When I was about 6 years old, another boy on our block picked a fight with me. He was about 8. The fight started in our front yard. Hearing the ruckus, my dad came to the front door and I thought he was going to step in and save me from this older boy. When he didn’t move toward us, I shot him a pleading look. His response: “Don’t look at me. Defend yourself.” I couldn’t believe it! But I also noticed that he didn’t leave the porch. If this thing got out of hand, he was going to be there to be sure I didn’t get hurt. Just the same, he saw a learning opportunity and decided to let it play out.
There were times in Israel’s history when God just stepped in and carried the day for His people. Our text this morning was one of them. However, there were other times when He stood back on the front porch and let Israel learn a lesson (Ai, Gibeon). As a loving Father, he knew when to step in and when to step back. He knew when to take over a fight and be sure it ended in Israel’s favor and when to let them stub their toe.
By the way, I survived that “fight” without a scratch. I think the presence of my father intimidated the other kid…just as Israel’s Father intimidated the bullies on the Canaanite block. They learned He would fight for them and they wanted no part of that fight.