Why the Conflict?

When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Prov. 16:7

Looking at the current conflict in the Middle East, one has to question the reasons for this reoccuring unrest. As long as I can remember, Israel and it's neighbours have been fighting and waging war with each other. There must be a reason other than geo-political?

If we peel back the pages of history and read the accounts of Israel's earliest days, we see a struggle for survival. Many times, the nation of Israel had to fend off invading raiders, warring nations, and conquering kings. Has this always been because of sin or iniquity?

There are possibly other reasons why God allowed His people to face trials and afflictions. More than once, a God fearing king had to face the wrath of an invading nation.

But the main reason for Israel's loss on the battlefield was its divided heart as revealed through idolatry and worldliness. Time after time, the people would forget the commands and ways of their God and go after the gods of the nations. In His jealous wrath, the Lord sent armies to bring His people back to Him. Many times they did indeed cry out for deliverance, but sadly eventually they succumbed to the sin of idolatry and were driven into exile, their temple and beautiful capital city destroyed.

Parallel's

Much of what we see in the Bible concerning Israel is a mirror or picture of the Christian life. Sure, we have been brought out of Egypt, baptized into the Jordan, and entered into the good land. However, just as Israel had their giants and wicked nations to destroy, so too, we must put to death the old man and his evil ways. The giants that David faced are pictures of the same struggles we battle today; lust, greed, anger, pride, and fear. We read in 1 John 2:16 that "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

To enter into the good land is not to escape these enemies. Rather, we are not confronted with them in a most agressive way. As sons and daughters of God, we are now also enemies of Satan. As such, he is opposed to us and will attempt to defeat our walk using the tactics mentioned above.

As soon as we begin to think we are able to stand on our own, the tempter lays a cunning trap which catches us off guard. We are then exposed to overpowering forces that our flesh is incapable of fighting off. At this juncture, we must acknowledge our weakness and cry out to God for help.

However, we do not need to let things go that far. By being constantly in fellowship with our Saviour and allowing Him to lead and guide us, we can avoid many problems and painful afflictions.

Are we being bombarded on all sides by our enemies? Perhaps our ways are not pleasing the Lord. But, there is also the possibility that our adversary is not happy with our testimony. In that case we must learn to resist the devil and he will flee from us. May our precious Lord Jesus keep us close to Him as we listen to that still small voice.