The battle plan eight-year-old Kevin McCallister came up with in the classic film Home Alone was elaborate. Unique. Creative. Definitely not something I personally would’ve come up with to deter the “wet bandits,” two bumbling thieves who targeted wealthy homes during the Christmas holidays. And yet it worked!
The Bible has some pretty elaborate and unique battle plans as well. Creative. Hard to imagine, and yet they worked.
I’ve been reading in the Old Testament of the Bible the past few months. I’m now at the part where this large group of people — the Israelites — is FINALLY ready to enter the Promised Land. Their journey from slavery in Egypt until now has been long — over 40 years! Their leader Moses has died, and now his protege/successor Joshua is in charge.
Joshua’s first assignment is to lead the people across the Jordan River, a feat reminiscent of when Moses led them across the Red Sea. Both times God miraculously parted the waters and the people crossed on dry ground.
First assignment, COMPLETED.
Next assignment: destroy the city of Jericho. This was one of those strange battle plans — walk around the city for seven days. With the priests at the front of the procession blowing trumpets. On the seventh day, circle the city seven times. Then, when Joshua gave the command, everyone was to shout. Miraculously, the city walls fell down and the city was conquered.
Second assignment, COMPLETED.
The third assignment was to capture the city of Ai. Piece of cake, thought the Israelites. But because ONE person had disobeyed the clear command to “keep away from the things devoted to destruction” 1 when they were destroying Jericho, the battle to take Ai was a dismal failure resulting in loss of life and morale.
Assignment # 3: FAILED.
But God graciously gave the Israelites a second chance to destroy Ai, and this time they were successful.
The strange battle theme continues with their next foray. This time, they were tricked by some of the people in the land who “feared greatly for [their] lives because of you [Israelites].” 2 When the enemy tricked the Israelites, their deception led the Israelites to make a treaty with this enemy nation, a treaty promising that the Israelites would come to the country’s aid if they were ever attacked. Ugh. NOT a good game plan. To make matters worse, the Israelites forgot to first inquire of the Lord if this was how HE wanted them to proceed . 3
Another king and his people who heard about the annihilation of Ai were “very much alarmed.” 4 And some more kings had a similar reaction when they heard how God had dried up the Jordan River so that the Israelites could enter the land. “Their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites… we feared for our lives because of you.” 5
People were afraid of the Israelites. Understatement! And so five kings banded together to attack the nation that had made the treaty with the Israelites. These kings knew that such an attack would obligate the Israelites to honor their treaty, which meant war.
Several things stand out to me about this battle:
- Even though the Israelites had blown it by making a treaty without first inquiring of the Lord, God still fought for them.
- Joshua honored the treaty to the fullest. He didn’t send just a few soldiers, a skeleton crew so to speak. But rather his entire army, including all the best fighting men. (see Joshua 10:7)
- Even before Joshua and his men began their all-night march to the battlefield, God reassured Joshua: “Do not be afraid of [the enemy nations]; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”6 Did you catch that? Victory was assured before the battle even started!
- The Lord threw the enemy into confusion/a panic so that they fled from the Israelites. As they were fleeing, “the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.” 7
- As if that wasn’t strange enough, something even more elaborate and unconventional– even by Home Alone standards — happened: “the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” 8
The sun stood still.
Wow. Talk about strange battle plans! God made daylight last longer so that the Israelites had sufficient light to accomplish His plan.
But what does this have to do with you and me???
- I need to remember to first inquire of God before starting anything! I can be rather impulsive, running ahead of God and then hoping He’ll understand and bless my efforts. BUT… I need to realign my thinking and go to Him first. WAIT upon the Lord.
- I also need to remember that GOD will fight my “battles” — and that His methods are often rather unconventional. My battles aren’t the conquering-a-nation kind, but other things I deal with in my life, like believing the truth about what God says about me instead of the lies of the enemy.
- How often do I limit God because what He says doesn’t make sense to me? Or the timing doesn’t agree with my preconceived ideas? Or my assessment of my abilities — or lack thereof — doesn’t jive with His?
- God means what He says about wanting His people to be set apart/different/holy. Not tied to the things of this world.
- If I covet something — meaning desire or hope for — it often reveals a lack of contentment. Ugh.
- Part of my “job” is to rightly reflect Him to the world in which I live. To enhance His character among others. And when I blow it, to quickly quit trying to do things/succeed on my own — to get out of the way so that God can do His thing!
Yep. My “battle plan” isn’t as elaborate and creative as Kevin McAllister’s. It’s actually rather simple: love God and others with all my heart, soul, and mind. And as I learn to more consistently do this, I anticipate much joy in the journey of this thing called “Life!” Will you join me?!
Joy in the Journey 