Testing and Teaching Warfare

Judges 1-3; 1 Corinthians 12 

“’I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did.’…(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):”

Judges 2:21, 22; 3:2

The Canaanites and other remaining nations in the Promised Land resisted Israel’s authority and God’s ways. These nations worshiped fertility idols like Baal with sexual immorality and spirit worship. God allowed these sources of temptation to persist to both test Israel and to teach them warfare.

What about our areas of temptation?

In what way is God testing our hearts to see if we, too, will follow his commands and keep to his way?

In what ways are we learning spiritual warfare through our battles with the sinful nature, the ways of the world, and Satan’s forces?

Do we know our authority is in Christ and his victory over sin through his death on the cross?

Are we learning to resist temptation and sin, or just live with it?

“Lord Jesus, deliver me from evil as I stand in your mighty power and name to resist temptation and sin, for your glory.”