Judges 11:19

Judges 11:19 says, 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 that the people of Israel then sent messengers to the Amorites and asked that they be allowed to pass through to the Promised Land.  Verse twenty adds, 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 instead of allowing the Israelites to pass through that Sihon went to war against them.  Sometimes, what we as Christians choose to do today may not adversely effect non Christians, and yet they gather together and wage war against us.  Verse twenty-one concludes, 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.  Jephthah then said God delivered the Amorites into their hands and they defeated them by His power and possessed their land.  The Amorites started the war, and God ended it.  We as followers of Christ are always going to be at war with the world, but we should not start the war in order to benefit materially.  God has already defeated all our enemies spiritually if we remain faithful to Him.  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.  Jephthah then said that after God gave them the victory that the people of Israel possessed the land of the Amorites, but not of other nations.  They were content with what God had given them, and so should we be today.  Verse twenty-three adds, So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?  Jephthah then asked if God had disposed the Amorites from the land and had given it to Israel, should the Ammonites now claim it.  Too often, people of the world today think that they should be able to take what God has given to His people, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.  Even if we don't see that happening here, we hear about it happening throughout the rest of the world.  Verse twenty-four continues, Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.  Jephthah then asked the king of Ammon should he not be satisfied with what his god had provided for them without wanting to claim what Israel's God had provided for Israel.  Lost people today may put their faith in other gods, but too often they are not content to content with what these false gods provide for them.  Verse twenty-five says, And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,  Jephthah then asked the king of Ammon if he were better than the king of Moab, who never fought against Israel.  Verse twenty-six adds, While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?  Jephthah then asked since the Israelites claimed possession of the land three hundred years ago, why were the people of Ammon trying to claim the land now instead of all those years ago.  Today, the people of the world may want to go to war against Christians over things that have been accepted for decades or even centuries.  Verse twenty-seven continues, Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.  Jephthah said that he had done nothing wrong against the king of Ammon and asked that God, the only true God, be the judge between them.  Ultimately, in our war with the world today as followers of Christ, all we can do is leave everything up to God.  Verse twenty-eight concludes, Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.  The king of the Amorites would not listen to the words of Jephthah, and the people of the world very often refuse to listen to the words of Christians today.   Of course, we must make sure that the words that we share with them are the truth of God,