“Now the men of Ephraim said to him, ‘Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?’ And they reprimanded him sharply.” Judges 8:1

Many things drew my attention in this Bible passage:

Who were the Ephraimites? They were the fiercest warriors among all the tribes of Israel. They were men with the best disposition and courage to go to war—however, they had motivation for war not to honor or glorify God, but to be seen as brave and superior; the ones who did not need anyone.

That’s why God said to Amaziah, “Do not go with them, with the soldiers of Ephraim, even though they are the most experienced men who know how to fight with armor and shield” (the men of the other tribes of Israel did not know how to fight with armor and shield). The Ephraimites trusted in their technique, the pride that was inside of them, “We are the most courageous of Israel,” they mistakenly thought. And they relied on that.

It says:

“He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valor from Israel for one hundred talents of silver. But a man of God came to him, saying, ‘O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the children of Ephraim. But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.’

Then Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?’

And the man of God answered, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this.’ So Amaziah discharged the troops that had come to him from Ephraim, to go back home. Therefore their anger was greatly aroused against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.” 2 Chronicles 25:6-10

We are warriors of the Lord of Hosts, but they were warriors for self-seeking reasons; they claimed the glory for themselves, and they were always willing to fight for the spoils or for money; they were mercenaries, that is, they would only go to war if there was a personal motivation or a monetary reward. But, were they not men of war? Yes, they were, but only for personal gain.

We are OF war and not for war, because we are warriors of the Lord of Hosts. It’s different! Our war is the war of God; it is war against evil, for we are for peace, we pray for peace and we have it within us. Our Prince is the Prince of Peace, but we are in a world where we are required to win wars and battles, where our Lord is the Lord of Hosts. In this way, we go to war; we do not flee from it. Can you see the difference? We do not wage war for personal reasons; we fight the war of the Church, the war of Truth, the war of Righteousness, but none of this is for our glory, but for the glory of our God.

“And if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” John 12:26—this is the opposite of what He will do to those who have been corrupted, who defected, or blasphemed; those who betrayed and accused Him. God will not fight with them. Those men were not fighting the war of God, but Gideon and the 300 were, for when the Holy Spirit came upon him, he blew the trumpet, “and they went out to meet him.”

All were taken to Gideon. In fact, everyone from the neighboring cities had to go through the town of Ephraim to go to Gideon. The men of Ephraim knew about the war but chose to ignore it. It was impossible for them not to know about it since the Midianites covered the entire valley (note that when Gideon sacrificed to God, the devil also blew the trumpet and the Midianites encamped against Israel—just after Gideon had sacrificed. The devil does not remain indifferent; he also makes his moves and uses his army to intimidate people, forcing them to be complacent and give up).

Because nothing had been promised to Ephraim, they were not motivated to fight against the 135,000 men; but now that there were only 15,002 men left, they played dumb, wondering how Gideon could have gone to war without calling them.

Tue warriors do not wait to be called, they volunteer for war because they are soldiers and are always ready. They are true servants of God. No matter where or how, they are men and women of God: nothing prevents them from being the warriors they already are!

When Gideon gave a testimony of life, sacrifice and power, they reprimanded him heavily. The devil does the same thing; he uses malicious people among us. But beware! They are the ones who become lost and corrupt and end up falling; they are the ones who desert, for they are after personal gain.

A man of God seeks a spiritual reward, for it is written that Jesus will give us a new name written on a white stone, which symbolizes purity, holiness. And the spoils of a man of God are the testimonies, the deliverance and the salvation of the people—this is the least that should happen.

Those who deserted or became corrupt were in a war, but only to show off or to get something in return—these are the Ephraimites. We are from the tribe of Judah—I don’t even say the tribe of Levi—but why? Because the prophet that came before Gideon was from the tribe of Levi; and they were religious, traditional. Our lineage is that of David, without human resources, but revolted, holy; that is, God raised the UCKG, and we chose ourselves when we set out with a sincere intention to serve Him and not ourselves.

For this reason, we at the UCKG do not sell ourselves, especially because we have already been bought by the blood of Jesus, our King. The same is not true of those who one day were with us but unfortunately were not of us*, and for this reason they sold themselves out when they left the UCKG to open an evangelical sect!

How about you? Are you of war, or do you FIGHT the war of God?

(*) Matthew 15:13

See you at the UCKG, or in the clouds!

By Bishop Julio Freitas