The Rock Weekly – May 21, 2025

 

Who Do We Want Fighting Our Battles?

Last week we looked at the battles that had to be fought once the Israelites stepped into the promised land. We learned that entering the promised land didn’t mean retiring or entering a vacation resort, it meant entering a battlefield. This week, I want us to think about who we want fighting our battles. 

In Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua (the books of the Bible written recording the time the Israelites left Egypt, wandered through the wilderness, and entered the promised land) we see again and again God demonstrate Himself as their judge (Ex 12:12, Deut 1:17, Deut 10:17), the one who went out before them (Ex 13:21, Ex 14:19, Ex 23:23, Deut 31:3), and the one who fought their battles (Ex 14:14, Deut 1:30, Deut 20:1, Josh 10:42).

And yet, despite God’s willingness and excellence in all of these things, after a few hundred years, the Israelites instead insisted the prophet give them a human king. 

“The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.”  –  1 Samuel 8:19-20 CSB

The very things that God wanted to be, they wanted from a human. Even when the prophet Samuel explained what it would cost them (taxes and military enlistment), they still insisted on a man instead of God.

As our church steps into the promised land and begins to fight (spiritual) battles to take (metaphorical) territory, I sense this caution from God’s Spirit: “Let me fight with you and for you. Don’t put your trust in what you can see, in physical resources, in people, or in politics. I am your justice, the one who goes out before you, and the one who will fight your battles.”

Let us be like Joshua, Caleb, and a brave generation of Israelites who stepped into the battlefield ready to fight, and saw God win the battle for them (Joshua 10).

Let’s take territory together!
Pastor Andrew & your Rock Staff 

 

 

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