(Eph. vi. 18). Compare the English king'e prayer at Agincourt, "0 God of battles,n etc. (' Henry V.,' act iv. sc. 1). (c) The fact that the war was Jehovah's even more than theirs (eh. xx. 15). They were going out against Zerah in his Name, as in his Name David had advanced to meet Goliath (1 Sam. xvii. 45). In this Name all Christian warfare should be carried on (Ps. :xx. 6; .Acts iv. 30; xvi. 18; Col. iii. 17); when it Is, a claim is thereby established upon God to uphold the honour of his Name (Ps. lxxi. 9; John xii. 28). (a) The circumstance that he alone was able to assist them in the tremendous crisis that had come upon them. "There is none beside thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength" (Revised Version); or, "There is no difference with thee to help, whether the mighty or him that bath no strength" (margin); or, "It is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power" (Authorized Version). Whichever reading be adopted-though the first is the best-the sentiment was that Jehovah alone could assist in so unequal a combat, and that he could do so if he would, since it was not necessary for him to be" on the side of the strongest battalions" (Napoleon). He could win battles, as Jonathan long before observed, whether by many or by few (1 Sam. xiv: 6). Much more is God the only Refuge to which the Christian can tum in carrying on the unequal contest to which he is called against the principalities and powers of darkness; and to his power nothing is impossible (eh. xx. 6; Matt. :xix. 26; Mark xiv. 36; Eph. iii. 20; 1 Pet. i. 5). (e) The dishonour Jehovah himself would sustain through their defeat. The invasion of Zerah was practically a campaign against Jehovah. To suffer them to be overthrown would be (seemingly at least) permitting himself to be overcome by a weak mortal. Happily, God condescends to allow this in matters of grace, as in the case of Jacob (Gen, x:xxii. 29; Hos. xii. 4), but not in ordinary affairs when the interest of his kingdom would be thereby injured (Rom. viii. 28; Eph. i. 11). .A.sa's argument was good. Compare the boldness of Moses in pleading with God in behalf of Israel (Numb. xiv. 16). (3) The fact that they were deliberately trusting in God. "Help us, 0 Lord our God, for we rest on thee." God has pledged himself never to disappoint those who trust in him (Ps. x:x:xi v, 22 ; :xxxvii. 40 ; Isa. :xlv. 17). III. JEHOVAH AND THE COMBATANTS. (Vers. 12-15.) 1. The Ethiopians were routed. (1) They were defeated on the field of battle. Jehovah "smote" them before .Asa and Judah (ver. 12). (2) They were put to flight by the archers and spearmen that opposed them. The Ethiopians "fled." (3) They were pursued as far as Gerar, a chief city of the Philistines, now identified as the Khirbet-el-Gerar, in the Wady Jorf-el-Gerar, three leagues south-east of Gaza (Rowland). ( 4) They were massacred by the victorious monarch and his exulting warriors. They were "destroyed before the Lord and before his host," for the understanding of which there is no need to call in the help of a battalion of angels, as in Gen. :xx:xii. 2. Asa's army was Jehovah's host, because Jeho- vah was with it and in it; and the blood of Asa's enemies was poured out before Jehovah, because the battle had been undertaken in his Name and the victory achieved through his power. (5) They were so completely crushed that they could not recover themselves. They disappeared from Palestine, and ceased from troubling Judah. Such will be the end of the enemies of the Church of God (1 Sam. ii 9; 2 Thess. i. 9). 2. The men of Judah were victorious. (1) The monarch's prayer was answered. So did God hear the prayer of Moses when he cried for help against the Egyptians (Exod. :xiv. 16), and that of the Israelites when they appealed for assistance against their foes (Judg. x. 11), and that of the Reubenites when they entreated succour against the Hagarites (1 Chron. v. 20), and that of Hezekiah when he appealed to the Lord God of Israel against Sennacherib (1 Kings x:ix. 15, etc.). So God hears the prayer of the Church's King (John xi. 41, 42), and of the soldiers of the cross (Ps. lxv. 2; Eph. ill. 20; 1 John iv. 6). (2) The soldiers' courage was rewarded. They inflicted~ decisive blow upon the enemy ; they smoto all the cities round about Gerar, these havmg prob- ably espoused the cause of the enemy; they carried away much SIJ?~, not only of ammunitions of war and provisions which had been la.id up in those c1t1es, but also of cattle and sheep and camels, which they had found in abundance, and which, in all likelihood, had belonged to the enemy. So did Christ, the Captain of salv~tion, achieve a brilliant triumph over the principalities and powers of darkness,_ despo!ling them of victory, and making a show of them openly (Col. ii. 15); and so will Chr1St's followers be made more tha.n conquerors over the same foes (Rom. viii. 37), and carry olf from 180 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [err. xv, 1-19,
the fields of conflict where they meet their enemies much spiritual treasure (Rom, viii. 28). LESSONS. 1. The sinfulness of wars of aggression, and tbe lawfulness of wars of defence. 2. The duty of combining working with praying, as well as praying with working. 3. The impossibility of achieving victory either without or against God or of swfering defeat with God upon one's side.-W. '