1 Samuel 14:15 – And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.

1 Samuel 14:16 – And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

Judges 7:21 – And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

Judges 7:22 – And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

Hello readers, this is to those beaten down in the meltdown. Please read and consider this absolute gold from the word of God. Have you been beaten down recently? Have you been trampled in the panic? Have you been trodden under the feet of your supposed friends? Have you been beaten down by your own country and your own country men? I had never seen this in the Bible before this week. But God leaves handfuls on purpose for us as we glean after him in his field. And in 1 Samuel 14 we read the story of Jonathan and his armourbearer, who won a great victory against the Philistines against impossible odds. We have the God of the impossible. When it looks impossible, that’s when we might finally turn to the Lord our God!

But in some of Israel’s victories, such as this one here, and another one in Judges 7 involving a man called Gideon, you see something unusual happening. You see a lot of damage being done by the enemy to each other. Jonathan and Gideon were more involved in mopping up than winning the main battle! If you read the stories for yourself, you will see that the Philistines and the Midianites killed each other, trampled each other and beat each other down in the panic. And today we want to focus on a truth in these stories, and from the point of view of someone in that Philistine or Midianite camp. Put yourself in the shoes of one of the soldiers in those armies. Imagine the end of your life being trampled under foot by your own mates, your own friends, the people you trusted in. Perhaps you are yet to learn this, but rejecting God and truth and unsaved in this world, you are going to end up getting properly beaten down and left for dead by all that and all those you were camping with, buddying with, fighting with, and fighting for.

A lot of people, and maybe you reader, they’re in the wrong army, they’re on the wrong team, they’ve picked the wrong side, they’re in the wrong fight. That’s why they’ve got beaten down and left for dead. You won’t get beaten down in Christ, he is where our faith, hope and trust must be. Oh it’s all good now, you have needed Jesus so far, but once covid came, or once a bit of trouble came, once the pressure came, you got trampled in the stampede of everyone else trying to survive ahead of you. If ever there was a time in my lifetime where you could lose faith in humanity, it’s 2021, now more than ever. And I am sure that is the case for many people. And that’s good, because you need to lose faith in wicked and disappointing humanity and trust in God. If Jesus did not commit himself unto men, so should we neither. A lot of people have been good soldiers for the place they work, for their employer, they’ve been a good solider in that friends group, they marched in that ungodly cause, they justified and celebrated sin, they’ve lived life and they’ve lived large, they’re part of this big world machine… but then they got trampled and beaten down by their own friends, by their own mates, maybe by their own government as many have during this covid era.

What a truth for today, and how true it is of our society today. The world in which we live has trampled their own in the panic. A virus broke out, and you can just see everyone trampling each other in the rush and the retreat. In my country we had people fighting over toilet paper that made world news. They LITERALLY were trampling each other in the rush to the shops, in the rush to the items they thought they would need to make it through the pandemic as fear gripped the nation. Oh all fake morality and all that pseudo righteousness and all that mateship and friendship and security in number and place and belonging in the system… oh how quickly that disappeared. It literally melts away on you. Ever had friends and family and colleagues melt away on you? Ever had your job, your hope, your life melt away on you?

And that fear and panic has gone on, and in this covid saga, many people have been beaten down and trodden under foot and had a sword put through them by their companions, their friends, their employer, their government. During these two years, what we have seen is the mismanagement and corruption and greed and the sheer brutality of man in the rush for self preservation and self interest that has left many poor innocents in it’s wake. Except you’re not quite innocent, because you shouldn’t be on that team to start with, you should be, and you are commanded to get saved by the Lord. Maybe you trusted in the goodness of man, maybe you had some hope in this world system, maybe you believed what others said, maybe you hoped others would do the right thing, maybe you hoped it would all work out, maybe you believed in man and that cause you were in … but it has ended up in you being run under someone else’s wheels. Everyone is going to experience being run under the wheels of people they thought they were in with and that they could count on.

Ever heard of the saying to throw someone “under the bus”? And maybe you’ve spent some time under that bus that is speeding away and leaving you behind flattened. There are many, MANY people who have been flattened the last two years by people and governments they thought they could trust, that they thought would do the right thing, that thought they were with them and would be with them when they needed them. I think of all the workers unions in my country, and when the workers needed them, they betrayed them. Mandatory vaccinations came in, and those unions which were made and promised for the very hour of need that they are in, well they trampled them in their greed and their retreat. Have you been trampled in the retreat from this virus? Has your little life been trampled by your own? You see, this world has it’s own, but it is very fickle, and in this world, they eat their own, they devour their own, they use their own, and they leave their own for dead.

So today, this blog is so simple, yet hopefully so helpful to you. Learn this fact, all that is in this world, all that this world has to offer, all that this world is and the best of it, it will beat you down and leave you in it’s wake in the end. This world will leave you in hell ultimately if you follow it’s course. Noone is taking you with them. Self preservation, self interest, self advancement is what frames the behaviour of the children of this world. Sadly this has also become a hallmark of many professing Christians. But just like Gideon’s army stood as one, though very small in number (and the number is still small to this day!), they stood united and together, and so the true Christians, those who are one with Christ and one with each other, united in word and purpose, they do not trample each other under foot, nor do they live a life controlled by fear and panic. They stand, while others run. They are bold, while others are fearful. They have the light, while the others are plunged headlong in the darkness.

In Christ you won’t get beaten down along with the rest. Jesus Christ is the right team to be on. Jesus doesn’t beat you down, no, Jesus got beaten down for you. Remember he got beaten by the soldiers? He got beaten to a pulp for you. And in his arms, you’ll never be left in someone’s wake ever again. He won’t leave you in his wake, he won’t forget you, and he won’t let you down and leave you disappointed and spent and wasted. He didn’t retreat away from man whom he created, from man who messed it all up for himself. No, he came to where we were, he took part in humanity, to save you with the sacrifice of hims own self. And even when you fall, you will rise up, because he rose up. It’s an absolutely amazing little truth in here, because Israel’s victories were often quite unusual weren’t they. It wasn’t about military might, it wasn’t about numerical advantage, it was about the God they served. We need to invest our lives and our hope and our trust in him, because he is our great reward as he said to Moses, and you won’t see him disappearing in the distance while you bite the dust. You know what caused the greatest defeats for the Philistines and Midianites? Themselves, their fear and panic caused them to kill and trample and beat each other down.

I really have realized that this simple picture in the Bible encapsulates all that has gone on the last two years. In this panic, everyone has turned on everyone, and in the scramble to get clear, they’ve left people in their wake. Think of how many people have been left behind. Think of those left behind with adverse vaccine reactions. Think of those left behind without jobs. Think of those left behind who committed suicide in the grips of despair. This world leaves it’s own behind. LEARN THAT. The government promises noone will be left behind, but they are in the leaving behind and stabbing in the back and letting you down business, haven’t you learned that? These Philistines were the team that left people behind to get away themselves, and they’d kill you to get ahead in getting away. It’s no different today. The panic and fear and government commandments and enforcement has caused far greater damage than the virus ever could or would in my country. Our suicide numbers have never been higher, people are depressed, hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at mental health. Justice, ethics, morality, consideration, logic, righteousness… that has all given way to coercion, blackmail, pressure, force, mandates and aggressive policies that have left the average citizen despairing of life and hope. People are buried under threats and fines and mandates and passports. This is all the world leaving you in it’s wake.

My goodness, our nation and this world is groaning under the panic and fear and beating down that covid has brought… and when you reached out to the government to help you get away, guess what, the government pushed you away to get ahead in the retreat. Pray to Jesus and he won’t disappoint you, but pray to the government and that is a prayer in vain. And just a little virus really which yeah, it could possibly kill you, but the odds of your surviving if you are remotely healthy are extremely favorable to say the least. People are so gripped by fear they gladly inject into their healthy bodies an experimental drug provided by a notoriously shady trillion dollar business, a drug of questionable technology that has had no due testing or research and with many harmful side effects, many of which are being swept aside as they are not in keeping with the directive. Alternative treatments are not just discouraged but barred from you accessing. See, they don’t want the best for you, they don’t care about your choice or your health really. And by the way, they are immune from accepting responsibility for what they are forcing on you, that’s how confident they are in it. Healthy bodies have been forever compromised because of the pressure to comply, the forcefulness of the government and the ceaseless preaching of the media. Many people never stood a chance. They were trampled in the rush.

People have been steamrolled by people and systems and businesses and institutions and unions and governments that they trusted in, that they worked with, that they worked for, that they were involved in. They were all one on the same team once, just as this big Midianite army, this vast Midianite machine was all meant to be on the same team pursuing the same goal… yet when the fear came, they all ended up killing each other in the panic. That’s this world system for you. It is a defeated system as you see hear in these stories, and it is a system that will leave you beat down and thrust through, left behind and left for dead.

Have you been streamrolled by your own government? Has your own left you for dead? You got your vaccines, and all it did was bring you health issues. You got your vaccine with the promise of get your jabs and get your freedom, and now there is another jab you have to get first. Aha, got you with the false promise and the lies again! You signed in and now you can’t sign out. You surrendered your privacy, you surrendered your freedom, there is nothing you didn’t give to appease the government as you hasted and panted after that carrot of normalcy and security and belonging to that new world order dangling in front of you. And now you’ve been trampled. People have lost their jobs, businesses, careers, and two years of their lives so far. People have killed themselves under the stress. People have made a whole raft of nonsensical and illogical decisions under stress and in the panic.

It’s not just covid though, but have you been trampled by people you thought you were friends with? Did you commit your love and body to someone who cheated on you? Did you trust in that friend to have your back, and all you got was a knife in it? See, ultimately, people are out for themselves, and people of this world are motivated by self interest. That’s all it comes down to. Satan knows it, and Satan banks on it. Job 2:4 “And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” There’s nothing someone won’t give for his own skin. He’ll give your life up in a heartbeat to save himself, don’t deceive yourself otherwise. Get that down now to save yourself devastation later. Imagine those Midianites who had a sword thrust through them by their mate, what was their last thought? What did those Philistines think who were trying to get away but someone knocked them to the ground to get ahead of them in the retreat? Do you think any of them cried out no, don’t leave me! Come back for me! Save me! Yeah I think some probably did. Why realize too late in life who you can count on… and who you cannot?

It is only a matter of time until you get beaten down and trampled under foot in this world. This world is not your friend. You may have got along great with many people, but they’ll turn their back on you much more quickly than you ever thought even possible. This government that says they’re for you and have your best interests at heart will leave you for dead, they will tease you and disappoint you to your grave, they will beat you down leaving you behind. The media will persuade you with their endless monologue and be your downfall, businesses will betray you, friends and colleagues will not have your back when they can get their job advancement and raise by trampling you down to get there.

There was a side that did not get trampled down in these stories. There was a side that did not believe in knifing each other. And that was those on God’s side. As Moses said way back, who is on the Lord’s side? That’s the side to be on, that’s the side to be standing with, they’re the people to be standing with, that’s the truth to be standing by. In this world you will get beaten down, this world will let you down. It has these last few years, where can you turn? Everything is corrupt, everything is messed up, everything is broken. Why not change teams? Change to the winning team. Change to the team that won’t put a knife your back. Jesus loved his disciples to the end, and instead of trampling us and beating us down, he died for us. He gave himself for us. That’s the contrast here, the Philistines trying to save themselves and killing their own mates to do so… versus Christ who died to save us, who gave himself for us. Surely it’s a pretty easy decision huh?

If you are a Christian, you shouldn’t be in the Christian trampling business. We should be united in God’s word and God’s work. Look at how united they were with Gideon. The sword of the Lord, and the sword of Gideon. May God’s sword, his word, be our sword. One book, one voice, one army, one Saviour, one truth, one gospel, one Spirit… and put the enemies of God to flight. To those beat down, to those trodden under foot, to those trampled and wore out… get on the right side. There was a side that was winning while the losers were destroying each other. And if you read the end of the book, you’ll see the winner is those that believed on Jesus Christ. Run the race, run with patience, get the prize. It is sad that many Christians are so busy infighting rather than fighting the true enemy united under God. That’s why we aren’t seeing the victories we should be seeing these days. That’s why the appeal of joining our team is so low. See Jesus did say, BY THIS shall men know that ye are my disciples, that ye love one another. Who wants to join a side that devours their own?

So to those that are beat down, place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the winning side, he is the right person and place for your trust. This world has trampled their own for the last two years, and many have been left for dead, many left behind. They’re in panic and they’re in fear, but I trust in the Lord God of the Bible. Stand in that faith just as Gideon did. Take the offense with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. God is still in the deliverance business, God is still in the business of saving souls. Maybe all this, just for you to finally turn to God in your despair. Well in that case, it would have been worth it. Eternity is a much longer time than our brief tribulation and trial and trouble here, and in the end Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. You can and you will get beaten down on the wrong side, in the wrong battle, in the wrong team, part of the wrong crowd, part of the wrong thing. You don’t lose in Christ, you get don’t beaten down. You are the winner of this race. They raced each other away, but they all copped the sword, theirs was a race of retreat, but won the race of the eternal prize. Believe in him today, trust on him, he is the winning side, his is the side where you get beaten down no more.

Hebrews 13:5 “… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.“

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