Psalm 136:17-18

Psalm 136:17-18

The God who fights for His people

Who are the great kings who were struck down by the Lord as He helped the Israelites to reach, and then take, the land of Canaan? Joshua 24:8-13 has an impressive list: -

8 “‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. 9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.

11 “‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. 12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you—also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow.13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’”

It seems to me that we are compiling here an impressive list of conquests without which the Israelites would never have been able to take over the Promised land. Notice that the Lord God makes it clear that none of these victories could be attributed solely to the Israeli armed forces, it was God who went before them and gave them success. As I write, it is less than 2 years since the forces of Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hammas in Gaza were all licking their murderous lips as they plotted the imminent downfall of Israel. None of them succeeded. We have to ask the question, “Is the Lord God still fighting for His people and His land?” Let’s go one step further, are all of these physical battles and conquests over a tract of land on earth meant to be an earthly parable of the supernatural l forces and conflicts that rage in the spiritual arena? Does the Lord God do the same things for we who believe – His chosen people, in the heavenly realms? 

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