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The Daily Word of Righteousness
From Sheep to Soldiers
And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. (Deuteronomy 7:22-24)
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. (Ephesians 6:12)
God did all the fighting when the Hebrew slaves made their exodus from Egypt. God struck the land of Egypt with plagues, finally slaying the firstborn of man and animal. The Pharaoh of Egypt opposed the release of his slaves but God broke the back of Pharaoh's resistance. No armed rebellion of the Hebrews themselves was necessary to accomplish the obtaining of their freedom.
Christ Himself, with the assistance of no human being, paid the full price for our redemption on the cross of Calvary. The Son of God came into full confrontation with the god of this age, and by His obedience to the Father totally destroyed the authority over mankind maintained by Satan. Jesus—and Jesus alone—destroyed the authority of the devil.
But when the Israelites entered their land of promise, they had to fight. God helped, intervening on their side in many instances. But the Jews had to fight!
Can this be true also of us Christians? Is it a fact that while Christ accomplished our initial salvation by Himself, we also must fight (with God's help) fierce battles against a vicious and determined enemy in order to enter our inheritance, into the "rest of God"?
From the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, the first major trek of the Hebrews, the Israelite men could hardly be referred to as a disciplined army. Instead, they were 600,000 ex-slaves, under the leadership of a former sheepherder.
The children of Jacob went out by their ranks and armed for battle.
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed [in martial array] out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 13:18)
However, their lack of discipline was revealed by the shameful exhibition of lewdness and idolatry that occurred while Moses tarried before the Lord God (Exodus 32:25).
As soon as the Law had been given, and the Tabernacle of the Congregation had been constructed, God was ready for the organizing of His army.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. (Numbers 10:1,2)
From this point forward the wanderers began to be transformed into the army of the Lord of Hosts. It was the Lord and His holy Law, the Ten Commandments, that were marching with the soldiers of Israel toward the devil-worshiping Canaanites.
What does this say about the purpose and program of the Christian Church, the Body of Christ?
To be continued.