Ecclesiastes 3:8 …A time for war…
Here is another subject many people do not like to either think about or yet alone make an excuse for. This is ar subject that we could spend weeks or months on. I will keep it simple today to just convey simple points and a few examples. In the Bible, it gives us examples of physical and spiritual warfare. In Genesis 14 the very first recorded battle I believe is the battle of Siddim. In the very beginning of mankind, it seems that a warring mindset has been instilled in us. When you look at the cause for most wars, it usually has something to do with greed. One king/ruler wants something from another and so forth. Or someone wrong someone so revenge was in the fold. We can conclude that most wars start merely for selfish reasons. Then we can get to the book of Exodus, when God is leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Many wars and battles were to ensue under God’s direction. In this case, God is trying to lead the Israelites back to their land after being captive for so long. The Israelites are then commanded by God to take the land back.
The books of Exodus, Joshua, Numbers, Judges, Samuels 1 and 2, Kings 1 and 2, are littered with wars and battles. And often time the request from God during these wars and battles were hard to comprehend
Joshua 6:17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
Joshua 6:21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
This is the Story of God ordering Joshua to take Jericho, God ordered everyone to be killed young and old except Rahab "a harlot” and those who lived with her. Killing/destroying of a whole city/nation was required of God to be able to get the Israelites their land back. We can view the warring going on in the Old Testament were to drive the evil nations out of the land promised to Isreal. Truly God ordained.
In the New Testament, we clearly do not have the abundance of wars and battles as seen in the Old Testament. We can conclude that Isreal is now where they belong, and with the Jesus now on the scene, we are in a grace period. Outside the book of Revelation, we do not get much sense of physical wars being talked about, but now more of a spiritual war. Of course, we know through History, physical wars still took place during that time, but we can say not under the direction of God. So, it would not be relevant to be recorded or discussed in scripture.
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We are now being led into a different type of warfare. With Jesus being crucified, we now have access to God’s power to battle with. If you read on in Ephesians 6 starting in verse 13, (maybe we will break those down into a later study), it talks about us putting on the armor of God. This is not physical armor, but spiritual armor. Living under God’s grace means he is doing the battle for us. Though we do prep our self against evil, it is essentially God who does the battle. We even see this instance in the Old Testament.
In 2nd Chronicles Chapter 20:21-23 , we see a nation that fasted. Jehoshaphat prays and tells them they do not even have to fight. Judah lines up and sings praises to God, and God causes the enemies to fight amongst themselves and kill each other. How awesome is that. On the day of imminent war, they start singing praises to God, God confuses the enemy, and they fight amongst themselves and kill each other.
Even during these spiritual wars, we must be active participants. Prayer, fasting, reading God’s word are key elements.
Mark 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
This is the story where the disciples asked how come they could not rid the dumb and def spirit out of the man. They relied on too much of the physical act and the motions, but did not have the power of God behind them that they would receive from fasting and prayer. We learned last year when studying the miracles of Jesus that there is no set formula for God’s power to work. But to be in constant communication with God. Every situation will be dealt with differently.
Here in modern times, we still have wars and battles going on. Are any God ordained? Maybe, it is very possible. And very possibly, the wars are for once again greed, selfish ambition, and even over religion. The Bible clearly states and proves there is time for war. There will be a time for physical wars still along with spiritual wars. We can pretty much conclude that our spiritual warfare will be an ongoing battle until the day we die. Get ready, it is a time for war!
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 09/24/2024 03:38 PM ]
A lot of people say if the Bible, Ten Commandents, say 'thou shalt not kill,....then why did God command others to war against others? I know, it's sounds totally hypocritical doesn't it? There are some battles and wars that need to be fought. When the Israelites wandered for 40 years before getting to their 'promised land' there were battles that had to be done even in Moses' time to help Israel get to where God wanted them to be. The land promised to Abraham's descendants.Many well known names in the Bible were great warriors, Joshua, Samson, Saul, King David ( the same guy who killed the giant with a slingshot) Gideon...They were not seen as murders in God's eyes. Some of these battles were ordered from God what to do, that He would be with them. David was even called " a man after God's own heart", God loved him. He killed thousands of people during his battles. We are commanded to live peaceably. But, there is a time for war. Especially if it is needed to bring peace. They were fighting ungodly nations who wanted to destroy Gods people. God knew in those days the Israelites would never have peace in those regions. They were commanded to kill their rivals to make sure they kept peace for their land and people. The world we live in is not what God intended for us in the beginning to be. There will always be wars started by evil men and nations to destroy others they don't like or agree with, until Jesus returns. God still has His hand in things He needs done. Rom 13: 1-6 is an interesting few verses to read. Another war we fight every day, is the battle against evil. Satan and his helpers are relentless against each one of us every single day to tempt us. Temptation is not a sin, but giving in to that temptation is the sin. The world today seems full of enticing everyone into a slew of many, many sins. This spiritual war, is the devil's continual attacks on our souls to destroy us from getting to heaven and being with God for eternity. It truly is a war of the kingdom of light and kingdom of darkness. This war won't end until we enter the gates of heaven. The devil has one purpose, to seek and destroy us. By convincing us to sin and turn away from God. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Sounds like war to me. A battle for our eternal life. 2 Cor 10: 3-4 For thou we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Psalm 144:1 Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight Mike mentioned the Armor of God. The Bible is God's Words and is our armory. That is our battle gear to resist the temptations of the devil. Read Eph 6:10- 20 again like he mentioned. Our best defense is knowing God's word and how to use it against what the devil brings to us. Twice the devil even tried to tempt Jesus. He quoted Old Testament verses from Deuteronomy! In Matt 4 the devil tries to get Jesus to just make bread from stones since He was hungry... He responded with Deut 8:3 "It is written Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The devil then tried to get Jesus to throw himself from atop a temple to show His God would not let harm come to Him, he responded with Deut 6:16 "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord they God." The devil left him. The devil could not win an argument with God's words. I especially like how Jesus starts his response with " It is written" We need to confront our battles with the devil the same way, responding with God's words to protect us and defend us from the devil. Know your battles in this war. Some battles we need to sit out of, and others we need our full battle gear on.