Day 14

Joshua 10-11

THE LONG WAR

Joshua made war a long time with those kings – Josh. 11:18

            Human reasoning would conclude that God’s wars should be short.  No army on earth can match His hosts.  God brought victories to Israel, but He hardened the hearts of their enemies to come against them in battle.  No peaceful people enjoy a protracted war, but sometimes the enemy gives no choice.  The psalmist said, I am peace, but when I speak, they are for war (Psm. 120:7).   There are two reasons why God brought the tribes of Canaan against His own people.

            First, God requires His people to be prepared for imminent invasion.  The forces of the wicked are always in conflict with the forces of righteousness.  Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them (Prov. 28:4).  There is no fellowship with light and darkness.  Attacks by spiritual hosts of wickedness keep us in a state of readiness for spiritual attacks.  

            Second, God allows His people to join Him in the fight against His enemies.  God’s plan was to use Israel to utterly destroy the armies of wickedness.  Today, our enemies are not bodies of flesh but spiritual beings.  We are enlisted by our Lord Jesus to join Him in the battle for men’s souls.  Our defensive battles against Satan’s spiritual hosts prepare us for attacking the “Gates of Hell.”  If God did not allow the enemy to come against us we would lose the fighting edge and be impotent to attack.

           Learn to thank God, not only for the victories, but for the enemy God sends.  Each victory prepares us for greater challenges, and our greatest battles lay ahead.  We are called to make war a long time.  We need to remember that we don’t fight for victory but from victory.  The battle has already been won.  But we can share the spoils of victory with the One who won the war.

Keep the enemy on the defense.