Taught to Know War

While listening to a sermon the other day, it occurred to me when people face opposition, trials and difficulties they can lean towards identifying these as "attacks of the enemy," evidence the devil is actively seeking to thwart or distract them from good they are doing.  Others tend to see negative situations as God exposing their own sin or teaching them a lesson--and the sooner they "learn the lesson" the problems will resolve quickly.  Because God and His ways are higher than ours, I believe the LORD is at work to redeem our situations for good in countless ways whether we realise it or not.  It may not be possible to reduce the reason we are experiencing a particular trial to one primary reason, and I do not think it necessary to do so.

Case in point:  after the children of Israel did not drive the inhabitants from the land, God allowed their enemies to remain for many reasons which God plainly stated in His word.  Judges 3:1-4 says, "Now these are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan ² (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), ³ namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."

God could have driven out the inhabitants of Canaan without a fight, yet there were several practical reasons for allowing them to remain:  to test Israel, to teach them war because their generation had never known it, to prove His people, and to see if they would keep God's commands or not.  There is a kind of test we can pass or fail, and there are also tests we can practice to knock off rust, that measure our speed or show improvement, that enable us to exercise at our present level with an aim to grow.  "Passing" one test is preparation for facing another test we must practice to pass, so God's testing can take a new form that challenges us in unexpected ways.

Of all these reasons given, it may be a surprise God would have His people who are ignorant of war to learn war.  There is a time for peace, and there is a time for war.  When we choose to be God's people by faith in Him, there is no shortage of conflict even within ourselves because we continue to live in a human body.  God desires His people would be battle-hardened in trusting and obeying Him, even as warriors looked to their superiors for guidance and provision.  Rather than being careless and taking peace for granted, God wanted His people to learn how enemies looked for lapses of defenses and vulnerabilities, and how their own carelessness and lack of obedience to God undermined their own safety and prosperity.  It would take time for the Hebrews to realise it was God who fought their battles, and how their part was to honour Him with obedience and submission to His commands.

Those who have personally observed the horrors of war wish more than anything their children would be spared such suffering and pain, yet like the Hebrews there is no one who fears God who can avoid the war that breaks out after being born again by faith in Jesus and continuing to live in our bodies of flesh in a corrupt world.  As the Lord of the Rings character Aragon said, "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."  It is not a question if we can avoid conflict and spiritual warfare, but whether we take steps by reliance on God coupled with obedience to undergo testing and refinement through many failures.  We cannot say or know why a particular trial overtakes us, but we can know God remains good and allows it as a tool to accomplish His redemptive purposes.  As much as the devil can trouble us, God's ability to help us and redeem every trial for good is infinitely greater.  What will you do:  curse the devil or glorify God with gratitude for His love, grace and mercies?