Day Three
- AfraOpoku
- August 26, 2025
- Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
The battle strategy was from God.
By default, that created the expectation that they would win.
They didn’t.
File that under I don’t understand
I’ve always struggled with this story1.
Benjamin had aided a hideous crime and Israel was up in arms.2
This wasn’t just any fight between brothers. By choosing to cover up blatant wrongdoing, Benjamin had set itself up against God and Israel
Israel did everything right with this one.
They were on the right side and had a formidable army, yet they still chose to go to God to validate their case.3
Then things got murky.
God directed Judah lead the battle for Israel.4
Confident of victory, Israel went to battle and got slaughtered.5
As a Christian, that situation stumps me.
How do you do the right thing; get confirmation you’re doing the right thing and get defeated by the one doing the wrong thing?
Hold that thought.
Amidst the confusion that must have come with defeat, Israel went back to God. Unsurprisingly they questioned their decision to go up against their brother Benjamin, and for the second time they asked whether they should go back to battle.6
Again, God said yes.
Again, they went and again they lost.
How does one reconcile such a situation with the immutable truth that God cannot lie?
Israel was following the strategy of the Most-High and coming up short.
in spite of repeated assurances from the highest level of power and foresight, they were losing men to Benjamin.
I can only imagine the thoughts that held them hostage.
Maybe the question to God hadn’t been clear.
Maybe they hadn’t heard right from God.
In the face of unexplainable defeat, they went back to God.7
At this point they lost me.
Logic dictated they go back to the drawing board and re strategize.
As per the rules of common sense; doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
Israel must have been insane because after being beaten twice, they went back to the same God who had promised them otherwise.
Day three didn’t start off great.
For a while it looked like Israel would be defeated again.8
Israelite soldiers were falling and recent history was repeating itself – until God stepped in.9
The Lord Most High turned the battle in favor of Israel.
In what would be a historical pivot, Israel won in a manner so decisive that there had to be a group intervention so the tribe of Benjamin didn’t get wiped out.10
Turns out God was right.
When He said Israel was going to win God didn’t mean they would win the first battle.
He meant they would win the war.
A message he still gives today.
I can learn a few things from Israel.
The fact that I don’t understand God, doesn’t mean I cannot trust him.
Worldly wisdom flies in the face of Godly logic.
God is never an option we can do without in the midst of a battle.
From a heavenly perspective, God knew Israel would win. He knew good would triumph evil. He knew the final day was what would matter, and He knew He was the one to give the victory
You may be familiar with defeat in some particular area or pertaining to a particular need. You’ve done all you can do.
You’re sure God has promised a good future but nothing looks like it.
The odds have been against you but you just can’t shake the feeling that God wants you to keep going.
Believe His spirit over the circumstances.
God given victories are final and definite.
That’s a useful thought to have when things aren’t going your way.
You are not the first to navigate a confusing story.
The Lord who penned your path did no less for His son
Jesus lived this story on Calvary
Events starting in gethsemane pointed to a losing battle.11
The brutal torture before the cross gave zero indication that Christ would ever be victorious… but day three looked entirely different.12
Generation after generation basks in the victory Christ won on day three.
Don’t give up.
Day three is coming.
Better yet, your father is bringing you there.
- Judges 20 v 1-33
- Judges 20v 12-13
- Judges 20 v 18
- Judges 20 v18
- Judges 20 v 21-22
- Judges 20 v 22-23
- Judges 20 v 24-28
- Judges 20 v 31
- Judges 20 v 35
- Judges 21 v15-22
- Matthew 26 v 37