16 - From Slaves To Warriors

It’s one thing to be delivered from bondage, but it’s another to inherit our promises. It seems there are always obstacles standing in our way—powerful forces determined to prevent us from possessing those promises. In this case it was the Philistine army who stood between Israel and their promised land. God had the power to give them their inheritance immediately, but He knew they didn’t have the faith to aggressively attack an intimidating enemy. The problem lay in old attitudes that dominated their thinking. Their faith was too small and had they come face to face with the Philistine army they would have turned in panic and run back to Egypt thinking slavery would be better than death. Yet, as a loving Father, God didn’t give up on them but committed Himself to transforming their hearts until they had the courage to take possession of the land. He planned to do this by deliberately leading them into an environment where they would be forced to constantly depend on Him for survival. Over the next two to three years (Nu 10:11, 12) He would confront them with ten different tests (Nu 14:22), and if in these they would turn to Him for help, they would soon discover the greatness of His power and would grow confident that they could succeed at anything He asked them to do. They must stop thinking like “slaves” and start thinking like “warriors” and the “citizens” of a new nation.