Category Archives: Judges

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When God Fights For You

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Make no mistake: God still fights on behalf of his people. In a realm that you usually can’t see, there is a battle, and God is at war to bring about complete and utter victory for his kingdom. And while in the seen realm we may not see that victory, let’s be perfectly clear about this: The outcome is predetermined and the victory has already been won! If you don’t believe that, then as they say, fast-forward to the end of the book, and you will see it: we win!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 10:9-13

Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel: “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.

Obviously, it doesn’t always work this way, but when it does, boy howdy! The situation was different back then, and it called for God to step in on Israel’s behalf in a way that left no doubt in the minds of friend and foe alike that Yahweh was on the side of his people. Like the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, clearly God was fighting for Israel. And it wasn’t a fair fight. It never is when God gets involved.

Israel was taking possession of their Promised Land in fulfillment of the centuries-old covenantal promise that God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That meant the Canaanites, a particularly brutal, sinful, godless amalgam of city-states, had to be dispossessed from that land. So city-by-city, Joshua was on a winning streak where Israel didn’t barely eek out victories; these were blowouts. And in this case, not only was the Israelite army crushing the Amorites, but God stepped in and, through a hailstorm of epic proportions, laid waste to the enemy. We are told that more died by the hail than by the sword.

Then, if that weren’t enough, Joshua put his foot on the gas to completely destroy whoever was left. The day was coming to a close, the sun would soon set before the job got done, so he even called out to the sun and moon for them to freeze in place. Imagine that: a man making demands of the solar system just so he could finish his work before nightfall. And it happened! Seriously, the only time before or since the sun literally stood still and the moon didn’t budge until Israel had pitched a complete game—a shutout, and a no-hitter at that.

Don’t you wish that were your testimony with every problem you face? I do! But most times, that is not what is called for. Typically, God has other methods for accomplishing his will. We are not literally going into a physical land to dispossess nations, so what Joshua did would be completely inappropriate for God’s people today. We are to take possession of spiritual lands by capturing people by persuading them through the gospel and bringing them under the loving reign of Jesus Christ. Obviously, it is a bit different today than in Joshua’s day.

However, make no mistake: God still fights on behalf of his people. In a realm that you usually can’t see, there is a battle, and God is at war to bring about complete and utter victory for his kingdom. And while that victory may not be seen like you and I would want it to be, let’s be perfectly clear about this: The outcome is predetermined and the victory has already been won! If you don’t believe that, then as they say, fast-forward to the end of the book and you will see it: We win!

Take heart today, my friend. In whatever battle you face, you have a God who fights for his people. Surely the Lord fights for you in the unseen realm—sometimes in a way that even leaks into the visible realm—just like he fought for Joshua:

Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day! (Joshua 10:14)

In an earlier battle, once again Joshua led Israel to a stunning victory over the evil and defiant Amalekites. When the battle was over, we are told that Moses built an altar there and named it “Yahweh-Nissi (which means ‘the Lord is my banner’). He said, ‘They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with them.’” (Exodus 17:15-16)

Yahweh Nissi—the Lord is just as much your banner as he was Israel’s!

Choose You This Day: What is your battle today? Take heart, Yaweh-Nissi will do whatever it takes to march you on to victory!

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A Pox On Both Your Houses

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Predictably, what we see and sense today at the highest as well as the lowest levels of culture is what happens when, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn lamented, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” As believers, we must let the moral decay of our nation turn our stomachs, but then we must let it turn our hearts to God in intercession for a sweeping spiritual awakening.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: 9:56-57

In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.

Admittedly, this is a weird story, and it’s even weirder that it was included in the Bible. Like a few others we have come across as we read the Old Testament devotionally, this is a head-scratcher. But at the end of the day, this story of Abimelech’s brief but brutal rule as a judge of Israel and his abrupt, gruesome death is a reminder of what happens in a person, and in a society, when God has been left out of the picture.

Abimelech was one of Gideon’s sons—one of seventy or so. And it just so happens that he was the one son from Gideon’s union with a concubine who lived in a different town, Shechem. So, there was probably no love lost with his many siblings; he was likely looked down upon by his brothers his entire life. There is a good chance Abimelech had a chip on his shoulder (that unfortunately ended with a millstone on his head—literally. See Judges 9:50-55).

So, Abimelech decided to do away with his seventy brothers, which he did in the most grisly fashion (Judges 9:5) by beheading them at one time. He killed all but one, Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, who escaped and hid, and then resurfaced with an incendiary prophecy (Judges 9:7-21). This prophecy was a kind of “pox on both your houses” statement that ultimately came to pass. The prophecy was that in selecting Abimelech to be their king, the citizens of Shechem would end up paying for it with their lives, and Abimelech would likewise come to a brutal end for the murder of his brothers. That is the rest of the story of Judges 9.

Now take away the raw brutality of this story, sanitize it a bit, and what you have is the story of leadership in our current culture. Far too common is the way leaders attain power and the way the citizens surrender power to them. Lying, cheating, doing whatever it takes to make their opponent look bad, saying one thing to get elected, then leading another, coming off as a servant of the people but living like a king once in power, seems to be just the way it is in our political world. Often in elections, we feel like we have no choice but to hold our noses to cast our ballots. But we get the leaders we deserve.

Why? Simple answer: men have forgotten God. The writer of Judges prophetically summed up our twenty-first century world in the last verse in this book when he wrote, “There was no controlling moral authority to govern peoples’ lives, so everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) Unfortunately, in our day, as was the case in the day of the Judges, “what was right”, without the presence of the “Controlling Moral Authority”, without fail produces moral, cultural, economic, and global chaos.

Predictably, what we see and sense today at the highest as well as the lowest levels of culture is what happens when, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn lamented, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” In his famous Templeton Address, “Men Have Forgotten God,” Solzhenitsyn said

The failings of human consciousness, deprived of its divine dimension, have been a determining factor in all the major crimes of this century…Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.

May we never get used to it! May we never feel at home in this present world the way it is now. As believers, we have the urgent calling to humble ourselves before God, acknowledge our sin, repent, and turn to him for the healing of our land. As disgusted as you may feel reading Judges 9, let the moral decay of America turn your stomach, then turn your heart to God in intercession for a spiritual awakening once again in our land.

Who knows, God may give us a revival as he did throughout the book of Judges, as his people cried out to him.

Choose You This Day: Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 and pray your way through it on behalf of your nation today.

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Stay Alert To Sin

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: The story of Gideon’s dramatic rise and precipitous fall in Judges 6-8 is a classic reminder that it is not just a strong start that counts; it is finishing well that is the essential thing in our journey with God.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 8:27

Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.[/

Conflicted. That is what Gideon was, as we see in Judges 8. Gideon was a conflicted man, increasingly at odds with his own beliefs and his calling. But he is not alone, because most leaders are. And so are most people, whether they are believers or not. You see, people live with a persistent sin nature that rises, early and often, to tempt them with attitudes and actions that are incongruent with their deeply held values.

Conflicted, that is what we are, hopelessly and helplessly! And without our conscious and daily submission to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the continual indwelling and empowering of the Holy Spirit, we don’t stand a chance.

Consider Gideon. In the previous chapters, we find that he was at once humble (Judges 6:15), obedient (Judges 7:8), and dependent on God (Judges 7:15); yet, as we see from this story in chapter 8, he was also prideful, self-reliant, and disobedient.

Gideon went out to fight Midian in the power of the Lord and routed a far superior army in a stunning victory, but he came back a ruthless man (Judges 8:13-21), arrogantly refusing to be Israel’s king yet living like one anyway (Judges 8:22-24, 29-31), and disobedient in making a golden ephod that would lead Israel to worship it as an idol (Judges 8:27). The text says the golden ephod he made, representing his power, his success, and his status among the Israelites, became a trap for Gideon and his family (Judges 8:27).

What a quick and disappointing turnaround. His impossible victory over Midian was one for the ages. Gideon’s band of three hundred fighting men is still talked about to this day, used as an example of what God can do with a just few who are fully submitted to him. Yet within days of this victory, his base nature was taking over, and it led him to make decisions that set the stage for Israel to not only drift from God under Gideon’s watch by worshiping the golden ephod, but to plunge headlong into national idolatry after he died:

As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god. They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them. Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Gideon, despite all the good he had done for Israel. (Judges 8:33-35)

As we seek to make sense of this jaw-dropping spiritual reversal, Gideon’s story reminds us that the same sin nature that wreaked havoc in his life will mess us up just as quickly if we are not careful. Here are a few sobering lessons coming to us from Gideon’s story that we would do well to keep in mind:

First, charisma will only take you so far; it will be character that keeps you there. Obviously, Gideon had the ability to inspire others to follow him into an impossible battle, but his core values were not such that he could resist the temptations that came his way after the victory. Arguably, the true test of character is success.

Second, character issues that are left unchecked will resurface at some point in our lives, sooner or later. The only way to effectively deal with our sin is to allow the Lord to obliterate it. If it is not destroyed, it will come back to bite us. Whatever goes underground will resurface at some point.

Third, a victory today does not guarantee a victory tomorrow. We cannot rest on the laurels of past accomplishment; submission to God must be a daily victory.

Fourth, pride is an ever-present enemy of God’s plan to use us mightily for him. Pride is at the core of sin, continually causing issues of godship in our relationship with God.

Fifth, constant attention to sin is required to run our race strong and finish well. Over and again, the Bible calls us to stay alert, to be on guard, to be ever watchful for the Enemy’s work in our lives. Satan never gives up: we can serve up a devastating defeat by our obedience to God one day, and he will be right back at us the next, tempting us to stray from God.

The story of Gideon in Judges 6-8 is a classic reminder that it is not just a strong start that counts; it is finishing well that is the essential thing in our journey with God. May it be said of us, “they started strong and finished well.”

Choose You This Day: Check your heart. Are you fully devoted to God in every area of your life? If not, come to God in repentance. If you are, stay alert to the Enemy today. He is making plans to trip you up. So, keep your eyes on Jesus, and you will be just fine.

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Horrible Odds, Holy Opportunities

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Faith is putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; it means being certain of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1-2) That makes faith ruthless trust in the care and competence of our Heavenly Father, that at the end of the day, he does all things well. Faith is unshakeable hope that God loves us and will work everything out for our good and his glory. Faith is not looking at the unmovable mountain in our way, but it is looking to the Mountain Mover on our side. The acrostic F.A.I.T.H. is absolutely accurate: Forsaking All, I Trust Him. That is why God allows us to be in situations where the genuineness of our faith can be proven, and where his own genuine goodness can be experienced. Do you want to be a person of great faith? Then let go and let God!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 7:2-7

Gideon and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group, put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group, put all those who kneel and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths from the stream. The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”

We want the odds to be in our favor. To mix metaphors, when push comes to shove, we are certainly not opposed to the decks being stacked in our favor. That is just human nature—fallen human nature, that is. But that is not the way of God, which means that is not the way of faith.

The thing is, we are created to glorify our Creator, to worship him, and fully enjoy him forever. Life is not about us, it is all about him, and how we can live to bring him maximum fame through our daily lives—in our everyday, walking around, eating, sleeping, talking, going about our business lives. Our job is to make God famous. And in doing that, we experience the deepest, longest-lasting satisfaction possible during the few decades we have been allotted in this one and only life.

But that means we must walk the way of faith. Faith is putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1-2) Faith is ruthless trust in the care and competence of our Heavenly Father. Faith is unshakeable hope that God loves us and will work everything out for our good and his glory. Faith is not looking at the immovable mountain in our way; it is looking to the Mountain Mover on our side. Faith is Forsaking All, I Trust Him.

That is why God allows us to be in situations where the genuineness of our faith can be proven. You see, it doesn’t take much faith if we don’t really need God to step in. If there is not the possibility, at least on the human, visible level, that we can crash and burn if God doesn’t show up, then we are most likely not stepping out far enough where we have reached the rare air of risky faith. If we can do it without God, most likely we will take the credit for our success.

Remember, however, we were created to glorify him in everything we do. Remember that our one assignment is to make God famous. Remember that he designed us to be most satisfied in him when he is most glorified in us. That is precisely why he allows the decks to be stacked against us. It is then that he can supply us with supernatural power and all kinds of divine aid to rout our toughest enemies, overcome our most overwhelming odds, and win our most stunning victories.

That is precisely why God told Gideon to pare his fighting force down from thousands to just 300—against a Midianite army that was far superior in numbers, experience, and fighting talent. In God’s own words, “If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.” God doesn’t share his glory—and that is a good thing. He allows us to share in his glory, but that comes only by deflecting all the glory that we might receive in our effort back to him. When we do that, his glory is reflected onto us in a way that we could never produce on our own.

Now, like me, you may not be totally comfortable with this whole business of the decked stack against you. But the record of scripture, the testimony of the faithful, and from my own experience, that is the way of faith. And frankly, I am glad it is. Get used to it!

So, if you’ve got horrible odds, not to worry: You are on the edge of a holy opportunity.

Choose You This Day: Are you up against some horrible odds? Good! Began to thank God for your situation. You are on the verge of something grand!

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What We See—What God Sees

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: When God is with a person, then even the weakest, most reluctant, and least qualified is a mighty man or woman of valor. It is not a person’s gifts, talents, skills, temperament, and popularity that tip the scales as to whether they will be successful or not, though these personal qualities are not unimportant/ It is God’s presence that determines the outcome of success in their life. If God is for us, who can be against us!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 6:11-14

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon replied, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us. Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hands of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?

When will we ever learn that God doesn’t see things the way we do when he chooses people for his service? No one would have looked at a barren married couple in their nineties as logical candidates to be the parents of many nations. God saw something in Abram and Sarai that we couldn’t see. No one would have looked at the stuttering fugitive, wanted for murder, now on the lam in the Sinai wilderness, as Israel’s deliverer. But God saw something in Moses that we couldn’t see. No one would have looked at a young, ruddy shepherd boy, the runt among his strapping brothers, and predicted that he would be a giant slayer, a mighty king, and a man after God’s own heart. But God saw something in David that we couldn’t see.

Long before we see potential in a person, God does.

Such was the case with Gideon in Judges 6. When God found this man who would become one of the greatest judges in Israel’s history, he was hiding in fear in a winepress (Judges 6:11), blaming God for Israel’s subjugation at the hand of Midian when it was clearly Israel’s fault (Judges 6:13), and mired in the quicksand poor self-esteem, arguing with God as to why he was the wrong choice to deliver Israel (Judges 6:15).

Not a great job interview! Yet God saw past Gideon’s obvious weaknesses and addressed him, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” You see, when God is with you—and that is key—then even the weakest, most reluctant, least qualified, is a mighty man or woman of valor. It is not our gifts, talents, skills, temperament, or résumé of past success that tip the scales on whether we will be successful, though these personal qualities are not unimportant. It is God’s presence that determines the outcome of success in our lives. If God is for us, who can be against us!

When God calls us, our résumés change before we accomplish one single thing. We immediately achieve conqueror status—in advance. When God is with us, then we can simply go in the strength we have (Judges 6:14) and do what the Almighty has foreordained. To go in our strength is to simply put our gifts, talents, skills, and temperament on the line for God, then let God do the rest. We might see ourselves, or others, as Gideon saw himself: The least qualified in the least qualified family. God sees that too—more than we do. But God also sees something else. He sees that he will be with us, and he sees that he will go before us, and he sees that he has already accomplished what he has predetermined.

That is why God chose Abram and Sarai, Moses, David—and all the other heroes that occupy the Great Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11; none of which we would have chosen. But God chose them, and that sealed the deal; that guaranteed their success; that put them into the realm of mighty men and women of valor long before they or anyone saw them in that grand light.

Do you ever wonder how God views you? Wonder no longer! He sees not what you aren’t, but what you are: A person he has chosen and blessed with his presence to do great and impossible things for him. So go with what you’ve got. The Lord is with you!

Choose You This Day: The human philosophy believes in calling the qualified when looking for someone to fill a key leadership role or critical position in an organization. But as it has been said, “God qualifies the called.” The Bible is filled with examples of how the most unlikely become mighty instruments in the Lord’s hand. Knowledge, skill, and personality are not unimportant, but most important is what God sees in you or in another unlikely person in your world.

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There Is No “Switzerland” in Spiritual Warfare

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: The realm of spiritual warfare where the Christian resides is no theological “Switzerland.” Moral issues demand that we take a stand as Kingdom ambassadors. We cannot keep our distance from this conflict; we cannot stay neutral in it. We must engage, even when the odds are overwhelming. To step forward in faith into the fray is to be on the right side of history — what we can rightly call “His story” — and time will prove it.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 5:15-18, 24-25

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the sheep pens to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields….Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

In Judges 5, the prophetess Deborah composed a tune to commemorate the Israelites’ victory, led by General Barak, over the Canaanites and their leader, General Sisera. The memorable and brutal battle described in Judges 4 ended with the gruesome death of Sisera. Deborah used the occasion to memorialize the details of Israel’s victory in this song—a song she not only composed but also sang for all to hear.

The tune, however, was not just a celebration; it was a diatribe as well. Not only did she celebrate the brave hearts of several of Israel’s tribes, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulun, along with the courageous lady named Jael, who assassinated Sisera, but she also castigates the indecision of other tribes, Reuben, Dan, and Asher. These latter tribes apparently sat out the conflict because it didn’t directly concern them.

Rueben was conflicted about joining the fight, apparently not so sure there would be a good outcome, given how badly Israel was outmanned and outgunned: “In Reuben there was much searching of heart.” (Judges 5:15-16). The others, the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulun, were either sitting in the safety of being far from the conflict or too busy with their own concerns to jump into the fray.

Despite the lack of participation from these four tribes, Israel conquered the Canaanites. It was an amazing victory for Israel when General Barak put the larger, better-equipped army led by General Sisera to flight. But when the time came for courage, for the reasons mentioned above, the four stayed home. In so doing, they earned the ire of this steely prophetess, Deborah. She interpreted their reluctance as disloyalty to the nation, which was tantamount to a lack of faith, disobedience, and disloyalty to God. So, she called them out publicly for seeing themselves as separate entities rather than as a part of the nation, a problem Moses had previously warned about, and a problem that became reality in future chapters throughout Judges.

 

So, what does this story have to do with you? Simply this: there is always conflict in the believer’s life. At times, the conflict is in the unseen realm, while at other times it spills over into the real world in your personal, family, social, professional, and church life. In the raging battle, there is always a right and wrong side, a side that represents good and one that represents evil. And wherever conflict invades your world, there are always three positions you can take—one right, two wrong.

The two wrong sides are like what we see immortalized in Deborah’s song. One side, represented by Reuben, is to stay neutral in the fray when the choice is clear. The Rueben mentality is conflicted, not sure what to do, worried about the cost, wanting to play it safe, but not feeling so good about sitting it out. But safe it is not, it is wrong, for in the fight of faith, there is no neutral spiritual Switzerland. Moral issues demand that we take a stand.

The second wrong side takes a definite stance to sit it out. The sit-it-out crowd is too busy, too far removed (they don’t have a dog in this fight, or so they think), and to jump into the fray would take too much effort for too little reward. But in the fight of faith, where the choice is clear, staying off the field will only get you into history books for the wrong reason. Spiritual infamy is not what you want when you are needed in the conquest.

There is only one right side, and that is to step forward in faith to fight for right. When sin threatens, encroaches, or seeks to enslave, even when it seems the odds are against you or against those who need your help, Deborah’s eternal call is to jump into the fray. Her words to Barak are the Word of the Lord to you:

This is the day the Lord has given your enemy into your hands—for the Lord is marching ahead of you. (Judges 4:14)

Where is the battle of faith calling you to take a stand today? If there is an identifiable conflict, jump into the fray. God is already there, and you are not only guaranteed a win but also an eternal song to commemorate your conquest.

Choose You This Day: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.

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If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: What would you attempt for God if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you? How energetically would you press forward if you knew he was waiting there for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began? The truth is, when God calls you to step out, he has not only promised to be with you, but he has also promised to go before you. And while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there with your victory in hand.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 4:14-15

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.

What would you attempt for God if you knew the Lord was marching ahead of you? What grand thing would you pursue if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you, waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began?

When God calls you to a step of faith, you are guaranteed his presence and his power, which means that you are invincible in the journey. Moreover, he has not only promised to be with you, but he has also promised to go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there, waiting for you to take the victory lap for a success that he achieved for you. How cool is that!

 

That is exactly what the prophetess Deborah is telling the reluctant general of the Israelite army, Barak. He is shivering in his boots, knowing that his army is outmanned and outgunned by the Canaanite army of General Sisera. We are told in Judges 4:3, “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” 900 iron chariots to Israel’s none…no wonder, on a human level, Barak was not too excited about leading Israel into battle.

But this battle would not be fought only on a human level. No battle is. In the spiritual realm, God had already heard the cries of the Israelites and had determined to deliver them from their oppressors under the guidance of Deborah the Judge and Barak the General. Considering that, the fight was over before it even started. Barak couldn’t see that, but Deborah could. That is why she told him, “Now get out there and fight, for God is already ahead of you and has guaranteed the victory. C’mon, go take your victory lap.” And that is exactly what Barak did, and a great deliverance for Israel was accomplished.

Perhaps you are a little uncertain about what’s next for you. Maybe you’re not too confident about your future. Maybe the circumstances you face are overwhelming, from a human perspective. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But where God is asking you to step out in faith, those odds do not matter one iota. God is on your side; he is not only with you, but also before you. He is already where he has called you to go, waiting for you to walk into a victory that he has secured for you. That means you cannot lose. So, take heart!

Therefore, because of God’s exemplary record of faithful goodness in leading his people to victory, do not be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God. Get ready! This is the day God will give you victory, for he is marching ahead of you. That is God’s promise to you!

In a verse similar to this one, King David said to his son Solomon as he gave him the daunting task of building a temple in Jerusalem to the God of Israel,

Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. (1 Chronicles 28:20, LB)

Whatever is before you, if God is calling you to step out, then do it with confidence; God is already out there where you have been called to go. And he has guaranteed victory if you go with him!

Choose You This Day: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.