And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. And the LORD gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. And Joshua did to them just as the LORD said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
How many times in Scripture do we have the above scene painted for us regarding a servant of God? Faced with extremely unsurmountable odds, God expects His servants to trust Him and to fight the battle He asked them to fight. The story of Joshua and Israel taking the promise land is full of these events. But it continues throughout the Old and New Testaments. Think of this moment for the prophet Elisha:
2 Kings 6:15-19 (ESV)
When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
We have the stories of Daniel and the three Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace to show us the same truth. We have the story of disobedient Jonah who walked three days through the enemies camp, reluctantly, yet preached the Gospel. We have the stores in the NT of Peter and Paul in Acts. Always outnumbered. We have the story of John who was banished to an island and instead of sulking he wrote the greatest prophetic book of them all.
God always brings His people into places where the power has to be of Him and not us.
2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
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