple of chapters ago. Remember, he banished the true Levites and the descendants of Aaron, and in their place he opened the priesthood up to anyone willing to effectively offer a bribe or make a sacrifice that mimicked the secular, and of course these sacrifices mimicked the secular pagan practices of the surrounding nations at that time. True worship cannot be manufactured by and for human convenience, by self-appointed people, or by following cultural trends. When religion becomes a tool of political expediency, it ceases to worship the living God, and as we can see here, can almost turn to people worshiping anything. Verse 10 continues, as for us, who is referring now to Abigail's side, the Lord our God we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them in their daily work. So despite Judah's recent sort of historical missteps and compromises, Abidjam makes a bold claim here to present reality. Judah has returned to its covenant fidelity. They have preserved God's instituted religious orders. The Levitical priests are again performing their daily religious and spiritual duties among them. And spiritual strength is not found through human innovation, but in the nation, this part of the nation choosing to anchor itself back to God's revealed word, his order of things and faithfulness to it. Their ability to stay anchored in the truth, he says, is found when we stay true to biblical orthodoxy and the religious worship that God wants and requires. And verse 11 demonstrates the continuity that the correct form of sacred worship can provide, not only in their day, but I would say in our day today. In their day it meant, I quote, they burned sacrifices to the Lord every morning and evening, burnt offerings and fragrant incense, they set out the rows of bread on the ceremonially clean table, and the lights and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken them. So Ibajah here is detailing the rhythmic, faithful mechanics of covenant worship, the morning and the evening offerings, the incense, the bread of presence, and the continual shining of the golden lampstand lit every evening. They are not positioned here just as rituals, they are ongoing testimony of a nation maintaining its fellowship with its creator. While the North chase novelty, Judah returns and stays anchored in the steady, daily obedience of the sanctuary. Abijah is delivering a clear contrast here. We keep God's requirements, he says, You have abandoned them. He continues, God is with us, and 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. So here we see God presented as both general and the author of our battle cry. This is the spiritual climax of this confrontation. Against staggering odds, eight hundred troops versus half that number of the men of Judah, Abijah declares that the balance of power, although it may seem otherwise, is entirely lopsided because God is leading Judah's army. And the trumpet blast remembers not just a call to arms, but it was an appeal to divine interworship. Abijah issues a final urgent warning. Human opposition to God's sovereign power is ultimately fruitful. You cannot win a war against the creator of the universe. The trumpet blast is not only a call to arms, but a call to worship. Verses 13 and 14 then continue and tell us that Njerobam had sent his troops around to the rear, so while he was in front of Judah, the ambush was behind them. Judah turned and saw they were being attacked at both front and rear, and they cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew their trumpets. So this is a moment of near, almost panic and helplessness in many ways. This is the moment where human strength cannot be relied on, and it is a moment when the spiritual lesson of this passage, I think, becomes clear. Judah does not rely on all the things we normally would. It can't rely on its fortified cities or military strategy. It certainly can't rely on their limited lumbers. So what do they do? They cry out to the Lord, and the priests, the legitimate priests, remember, sound the trumpets. So this is not just acting as a military signal, it is a spiritual act of faith. The trumpet in Israel's worship were used to call the people ultimately to prayer and to announce God's presence. And they're also being used here to declare the people's dependence on the Lord and actually call upon and invoke divine intervention into a seemingly almost impossible situation. Judah, by doing this, is actively saying, We cannot win this battle on our own. We cannot save ourselves because we need you, Lord. And verse 15 is astonishing, short and sweet. And as the men of Israel shouted, God struck Jeobam and all Israel. So Judah shouts, and God immediately acts. Judah cries out, and God immediately intervenes. Judah is overwhelmed, and God overwhelms the enemy of Judah. Now you'll note the chronicler does not exactly tell us how and in what way God struck them. It may have been confusion, he may have created panic among them, a sort of supernatural terror, or just a sudden collapse of morale. But the point is clear. God did it here, not Judah, not military strategy, not strength, certainly not numbers, just God. And the outcome is a staggering victory, described in verses 16 to 18. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. Abigail 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. The northern army collapses, the southern army advances, and the chronicler has recorded the staggering result. Five hundred thousand, half a million men of Israel are slain. This is one of the largest recorded losses in any Old Testament battle. Remember, Judah began with 400,000, Israel 800,000, and Judah prevails and five hundred thousand men of Israel fall. Why? Well, this chronicler gives us the spiritual conclusion as to why all of this has happened. It says the children of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of the fathers. The reason is simple and clear. They relied on the Lord. Underline that in your minds at least. Highlight that, circle that. This is the message of the chapter. It is the message of the entire book or books of Chronicles, and I say it is also the message of the Christian life. Victory does not come from numbers, it does not come through human strength, and it does not come through our strategizing. Victory always ultimately comes from simply relying on the Lord. Judah said very clearly at the beginning of these events, the Lord is our God, and they cried out, Lord help us, and now the chronicler says they prevailed because they relied in the Lord. And that is the spiritual pattern being set here. Overwhelmed, surrounded, then cry out to the Lord, and God will intervene. That's the promise being set out as the pattern, the archetype for how this will appear throughout Scripture. Victory ultimately comes through reliance on God. And this is their lesson for every believer, even today, who might feel overwhelmed. The result of relying on the Lord when overwhelmed was Judah didn't just win the battle here, but they gained additional territory. The text listed several towns and villages taken from the northern kingdom for us, and these were strategic locations, strengthening Judah's borders and weakening Israel's influence upon them at that time. Now Judah did not completely subdue Jeroboam, but they crippled the power, and the chronicler summarizes it all simply for us by saying that. The Lord gave them the victory. This, beloved, is the spiritual clue uh conclusion of everything we've seen so far. Verse 20 adds, Jerobam did not regain power during the time of Abijah, and the Lord struck him down and he died. So the loss of five hundred soldiers, more than half of his eight hundred thousand military strength, was catastrophic. It shattered the Northern Kingdom's military strength, and Jeroboam effectively never recovered from that blow. The chronicler wants us to see how rebellion ultimately weakens us, but how reliance can strengthen us. Jeroboam's idolatry and move in that uh direction eventually destroyed him. Judah's return and reliance on the Lord was the thing that delivered them. The chapter then closes by briefly summarizing Abijah's life. Like his father Solomon and grandfather David, Abijah was politically strong, but like them, he was also sadly right at the end. The hint is dropped that he would later become morally compromised again. It says Abijah grew in strength, he married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. The other events of Abijah's reign and what he did and what he said are written in the annotations of the Prophet Edo. So did you pick up on that? He has fourteen wives and thirty-eight children. Again, a clear violation of Deuteronomy 17, 17, which forbid kings from taking multiple wives. So Abijah, like Rehobam's life, is also a mixture of times of blessing, since strength and weakness, obedience and disobedience. We've just been through a passage of obedience. The chronicler notes that the rest of Abijah's acts are recorded in technically what is called the Midrash of the Prophet Ido, which were midrashes were prophetic commentaries that were read by people upon the earlier pentecopelical books of the Bible at that time. And this tells us of Abijah's reign and other evidence of God's blessing, even though he was not fully faithful. The chronicler closes the chapter by summarizing the entire events that we've witnessed. The Lord is our God. We cried out to the Lord, the Lord gave us victory, and we prevailed because we relied on the Lord. And if you take nothing else from these chapters, take this. Reliance on the Lord is always the key to victory, particularly when you're feeling overwhelmed. Judah here was outnumbered. Judah was surrounded. Judah was definitely overwhelmed, but Judah relied on the Lord, and the Lord brought them through, delivered them. It seems totally counterintuitive to our time, but listen carefully, Stans. Sometimes your physical or your practical weakness in a situation can actually be a spiritual advantage. It's hard to miss the theological pattern that's being demonstrated here. Judas' weakness becomes the very thing, the doorway through which God's strength can come. Judah's helplessness becomes the platform for God's intervention, and their vulnerability becomes the stage upon which God can play out his victory. And he wants to do that for you still today, friends. So don't be mistaken or misled, friends. This is absolutely correct biblical theology in that your weaknesses are not a liability. In fact, they are an advantage when it drives you to rely on the Lord. When you reach the end of your own resources or just recognizing them, it brings you into a place before the Lord. Paul teaches us the very same thing in his second letter to the church in Corinth in chapter 12, where he talking about himself says that God gave him authority in his flesh, lest I be exalted above measure. Three times we know Paul begged for God to remove it, but God said, My grace is sufficient for you, Paul, and my strength is made perfect in your weakness. And therefore Paul responds, Well then, I will not boast in my weakness, for when I am weak, then I can be strong. Underline that perspective in your thinking, friends. When you feel overwhelmed, when you feel weak or outnumbered, when you feel surrounded or even helpless, you can be strong if you rely on the Lord, because He is the one who gives the victory. That is the message of 2 Chronicles, chapters 12, and indeed chapter 13 today. And that's also the message of Paul, and that is also the message of all of Scripture, the entire Bible, and that is a message that you can, if you're willing, take forward for your entire life. I do hope you find it a helpful and encouraging one. Thanks for being with me today. 2 Chronicles 13 teaches us that strength without obedience collapses, and pride in our own resources only invites pressure. But humility before the Lord brings mercy, and reliance in the Lord is the thing that can bring victory. So when you feel overwhelmed, when you feel life is pressing you in from every side, when you are outnumbered and outmatched, then simply cry out to the Lord, rely on him, and trust in him. Because, like as Paul said, his strength can be made perfect in your weakness. His response can be wonderful in the light of your inability to deal with the situation. Now, next time, tomorrow, we'll move into 2 Chronicles 14, where the theme of reliance continues and where God once again shows himself strong on behalf of those who trust him. But until then, may the Lord strengthen you in your particular weaknesses or the areas of life that you're struggling with. Steady you so that when you feel overwhelmed, he can remind you that he is your victory. So I'll see you in the next episode. Bye-bye for now.