Ensign: The Laws Of War, Part 1

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 4 January 2013

When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

There are even rules to war. And some odd ones. When I was reading the twentieth chapter of Deuteronomy last week (that's the first verse above; it's basically Moses' farewell speech to the children of Israel before his death) it was hard for me to not read it slower than I usually do. The thought that occurred to me is that we're being told to prepare for war as a part of life … and something in me, or the Holy Spirit speaking to me, says war is coming.

And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

Sometimes it is easy when we go off to battle for the day (that is, to work or school) or to war that I have no doubt is coming to forget to seek God's guidance on what we do. I know I'm guilty of this and especially guilty of not following through on what I hear and see and do. To be too “busy”. That is why we need someone outside ourselves to approach us as we're getting ready to fight or begin and speak to us, to remind us Who's ultimately in charge. So the priest approaches as seen above in verse two ...

And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach the day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified of them;

And in verse three the priest tells us don't freak out. (Seriously, if you've never read or studied – again, I admit my ignorance in the fifth book of the Bible, the last book on the Pentateuch, because a farewell speech does sound pretty boring. Until you read it yourself, or have to give it.) Locally that's your pastor but ultimately that's Jesus the Son of God, more details on that in the fifth chapter of Hebrews. And who are our enemies? Not flesh and blood, but the powers and principalities and rulers of darkness ...

For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

And you think fantasy novels have anything on Scripture! And this is true (the phrasing of the “our enemies” passage above comes from the sixth chapter, twelfth verse of Ephesians)! And whether we acknowledge them or not, make no mistake they're our enemies. And the first thing we have to do to even go into battle is recognize who our foes are and that per verse four LORD our God, the LORD my God, is fighting for us, to save us, for Himself. Not for our destruction, but our edification ...

There's a storm coming in,

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I’m not or you want me to get lost, just let me know – thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don’t know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.