Favor · the best way to learn the Bible
2 Chronicles 20 Bible study: Our eyes are on you
Jehoshaphat's prayer ends, "We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you" (20:12), and the LORD's answer uses the words Moses spoke at the sea, "stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (20:17). And Beracah Valley is named for what happened there: "there they blessed the LORD" (20:26).
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the words behind the words, what most readers miss, and how it all leads to Jesus.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
“Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In 2 Chronicles 20, the army coming against Jehoshaphat is said to be in Hazazon Tamar, which the chapter says is En Gedi.”
Is that in 2 Chronicles 20, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"We don’t know what to do"
Word comes to Jehoshaphat: "A great multitude is coming against you" (20:2). "Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek the LORD. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah" (20:3) (tap seek and fast). "Judah gathered themselves together to seek help from the LORD" (20:4), and the king prays, standing "in the LORD’s house, before the new court" (20:5). The prayer begins with who God is: "aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you" (20:6). It remembers what he had done: he gave the land "to the offspring of Abraham your friend forever" (20:7) (tap friend). It recalls what they said when they built the sanctuary (20:8-9), and it tells him what is happening (20:10-11). Only then does it ask: "Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you" (20:12) (tap might). And "All Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children" (20:13).
Where it leads to Jesus
Believe also in me
2 Chronicles 20:20leads toJohn 14:1
As Judah went out, Jehoshaphat said, "Believe in the LORD your God, so you will be established! Believe his prophets, so you will prosper" (20:20). When Jesus told his disciples he was going where they couldn't come (John 13:33), he said, "Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me" (John 14:1). Jesus doesn't cite 2 Chronicles 20, and no link between the Hebrew and Greek words is claimed, so setting the two side by side is a reading. It rests on what both sayings do: each comes with a word against fear ("Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed", 20:17; "Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful", John 14:27), and each sets a second call to believe beside believing God: "Believe his prophets" (20:20), and "Believe also in me" (John 14:1). Some hear in Jesus' words the same two-part call Jehoshaphat gave, now with Jesus himself in the second place. Others read John 14 in its own setting, Jesus preparing his disciples for his going away (John 14:2-3), and 20:20 as one king's word to one army on one morning, and don't look from one to the other.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Chronicles 20
- 2 Chronicles 17 says Jehoshaphat took away the high places. How can 20:33 say they were not taken away?
- Who were the "ambushers" the LORD set against the armies?
- 1 Kings says Jehoshaphat wouldn't let Ahaziah's servants go with his in the ships. Why does 2 Chronicles say he joined himself with Ahaziah?
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Chronicles 20 is waiting in Favor
- "The battle is not yours, but God’s"
- Singing into the wilderness
- "He joined himself"
- Moses' words, spoken again
- Believe, and be established
- A prayer that remembers Solomon's
- 16 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 2 Chronicles 20 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אָמַןamansay a-MAN
Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "confirm, support"; in one form "made firm, sure, lasting" and "confirmed, established"; in another "stand firm" and "trust, believe". Jehoshaphat says it three times in one verse: "Believe in the LORD your God, so you will be established! Believe his prophets, so you will prosper" (20:20). Believe is the second of those forms and established the first, so in Hebrew the saying turns one verb two ways. The message the LORD sent Isaiah to give Ahaz has the same pair, with established in the very same form, te'amenu (20:20 adds a one-letter prefix, and): "If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established" (Isaiah 7:9). It is the verb of Genesis 15:6: "He believed in the LORD, who credited it to him for righteousness." The Hebrew of 2 Chronicles has it seven times, three of them in 20:20.
For your group
2 Chronicles 20 Bible study questions
- 1"We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you" (20:12). What are you facing right now that you don't know what to do about? What would it look like to pray that line about it this week?
- 2Jehoshaphat's prayer says who God is and what he has done (20:6-9) before it asks for anything (20:12). Try praying that way this week about something hard. What, if anything, changed?
- 3The singers went out ahead of the army saying, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his loving kindness endures forever" (20:21), before they saw what the LORD would do (20:22). What could you thank God for now, before you see how something turns out?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Chronicles 20 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
Start a Bible studyThe best way to learn the Bible
Favor opens up every chapter as you read.
Favor is a Bible study app for your phone or computer. It takes you through the Bible one chapter at a time, a few minutes a day, and shows you what's really there: the words behind the words, the moments most people miss, and how the whole story fits together. For you. For everyone.
Every chapter explains itself
As you read, short notes open up what's really going on, the details most readers walk past, and the honest questions people ask.
The Hebrew and Greek behind it
Tap a highlighted word to see the original, how to say it, and what it means, checked against the original-language texts.
Every page leads to Jesus
Watch promises made in Genesis kept in Jesus. Each line lights up on your map as you read.
Better together
Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together.
- 1
Start your free week
Sign up in a minute with your email.
- 2
Read a few minutes a day
Each chapter opens itself up as you go. Tap what you're curious about.
- 3
Bring your people, if you like
Send one link. Everyone reads the same chapter, then meets to talk.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read 2 Chronicles 20 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach 2 Chronicles 20 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Start with 2 Chronicles 20
The best way to learn the Bible. For you. For everyone.
There's a seat for you at the table.
Start your free weekFirst week free, then $10 a month per person · Log in
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home