Judges 11:12 says, And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?  Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon to ask him why he was coming to the people of Israel in war.  The best way to react to those who oppose us as followers of Christ is to first attempt to ask them what they have against us.  Verse thirteen states, And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.  The king of Ammon said the people of Israel took away his land when they came out of the land of Egypt, and demanded that they return it.  There are people today who feel that Israel took away their land when it was established again, and they likewise want it restored.  This has been a centuries old problem.  Verse fourteen says, And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:  Then verse fifteen declares, And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:  Jephthah sent messengers once again to tell the king of Ammon that Israel had not taken away the land of Moab or the land of Ammon.  He gave a direct answer to the claim that the king of Ammon made, and included the land of Moab with it.  We need to be able to answer people honestly today as Christians if they accuse us of taking something that is theirs and be able to say that it isn't true.  Verse sixteen adds, But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;  Jephthah had the messengers tell the king of Ammon what had really happened.  Verse seventeen continues, Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.  Jephthah said that when the people of Israel came up from the Red Sea that they asked the king of Edom and the king of Moab to allow them to pass through, and they wouldn't allow them to, so they abode in Kadesh.  Verse eighteen adds, Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.  Jephthah said the people of Israel went by way of the wilderness around, not through, the land of Moab and Ammon, to the other side of the land.  Then verse nineteen continues, And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.  Jephthah said the people of Israel had asked Sihon, the king of the Amorites to allow them to pass through his land.  There were still no demands, but only requests.  Verse twenty declares, But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.  Jephthah said that Sihon did not trust the people of Israel, so he not only didn't allow them to pass through his land, but he went to war against them.  Sihon, not the people of Israel, was responsible for the conflict.  Then, in the war, Israel had defeated Sihon and taken the land.  Israel was not the aggressor, but Sihon was, and in a war, the victor takes the spoils.  If we do engage in war against anyone in the world today as followers of Christ, we need to be sure that they initiate the war.  Of course, we are to live in peace with all people to the best of our ability and are never to covet what others have.  Israel did not covet the land of Sihon, but they did defend themselves and take his land when attacked.  Verse twenty-one says, And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.  The credit for Israel's victory over Sihon did not go the people of Israel, but to the LORD.  If the king of Ammon now wanted to fight Israel for the land, he needed to know that he would be fighting against God.  As followers of Christ today, if we are living by His guidance, if we are in a war with people of the world, we need to rely on God for the victory and give Him the glory.  Verse twenty-two states, And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.  Because of Sihon's coming against Israel in battle and losing, the Israelites took possession of all his land.