Psalm 106:42

Psalm 106:42

Their enemies oppressed them

The enemies of Israel were many and the tactics used against them varied too. Obviously, if another nation assembles an army and lines up its soldiers along your borders a fight is brewing, and it pays to be ready and to respond in kind. Sometimes the enemy tactics are just intimidatory and they would rather strike a deal, but that rarely seemed to be the case so far as Israel was concerned. No, they armed themselves and prepared for a violent and costly confrontation with a hostile force. Such conflicts have spattered the pages of human history for centuries and the threat of them is just as real today.

There is another, more sinister, way of exploiting a nation and Israel’s enemies knew just how to do this. It is to pretend that you have come in peace. It involves making alliances and signing agreements. It is a casual but insidious means of bringing your culture and your beliefs into the core of your opponents’ territory. It’s about winning hearts and minds but particularly about sowing your religious beliefs and the enchantments of your gods, until the hearts of your rivals are won over and they move away from the monotheistic worship of Yahweh. One day, they find themselves completely overwhelmed by the threat from within, and they discover that tolerance and open-mindedness are but tools of the enemy to enslave and overwhelm. Most of the Satan’s tactics involve our thoughts and our beliefs, he can win over individuals this way and he can certainly do this to nations. History proves it time and again. 

Israel tolerated the worship of foreign gods and idols and before they knew it, they were being oppressed by their enemies and subjected to their power. We should be warned, as individuals and as churches, but also as a nation. 

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