Battle Together by Faithful Following

1 Chronicles 5:1-26
    1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; 2 yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph's— 3 the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
    4 The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6 and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria carried into captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites. 7 And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was registered: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8 and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal Meon. 9 Eastward they settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness this side of the River Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.  10 Now in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they dwelt in their tents throughout the entire area east of Gilead.

    11 And the children of Gad dwelt next to them in the land of Bashan as far as Salcah: 12 Joel was the chief, Shapham the next, then Jaanai and Shaphat in Bashan, 13 and their brethren of their father's house: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jachan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all. 14 These were the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was chief of their father's house. 16 And the Gadites dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan and in its villages, and in all the common-lands of Sharon within their borders. 17 All these were registered by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
    18 The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh had forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty valiant men, men able to bear shield and sword, to shoot with the bow, and skillful in war, who went to war. 19 They made war with the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle. He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him. 21 Then they took away their livestock—fifty thousand of their camels, two hundred and fifty thousand of their sheep, and two thousand of their donkeys—also one hundred thousand of their men; 22 for many fell dead, because the war was God's. And they dwelt in their place until the captivity.

    23 So the children of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land. Their numbers increased from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir, or Mount Hermon. 24 These were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their fathers' houses.
    25 And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.

The families of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh are recorded and recognized here.  Reuben was the firstborn, but his immortality tainted his family’s legacy.  The birthright was therefore passed to Joseph and his descendants as recorded in the genealogy, yet it was actually Judah who rose to prominence and ruled among his brothers.  Gad had the lush hillside land of Bashan (Psalm 22:12, 68:15) east of the Jordan River.  They joined forces with those of Reuben and Manasseh to wage war in victory as they cried out to God in the heat of battle.  God answered because they trusted in Him.  This is the key to victory over enemies, especially the adversary and death as sin’s punishment.  Our trust, our faith in the word and work of God in the Messiah/Christ Jesus is our victory (1 Corinthians 15:57, 1 John 5:4-5, John 6:28-29).  We trust His testimony of His work and believe He has overcome (John 16:33) sin and death, having ultimate success in the battle over the enemies against us in the spiritual and physical realms as Ephesians 6:12 reminds us.  Let us not be as those of Manasseh who turned from trust in battle to following other things to worship and end up as Ananias and Sephira in Acts 5:1-5 or as Hymenaeus and Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:18-20.  Therefore, we should not shrink back in unbelief or willful disobedience (which is sin), but run the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1) and fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7) as we have been given good examples to follow.  Let is battle together by faithful following of our Lord and Savior.  We are in this together as His chosen people and His children who all are set to inherit the kingdom of God in Christ.  Learning from good and bad examples as recorded in the scriptures keeps us in the race.