We prayed about it, slept well and this morning God whispered to me, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.” I came downstairs, opened my Bible, and picked FIGHT from the list of words that describes who God is and/or how He acts. The very first verses were these:
(Exodus 14:14) The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
(Deuteronomy 1:30) The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
(Deuteronomy 20:4) for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’
These and most of the other OT verses that pertain to God doing the fighting use a military term that means, “to be engaged in a fight such as a military conflict; carry on a fight.” Some of them focus on the odds, such as when David, a mere youth, was willing to fight with the Philistine giant and a man of war. We know what happened — God was on the side of the smaller man who trusted Him and that giant lost the battle.
Many verses tell how the people were afraid and how God would protect them because human power is nothing compared to God’s power. 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you” and 2 Chronicles 32:8 adds, “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
The psalmist also prayed for God to fight for him, but his focus included more than a physical conflict. He used a word “to assail” which includes a psychological attack when he said in Psalm 35:1, “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against (assail) those who fight against me!”
Jeremiah also used a word that means “to vigorously oppose or strongly resist another” when quoting the Lord who said, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” (Jeremiah 1:19)
The NT has nothing to say about God fighting for me, only that Jesus defeated death and the fear of death on the cross. In saying, “It is finished” He ended for us all worldly conflict, contests or struggles, not to say that His followers would never be attacked. He said if people hated Him, they would hate us also. My part is to make sure their hatred is not because I am challenging them in anything but truth, goodness and justice. We are not to retaliate or fight back because the Bible is clear about who our real enemy is:
(Ephesians 6:10–13) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. The passage goes on to tell me what my battle garb is: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God with prayer. The real enemy is not people but “the prince of power” who rules the world until Jesus returns. In the meantime, my role is: (1 Timothy 6:12) “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” And I am to do this whether they respond to it with open hearts or with closed fists. This is not easy. I must also be “praying at all times in the Spirit . . . keeping alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints . . . that words may be given to me (so I will) open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel . . . as I ought to speak.”
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