“2026: Year of the Explosion” Day 6: Sometimes God works through our own hands to bring the breakthrough.

“And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭14‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

King Hezekiah of Judah had been threatened by the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for deliverance from this mighty king. Surely enough, the Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and supernaturally destroyed the army that was coming against Judah.

“And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.”

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Yes, without lifting a finger, Hezekiah was handed the victory against Sennacherib. As a matter of fact, after Sennacherib went back to Nineveh, he was killed by his own sons!

Now let’s consider another story:

Ahab, king of Israel, was facing a battle with Ben-hadad, king of Syria. The Lord sent a prophet to deliver this message to Ahab:

“And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” And Ahab said, “By whom?” He said, “Thus says the Lord, By the servants of the governors of the districts.” Then he said, “Who shall begin the battle?” He answered, “You.””

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Wait a minute. What’s going on here? When Ahab asked the Lord who would start the battle, he was told that he would be the one to do it. And as it turned out, the victory was given to Ahab when he personally went out to battle.

You see, sometimes the Lord deals with things that stand in our way, or threaten us, by supernaturally removing or destroying the threat or obstacle. But make no mistake, sometimes the answer comes in the form of our acting under the power of God, acting on His word, and following through with what He says, as we discussed last time.

In our opening scripture, we see that when David was extolling what God had done, he describes the event this way:

“And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.”

It’s interesting to consider how this is worded in The Message Bible:

“David attacked at Baal Perazim and slaughtered them. David said, “God exploded my enemies, as water explodes from a burst pipe.” That’s how the place got its name, Baal Perazim (Baal-Explosion).”

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭14‬:‭11‬-‭12‬a MSG‬‬

Yes, God can explode your enemies—or any other obstacle—out of your way. Sometimes He will do this for you without you lifting a finger. But as we have seen and discussed, sometimes the explosion of those obstacles comes through our own hand, through our own actions.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!