Our battles aren’t fought against flesh and blood, but they won’t be won by our flesh, either.
We are now introduced to Reuben’s neighbors on the east side of the Jordan River. While it was ideal land for cattle ranches, the area was fraught with danger. World-bordering, no matter how temporally beneficial, is always a perilous place to live. Remember, in Saul’s day, the men of Jabesh-Gilead (in the land of Gad) were the first ones under siege— by Nahash, “the Serpent.” Now, the Hagrites (or Hagarites) are the foe to face. These are the Ishmaelites, the children that came from Hagar, the Egyptian maid, and Abraham. It doesn’t take any imagination to apply the lesson. The contrast is made by the apostle Paul between Ishmael and Isaac: “he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar…” (Gal 4:23-24). How hard is this battle in overcoming the flesh, and the vain desire for self-improvement. Freedom comes not through relying on self but through laying claim to the promise of God. The battle was won that day because they were “able to bear shield and sword” (1 Chron 5:18), as we should be (Eph 6:16-17), because “they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him” (1 Chron 5:20), and “because the war was God’s” (v 22), not theirs. However, living in the good of the victory did not last forever. It was only “until the captivity.” And why? Though the men of Manasseh were “mighty men of valor” (v 24), “they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land” (v 25), and off into Assyria they went. Beware the Pul of the world (v 26)!