Victory for spiritual losers.

So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.

Numbers 21:35

 

This chapter actually recounts the very initial conquests Israel experienced in battle as they began moving into Canaan.  They began by settling the western banks of the Jordan River. The territories they seized were a result of defensive warfare in which aggressive nations came to attack them. God eventually brought them the complete victory which resulted in Israel taking some of the land promised to them by God so long ago.

 

These initial victories came at the hand of God’s grace, because Israel still was not the nation they should have been in terms of spiritual commitment. What interests me is that after the first victory, there is an immediate failure (the infamous bronze serpent episode: Numbers 21:4-9). But God graciously responds to Moses’ plea for the people and once again they are back on track conquering their aggressors again. Moses is getting a taste of what the next generation of leadership will know.  And God is continuing to develop a faithful generation that will want to obey His leading in the conquest of Canaan.

 

Israel is advancing spiritually as a nation throughout the book of Numbers. But they are falling forward in stutter steps. They aren’t quite the noble heroes we would hope for. They struggle with unbelief and selfish complaining even after God has saved them from threatened destruction from a larger and established nation. They just can’t seem to stay spiritually consistent. But God is faithful. And that is the insight worth considering for today.

 

We may fail. We may struggle with consistency. Our faith may be small at times. And our sins may overwhelm us when we fail. But God is faithful. He will lead us beyond our failures so that He gets the glory. We experience profound grace when He does this.

 

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Who Jesus is; who we are.

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

Revelation 17:14

There is no doubt, for one moment, in the book of Revelation that the powers that array themselves against Christ will succeed. They will try. They will use all the earthly power at their disposal to rebel against God and persecute His people. And they will fail because Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings. No one can thwart His plans or disobey His authority successfully. Jesus is in control.

And those with Him are uniquely His. They are called by Him. They have responded to that call. And in that response they realize that all along they were chosen in Him: the people of God by His design and purpose. And they are faithful to Him. They obey and submit to the King of kings and Lord of lords and find themselves on the victory side of the war against the Lamb.

So these very simple descriptions have profound meaning. I see Jesus for Who He is and I realize that nothing in this present world will destroy Him or His work. I see who I am as one of His faithful called and chosen ones. And I know that serving Him and obeying His command in the fray will be rewarded with sure victory over those who would rebel against God.

Technorati Tags: Revelation,Jesus,Victory