A Situation No More

Judges 6:1-4; Judges 7:20, 22

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

There is another situation in which we see three things: ravage, ruin, and a right response. Here we see the totality of the destruction. Israel rebelled against God. They were so bad that they just "did evil." There came an oppressive power. As soon as something was planted, they knew. They came like a swarm of locusts and snatched it out of the ground. The Israelites had nothing. Invasion came before camping out in the land. The Midianites were so numerous they were like a swarm of locusts. Camping out involved inviting everyone else and their livestock too. They bred in a land that was no longer theirs away from their own homeland. See, the land was big enough for Israel and her enemies to live comfortably side-by-side. How many of you know that you cannot have an enemy living near you lest you become like them, or they move into your territory. The Midianites did this to ravage the land and the people therein.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

The caves and mountains were kinder to the Israelites than the enemies were. This is what is looks like when you prefer being alone to being with other people. See the totality of the destruction. God uses even the forces of the enemy to bless his people. It does not feel like a blessing when you are hungry. You may not feel blessed when your house is occupied by people who hate you. You may not feel like praising him when your cupboards are bare and there is no way to get anything else for you to live. In this case, it is called reaping what you sow. Israel was not more wicked than the people who occupied the land. Did God not care about what was happening? His children of Israel were suffering for the enemies' actions. Is not this just like God. His mercies "are new every morning," great is his faithfulness as in Lamentations 3:23.

This is the nature of God. What good father, in Luke 11:11-13, is going to give his children scorpions, rocks, and snakes to eat in place of bread even when they are bad. What friend will say there is nothing to eat when you are hungry; you may have used and abused their grace and mercy according to Luke 11:5-8. Genesis 18:25 says, will "not the judge of all the earth do right." Will not God defend his children even when they are wrong. If they cry to him "and turn from their wicked ways," he will do something for them in 2 Chronicles 7:14. He promises to "forgive their sin" and "heal their land." See God as the merciful and holy Father. When he was done, the children of Israel were not still sinning. They, like those in 1 Peter 4:1, were done with sin. They might have made it through the trial, but they stank like the situation that burned them.

And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host:

Here we see victory just like there was judgement. Imagine showing up in the middle of the night with nothing but burning torches and trumpets. I could start a whole worship service with those alone. See the whole enemy who has all this stuff just starts cutting each other up. When God was done, only he got the glory. I cannot explain it rightly but there are a couple of spiritual principles here. Could it be that you have the wrong focus. Your focus ought to be not on the situation but rather on God. For Ephesians 6:12 states, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities," powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and "spiritual wickedness in high places." When you come with your light and God on your side, the enemy will not only cut each other up but they will leave you alone. In this case, they left behind their animals, their livestock, all their tents, and their stuff. You may even find some new family members while the Lord is working.

Sometimes even if you did not do evil, God will still let you have a Job experience. Was he not repaid for his troubles as well in Job 42:10. The kingdom of Satan moves like the kingdom of God. Unlike God's kingdom, it seeks to steal, kill, and destroy as in 1 Peter 5:8. In the words of the text, the enemy came to ruin and ravage. Does not God ever take revenge? "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" says the Lord of Romans 12:19. We get it twisted when we take matters into our own hands. God can use even the enemy to bless you just as he can use them to bring you back to himself. Here we see divine justice and divine repayment. Justice has kissed mercy; righteousness and peace sit together as in Psalm 85:10. The devil can teach you how to occupy a territory. However, the battle is not his or ours, but rather the Lord's in 1 Samuel 17:47. This is why a deliverance from God was needed. When you are broken, shattered, and there is nothing left but God, that is a time of testing by the enemy.

Maybe there are some responses you would like to take that are not of God. Maybe there are some moves you would like to make that do not honor him. Some of those will only keep you in the situation longer. Had Israel not depended on God and submitted to him, the situation would have been much worse and may not have worked out for their deliverance as easily. Do not get mad and go slashing people's tires because this is of the devil. He will cause the wrong moves to be made. Misdirection goes along with deception. God's command to slash the covers off Israel's lights caused his power and glory to fall on them that had no light or power of their own. No matter what it looks like, the enemy is not stronger, greater, or more powerful than God. I can hear some Midianites now muttering 'amen, yeah now you are talking.' The problem here is twofold. There was destruction of other people's blessing and occupation of someone else's land. God will work that thing. When it is God's land and you are his, he will make sure he helps you drive the enemy out and take their spoils. Whether you sit in prison by your own fault or by none of your own, he commands the angel of the Lord to stand by you at midnight as in Acts 27:23.

Does anyone know what I am talking about? This was a situation. Do you know anybody like this? There are people who were more wicked than the evil that was done by the original sinners. It sounds like having another woman in your own house sleeping with your own man; now, she is expecting what should have been your baby. Is that not what Israel did to God. Look at how God will change the situation. You may find yourself with the other woman's baby, no, your own baby, and your own man because you were the one doing right. There is repayment for the situation. There is a doctrine of the years the locust has eaten according to Joel 2:25. When you have done all you can do, when you have cried all you can cry, when you have suffered so you can hardly stand, and when there are no words left to say, there is Jesus. We need to be released from this idea that we ought to have a lot to say when really we need not say anything at all. At the tomb of Lazarus, "Jesus wept" in John 11:35. That was all that had to be said. There are times when the profoundness of suffering can cause reactions such as those of Job's three friends. Then, there is also a right response from the Lord.