In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it.
War is inconvenient! Any war disrupts life. But if you are going to war there might be wisdom in picking the optimal time and place and setting. That is the context of the above passage. Fighting in the spring in the Mideast is an easier time to fight than in the winter when the rains come. The rains flood the river banks and cause the roads to be muddy. David and his men would need to pull supply carts for war-fighting. It was much easier in the spring. They also didn’t want to fight in the fall, or harvest time for crops. Soldiers also had homes and farms to care for. Fighting in the spring and returning in time to plant and then harvest was a great time. The key here is if you must fight a battle do so at the best time and in the best conditions. When we think of our spiritual battles to fight we might apply the same principles. If you are battling a food addiction, Thanksgiving season is the worst time to wage that war. Notice when Satan attacked our Lord regarding turning stones to bread (Luke 4). It was after Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Satan knows the exact time to fight us. When we are at our weakest. The spiritual wars we fight are to grow us. Our trials and testing are to build character and strength:
Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
There is a time to fight a war. We ought to be wise in our battle against sin in our lives and find a way to optimize our success by fighting the war on the best ground and in the best season. Intentional war against sin in our lives will yield better results than haphazard and impulsive tactics.
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