LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
"Jehovah Will Not Be With You"
"Do not go up, for the LORD is not in the midst of you, lest you be smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekite and the Canaanite are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: for because ye have refused to follow the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you" (Numbers 14:42-43).
Moses represents believers who have the spiritual sensitivity to know when God is or is not engaged in some matter. If God is, we can move forward without fear, confident that all will be well. If not, the best we can do, indeed the only thing we can do, is to stand still, awaiting further mercy from the Lord.
On the occasion we are analyzing, Israel wants to go and fight the Amalekites, and take possession of Canaan. All seems well. However, God has said no. The people have distrusted God, and God decides to punish them with forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
Moses knew that if Jehovah was not in the battle, it would be fought only between "the Israelite and the Amalekite" and the former would fall by the sword, not because they were bad warriors and the others good. The issue was not between "bad and good", nor because of lack of preparation or strategic error. From the beginning Moses had learned this valuable lesson: "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be at ease" (Exodus 14:14). If the battle was "between the LORD and the Amalekite", then we go confidently to victory.
When David confronted Goliath he knew that the battle was not between "Israelites and Philistines" but between "Jehovah and the Philistines" and he confronted him, not in his own strength, but proclaiming: "I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have provoked!" (1 Samuel 17:45). Then, the victory was total.
On the other hand, the hardness of the stubborn heart of the Israelites on this occasion did not allow them to listen to Moses. They thought they were strong enough in themselves to take up the fight without God. The result? Total defeat.
The lesson of this defeat of Israel transcends their own time, and reaches us. Do you have a new project in mind these days? Make sure your Lord is involved in that matter; don't venture out just because conditions look favorable. Your natural cunning smells success and the profits look juicy, beware, there may be death in that pot! (2 Kings 4:40) Are you facing a battle of your own, personal, for a selfish cause, and suffering for it? You might as well give up. No one can ensure your victory.
If the battle is the Lord's, and you are certain that he is ahead in everything, then let us press on, firm and onward. The enemy is already defeated!