God Is Bigger

“When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (De 20:1 AV)

We are not Israel.  Our battles are not physical in the sense that we are building a physical kingdom.  There are no cities to conquer.  There are no governments to topple.  Our warfare is a spiritual one.  Our enemies are the Devil, the world’s system of unbelief and sin, and the flesh.  The picture above is one of contrast.  Israel is contrasted against the ability of a formidable enemy.  This might be a reference to Israel’s first response when confronted with an adversary.  As twelve spies returned, ten of them reported the enemy ahead was too large for even God to conquer.  Two; Joshua and Caleb; spoke with faith and declared that no matter the size of the enemy, God was greater.  The assumption above is that Israel will be faced with many different adversaries that on paper are larger, stronger, and better equipped than they are.  This has been their history throughout human history.  Yet, the LORD seems to carry them through, and they survive the impossible.  This is the point here.  No battle is too big for God.  Yes, it is way too big for us.  But never too big for God.

In the heat of the moment, we often forget the battles of the past.  The LORD makes reference to the Exodus many times.  He does so above.  His point is this.  If He miraculously brought Israel out of Egypt with plagues and wonders, how much more difficult is the present threat?  Jehovah does this frequently because Israel forgot too many times the wonders that God wrought.  Jehovah references something they can relate to so that the present becomes doable.  The only difference here is Israel’s participation.  When leaving Egypt, all they had to do was leave.  There was no battle to fight.  There was no active participation on their part.  All they needed to do was to trust the LORD and leave.  There were no swords, bows, or arrows.  No shields.  No battlefield.  It was the LORD and only the LORD.  There were no boats to assemble.  No guards were on duty.  There were no watchmen necessary.  All was in the hands of God.  Now that they were free, the LORD required Israel to participate in their own deliverance.  The first time it was all God.  Now it was them and God.  This is what troubled Israel so.

How soon do we forget the miracle of salvation?  We walk with the LORD for so long that we forget the miracle that deliverance from sin and hell truly was.  We forget what it was like to live in wickedness and bondage.  We forget how hopeless our souls truly were.  So, when faced with an ongoing battle over sin or doubt, we think God is not able.  Or, if He is, that we are not able.  Both are incorrect.  God will not deliver us from our old natures without our participation in the process.  At least as long as we are on this side of glory.  God expects His children to wield the sword of truth, bend the knee of prayer, and face the foe in the strength of the Spirit.  He has given the tools and the strength.  If we cower at the threat of our enemies, then we have forgotten what God has done in the past.  Victory is only as far as effort and faith will take us.  God is not going to do it all for us.  He takes over where we cannot continue.  Israel forgot the great things God had done.  Now, the LORD is commanding them to remember and believe.