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In our last segment, we talked about how God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. He taught them to trust Him by providing Manna, a sweet honey bread, in the morning and quail for meat in the evening. God provided Manna and Quail each day for six days. On the sixth day, God provided a double portion of Manna and Quail so that the children of Israel would not have to gather food on the Sabbath. (Exodus 16)
When they got to river Jordan, it was time to cross over into Canaan. The land of milk and honey. The promised land. It was also a land filled with giants and enemies. God had taught the Children of Israel to trust Him to provide food, clothing and shelter. Now they needed to trust Him again to conquer their enemies, and they would not make the mistake of their previous generation by complaining. What they needed to understand then is what we need to understand today. The essence of understanding Spiritual battles is written in Ephesians 6:12 NLT “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
There is a battle going on and someone said that we need spiritual eye glasses to check out what is happening in the unseen world. We need spiritual vision provided by God to whomever believes on his Son, Jesus as told in the book of Romans. Let’s look at some battles.
Joshua is at the wall of Jericho. A massive stone wall. He has been instructed to have the Israelites march around it for seven days holding the Ark of Covenant. “Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. They were behind a massive stone wall but were afraid of the Israelites. Perhaps they had heard about the God who parted the Red Sea and kept the Israelites safe in the wilderness. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.
The walls are still up, the gate is closed shut, they have not stepped foot in the city but God has already given them victory. The scripture said, while you are yet praying, Gods answers prayer.
You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town. (The battle was already won)” So Joshua followed God’s plan.
After, the seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it. They completely destroyed everything in it with their swords—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys.” Joshua 6:1-21 NLT
Yes, they won the battle and would go on to win many more. All they really did was obey and let the Lord lead them. As long as they trusted Him everything was good. They did have to fight but in the presence of the Lord being led by Him. The victory comes through the Lord.
Look at Gideon who called himself the least of all but God called him a hero. With only 300 men and God’s provision, he rescued the Israelites from their enemies. God said it would be like “fighting one man.” Although, Gideon was going up against an army. “My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” The Lord said to him, (Listen to the Lord speaking to Gideon) “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” Judges 6:14-16 NLT
What has that to do with us? You might feel small, helpless, even hopeless, but God can change any situation to your advantage. You might be on a new job, moves to a new city or state, started a new ministry or burnt out with an older one. God is still fighting our battles, if we only let Him. If we open our spiritual eyes and see him.
Finally, one of my favorite stories of victory in Bible. When things get really tough, I think about the prophet Elisha being led by God to help the King of Israel go up against the king of Aram’s army. God was using the Prophet Elisha to help the King of Israel. The Aram King got so angry that he went after the Prophet Elisha. They found out where he was and when his helper woke up the next morning they were surrounded by horses and chariots from the enemy. The young man asked Elisha, “what will we do now?”
Have you ever asked yourself that? I know that I have definitely thought it. It is usually asked in a difficult situation. But Elisha teaches us not to worry. His spiritual vision was clear. Elisha was in a spiritual battle. He prayed, “Oh Lord, open his eyes and let him see! 2 Kings 6. Let him See what? You ask? That God almighty had sent his own army to protect Elisha and it was greater than any earthly king could command. Look again, the victory is the Lords.
“Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:12-23 NLT
Your battles and my battles are spiritual too. My prayer for us is what the Prophet Elisha prayed for the young man. “Oh Lord, open our eyes and let us see! For when you can see God operating in your life, life then changes for the better.
You still have to fight but in the presence of the Lord being led by Him. Did you notice how the Lord showed up before the battles even began over and over again? I am a witness that he leads the way over and over again. Psalms 37:23 NKJV said, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: And he delights in his way.” We are talking about opening your spiritual eyes and seeing God! Another example of how the battle was won before the Prophet Elisha ever began. There were many battles that the Israelites did not win but only when they choose to turn against God. Sometimes, we win but not with the outcome that we wanted. If God is leading you, then you will see that’s alright too. I encourage you to keep looking and trusting God for we are in spiritual battles.
We love you
Pastors Willie and Rochelle McIntosh
Do you need Prayer or an encouraging word? Reach out to us at [email protected]
