Judges 1: The Lord Was With Them

“The Lord was with the men of Judah.” -Judges 1:19

The Lord had given Israel the promised land, but some enemies remained. When the time came for battle, we are told, “The Lord was with the men of Judah.”

How was he with them? In fulfilling his promises and providing victory. God kept his word and he did it in this case through a military victory.

We look back today and despise the idea of mixing God and war. Yet we fail to realize the discussion here involved a national conflict, not a battle between Christians and non-Christians. Israel had to defeat its enemies, or would be violently destroyed by them. There was not an easy option to negotiate peace and live together in harmony. In matters of life and death, Israel relied on God in this case and the Lord answered through victory.

The key, however, was not the battle but rather the presence of God. They were victorious because God was with them, not because of their strength or weapons. We, likewise, must acknowledge that our success is not due to our own efforts, but God’s work in our lives. When we do, perhaps others will look at our lives and declare, “The Lord was with” them.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.