Read: Judges 20
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9
God’s ways are so far removed from anything we might think or do that sometimes we feel He doesn’t care. But trust comes in the trial. Just ask the sons of Israel who battled against the sons of Benjamin.
The tribe of Benjamin had done a really wicked thing in raping a woman to death. The sons of Israel gathered several thousand men together to go and wipe out the men of Benjamin for their wickedness. They asked God first which tribe should go up against Benjamin.
God told them to call up the tribe of Judah, and then Judah was soundly defeated. So, they asked God again, “Should we battle against the sons of my brother Benjamin?” God said, "Yes;" and, again Israel was beaten back. They timidly went to God a third time and asked if they should do battle with Benjamin, and this time God said yes but added, “Tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.” Now, the obvious question is why God didn’t defeat Benjamin the first time. Why let so many people die in vain if He was only going to give Israel the victory anyway? The short answer is that the whole nation of Israel needed to be humbled just as much as their brothers from the tribe of Benjamin. This was a time in Israel's history when everyone was more or less doing their own thing and God was not given His rightful place as Lord over all.
The first battle Israel showed up with 400 thousand soldiers and a proud sense that they had the might and were in the right. However, after the second battle Israel actually wept over their position and fasted before the Lord. Finally, they too had been broken. Israel now understood that the sin was not just Benjamin’s sin; the entire nation had turned away from following God and God alone. Israel’s plight was right but the throng was wrong. Israel needed to search their own hearts before dealing with the hearts of their brothers.
Israel learned that God’s ways were far above their ways and that trust comes in the trial. We should never assume that failure is final. Failure is often a stepping stone to success and a means to humble us in our walk with Jesus.
Your Ways Are Higher
Closer than we can fathom
But far beyond what we imagine
Hopeless can find You, wisdom's confounded
Lord, we're astounded by the mystery
Your ways are higher than us
Higher is Your name above all names
as heaven's higher than earth
Higher are Your thoughts and ways
Words and Music by
CHRIS NESBITT
as sung by the David Crowder Band
No comments:
Post a Comment