Our Captain
“The Captain of their salvation.” — HEB. ii.
HE children of Israel had been vexed and
oppressed by the Ammonites for eighteen years (Jud. x. ). They were “sore distressed,” and did not. know what to do, because the Ammonites were gathered together against them, and they had no one to begin to fight for them (ver. eipAtlast they thought of Jephthah, a mighty man of valor, whom they had treated very badly. They sent and said to him, “Come, and be our captain” (Jud. xi. ). But Jephthah said: “Did ye not hate me and expel me out of my father’s house? And why are ye come unto me now, when ye are in distress?” That was the very reason why they had come! and so they said, “Zherefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon.’ Jephthah did not mean not to go, but only to remind them of their unkindness. For he went with them, and fought for them and delivered them.
I wonder whether you have ever yet found out what strong and terrible enemies you have! If persons have never found sin and self and Satan trying to make them do wrong instead of right, and been oppressed and distressed about it, I am afraid they have been fast asleep, or something worse, ‘‘ dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. ii. ). Just as a dead Israelite would not have felt vexed and oppressed by the Ammonites’ tyranny and cruelty; he would have known nothing about it.
But if you have been awake enough to say, “The good that I would I do not; but the evil that I would not, that I do” (Rom. vil. ); then, like the Israelites, you will be glad to hear of One who is the Captain of our salvation. And though you may not have loved Him at all, and have driven the very thought of Him out of your mind, yet He is so forgiving and gracious that, as soon as ever you cry to Him for help, He will come and be your Captain.
A captain in the Queen’s army sometimes has to lead his soldiers on to death. But Jesus, our Captain, only leads us on to life and victory. No one can be defeated while really following Him, for He conquers for us and in us, and makes us more than conquerors because He so loves us (Rom. viii.
). He has conquered all our enemies already, so we only have to pursue the defeated foes with the shout of victory. He is the Mighty God (Isa. ix. ); so we may say, “Behold, God Himself is with us for our Captain” (2 Chron. xiii. a
Captain of Israel’s host, and Guide
Of all who seek the land above,
Beneath Thy shadow we abide,
The cloud of Thy protecting love;
Our strength, Thy grace; our rule, Thy word; Our end, the glory of the Lord.
By Thine unerring Spirit led,
We shall not in the desert stray;
We shall not full direction need,
Nor miss our providential way;
As far from danger as from fear,
While love, almighty love, is near.