“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” (Exodus 2:23-25)

Before entering the land God had promised to them, the children of Israel were informed that they would have to “take possession of the good land...by thrusting out all your enemies from before you.” (Deuteronomy 6:19) Though the reward was sure to be sweet, the path would require a number of battles to be fought. Before leading them into these battles, God told Israel how they could be successful and issued warnings about what would lead to destruction. Although we “do not wrestle against flesh and blood,” we are fighting “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) No matter what struggle or battle you face in this life as one of God’s children, you can overcome, just as God led Israel to conquer the land of Canaan. God’s commands to Israel teach us some important things to remember about battles of any type, though, when we are fighting for the LORD.

“In the beginning—” is the very first phrase recorded in the Bible, but how often do we take time to consider the importance of the account it begins? It is difficult to imagine, but there was a point in time where time itself began. There was and is also existence outside of time: God just is, and He created all that has been and all that will ever be. It is also difficult to picture the earth formless and empty. Not only did God create the material we see, but more than that, He created the very concept of physical existence.