Numbers 1 -- What I Wish I'd Understood Years Ago

I wish I’d had my commentary years ago when I struggled with trusting God.  One thing Satan had used to plant those seeds of doubt was the “displacing” of the inhabitants of the Promised Land by the Hebrews leaving Egypt.  God eventually got through to me on it, but it’s stated plainly in my commentary:

“Some people are disturbed by the emphasis on warfare in certain parts of the Bible … But their fears and criticisms are unfounded.  ‘The Lord is a man of war’ (Ex. 15:3) when it comes to punishing sin and removing evil.  The nations that Israel destroyed in Canaan were living in abominable moral filth and sinning against a flood of light, and the Lord had been longsuffering with them (Gen 15:13-16).  Would anybody today criticize a surgeon for removing a cancerous life-threatening tumor from a patient’s body?  Yet that’s what God did for society when He used Israel to judge the degenerate nations in Canaan … The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground, and there’s an enemy to fight and territory to gain for the Lord.  God declared war on Satan long ago, and there can be no neutrality in this spiritual conflict, for Jesus said, ‘He that is not with Me is against Me.’”

Father, You are God.  You know the truth about people and I can only understand it through You.  I proved my ignorance long ago, and I thank You for teaching me to trust You in every area of my life.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford