QT 18 Oct 12, Even God prepares people prudently

Judges 3:1-4 (NIV) These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses.

NOTE: Actually these verses do not contradict the previous verses on why God did not remove all the nations (Israel's disobedience), as part of the reason is re-emphasized in verse 4. Rather, God adds another dimension to the existence of the nations in and around Israel; it is to teach those without battle experience how to fight. I'm sure the cynic will leap on this verse and exclaim that, how can a God of love teach warfare to his people? Well, he just does. And actually for good reason. People are sinners and nations will sin against Israel. While God will fight for them, Israel will, in most cases, have to contribute as well. Very seldom did God ever fight the battle all by himself. Additionally, warfare is a short-lived commodity. The skills developed are quickly lost if not reinforced. At this point in history, standing armies are rare or extremely small. So, God sees a need and prudently prepares his people. The only difference is that the way it is exercised and the way God would have exercised it are very different. The people fight after years of oppression (God's discipline), whereas God's plan would have probably been for the people to fight to defend themselves without the need for oppression. Application: we need to be prudent when we live in this world. God does promise to protect us but not to take the action for us.