One way of peacemaking is to leave the fire of contention alone. Let it go out by itself. —C.H. Spurgeon
According to sources in the know, there are 33 ongoing conflicts in the world at present, “ranging from drug wars, terrorist insurgencies, ethnic conflicts, to civil wars.” As with little Israel today, surrounded by numerous and larger enemies, King David had a relatively small standing army, but a large number of men in the reserves. This is a practical outworking of the credo: deterring war by peace through strength. The whole army was grouped into 12 divisions. “These divisions came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, each division having twenty-four thousand” (1 Chron 27:1). Thus a total of 288,000 men were ready for war, but each man was on active duty for only one month out of the year. In an agrarian economy, this gave the men 11 months to farm with only one month defending the homeland. This is the reason, by the way, that Israel today must win their battles quickly, since their economy grinds to a halt when the whole fighting force is called into action. Otherwise they would only have what are known as Pyrrhic victories, defined as “a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it.” Named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, his army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans. Plutarch tells of someone congratulating Pyrrhus on his triumph, who replied that one more such victory would utterly undo him! This is a good practical reminder not to treat every issue in life as a cause for conflict. Like Israel’s soldiers, always be ready to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim 6:12), but with most of your life, “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands” (1 Thess 4:11). Blessed are the peacemakers!