Fighting our Battles part one

 
Day two hundred

Yesterday in my prayer I had asked the Lord to bless my family with the opportunity to serve others.  My prayer was answered in a remarkable way.  While we were driving on the highway we came across a crash scene where a man had been ejected from his truck after it had rolled a couple of times.  The man was lying on the side of the road bleeding, so we jumped out to help.  My husband ran to the man and begin to help.  I was so impressed by the example that my husband set for my sons and me.  He is cool as a cucumber in these situations and ready to help when needed.  It was great for my sons to see.  Then when we got back in the car my youngest sons commented on even though the accident was horrible, it is always nice to see people come together in these types of situations and work together.  He is absolutely right! 

So in my prayer this morning I thanked Heavenly Father for putting these moments in our lives.  Moments that reaffirm our faith in people and give us a chance to serve another in a meaningful way.  Moments that bring out the best in us and give us the opportunity to reflect some Christ like qualities.  Moments that will stay with us forever and become a part of you so that you can draw on them when necessary.  Moments that show that He listens to our prayers!

Judges 3:12-30

 All during the 400 years covered in the book of Judges, the nation of Israel followed a predictable pattern. They would serve God faithfully while they followed the strong leadership of their judges. When a judge died, they had no leader, and they would desert God, and began to live in disobedience to His Law, giving themselves to the worship of the pagan gods of the Canaanites. When they rebelled against the Lord, He would send His judgment upon them, by allowing Israel to be oppressed by their enemies. After a time, Israel would repent of their sins and God would raise up a deliverer. God would use this person to defeat Israel’s enemies and set them free.

That is exactly the pattern we see at work in these verses. Israel sinned against God and the Lord caused Eglon, the king of Moab, to become strong. Eglon invaded Israel, with the help of the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and together they oppressed Israel for 18 years. When they repented, God raised up a man named Ehud to be their deliverer. Ehud assassinated Eglon and led Israel to victory and freedom.

Like Israel, we often follow the same pattern of disobedience, chastisement and restoration. Our problem is not the Moabites, the Ammonites or the Amalekites. Our problem is our weaknesses and sin.

 As the story unfolds, we will see that Israel’s enemies are a clear type of our own enemy. Eglon is the perfect picture of our weaknesses and sin. He is out of control. He is self-indulgent. He is fat, lazy and evil. He is full of pride. He is also assassinated by Ehud.

In Israel’s defeat of Eglon, we can see a picture of the battle we are supposed to be fighting every day. Every one of us has problems, no one is exempt. Sometimes we win our battles; sometimes we lose our battles; and sometimes we don’t fight against our weaknesses at all. We are literally in a fight for our very spiritual lives every day. It is a fight we must win. This story gives us the help we need to fight and win our battles. If Israel can overcome and conquer its enemies so can we!

ISRAEL’S DILEMMA (vv 12-14)

These verses describe the horrible oppression Israel suffered because of her rebellion against the Lord. Their problems stand as a warning to all of us. Let’s see what we can learn from these verses:

Their Foes (vv 12-13)

Israel faced three nations because of their rebellion against God.  They faced the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites.  All three of these nations were a continual problem for Israel, and all three were connected to Israel by blood.

The Amalekites, some believe, were descended from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. The Moabites and the Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. 

All three of these nations worshipped false gods. The Moabites served a god called Chemosh. The Ammonites worshiped a god called Moloch. Both of these gods were worshipped through vile, sexual practices as well as child sacrifice. The Amalekites were a nomadic, warlike people that worshipped a variety of pagan gods.

All three of these nations were a continual thorn in the side of Israel. They were constantly attacking, hindering and seeking to enslave the people of Israel.

There is another way we can look at these three nations; they can represent the parts of our battle with our sins and weaknesses: 

 Moab represents the power they can have to enslave us.
Ammon represents the passions and desires that are unrighteous.
Amalek represents the persistence of Satan to tempt us through our weaknesses.

Just like these tribes were a constant pain in the neck for Israel, our sins and weaknesses are the same for us.  It is a constant battle, but it is a battle we can win! There are some great lessons in this chapter, too many to post in one blog, so I will talk more about how to win our battles in the next few blog posts. Stay tuned!