OUR GREATEST WEAKNESS LIES IN GIVING UP

By Rev. Dr. Fred Maina Macharia
(c) 2023
All Rights reserved

Posted: 25 January 2023

From a sermon given on 22 January 2023:

Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord… And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand.
(Judges 20:26, 28)

And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first.
(judges 20:18)

And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said, Go up against him.
(Judges 20:23)

This time round, in addition to weeping ,they fasted and made offerings. They also brought the ark of the Lord from Shiloh to Bethel. The Lord once again responded to their request for guidance promising that on the following day, he would deliver them over. And God fulfilled the promise. The Benjamin's army suffered a total of 25,000 casualties. (Judges 20:46) During their third attempt, God gave Israel victory.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. In their attempt to punish their brother Benjamin for his grievous sin committed against the Lord, the Israelites suffered not only a major set back, but also humiliation. But, on the third attempt, God gave them victory. We may have tried once or even twice to start that business, get that Job, start a family, build that house, bring back that wayward child , spouse but you gave up too soon. The Lord is saying , "go up , I will deliver them into your hand."