The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody
war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of
Jericho and
Ai, the war did not become aggressive till after the
death of
Joshua. Till then the attack was always first made by the
Canaanites. Now the
measure of the iniquity of the Canaanites was full, and
Israel was employed by
God to sweep them away from off the
face of the
earth. In entering
on this new stage of the war, the
tribe of
Judah, according to divine direction, took the lead.
In the days of
Saul and
David the people of Israel engaged in many wars with the nations around, and after the division of the kingdom into two they often warred with each other. They had to defend themselves also against the inroads of the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians. The whole history of Israel from first to last presents but few periods of peace.
The
Christian life is represented as a warfare, and the Christian graces are also represented under the figure of
pieces of
armour (
Eph. 6:11-17;
1 Thess. 5:8;
2 Tim. 2:3, 4). The final blessedness of believers is attained as the
fruit of victory (
Rev. 3:21).