Battle Tactics
By Michael
K. Farrar, O.D.
© January
10, 2007
Whether we are aware of it or not
every single individual in this life is in a spiritual battle. Young or old,
rich or poor, man or woman, Christian or not, each of us is participating in
the spiritual battle that rages on this earth. Some of us are the walking dead.
Some of us are the stumbling wounded. Some of us are prisoners of the enemy.
But others of us are in the war, suited up for battle, fighting for the Lord
and striving to rescue the lost.
In 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 we read of
an account of a true physical confrontation between God’s people and an enemy.
Possibly if we look at this passage of scripture we might gain some insight
into how to battle more effectively in our spiritual warfare.
In this passage of scripture we
find the faithful servant of God, Hezekiah having his land invaded by
Sennacherib, king of Assyria. King Sennacherib laid siege to the fortified
cities in the area because he desired to rule over them. When Hezekiah saw this
take place and that Sennacherib intended to attack Jerusalem as well, he
consulted with his officials and military staff.
The first thing we can learn from
this actual battle situation that we can apply to our spiritual lives is just
like Hezekiah we need to have people in our lives that we can rely upon to
advise us in our Christian walk. Our lives as Christians are filled with
potholes and pitfalls. The enemy lays some of these in our path and others are
there because of our own flesh. By being accountable to other Christians and
seeking out the wise advice from those more mature than us we can prepare for
the temptations we may encounter in our battle against sin and our war with the
tempter, Satan.
The first thing that Hezekiah did
was block off all the streams and springs so the plentiful water in the area
would not tempt Sennacherib to invade. One thing necessary for a physical enemy
to survive in a land they intend to plunder is plenty of water. In our
spiritual battles what is Satan tempted by in our lives? I would venture to
guess it is those things that distract us from God’s Word, those bad habits
that we fail to let Christ give us power over, those temptations that continue
to plague us because we fail to seek to grow in our relationship with Jesus.
Satan wants to rule over our lives just like Sennacherib wanted to rule over
Jerusalem. Satan is attracted to our weaknesses because he knows he can use
them to defeat us or to hinder our life in Christ. Just like Hezekiah we need
to remove these things from our lives so that they do not give Satan an
opportunity to battle against us (Ephesians 4:17). We must block and dam up
these streams of sin that flow through our lives by giving ourselves as a
living sacrifice to our Lord (Romans 12:1). When we stop this flow of putrid
water running through our lives we remove those things that can attract attacks
from the evil one. We do this by depending on the power of God through His
Spirit that lives within us and living by the truth contained in His Word. When
we live close to the Lord in all we do the abundance of dedication and
commitment that we demonstrate warns Satan to beware. Our sufficiency is in
Christ and our victory is assured because we rely on Him and Him alone.
Next we see Hezekiah repaired all
the defensive walls and towers. He also built additional walls outside the
original ones and reinforced all the terraces. Here again we must take stock of
our own spiritual lives and look for weaknesses in our walk with the Lord.
Where do we need to grow more? What are our weaknesses that might serve as an
invasion port for Satan to intrude into our lives? We often boast of our
spiritual strengths but that is never where Satan attacks. We must be honest
with ourselves and through prayer, study, accountability to others and
dependence on God, repair the weak areas in our spiritual lives. In many cases,
just like Hezekiah, we should construct additional walls of protection around
us by memorizing scripture, fellowshipping on a regular basis with other believers,
holding ourselves accountable to others in a small group fellowship, expanding
our prayer time with the Lord and seeking new ways to minister to others.
Believe it or not ministering to others builds your faith, draws you closer to
the Lord, expands your world-view beyond your own personal life and brings
glory to God. These are all things that erect structures of protection around
your spiritual life.
Finally Hezekiah made large
numbers of weapons and shields to be used in battle. We too have weapons and
shields to be used in our spiritual warfare. These are listed in Ephesians
6:10-18. We are encouraged in this passage to put on the full armor of God.
Read it below and evaluate if you daily put on such armor.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put
on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on
the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
After all
this preparation Hezekiah appointed military officers over the people and
assembled them before him in the square. Similarly each of us should be under
the discipleship of someone more spiritually mature than us to lead us into
battle. This might be a pastor, elder, Bible study leader or just a Christian
friend down the street. We need to be tutored and trained by someone in our
lives. We know that the Holy Spirit and God’s Word instructs and guides us, but
people are God with skin on and they are important for support and
encouragement. We also should be discipling someone that we can help through
life’s battles. This allows us to minister to others after we have been
ministered to. As others pour their life and experience into us, we in turn,
pour our life into another.
With all
these people present together in one huge fighting force Hezekiah stated the
following:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged
because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a
greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but
with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
I might revise this portion of scripture and apply it to our own church
today as we bond together in unity to fight all our spiritual battles together.
If Hezekiah spoke to us as a church body I would think he might say the
following:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged
because of Satan and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with
us than with him. With him is only the arm of evil, but with us is the LORD our
God to help us and to fight our battles.”
I believe just like those under the authority of Hezekiah we would gain
confidence from what God tells us in His word that,
“The One who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4-5