Genealogy from Issachar
7 Now the sons of Issachar were four: Tola, [a]Puah, [b]Jashub and Shimron. 2 The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Tola were mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in the days of David was 22,600. 3 The [c]son of Uzzi was Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, Isshiah; all five of them were chief men. 4 With them by their generations according to their fathers’ households were 36,000 [d]troops of the army for war, for they had many wives and sons. 5 Their [e]relatives among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of valor, enrolled by genealogy, in all 87,000.
Descendants of Benjamin
6 The sons of Benjamin were three: Bela and Becher and Jediael. 7 The sons of Bela were five: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth and Iri. They were heads of fathers’ households, mighty men of valor, and were 22,034 enrolled by genealogy. 8 The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. 9 They were enrolled by genealogy, according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ households, 20,200 mighty men of valor. 10 The [f]son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish and Ahishahar. 11 All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 mighty men of valor, who were [g]ready to go out with the army to war. 12 [h]Shuppim and [i]Huppim were the sons of [j]Ir; Hushim was the [k]son of [l]Aher.
Sons of Naphtali
13 The sons of Naphtali were [m]Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and [n]Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
These sections are pretty brief, but there’s a noted emphasis on “men of valor”, their leaders, and how many troops there were in each tribe or family. Issachar notably had a huge amount of “mighty men”, increasing from David’s day through to the time when the final tally was made.
But all of this might came to naught when God was not in the battle. In the days of David, they fought many nations and subdued them. When the Israelites turned away from God though, it was a different story. Though they likely could have raised an army over half a million and vanquished any foe, the Assyrians trampled them like grapes in a vineyard.
For all our skill and prowess, it is a scanty thing when compared to the might of our God. Without his backing, when we go our own way instead of His, we will be like waves tossed by the wind. If we get lucky, we might accomplish something, and if not, we’ll fail.
However, when we are following and serving our Savior, then we have the backing of all of heaven, and though trials will come, we can find the goodness of God showing throughout our life. His plan will be seen interwoven with everything we do, and we will not be cast aside, but held in His hands.