Chesed: God’s Love is a War Cry

The Kingdom of Judah was doomed. Their enemies surrounded and greatly outnumbered them. Their only hope was to cry out to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and ask for Him to intervene. What happened next should teach us how we should fight our battles. It all begins with knowing that God’s love is our war cry. I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes.

You know that worship song by Michael W. Smith where he just repeats the same thing over and over again? Wait? Not specific enough? OK. He keeps singing, “It may be that I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.” That one. I hate that song. I’m pretty sure there’s a pastor who thinks that I never returned to his church after my visceral reaction to that song. Honestly, it’s terrible. But not just because it just keeps repeating the same thing over and over. It’s just as much because it misses the whole point of the story it’s from.

God VS the Nations

We miss the whole point of the Old Testament and Israel’s wars against their enemies when we reduce it all down to nations and land. This isn’t what it’s about. The earth was divided at the Tower of Babel into seventy nations. And those nations were given over to fallen supernatural rulers who attempted to rule as gods. These gods were horrific. Selfish. Vindictive. Destructive. The people they ruled over lived in terrible fear of them. YHWH even calls them to account for this in Psalm 82:

God has taken his place in the Divine Council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? (Psalm 82:1-2 ESV)

The pagan worship of ancient worlds was a reflection of how the people understood who and what these gods were. Disgusting sexual practice done in their names. Fear of retribution if worship wasn’t conducted according to the practices handed down. Even child sacrifice. Disobedience to these gods meant crops wouldn’t grow. Cattle would die. Lives would be lost. 

Think about the story of Elijah and the 400 prophets of Baal. These prophets chanted and wailed and cut themselves for hours in hopes that their god would prove to be mightier than YHWH. This failed, so they tried harder. Elijah mocked them, flooded the altar to YHWH with water, said a prayer, and watched it burn. But that’s for another episode. The whole point is this: YHWH chose Israel so He could demonstrate who He is to the world. And He’s very different than His enemies. 

This Is How I Fight My Battles

2 Chronicles 20 tells the story of one of these confrontations between YHWH and His enemies. Ammon and Moab are attacking Judah from both sides. From man’s perspective, there is no hope. These armies outnumber Judah. They have better positioning on the battlefield. King Jehosophat has only one option: seek YHWH. 

After a period of prayer and fasting, YHWH tells Judah to prepare for war. They’re surrounded, but YHWH is going to demonstrate His greatness. And He’s going to do it on His own: 

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says YHWH to you, “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of YHWH on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.” Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and YHWH will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

YHWH Will Be With You

Those are some awesome words: “You will not need to fight in this battle…YHWH will be with you.” The next morning, Jehosophat tells Judah to prepare to enter the battlefield. Leading the armies are Judah’s worship leaders:

And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in YHWH 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 YHWH and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to YHWH, 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. (2 Chronicles 20:20-22)

God’s Love Endures Forever

And this finally takes us to our word today. The Hebrew word for “love” in these verses is “chesed.” Love doesn’t really express what it means. Scholars prefer to translate it as “loyal love.” That still doesn’t work for me. It’s impossible to translate. It has to be described. 

Chesed is calling Abram out of Ur, only to have him repeatedly doubt who YHWH is and His faithfulness. Still, YHWH never turns His back on Abram. Chesed is Jacob being the deceiver his name describes him as, but YHWH refuses to turn His back on the covenant with Him. Chesed is Israel witnessing YHWH’s total dominance over the gods of Egypt in the Exodus story, then calling YHWH’s goodness and power into question in the wilderness. All the while, He never casts Israel aside. 

And chesed is how YHWH loves us. We don’t deserve it. We fail. Continually. Horribly. We don’t deserve His love. But it never ceases. YHWH is good. His chesed endures forever. His faithfulness is from generation to generation. Our God is greater than the gods of this world.