“These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan. (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience.)”
I know what your thinking. “when I became a Christian, I expected a harp and cloud type of life afterwards.” Yes, you can find verses in the Bible about God’s peace and His grace alone with countless stories of rescue from persecution or demon possession but I am willing to bet you never read this before. Judges 3:2, “he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience.” The war you are in right now might be a place the Lord put you to teach you warfare.
If you have not stopped to look around, you might not notice the war we are involved in. Whether you are a Christian believer or not, you are still fighting this great war. A German Proverb says “A great war leaves the country with three armies — an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.” If we are not careful fighting this war by ourselves can produce what this German Proverb is stating.
The battle in your life might have been carefully arranged by the Lord himself. Here we find the story of Ortheil, Ehud, and Shamgar. The Lord rose up these three men as Judges and rescued the Israelites from oppressive neighbors. The Lord raised us these oppressive neighbors to punish His people because they did evil by worshiping other gods. These judges were God’s secret agents directed by God to defeat the enemy.
God wants to teach you warfare because the enemy, Satan, is ready to trick you into turning away from God by turning your attention to other gods. Gods like the seven deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. Today, these are the foreign kings who seek to ruin your life sent by Satan.
The fight always starts close to home. The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord by allowing themselves to live with other people who did not serve the Lord and that is where it began. Today, realize that a war might be raging right underneath your own nose because of the people and habits you have refused to lay down. Satan would love nothing more than to create what the German proverb says, “an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves,”. In other words, an army who is defeated and does not walk in victory with King Jesus.
God has called you to be victorious by worshiping Him and Him alone. Are you tired of serving the army of the cripple, the mourners, and the thieves? Jesus Christ is knocking at your door and he wants to give you the proper armor to defeat the enemy. Take His hand and become more than a conqueror though Christ who loves you.
Let It Go 
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