Day 23 in the Wilderness: Be willing to fight for what is yours.

“And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭14:10-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

During King David’s rule, they experienced a three-year drought. When David sought the Lord as to why they were experiencing this drought, the Lord told him that it was because of Saul’s treacherous dealings with the Gibeonites.

As background, after the destruction of Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites had tricked Joshua into signing a covenant with them. And—although he had been tricked, Joshua kept it. In fact, it was kept until Saul decided to pursue them and exterminate them.

Hearing from the Lord concerning the cause of the drought, David asked the Gibeonites what it would take to make peace with them. They asked for the death of seven sons from the house of Saul. So, David handed over two of Saul’s sons and five of his grandsons to the Gibeonites. They were all impaled on poles and left hanging. It is at this point in the story that something very unusual is inserted in the narrative.

“Then Rizpah daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of the men, spread burlap on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented the scavenger birds from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭21:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Rizpah, one of Saul’s, concubines, was the mother of two of the men who were killed by the Gibeonites. Rather than allowing the vultures and beasts of the field to consume their bodies, she stood guard over them—day and night—for five months. She kept her vigil during this time, no matter what.

When King David heard of Rizpah’s vigil, he gathered up the bodies of her sons, retrieved the bones of Saul and Jonathan (which had been stolen), and gave them all proper burials.

This mother could not save her sons from being killed, but she could save their bodies from being desecrated and never properly buried.

The tenaciousness to protect what was hers, sets this mother apart, leading to her story being found in the Scriptures.

Yesterday we discussed the fact that Caleb‘s willingness to stake his claim on the promise of the Lord, led to him being offered a certain portion of the Promised Land as his inheritance.

Today we see that the time has come for the land to be divided up. Caleb presented himself before Joshua and reminded him of the promise Moses had made to him.

Interestingly, Caleb not only asserted his claim to the promise Moses had made, but indicated his willingness and ability to fight for it.

God’s promises are true. However, they are only realized in your life when you stake your claim on them and are willing to fight for it!

Thankfully, our fight for what God has offered us, is a fight of faith.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭6:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We must make sure what we say and do indicates that we believe God’s promises for us are true. Additionally, we must not relent in taking authority over whatever would keep us from possessing God’s promises until faith becomes sight!

For today write this in your “wilderness journal”:

Be willing to fight for what is yours.

#40daysinthewilderness