1 Kings 2; Psalms 81–82; Ezekiel 33; Galatians 6
If the OT teaches what NT says Christian lives are supposed to look like, then the people of God are supposed to deal severely with their enemies. As the NT says, our enemies are not tribes nor individual people but spiritual entities:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
During the years since the church was established after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, we have not conquered the evil forces in this world. More and more, I see how much of it is under the thumb of the ‘prince of darkness.’
The psalmist saw the battle and wrote:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:10–16)
He added this:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:2–4)
We are hearing the same cries today. People and even authorities want justice and care for the needy yet in trying to do this apart from God’s counsel, we have not won the major battles and still yearn for a just society.
The prophet also declares the failure of God’s people to do what is right.
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. (Ezekiel 33:25–29)
The NT writers warned the church that false teachers would come and that evil powers would attack. We are to be strong, restoring those caught in sin, trusting God in every way, but aware that we will reap what we sow. We are “not to grow weary of doing good” especially to one another. Our boast is to be in the Cross, not in ourselves. God preserves and protects us yet the Bible is often discarded, God is said to be a figment of our imagination, Jesus is a curse word, families are on shaky ground, people in authority are losing credibility and respect, the needy cry out, Christians idolize the good life and fear loss of comfort, and our efforts to be the people of God as defined by being like Jesus are often lost as the muck of the world comes at us like a landslide.
APPLY: I need to watch my pessimistic tendencies and praise God for the good that is also in our world. He is still sovereign and still has His way with His people. At the same time, I need to remember that I am here as an ambassador of heaven to tell the world that sin and death were conquered at the Cross and that Jesus wins; He will return and set up His everlasting kingdom made up of saints made perfect for eternity. The good news is far more powerful than the bad news. It needs to be shared — and people need to listen, reject all lies from our enemies, accept truth from God and respond with faith and action — and so do I.