With the Lord’s help, one man from Israel could defeat 1,000 enemy soldiers. Why? Because the Lord your God fights for you. The Lord promised to do this.
Those men from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad prayed to God in the war. They asked God to help them because they trusted him. So God helped them. God allowed them to defeat the Hagrite people. And they also defeated those other people who were with the Hagrite people.
Many Hagrite people were killed because God helped the people of Reuben win the war. Then those people from the family groups of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad lived in the land of the Hagrite people. They lived there until the time when the people of Israel were taken into captivity.
One enemy will make threats and a thousand of your men will run away. Five enemies will make threats and all of you will run from them. The only thing that will be left of your army will be a flagpole on a hill.
But the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem. Even the clumsiest person will be a great soldier like David. And the men from David’s family will be like gods—like the Lord’s own angel leading the people.
The priest will say, ‘Men of Israel, listen to me! Today you are going against your enemies in battle. Don’t lose your courage! Don’t be troubled or upset! Don’t be afraid of the enemy!
“The Lord will help you defeat your enemies that come to fight against you. Your enemies will come against you one way, but they will run away from you seven different ways!
So the Lord said,
‘I will turn away from them,
then let’s see what happens!
They are a rebellious people.
They are like children who won’t learn their lessons!
Can one person chase away 1,000 men?
Can two men cause 10,000 men
to run away?
That will happen only if the Lord
gives them to their enemy!
That will happen only
if their Rock [215] (God)
sells them like slaves!
After Ehud saved the people of Israel, another man saved Israel. That man’s name was Shamgar son of Anath. [31] Shamgar used an oxgoad [32] to kill 600 Philistine men.
Jonathan said to his young helper who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s go to the camp of those foreigners. [129] Maybe the Lord will use us to defeat these people! Nothing can stop the Lord—it doesn’t matter if we have many soldiers or just a few soldiers.”