Do you know why that first generation of Israelites were not allowed to go into the Promised land, and in turn... spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness until they died out? It was because of their unbelief and unwillingness to go in and possess the land, which included confronting and overcoming all their ‘enemies’ by the help and power of God. (Num. 13-14; Heb. 3) In fact, you might go read Heb. 3:16-19 right now…and then read 4:1 and ponder what the writer might be implying there.

So now lets’ return to the book of Judges where we left off the other day and please read the first three verses in chapter 3. If you recall, we were dealing with another generation who had ‘fallen away’ and forgot the Lord, ended up doing evil in His sight, which then led to them being ‘delivered’ or ‘handed over’ to their ‘enemies’. The point here we seem to miss out on, repeatedly…is if we fail to overcome our enemies, then they will end up overcoming us. What do you think Jesus was talking about there in John 12:35?

You might also remember how we looked at God’s ‘method’ here in removing the enemies ‘little by little’ as they moved in to take possession of this new land. Now if you just read Judges 3:1-4, you should have noticed where the Lord left some of these nations there on the land for two specific reasons. Can you point out what those two reasons were? (look at vs. 1-2)

He wanted to ‘test their hearts’ to see if they would obey Him and keep His law... (just like He did with previous generations-Deut. 8:2) and…He wanted to ‘teach them to know war’ (2). Anyone remember our lesson from last week about how many in the church today never got the memo informing them how they too, are in a ‘war’ and have for the most part, ‘fallen asleep’ while on ‘duty’? Not a good thing to do when you have an enemy out there wanting to ‘take you out’ (Matt. 24:42-43; John 10:10; Eph. 4:27; 1 Pet. 5:8)

For one reason or another, countless, sincere ‘believers’ today have been lulled into a false sense of security (dare I use the word ‘deceived’?) and feel that they are immune or invincible to any harm because they made a ‘profession of faith’ and then ‘joined a church’. Why they even quote regularly how ‘greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world’ and feel safe. Jeremiah had something to say about that false teaching in 23:16-20.

So what is there to learn about this ‘spiritual warfare’ that scripture seems to suggest we need to know about? (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Looking back at the ‘blueprints’ found in the OT, we learn when the Israelites first crossed over the Jordan river to go in and possess this new land, their first ‘foe’ was to overthrow the fortified city of Jericho. You are probably familiar with this story and how God instructed them to march around the walls of the city for seven days. You can read on your own there in Joshua 6, but the key takeaway here that led to a resounding victory was simply this: Obey God… and don’t lean on your own understanding.

Do you know why these people ended up falling back into the hands of their enemies later on? Pretty much for the same reason we do today: We don’t obey God ...and then suffer the consequences for it (John 5:14; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:6; Luke 13:3,5)

How about we learn another lesson in ‘warfare’ as found in Judges 6. It’s the story of Gideon and how he took only 300 men and overthrew the Midianites. Most are familiar with this story because of his ‘fleecing’ that took place as Gideon wanted confirmation from the Lord. But let’s move on from that and allow me to point out two key nuggets for us to draw from today. The first one is found in verses 1-2 which reminds us once again how…they ended up being oppressed and victimized by their enemy. God handed them over to the Midianites for seven years because of ‘doing evil in His sight’.

And true to God’s character and nature, He never wants us to perish (2 Pet. 3:9; John 3:17; Luke 13:1-5) but wants to restore us back to a place where He can bless us again (Deut. 30) That is most always the reason why He brings judgement on His people, yes...even today in the NT (1 Cor. 5:5)

So lesson number 2 in spiritual warfare…is found in the culling process God used when He wanted to ‘whittle down’ the original 32,000 men that were summoned to go to war. You can read Judges 7:2-8 how after the culling, 300 men remained. The first culling involved sending home everyone who was fearful.(3). The second and final culling is interesting given some 10,000 men remained. So what did it boil down to? The way in which the men drew water from a nearby source to drink. Those who got down on their hands and knees and ‘lapped water like dogs’ (5) were sent home. The remaining 300…actually took a knee, and with their hands drew water up to their mouths to drink.

Can you visualize this? What was their advantage? How about the fact that they were able to remain…’watchful and vigilant’ (Matt. 24:42-44; 1 Pet. 5:8). These were the men God chose to go in and overthrow the Midianites under Gideon’s leadership. And with that, you can read the story as to how that went down and you will learn, once again…better to not lean in your own understanding as you will quickly conclude this is all God’s doing…our overcoming the enemy. His ways are much different than our ways. (Isa. 55:8-9)

See you tomorrow?