Re: Judges 7 :: God Provides the Means

I see a lot of lessons about spiritual warfare in Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. This first became clear to me when I saw in Ch 3 that one reason God left enemy nations in Canaan was to “teach warfare” to the Israelites who did not have previous battle experience. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so my conclusion is that we are still to learn how to battle. But I often wonder if we really know how to battle? Do we understand what the weapons are, their divine nature and power, how real the enemy is and our need to engage, holding the ground we’ve been given? Are the enemy forces gaining so much ground in our lives and the world because we do not pick up the weapons of our warfare (2 Cor 10:3-4)? I think it’s interesting that Ehud’s weapon against King Moab was a double-edged sword. Through Christ, the WORD of GOD, we now have an even more powerful double-edged sword that divides even between soul and spirit , joints and marrow discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Christ withstood temptation from satan by pulling out his sword, proclaiming the Word of God. How much more should we?
In Judges 5, Deborah’s song of praise and detailed testimony makes clear that God used the stars to fight against Sisera. From the Heavens, God sent his army of stars and used his age-old river to sweep away Sisera’s fierce army. An army of heavenly stars and an ancient river, that is such a beautiful picture of spiritual warfare and so clearly only executed by one who has power over creation. In Ch 6, I love how Gideon FIRST asked the Lord to not go away until he could bring the Lord a sacrificial offering. Now our continual sacrifice is one of praise, the fruit of our lips that confess his name- Hebrews 12:13. I wonder how much time it took Gideon to prepare it and how long God waited. It is very sweet and shows me how much he wants us to spend time with him. In Chapter 7 verse 15, it says that Gideon worshiped God. I love that the next verses say that his leading weapons were trumpets and empty jars with torches inside. The picture of waging warfare just keeps getting clearer to me. Now our trumpet is worship, we are the empty jars, and Christ is the light inside. Do we begin our every day battles with worship or define it only as songs on Sunday morning?
So through all these chapters God is teaching me to battle with his word, belief in his miraculous power to move even Heaven to overcome enemy forces, personal testimony, to lead with worship, confess his name, be a humbled vessel, and reveal his Holy Spirit inside me, crying out for his deliverance. The battle is the Lords.

Re: Judges 7 :: God Provides the Means

I see a lot of lessons about spiritual warfare in Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. This first became clear to me when I saw in Ch 3 that one reason God left enemy nations in Canaan was to “teach warfare” to the Israelites who did not have previous battle experience. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, so my conclusion is that we are still to learn how to battle. But I often wonder if we really know how to battle? Do we understand what the weapons are, their divine nature and power, how real the enemy is and our need to engage, holding the ground we’ve been given? Are the enemy forces gaining so much ground in our lives and the world because we do not pick up the weapons of our warfare (2 Cor 10:3-4)? I think it’s interesting that Ehud’s weapon against King Moab was a double-edged sword. Through Christ, the WORD of GOD, we now have an even more powerful double-edged sword that divides even between soul and spirit , joints and marrow discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Christ withstood temptation from satan by pulling out his sword, proclaiming the Word of God. How much more should we?
In Judges 5, Deborah’s song of praise and detailed testimony makes clear that God used the stars to fight against Sisera. From the Heavens, God sent his army of stars and used his age-old river to sweep away Sisera’s fierce army. An army of heavenly stars and an ancient river, that is such a beautiful picture of spiritual warfare and so clearly only executed by one who has power over creation. In Ch 6, I love how Gideon FIRST asked the Lord to not go away until he could bring the Lord a sacrificial offering. Now our continual sacrifice is one of praise, the fruit of our lips that confess his name- Hebrews 12:13. I wonder how much time it took Gideon to prepare it and how long God waited. It is very sweet and shows me how much he wants us to spend time with him. In Chapter 7 verse 15, it says that Gideon worshiped God. I love that the next verses say that his leading weapons were trumpets and empty jars with torches inside. The picture of waging warfare just keeps getting clearer to me. Now our trumpet is worship, we are the empty jars, and Christ is the light inside. Do we begin our every day battles with worship or define it only as songs on Sunday morning?
So through all these chapters God is teaching me to battle with his word, belief in his miraculous power to move even Heaven to overcome enemy forces, personal testimony, to lead with worship, confess his name, be a humbled vessel, and reveal his Holy Spirit inside me, crying out for his deliverance. The battle is the Lords.