by David Scott Robertson
God has at various times for various reasons used some mighty unlikely characters to fight His battles for Him.
Gideon - The least member of his family from the weakest clan in Manasseh to lead a successful rebellion against the Midianites (Judges 6:14).
Saul - A Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel and a member of the least clan of his entire tribe to lead the nation as Israel's first king and destroy the enemies of the Lord.
David - A ruddy shepherd boy to conquer the giant Goliath and eventually replace Saul as king over Israel and Judah (1 Samuel 17:45-50).
Jael - Wife of Heber to single-handedly kill the mighty enemy general Sisera by lulling him to sleep and driving a tent peg through his temple (Judges 4:17-23).
The list goes on and on of how God used weak human vessels to execute judgment on the strong and powerful enemies of Israel. But God's military genius embraces even more unorthodox and unlikely warriors than these.
Hornets - "I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way" (Exodus 23:28).
Snakes - "Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died" (Numbers 21:6).
Lions - "When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people" (2 Kings 17:25).
Tar pits - "Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills" (Genesis 14:10).
Vegetation - "The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword" (2 Samuel 18:8).
Hail - "From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible" (Revelation 16:21).
Sleet - "He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet" (Psalm 78:4).
Lightning - "He shot arrows and scattered the enemies, bolts of lightning and routed them" (2 Samuel 22:15).
Water - "He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love (Job 37:13).
Earthquakes - "At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven" (Revelation 11:13).
Wind - "No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff" (Isaiah 40:24).
Mildew - "I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD" (Haggai 2:17).
Germs - "He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague" (Psalm 78:50).
Confusion - "Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords" (1 Samuel 14:20).
God can use the least likely characters to deliver or destroy. Are you willing to be used in the hands of God for His glory? You may not be called a "mighty man or woman of God" but you will be remembered as "a man or woman of a mighty God."
DSR
3/21/05