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NuclearWar
(Continued from page 21)
RIGHT. Whether to DO r ight Or
wrong- that is MAN's decision!
These l sraeli tes d id not need to
fight.
God ALLOWED them to SIN by
taking up arms.
Now you know WHY the nation
Is rael went to war-WHYGod him–
self even
commanded
t hem to go to
war, d riving out the pagan nations
from the Promised Land.
Ma ny people have wondered
WHY, if God's teaching is that WAR
IS WRONG, he actually commanded
his own nation to fight in war.
The answer is that God made
man with FREE MORAL AGENCY–
God not only
allows
humans to
have a CHOICE-he compels us to
choose!
God alone determines WHAT is
sin. God
does not allow
MAN to
decide WHAT is sin, or WHAT is
r ighteousness. But he does allow
man- he actually
compels
man–
to decide WHETHER to sin.
God made it PLAIN to ancient
Is rael that they need never go lo
war. He guaranteed complete pro–
tection from outside enemies. He
guaranteed PEACE-if they would
trust him and obey the laws of his
government! He demonstrated his
abi lity- and his POWER! But the
ls rael ites chose WAR. J ust as
ALL
nations have chosen WAR! Just as
our
nat ions do-need lessly- to–
day!
Case Hlstory No. 2
The article last month gave the fi rst
actual case his tory showing, in
detail , how the ETERNAL God, by
supernatural miracles, d id deliver
the lsraelites at the Red Sea from
the army of t he then greatest
nation on ear th, the Egyptians.
Not ice case history No. 2.
This concerns King Asa of the
kingdom of Judah . The king of
Ethiopia carne against the J ews
with 300 c hariots and an army of
ONE MILLION soldiers. T bey had
major size armies in t bose days,
strange as that may seem.
In those days the J ews also hada
sizable army- but not nearly large
enough to withstand an invasion of
a force of a mill ion t roops.
Per ha ps, had the Et hiopians
October
1984
come wi th a smaJier army, Asa
might have gone to war wi th them
relying wholly on his armed force,
instead of on God. But, regardless,
the FACT is that in this instance this
ki ng
d id
re ly on God for his
defense!
" And Asa cried un to the Lord his
God, and said, Lord , it is nothing
with thee to help, whether with
many, or with them that have NO
POWER: help us,
0
Lord our God;
for we rest on thee, and in thy name
we go agains t this mult it ude.
O
Lord, thou art our God; Jet not man
prevai l against THEE. So THE LORD
smote the Ethiopians before Asa,
and before Judah;
and the Ethio–
pians fled "
( JI
C hron. 14: 11 -12).
But there is a n unhappy seque!
to this tremendous event- where
reliance on Goo pu t A MILLION
ARMED MEN TO FLIGHT!
The k ing of ISRAEL, Baasha,
carne with an armed force agains t
the J ews. Incidentally, note care–
fully, the kingdom of ISRAEL was
here fi ghting against the J Ews of
the kingdom of J UOAH! They were
two altogether
different nations!
The people of the nor thern king–
dom of ISRAEL
never
were called
J ews!
T his t ime Asa neglected to re!y on
God to fight off the attacking mi li–
tary force! T bis t ime he did PRECISE–
LV WHAT THE UNITED STATES ANO
8 RITAIN ARE OOING TODAY! He
hired
an ALLY- the kingdom of
Syr ia
( 11
Chron.
16:
1-3).
"And at that t ime Hanani the
seer carne to Asa ki ng of Judah,
and said unto him, Because thou
hast relied on the king of Syria, and
not
relied on the Lord thy God ,
therefore is the host of the king of
Syria escaped out of thi ne hand.
Were not the Ethiopians and the
Lubims a huge host , wi th very
many chariots and horsemen? yet,
because thou didst rely on t he
Lord, he delivered them into thine
hand . For the eyes of the Lord run
to and fro throughout the whole
earth, to shew h imself STRONG in
the behal f of them whose heart is
perfect toward him. Herein thou
hast done foolis hly:"- JUST LIKE
THE UNITED STATES ANO ALL
NATIONS TODAY!- "therefore from
he nce forth THOU SHALT HAVE
WARS"
(11
C hron. 16:7-9).
If
you wonder why OUR NATIONS
are cont inually having WARS,
there
is your answer!
Case Hlstory No. 3
The next case history involves
Asa's son, J ehoshaphat , the next
king of Judah.
Three allied armies carne against
Juda h, wit h a mi gh ty mi li tar y
force.
"And J ehoshaphat feared , and
set himself to seek the Lord, and
proclaimed a fast throughout all
J udah. And Judah gathered them–
selves together, to ask help of the
Lord....
"And J ehoshaphat stood in the
congregation of Judah and J erusa–
lem , in the house o f the Lord,
before the new court, and said,
O
LoRo God of our fathers, ar t not
thou God in heaven? and RULEST
NOT THOU OVER ALL THE KING–
DOMS OF THE HEATHEN?"-that is,
over aH gent ile nations, as well as
l sraelitish.
Continue: "and in thine hand is
there not POWER and MIGHT, SO
that none is able to withstand thee?
Ar t not thou our Goo, who d idst
drive ou t the inhabi tants of th is
land before thy people Is rael ... ?
And now, behold, the chi ld ren of
Ammon and Moab and mount Seir,
whom thou wouldest not let Israel
invade.... Behold,
I
say, how they
reward us, to come to cast us out of
thy possession, which thou hast giv–
en us to inherit.
O
our Goo, wi lt
thou not judge them? for WE HAVE
NO MIGHT AGAINST THIS GREAT
coMPANY that cometh against us;
ne ither know we what to do: BUT
OUR EYES ARE UPON THEE"
(11
Chron. 20:3-7, 10-12).
Could God
be GOD,
and fail to
heed a heartrending prayer like
that--coming from helpless people
who were obeying and TRUSTING
him?
Immed iately G od a nswered
through one of h is prophets:
" Thus saith the Lord unto you,
Be not afraid nor d ismayed by rea–
son of this great multitude;for
the
batt/e i s
NOT YOURS, BUT
G oo's....
"Ye shall
not need to fight
in
t his battle: set yourselves, stand ye ·
sti ll , and see the salvat ion of the
Lord .... And J ehoshaphat bowed
h is head wit h h is face to th e
g round: a nd a ll Judah a nd the
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