Outnumbered and Outgunned?

Outnumbered and Outgunned?
Words of Faith 9-25-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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1 Samuel 13
[15] Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred. [16] Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash. [17] Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, [18] another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the desert. [19] Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" [20] So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. [21] The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. [22] So on the day of the battle, not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

There was a battle brewing now. The Philistines had been provoked, and they were massing troops. The combined forces of Saul and Jonathan numbered only in the hundreds, while those of the Philistines numbered in the thousands! And they were only a few miles away. Already, the Philistine "raiding parties"-- literally "destroyer groups"-- were bent on destruction and pillage. They left camp in three detachments to provide more options and greater mobility.
And weapons? Not exactly state-of-the-art on the Hebrew side. Archaeologists working at many different sites have unearthed iron artifacts and found that the Philistines appear to have introduced iron into the region for weapons, agricultural tools, and jewelry. Many sites have yielded iron tools of various kinds, including iron plow points from the time of Saul. This was quite an advantage.
The Philistines had apparently deported all the Israelite blacksmiths to deny weapons to the struggling Israelites. The Hebrew fighting men were not to have swords or spears. They would be fighting with agricultural tools alone. Although the precise nature of some of the farming tools named remains uncertain, the Philistines went even further. They charged the Israelites an exorbitant price just for sharpening and re-pointing their tools!
The whole point here was that the Israelites were woefully outnumbered and outgunned as the battle against the enemy loomed before them. Yet despite their lack of weapons, with God's help, they would rout the mighty Philistines just as David would later defeat the giant Goliath.
Wow. Isn't that always the case? If it were any other way, the victory might be attributed to human might and ingenuity. But not here. The Israelites were outnumbered and outgunned, yet they would win by the power of the Lord.
Are you feeling outnumbered and outgunned? You are not, because the Lord is on Your side. 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty (Zech. 4:6). Nothing is impossible for God. No battle is too big. The Enemy can run all the blacksmiths out of town and even charge high prices to put points on our tools, but that will not make the difference. We are never outnumbered or outgunned because the battle belongs to the Lord.

Father God, I can face anything that comes my way because of You. I can face any battle that comes my way because You are with me. I can see victory ahead because I am never outnumbered or outgunned. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.