Fight all battles on my knees . . .

2 Chronicles 32; Zechariah 14; John 17; Revelation 18

In modern times, there is much saber-rattling. That is, heads of nations threaten other nations with attack and defeat, creating tension and unrest. Again, world leaders would do well to read and pay attention to what happened with the kings of Israel and Judah when they were threatened.

Today’s reading is about an Assyrian king named Sennacherib who decided to take over Judah and capture cities for himself. Hezekiah was king at the time and began his plan to foil this pagan threat. He stopped up the water that was part of the appeal to the Assyrian king, fortified the city walls, made weapons, and organized his army. However, all of this was not his greatest weapon of defense. Instead, it was his faith:

And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. (2 Chronicles 32:6–8)

Sennacherib was not worried. He had the notion that the God of Israel was just like the gods of all the other nations he had conquered. He wrote letters of contempt saying: “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” His army shouted this to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, speaking of God as the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands. (2 Chronicles 32:17–19) This was a big mistake. Hezekiah prayed and . . .

And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. (2 Chronicles 32:21)

Added to this, the enemies of the people of God should also read about their fate in Zechariah 14. As sure as God took care of Sennacherib, He will deal with all those who go against His people in our day and in the future when they gather against us.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward . . . Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him . . . . And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. (Zechariah 14:3–9)

The passage goes on to describe the fate of all who wage war against His people. It makes me shudder and so it should.

Revelation 18 is like it with its graphic description of the fate of Babylon. Some of this literally happened yet it also reads as an example of a future time when God’s wrath is poured out against all those who are vile, immoral and concerned more with the temporal pleasures and riches of life than with being right with God.

For those concerned, John 17 tells what being right with God means. Jesus prays and begins with a description of eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

He is not meaning ‘knowing about God’ or being introduced to God, but about having an intimate relationship with Him through faith in His Son. It is about receiving Him and His Word in humble and joyful obedience. It is about being set apart as His, saved from sin and serving Him with all our hearts, loving Him and one another  with the same love that He has shown us.

APPLY: The power of God is overwhelming yet so is the love of God. He protects His people, weak and foolish as we are, and deals with all that goes against us. Again, today I bow before Him in worship and submit to His will knowing that He is good and wise and that I am his beloved child, protected and in His care.

 

Slavery or freedom?

Today’s devotional is about overcoming the world. Some definitions help me understand what that means. “Overcoming” is a military term for defeating an enemy. It can mean uprooting something that enslaves producing freedom from bondage.

The “world” is not a geographical term in this context. It is about the things of the world that hold Christians in bondage to them and in sin. John describes the character of this “world” and how it is connected to sin:

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:16–17)

The desires of my old nature could be physical desires such as excessive comforts, illicit sex, or any other forbidden activity. It can also be related to wanting all that my eyes can see that might make me powerful, popular, and so on. These are also related to pride, the idea that I am better, should be treated with great honor, and have everything I want. Perhaps many who seek after these things do not realized this is bondage, but I realize it. Love for the world means wanting stuff that will not last, but worse, it is sin and not from God.

However, John does not leave his readers without the way to overcome this enslavement. He says:

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1–5, italics mine)

Faith is backwards to most thinkers. From these verses, readers could assume that overcoming the world is through obedience to God’s commandments, but that is not the way it works. My weapon against the world is my faith. By trusting in Christ I know that He will take care of my needs, not those wants that the world offers, but what is vital for me. The wants are usually temporary and usually sinful, but the needs covered by Jesus are eternal and righteous. Instead of putting me in slavery to a supply that never satisfies, He releases me to a freedom where there is no need for worry about not having enough. Jesus said,

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:25–33)

He challenges me to put the pursuit of His kingdom and His righteous at the top of my priority list and He will take care of all the other stuff, the needs of my life.

I can say without a shred of hesitation that He is faithful in this promise (as in all His promises). I could fill a book with stories of God coming through when it looked like this bill would not get paid, or that problem would never be solved. He asks for my trust. Dare I worry when Almighty God promises to take care of me?

Tozer says that true faith delivers from fear by consciously putting God between our thoughts and whatever it is that threatens us. He adds that this means being aware of God’s presence, that He is so near that no enemy can approach me without first disposing of God, which is certainly impossible. He also says, “This is the victory that overcomes low spirits, a sinking heart, whispers of the devil and all the discouragements of this world — even our faith.”

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, when I keep my focus on You, all the stuff of this world loses its power and its appeal. Why would I want that which does not last when You keep blessing me with everything that endures forever! This applies to all spiritual matters, but also to the stuff of daily life. Because of You, I do not need to let anything in this world step between me and freedom.