From the time of entering the promised land, Israel was obliged to engage in warfare against other nations. Success is attributed to Israel's trust in the LORD and failure to lack of faith and disobedience.
Israel had to engage in warfare to enter Canaan
It was commanded by God
Deuteronomy 7:1–2 See also Exodus 23:27–31; Deuteronomy 9:1–5, Deuteronomy 20:16–18
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations— the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
Joshua conquers the land
Joshua 11:23 See also Joshua 6:2, Joshua 8:1–2, Joshua 10:40–42; Nehemiah 9:24; Psalm 44:1–3
So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to the allotments to their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.
Israel failed to drive out the remaining Canaanites
Judges 1:19 Judah distrusted God's power to destroy their enemy's iron chariots. See also Judges 1:28, Judges 2:1–3, Judges 2:14–15
The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.
Israel was obliged to engage in warfare to defend the land
When unfaithful they were defeated
Judges 3:12–14 See also Leviticus 26:14–17, Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:15, Deuteronomy 28:25; Judges 3:7–8, Judges 6:1–3; 2 Chronicles 12:1–4, 2 Chronicles 24:23–24
Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
When faithful they were victorious
2 Chronicles 20:20 See also Deuteronomy 28:1, Deuteronomy 28:7; 1 Samuel 7:7–14, 1 Samuel 11:1–11; 2 Chronicles 20:15–24
Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.”
Israel's internal struggles
2 Samuel 3:1; 1 Kings 12:21 See also 2 Samuel 2:8–17, 2 Samuel 15:14; 1 Kings 15:6–7, 1 Kings 15:16; 2 Kings 13:12, 2 Kings 14:9–15
Now the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was protracted. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin — 180,000 chosen warriors — to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
Israel's constant unfaithfulness led to the exile
1 Chronicles 5:25–26 See also 2 Kings 17:5–8, 2 Kings 17:22–23
But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.
Judah's constant unfaithfulness led to the Babylonian captivity
2 Chronicles 36:16–17 See also 2 Kings 25:1 parallel Jeremiah 52:4–5; 2 Kings 25:8–11 parallel Jeremiah 52:12–15; 2 Kings 25:21 parallel Jeremiah 52:27; Jeremiah 1:13–16
But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.