My friend Glen VanAntwerp has a delightful way of re-telling Bible stories to catch the underlying funny bits. My favorite was the Israelite response under Jehoshaphat when three armies – the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites – were approaching Jerusalem in 2 Chronicles 20.  Jehoshphat the King stands up before the people with an impassioned prayer that ends “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 

The people stood there until the Prophet Jahaziel tells the word of the Lord – “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.  Go down against them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.”

Glen sets the scene for the Israelites the next day – The marching band and the singers are up front, and everyone else strolling out with a nice lunch and blankets to sit on.  While they are singing, the three invading armies are sizing each other up.  The two bigger armies talk to each other about how much better it will be to only share the loot two ways instead of three, so they greedily attack and wipe out the small army.  Then the two big guys look at each other and decide it will be better to just share the loot one way – they attack each other and wipe each other out.

So the Israelites arrive at the field of Ziz, see the slaughter, and fill their picnic baskets up with gold, silver, and unexpected wealth to go along with their lunch leftovers. “And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.”  (2 Chronicles 20.29)