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1 Maccabees 16:7 "Then he divided the army and placed the horseman in the midst of the infantry, for the cavalry of the enemy were very numerous." 

 

The aging military leader, Simon, has asked his sons, John and Judas, to step into his and his brothers' shoes in fighting for Israel. In John's first encounter with the enemy, he and his 20,000 men face a large force. When John sees that his men are afraid to cross the stream to confront the enemy, he crosses over first, and his men follow after him. Since the number of the enemy's calvary is so great, John places his own horsemen in the midst of his infantry, and sounds the trumpets. At that, the enemy's army is put to flight. (1 Maccabees 16:2-8).

 

When Simon sends John and Judas out, he blesses them saying "May the help which comes from heaven be with you" (1 Maccabees 16:3), and God was with them, even as they faced a large enemy force. We also are facing a large enemy force, one that has advanced so close that we can no longer avoid confrontation. The battle lines between good and evil are becoming more and more obvious and hardened. We can see how numerous our enemy's forces are, and that all that separates us now is the width of a stream, one we may be afraid to cross.

 

That "stream" is not only out in the world, it is also within ourselves. As Solzhenitsyn says, the line between good and evil runs through the human heart. God is allowing us to see that line much more clearly, and He is, I believe, asking us to choose a side. Unfortunately, if we do not choose, if we ignore the warnings of our conscience, and tell ourselves that everything is fine, or that we are fine and "those people" are the bad guys, we are going to end up on the wrong side. We have to battle the evil within us before we can join the outer battle.

 

As we struggle with this internally, though, we also see the battle lines forming in the world at large. Something is happening, something different from what most people living today have experienced before, something new, and a bit scary, but also very hopeful. We are being called to, and will win, this battle, but we cannot win battles we refuse to fight.

 

Just as Simon's blessing promised, once we choose God's side and decide to fight, He will be with us. He is the one that will bring us victory, a victory His Son has already won for us. Even if we are mere infantry in this battle, God knows that our enemy is very numerous, and He has His horseman. He has people who have been fighting this battle longer than we have, people who know the enemy's tricks better than we do, people who have been tested and strengthened, and who will put fear in our enemy simply by being placed in our midst.

 

God's is the winning side, always. Once we choose to fight for Him, He will strategically arrange us with His other warriors as needed. Then, when the trumpet sounds, the enemy's army will be put to flight at the sight of us.