1 Chronicles 5:18-22 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword… It was a characteristic feature of Jewish thought, and it was a fitting expression of the theocratic principle, that God was recognized as directly concerned in and related to every event, and in such a way as made him, in a very real and deep sense, the cause of the event. The observation of this peculiarity is necessary to the understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures, and it alone explains some of the Scripture difficulties, especially those which seem to assert that God is the author of evil, that he hardened Pharaoh's heart, sent an evil spirit to Saul, and a lying spirit into the prophets, etc. Still, admitting this general feature, there appears to be an unusual positiveness and strength about the assertions in this passage, that "the war was of God;" that "they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them; because they put their trust in him." Probably the historical reference is to the "great war in the time of Saul between the trans-Jordanic Israelites and the Hagarenes, who then occupied the rich tract north and north-east of Gilead, known as the Hauran at the present day." A study of the map will impress the importance of the subjection of this district to the security of the trans-Jordanic tribes. The Hagarenes were "noted for their thievish habits, and were regarded as savage and warlike." We note, from these verses, that the difficulty of putting rightly together man's working and God's strengthening finds constant and ever-varied illustration in Holy Scripture, coming up to view in very unlikely places. Here the instance is a striking one, because, in the common and less thoughtful estimate of men, war is precisely the thing in which God is not wanted; in which the whole foreground is occupied with man's armies, man's weapons, man's skill, and man's energies, and there is plainly no room for God. The instance is an impressive one, because in such unusual circumstances we are called to learn the lesson of trust, and to see that man only achieves a true success when he is strong in God. Even in his wars man should find the principle working that is so skilfully expressed by the apostle in relation to the personal life: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12, 13; see the form in the Revised Version). The possibility of uniting energy and trust in wartimes may be illustrated in the soldiers of Gustavus Adolphus and of Cromwell. I. MAN'S OWN WORK IN WAR. It is usually entered upon for reasons of state. The times bring round to some men the spirit of conquest. Nations undertake wars to secure their boundaries, to repress the encroachments of neighbours, etc.; and even in sacred wars, such as the Crusades, the real object is the securing of some human sovereignty, such as was claimed by the pope. War is the great sphere for the exercise of man's trained physical powers. And it is usual for success in war to follow the greatest army and the highest efficiency. So it is of all human things the most intensely human. II. MAN'S TRUST IN GOD IN WAR. If the object of the war be right, man need never separate God from it. And, to impress this, Scripture shows us God fighting with and by means of armies; even saying distinctly, "the war was of God." We have not to decide the right in historical cases, which demand a fuller basis of judgment and more complete knowledge than we possess; but we must decide the right of any wars which we sanction, and only when assured of the right can we trust God for success. III. GOD'S WORK THROUGH MAN IN WAR. None can read the story of the race without seeing that God has used war as one of the severer agents in his providential workings for the sum total of good. And no,, man. can read aright' the "signs of his times" without finding God in battle-fields, making the wrath of man praise him." Impress for all right spheres of human life the practical compatibility of trust and toil. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. |
    |