He Does What He Says

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

HE DOES WHAT HE SAYS

Judges 20:29-48

29 Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. 30 They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31 The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads — the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. 32 While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads." 33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west of Gibeah.   34 Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. 35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36 Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten. Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. 37 The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. 38 The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, 39 and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle. The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle." 40 But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky. 41 Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them. 42 So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43 They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44 Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. 45 As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more. 46 On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47 But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48 The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire. NIV

Once the Israelites made a substantial inquiry of the LORD, and He told them He would give the Benjamites into their hands, it happened. Without recounting the attack, which may have been a little unusual for battles of that time, with the ambush instead of a complete frontal assault by all warriors, the lesson for us is twofold. First, it is in seeking the face of God with all our being. After seeing how Israel wept before the LORD and made offerings, seeking his counsel regarding what they were to do, we wonder how sincere our prayers are. Have we lost some fervor in our seeking the Lord? Are we just going through the motions of prayer without actually expecting the Lord to answer or do anything about our need? We have heard some believers use many words in their prayer, but words are just words if they are only words. We look at David’s psalms, some of which are great supplications, deep requests for his help, even asking why he is so long in helping him. We look at some of the men of faith and how they fell before the presence of the LORD. Perhaps we need to be more sincere, more engaged with our Lord than as casual as it seems we are in prayer. The second part of this twofold lesson is that the Lord will always do what he said he would do when we seek him. He told Israel that he would give the Benjamites into their hands, and he did. They believed him and went out expecting the victory. Once again, we wonder when we sing, “Victory in Jesus,” are we only thinking of victory over death, and forgetting about the other victories over other battles in life we face. When we see some of those media mogul preachers, healers, either sling their jacket and people fall over, or laugh until people find laughter, or whatever gimmick they use to make the watching audience think this is how God reacts to their antics, we might get a skewed view of prayer or having a relationship with the Lord. When we want to get a true picture, we can go directly to his word and find all the answers to how we pray, and how God answers. Let is live as people of faith and believe that if we ask, he will answer. We have heard many believers say that God may say, “No”, “Maybe”, “Not yet”, or some other answer than “Yes”. God said that if we, his people, would listen to him and follow his ways, he would subdue our enemies, or what difficulties we face. Years ago, there was a commercial that said, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen”. We know that God speaks, and we should be listening.