1 Chronicles 5:18

1 Chronicles 5:18 says, The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.  We are told that the descendants of Rueben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, forty-four thousand, seven hundred sixty in number, were valiant men who were skilled in the use of weapons and waging war and engaged in war with those around them.  We are at war spiritually with the world today, and we need to put on the armor of God and be skilled in using it as we engage in that war.  Verse nineteen adds, And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. They went to war with the Hagarites. Verse twenty continues, And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.  The help that they received was the help of God, which He gave them because they put their faith in Him, and they were successful in the war.  Our help as Christians today will come from God, as long as we are faithful to Him.  Verse twenty-one states, And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.  They took a lot of livestock from those they had defeated in the war, and also took a hundred thousand men as captives.  That was over twice as many as the number of Israelites fighting against them.  It doesn't matter how badly we are outnumbered, as long as we remain faithful to God, He will always give us the victory spiritually.  As followers of Christ, we are not at war with the world for material gain, but to bring honor and glory to God and to reach others with the gospel of Christ.  Verse twenty-two adds, For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.  Many more of the enemy were killed in the war, because God was behind the war.  The victory over sin and evil in the world was defeated by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and we simply have to accept that victory by putting our faith in Him.  Verse twenty-three continues, And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon.  The half the tribe of Manasseh took possession of the land, and through our faith in Jesus Christ, we already have possession of a heavenly home.  Verse twenty-four says, And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.  We are given a list of some of the heads of the house of the families.  Verse twenty-five adds, And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.  Unfortunately, they did not remain faithful to God, but started putting their faith in other gods.  God had given them the victory, but they did not continue to be faithful to Him.  Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we should never allow anything to become more important to us than our relationship with Him.  If we do, we are guilty of chasing after other gods, I believe.  Verse twenty-six continues, And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.  When the people abandoned God, he no longer gave them His protection and they were defeated and taken away captive.  If we fail to put our faith in God in every situation, we may find ourselves defeated by sin, even though through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ it has been defeated.  As I have stated many times, I believe that once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord that we are forever a part of God's family, but if we fail to put our faith in Him, we may suffer defeat spiritually until His return.  Being a part of God's family in name only did not save these two and half tribes from being defeated, and being a Christian in name only without having truly put our faith in Jesus Christ will never save us today.