Who do you look to? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Judges 1:1-3,

"After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, 'Who will
be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?' The
Lord answered, 'Judah is to go; I have given the land into their
hands. Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers,
'Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against
the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.' So the
Simeonites went with them."

The book of Judges starts out, in my perspective, as a narrative of
failure of faith. Although Israel seeks the Lord's direction on who
should be the first to go up and fight against the Canaanites, Judah
turns to another tribe, Simeon, for help to insure victory. Simeon is
a natural choice for Judah to strengthen its forces, as its territory
is contained within Judah's in the distribution of the promised land.
However, the question needs to be asked, why did they look to others
to help them when the Lord said he would give "the land into their
hands"?

Many commentators (but not all) view Judah's request of the Simeonites
as a positive step for the tribe of Judah to secure the help of its
brothers. Working together, the tribes will be much stronger and
express the unity the Lord seeks among his people. I think that misses
an important point. If anything, this book reveals the problems that
arise when God's people seek help from others, betraying a lack of
faith in him. Although we are told the Lord was with the men of Judah,
verse 19, and of many victories, we also read, "they were unable to
drive the people from the plains". Other tribes had trouble as well,
"The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were
living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the
Benjamites." Verse 21. These and other failures would eventually lead
to Israel's downfall.

Later in the book the Lord demonstrates how little is needed when
people look to him, trust in him for help. In the account of Gideon
against the Midianites, the Lord says, "You have too many men for me
to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast
against me that her own strength has saved her..." and he pared
Gideon's troops from tens of thousands to just three-hundred. Judges
7:2. With these few hundred, the Lord gave the victory over those who
were described this way, "The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the
other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.
Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore."

Following the Lord's promise to give Judah victory, they had need of
no one else. The Lord is more than sufficient, the Lord is more than
ample to provide all that is needed. I am reminded of Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord." Also, 2 Corinthians 9:8, "God is able to make all grace abound
to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,
you will abound in every good work."

When the Lord is on our side, the only need we have is to trust in his
abundant strength and provision. No need to question, no need to
doubt. Our God is faithful and he wants us to trust in him.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com