Extending In Every Direction

The impact and influence of the church should be felt in all directions.   #daybydaylw   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   But now we look to verse 3, to the defeat of Hadadezer, and here, as with what we read later in verse 13, we get numbers. Zobah sat east of the Euphrates river, but their kingdom extended westward, past the Euphrates River, into what God had promised Israel. He promised the Israelites land as far east as the Euphrates River. So David, acting upon Kingdom promises, marches forth, takes down 20,000 soldiers, and disables the horses, which seems kind of odd, until we remember that the king who rules over Israel was not supposed to have many horses or chariots. He wasn’t supposed to try and accumulate wealth to himself. Additionally, David sets up garrisons in these lands, to keep these nations subdued, and also receives tribute, or annual offerings from these nations. But I want us to notice a geographical feature that the original audience would have picked up on immediately. It is not written out for us in the text directly with words, but in the naming of the nations that are defeated a certain picture starts to form. The Philistines territory was to the east of Jerusalem. The Moabites land was to the west of Jerusalem. Zobah sat many miles north of Jerusalem, and Edom was located to the south. West, east, north, and south. And then we have the phrase to sum it all up—“The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.” David’s victory extended in every direction. God’s kingdom through David was extending in every direction. And this is how it should be with the Lord’s churches. Their influence and impact should be felt in every direction. God’s kingdom today should be spreading through every people, tribe, and nation. What part is your church playing in that spread?