Judges 3:1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
Have you ever left something in a place for a purpose? In our home, I am the one who likes to leave things out so they can be easily spotted, retrieved or simply to remind me that something needs to be done. Yet there is someone else in our home that is committed to putting things away. (Whether I am through with them or not!) I always have a reason I have left something out. That “other someone,” who has a reason to put things away, often ignores my reasons for leaving it out in the open.
In our today’s verse, God has left something “out” in the open for a reason. The children of Israel needed proving. So God left enemies in the land (3:1) to prove Israel. He wanted Israel to know how to battle because many had not known the battling from the previous generation. {It is interesting to note that not only had the children of Israel not known the Lord, (2:10) they also did not know how to battle.}
God left some enemies in the land to help them to know the blessing of battling. Have you been complaining about the battles you have had to fight? Are the struggles you’re facing all your children ever hear about? Stand up! The battles you are facing are not for you alone. Teach your children the warfare of the Christian. Determine in your heart that your children will know the ways of warfare of God’s people.
