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 Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:36 am
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I wanted to draw a little more attention to one of the points they made in the article:
Quote: “ If God is for us, who can be against us?” should be our battle cry each and every time. A zone of faith in God is vital for your spiritual strength in this fallen world.
Emphasis on if. The article didn't get into the area of "what if God doesn't want to win?"; instead, they lingered on the more positive points, which are true, but not always the case. The Israelites were suppose to consult with God's priests (who would then use the Urim and Thummim or consult the book of the law), or one of his prophets who may have received word from God directly to see if they would win the war. Sometimes, God said they wouldn't win and to surrender as soon as the enemy showed up (Jeremiah 38:17-18 ). I mention this and emphasize the "if" because when the people around me say, "if God is for us, who can be against us" they tend to use the verse already assuming that God will always be on their side, in the sense of guaranteeing a win, giving them what they want/asked for/ or are battling against, just because they have an attitude full of faith. We should ask Him in prayer beforehand and study the scriptures (aka consult God beforehand) to see what his will is, like David did:
Quote: 1 Samuel 30:7-8(NIV) 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, 8 and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
...though it wasn't the case for David, sometimes God does forego winning a specific battle in order to win the "war" (shame their idols in their own temples, expose them for the useless "gods" they are, not just defeat their human army) as was the case in 1 Samuel 4-6 (three chapters). The Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, they went to battle against them again, but this time they tried to force God to be with them by bringing out the ark, but they were defeated a second time and had the ark stolen by the Philistines; then God used the ark to defeat Dagon in the Philistine's own temple (the Philistines had placed the ark next to Dagon himself). YHWH glorified himself that much more by allowing a couple of defeats.
It's questionable whether this was the optimal way YHWH wanted to win because they didn't really consult Him about taking the ark of the covenant to the battlefield; it was more like they were asking the elders permission to do what they wanted to do, instead of asking what does God want? That's not to say God didn't have control over the situation because the Israelites did learn a few lessons from their disobedience: [1] stop trusting in physical objects to save you, [2] you can't force God's hand on a matter [3] God doesn't want to win every battle for strategic purposes; a seeming defeat is actually a win from his point of view, we just have to wait for it.
In the same way, he could allow us to be defeated in certain areas of our lives (in matters of health, against arguments with certain people, or advancing one's career, whatever it is, in order to accomplish something else or teach everyone involved a lesson about who he is or how he operates—but, whatever the case, he must be consulted through prayer and study of his word [granted, the article did recommend this, but not for deciphering whether or not you would win the battle], and we must accept what he says so the circumstances end favorably for the whole nation, not just us as individuals). So, yes, have faith that God will be with you in your battles, as long as you consulted him beforehand and he said "yes".
edit: and if he/his word says "no", he'll be with you if you don't go/don't act.
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