God Will Fight At Your Side

The Ukraine war is back in the headlines.... with images of bombed out buildings... bathtubs and bicycles scarred by flames... men hunting men with high tech drones... soldiers dead, wounded, spiritually damaged by PTSD. Gaza is so shattered it looks like another planet.... mothers screaming, babies crying...  Reminders [in case we had forgotten] that war is bad.

On the other hand... God is love, God is Peace, God is mercy, patience, forgiveness... AND based on His promises and prophecies...  we look forward to a time when human beings will no longer learn the ways of war Isaiah 2:4. 

Why then does God communicate to us so often in terms of battle, warfare, weapons, and fighting? From the literal warfare of entering into the promised land...  to waging spiritual warfare with faith as a sheild, truth is a sword, salvation a helmet.

Exodus 12:41 when God lead Israel out of Egypt He did so as a conquering warrior King. He had done battle with Egypt on a supernatural level. And when He lead Israel out His word speaks of them as His divisions... His army... The host of YHWH Number 33:1.

He was going to use them to enforce the punishment of His judgments upon the people of Canaan. The land of Canaan was His... He had a special purpose for it... the present tenants were usuitable for the task... they needed to be evicted... but they didn't want to leave and they would have to be forced out.

Why would YHWH want to use Israel…  a weak, unreliable, stubborn, ragtag band of ex-slaves... didn't YHWH have better forces at his disposal? Yes, He does....

2 Kings 6:14-18 God' has an army of angels on constant patrol to protect His servants and to ensure hat His will is done. Matthew 26:50-53

The angelic army of God are called to action from time to time... but most of the time... or at least as far as we limited humans can see... God uses people to do His will...The angelic army is out there... and we can take great confidence in that...  but we are not able to monitor their activities.

Note: with regard to God's will it is important to acknowledge that God is playing the long game.

Getting back to the fleshand blood army of God...

Exodus 23:27-28 on a superficial level this sounds like God would do everything and the people of Israel would simply walk into abandoned towns with nothing in it but a few cats walking around the empty streets.

God did go before Israel, He did strke fear into the hearts of the Canaanites... But He also sent the men of Israel into the towns to do battle. Partly because the frightened inhabitants were stubborn and wouldn't leave. Partly because God wanted Israel to learn to fight.

Not because He was looking to create a new master race of ruthless, relentless warriors... But God did want the people of Israel to actively and  passionately fight for His righteous cause, to stand for what was right... and to enforce it… and defend it.

Its really not a matter of either/or... God's attitude to war is very different from our own. For God war is not engaged in to take, or control, what isn't yours to have. God ordained war serves a judicial function. God judges, God punishes, He rewards… he plucks up… and He plants.

Regarding God’s “personal” attaitude toward war: remember David... a man after God's own heart... was not allowed to build the holy temple because he was a man of war... a bloody man. The honor of building the holy temple went to Solomon... Shlomo... Shalom... the man of peace. But Solomon "the man of peace" does not come off looking so good according to the scriptural record.

Perhaps, because he did not have to fight to see the promises of God come to pass. A life of gifts and blessings turned him away from devotion to YHWH.

YHWH's attitude towards war. killing, and bloodshed is not binary... good/bad...

Exodus 14:10 -14 the army of YHWH [Israel] were not prepared to fight a well trained professional army... they knew it and were afraid. In this instance God was going to do all the heavy lifting to teach them a simple lesson... He would be with them and fight for them.

But He also wanted them to stand up and move forward Exodus 14:15-16. {summarize]

In this first battle God did it all. However, this was not the only enemy army Israel would face. Future confrontaions would be different.

When Israel moved in to evict the Canaanites from God's land and take possession of it God required them to go into battle in a much more hand-to-hand combat manner. But even though the people had witnessed God's great power over the Egyptian army... they still doubted Exodus 17:7.

The next battle Israel would face was going to be different; God would fight for them... or rather He would fight alongside with them. They would have to have to engage in actual combat.

Exodus 17:8-16 God clearly demonstrated to Israel that He was fighting alongside them... He gave them a sign through Moses’ uplifted hands… when His power was engaged they prevailed.... when it was not they faltered. It was a lesson; I am fighting with you... I am fighting for you... but I also want you to learn how to fight your self. To fight for My righteous cause... and to fight against those who Me.

Israel's experiences were written for your instruction. The application for you is spiritual warfare; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Ephesians 6:10-18.

I see that spiritual battle taking place in two fundamental ways; confronting error with truth, and prayer related to our own spiritual trials and tests… also prayer related to the work we participate in together… the proclamation of the gospel.

When we are faced with a trial, opposition of some sort... the first thing we often do is pray for God's help... asking that He take it away.... that the sickness disappears... that the opponent gives up... that the problem resolves itself... the temptation disappears. God can do all these things for you... but more often I have seen that He asks you to engage in battle.

God could have caused the Amalekites to drop dead in their tracks from plague [like the Assyrians who surrounded Hezekiah's Jerusalem]... He could have fought the Amalekites with the elements of nature... killing them with giant hailstones falling from the sky [like the sea that destroyed the army of Egypt].... but He didn't. He wanted Israel to learn to fight for His righteous cause... to fight to gain their inheritance.

Israel would have to fight many such battles. God wanted them to learn to fight for what is right... to uphold and enforce it. He wanted them earnestly desire and fight for their promised inheritance... and fight to protect it.

You and I have to fight may such battles. God wants you to learn to fight for what is right… fight to gain your promised reward and inheritance. 2 Timothy 4:6-8; Hebrews 10:32-39

God could proclaim the truth like a might trumpet blast... audible to every ear on the planet... which He will do in the last day. But at present He is working through people... so we might learn to fight for what is right.