CHARIOT . . .
“He had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.” Judges 4:3
If you have ever watched the epic film Ben Hur, you know the excitement that surrounded the great chariot races in the Roman circus. We are told that the staged and filmed race required 15,000 hired extras and took five weeks to film.
The chariot was a vehicle with two wheels, pulled by donkeys or horses. At first they were made of wicker, but military chariots were made of wood covered with iron, as we read in today’s reference. Normally there were two men on a chariot.
Chariots were not new to God’s people. They are referred to over 150 times in the NIV Bible. They are first mentioned when Joseph rode his chariot behind the Egyptian Pharaoh. “He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command” (Genesis 41:43).
Perhaps the most widely read story involving chariots was when the Egyptian chariots encountered the Israelites at the Red Sea. Exodus 14:7 tells us, “[Pharaoh] took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt.” But the Lord jammed the chariot wheels, and the waters covered the riders, horses, and chariots.
King Solomon had an impressive chariot force. First Kings 10:26 tells us, “Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses.” Chariots were eventually replaced by mounted cavalry.
We often associate chariots with God’s army of angels. Psalm 68:17 says, “The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.”
Just as they were present when Elijah was carried to heaven, so they will one day carry us home.
From: Precious Words of the Bible by Reynold R. Kremer