LEAD the charge AGAINST the ENEMY by ‘PRAISING GOD’!
March 12 Bible
Reading: Judges Chapters 1-3
LEAD the charge AGAINST the ENEMY by ‘PRAISING GOD’!
Now after the death of Joshua it came to
pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, "Who shall be
first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?" And
the Lord said, "Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into
his hand." (Judges 1:1-2)
The book of
Judges begins with the ‘death’ of
Joshua, who was undoubtedly a great leader after Moses, the man of God, and was
used mightily by God to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land through great
manifestations of God’s power. We read amazing miracles like the parting of the
Jordan River (Joshua 3), the destruction of the walls of Jericho without human
interference (Joshua 6), and even the stopping of the rotation of the earth
upon its axis for one whole day (Joshua 10:1-14), about which the Bible
declares: "And there has been no day
like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for
the Lord fought for Israel." (Joshua 10:14)
Such a
mighty man as Joshua, however failed in one crucial area before he died – grooming and naming a successor to take over
from him as the leader of the Israelites! He should have learned that from
his mentor Moses who had installed him in the leadership before he died
(Numbers 27:12-23). Succession planning
is a very important area for any leader to focus on – that will enable the
next person to carry out and implement the vision, mission and goals that have
been formulated so far. Joshua had not
carried forward his mission through another leader after his death! So after
the death of Joshua (2:8), the Israelites asked God who will lead the charge
against the Canaanites, who stood in their way to take possession and control
over their inheritance.
It is
interesting to note that God wanted the tribe of Judah to lead among the tribes in waging a war against the
Canaanites in the south. The selection of the tribe of Judah corresponds with
the divine preeminence of Judah in Jacob’s patriarchal blessing: "Judah, you are he whom your brothers
shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies" (Gen
49:8). We can also note the benediction of Moses upon Judah: And this he said of Judah: "Hear, Lord,
the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people; let his hands be sufficient
for him, and may You be a help against his enemies." (Deut 33:7)
As a spiritual
application to our lives, the meaning of the word ‘Judah’ means "praise",
or "to praise", as we read
in Gen 29:35 about Leah: And she
conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise the
Lord." Therefore she called his name Judah. What God is speaking to us
through this instruction is that we should always
lead the charge against our enemy Satan by praising
God. "But thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:57).
"Therefore by Him let us
continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name" (Heb 13:15). When we praise God based upon His divine promises
given to us in His Word (and not our
circumstances); God gets the glory through our situation, and He will quickly
rush to our aid to deliver us from our predicament. Can we truly praise God today?
