Deuteronomy 20:3-4 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Can you imagine any army today having the chaplain come and speak the words of our text before his troops go into battle? What kind of outlandish claim would that be! To claim that the LORD is on the side of any nation, especially in today’s world, would be ludicrous.
And yet, this is the express will of the LORD to ancient Israel. The text tells us that the LORD’s presence in the one thing that will bring victory. It is not the size or the army, or the training of the troops, or the courage of those attacking, but the LORD’s presence that makes all the difference.
We could save billions of dollars a year if the LORD would fight today’s battles. But there is a problem with this. There isn’t a nation today that the LORD has chosen to be his representatives and placed in a training program as ancient Israel had been.
Unrighteousness seems to be the rule of the day among nations. We can’t even get the Church to unite, let alone secular governments. Believers allow non-essentials to divide us. No wonder the LORD isn’t in our battles. More often than not, he would be against us!
But just as this sounds ridiculous today, it sounded so back then as well. Even with their knowledge of the presence of the LORD during their journey in the wilderness, showing up in the cloud and fire to direct and reassure of his presence, the people still did not believe the LORD would come through for them.
So the LORD had to once again try to reassure them and call them to trust. This seems to be the continual call of the LORD to his people. “Trust me! I will come through.” But they just couldn’t seem to hear the message and take it to heart.
But we do the same thing today. The LORD promises to take care of his people. But we too often look to every other avenue for help before we go to the LORD. He should be our first and only. We trust him even as we put on our battle gear and enter the battle.
We can’t just sit idly by and watch the LORD work. We must be involved. He uses our hands and feet to accomplish his battles. Israel had to march forward. But more importantly, they had to trust him.
The Arnold Journey 