“For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.” (1Chronicles 5:22)
The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. The history of this is interesting. The Hagarites are the great grandchildren of Hagar, who had Ishmael with Abraham. Jetur, Nephish and Nodab are Ishmael’s grandsons. They lived east of Gilead and are today in present day Iraq.
In those days, the Hagarites lived in the land promised to the Israelites. God provoked a war. The odds were great against the sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh. They mustered 45,000 fighting men. Yet they slew 100,000 because “...they cried to God in the battle, and He was intreated of them; because they put their trust in Him.” (1 Chronicles 5:20)
God honors faith. From the beginning of creation, we see that when trust is placed on God, He is faithful to His Word. “It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.” (Hebrews 11:4) Abel’s gift was accepted because by faith he made his sacrifice. The same is true of all those mentioned in chapter 11 of Hebrews; Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
We cannot be saved if not through faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) There is nothing in us that can save us. It’s a work of God we have to accept by faith. Then we get the evidence, and we get the assurance that “yes” we are His.
Our life as children of God is a life of faith. We obey by faith, knowing without a doubt that we will receive His Promises, increasing in the knowledge of Him (Colossians 1:10), abounding in good works (1 Timothy 6:18), zealous of good works (Titus 2:14) and being perfected in every good work (Hebrews 13:21). It’s a life completely surrendered to the Lord, knowing He will not fail in His Promise to us. “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1Corinthians 1:9)
Just as the sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh were able to be victorious against over whelming odds because they put their trust in God, we can be victorious in anything that comes to us that in the natural seems impossible when we trust God. He is faithful to meet us at our faith level. I will give a very personal example. A year ago, a nodule was discovered on my lung. It was monitored for a year. When it grew, a bronchonscopy was done and the biopsy diagnosis was adenocarcinoma. How strong was my faith? Do I refuse surgery to remove the cancer? Do I have the faith that God will remove it? Is that tempting the Lord? Doubts abounded. How long will that nodule be in my body and how much damage will it do before God intervenes? God is willing and able. That was not the question. The question was if my faith would be able to sustain me through even the deepest and darkest valley of my life. My doubt was not in God but in my faith. Was I willing to drag my family, my husband and friends through it? Would they have the faith needed when it looked like all was lost? Where would I have faith? I already knew I didn’t want that thing growing and damaging my body. I wanted it out! Immediately! My faith was that with the resources available today, I would take advantage of them and believe God would make sure it was removed completely before it would do more damage so I could recover as fast as possible and serve Him for many more years as He leads. Although recovery is tough, it’s recovery. I will recover. And it was removed early enough,
no chemo and no radiation are necessary. God is Good. He brought me to the surgery quickly. He brought me through the surgery. And He will bring me through to complete recovery. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
That’s just one testimony of the battles we fight in this world. My brothers and sisters in Jesus have great testimonies of God’s hand of deliverance in impossible situations of every kind. Like the sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, lets cry out to God in the battle, and petition Him for His help; because we put our trust in Him.
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