A Time For War - Fall 2002

A Time For War
Fall 2002
By Martha Lucia

As we are in the midst of a time of war, we must understand the way God looks at war. There is only ONE who keeps the world in order - God. He is the one who causes things to happen in their seasons and gives everything a purpose, but we as His representatives on the earth along with the Holy Spirit and the angels of God carry out His plans.

The Hebrew word for "war," milchamah, means warfare, engagement in battle, or fighting. Milchamah comes from a Hebrew word lacham, which means to consume, to prevail, to overcome, or to make war. The implication of war is that the battle results in destruction. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Satan’s works are to kill, steal and destroy, and his best weapon to accomplish this is through war.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." In the same chapter verse 8b says "there is a time of war and a time of peace." We must understand the times and season and purposes of God. As we look at the scriptures and how God has used war in the past to accomplish His purposes, then we can begin to understand the time we are in and know how to approach the throne of God in prayer.

The following scriptures will help us see how God has used war in the past to accomplish His purposes. Each scripture is very important. Please read the scriptures carefully in order to understand God’s character and attitude concerning war.

God uses Moses to wage war

God said Abraham’s seed would be servants in a strange land and they would be afflicted 400 years, but God would judge that nation and bring Abraham’s seed out with great substance (Gen. 15:13-15). God was listening and when He heard the cry of His people and the iniquity of the enemy was full - God acted! And guess what, He used WAR as one of His strategies to free His people from slavery. This was His sign as He fulfilled the prophetic Word through Moses His prophet.

The fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham is seen in the following verses from Deut. 4:34-35: "Or hath God attempted to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him." Look at what some of the words in this passage mean.

"Temptation" means testing.

"Signs" are a mark, token, badge, standard, or monument. It has the flavor of
the miraculous and is an indicator or signal of something and may be the
marking of time. A sign is the acid test of prophecy.

"Wonders" are wonderful deeds, miraculous signs, the mighty acts of God.

A "mighty hand" is strong, firm, valiant, sound, powerful, violent, or hard.

A "stretched out arm" is one that is stretched out to help.

"Great terrors" are fears, dread, and terribleness.

God used Moses to go into Egypt to free the Israelites (the nation within the other nation) by testing, performing the miraculous, war, demonstrating His power, stretching out His arm to help, and invoking fear. It was a battle that God won by using His chosen one Moses, to execute His plan.

The following scriptures show how God used the strategies mentioned in Deut. 4:34-35 for His purposes:

In Exodus 3:19-20 before Moses started negotiating with Pharaoh, God told
him what he would encounter and how He would perform His mighty acts to bring
about their freedom – "And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no,
not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all
my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you
go." Chapter 4:8-9 "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee,
neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice
of the latter sign." God called the plagues signs, wonders, and miracles, done
by His mighty hand through His Prophet Moses. (See Exodus 7:3-9 also)

Ex 6:6 –"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and
I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid
you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm,
and with great judgments."

Deuteronomy 7:19 – "The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the
signs and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm,
whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out; so shall the Lord thy God do
unto all the people of whom thou art afraid." This was the testing and proving
by God of Pharaoh and the children of Israel.

Exodus chapters 14-15 - The Lord commanded Moses to stretch out his hand
over the sea and the waters came up over the chariots and horses of the
enemy and verse 30 says Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
Chapter 15:3 - The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name. This is how
God waged war on behalf of His people in the time and season to bring them out of slavery.

In Joshua 2:9 we see that God went before the Israelites and spread terror
throughout the land: "And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath
given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the
inhabitants of the land faint because of you."

Have we thought of signs and wonders and miracles as being plagues? Perhaps it’s a new thought for us. How God accomplishes His purposes on earth is HIS choice. According to the scriptures He will use the plagues again as is mentioned in Revelation 11:6. God will use His witnesses or prophets to torment the people who dwell on the earth and who are in opposition to Him. They will be given the power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they will have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. What prophecies will they speak? Revelation 10:7 says, "In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." This is the portion of Revelation that John the Revelator was told to seal up and not write. Revelation 10:11 says the time will come when you must prophesy these fresh prophecies before many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. These will be things never written nor heard that represent the character and nature of God. Psalm 149 and Daniel 7 say the saints of God will execute the written judgments. Some of the judgments were written in the little book that John was told to eat (Rev. 10:8-11). Holy Spirit help us to know when to come before Your throne to obtain grace and mercy and when to execute the judgments written.

God Delivers

Since the earth is the Lord’s and He reigns over all of it, He decides to whom He wants to give dominion. He grants territorial rights and power to nations and kings as it seems proper to Him (Jer. 27:4, 5). The Israelites had to fight many battles in order to gain the promise land that had been granted them. Repeatedly God told Joshua to be strong and courageous. The reason for this wasn’t so that he, by his own strength, could win battles; it was encouragement for him to align himself with God. His success depended more on his spiritual state and his degree of obedience to God than on any military strategy. God uses various strategies to bring about His purposes, many of which in our longing for peace may not be readily apparent to us. Jeremiah 25:31 says that GOD has a controversy (contest, adjudication) with the nations, He will plead with all flesh and give the wicked to the sword.

When God is ready to deliver a people, He uses all of the above to accomplish His purpose, including WAR. We try to figure it all out, but our thoughts are neither HIS thoughts nor our ways HIS ways. We try to settle conflicts with the wisdom of man, but God intervenes in His times and seasons according to His wisdom to accomplish His purpose. In Ephesians 3:10 we find that through the church the manifold wisdom of God will be made known to the principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. We need God’s wisdom. We are to walk with wisdom (sophia - to be prudent with others and know how to regulate circumstances), gaining as much opportunity and time as possible in view of persecution and death.

How to Wage War

In Deuteronomy 20:3-4 we see how the Israelites were to wage war: "And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the Lord your God is he that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." God wasn’t sending them into a battle that He didn’t intend for them to win, but He did have stipulations – do not fear and trust that He was with them. Judges 3:1 even says God left some of the nations in Israel for one purpose - to teach them war. God wants us to understand that He uses WAR for His purposes. Our role in the war is to be obedient to God, strong and courageous in our alignment with God.

God gives us three directives concerning the war over the land: we are to possess, redeem, and occupy the land. In the book of Joshua, which is a book of war over the land, we find that God gave strategies for possessing and redeeming the land. They were to drive out the previous occupants of the land and to buy it back by putting it in its original condition. David is a good example of one who fought to possess and redeem the land. To occupy means to trade, to barter, and to do business, to intermix or intermingle. Solomon is a good example of one who occupied, as he did business with various merchants and craftsmen who built the temple. Debra and Barak are also good examples as they joined together with Zebulun, Naphtali and Kedesh in warfare against the Canaanites. God used even the stars fighting in their courses and the torrent of the River Kishon to destroy the enemies who had evaded the land of His people. God will use everything He created to help us fight in a war that is of Him. 1 Chronicles 5:22 a – "For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God." In case you don’t think God would be the originator of war, this scripture makes it clear.

God’s Armory

God has a depository of treasures stored up to use for His purposes as is reflected in Job 38:22-23, "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow; or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?" The treasures of snow and hail are part of God’s WAR CHEST! God uses all these things and these directives for war over the land. Whatever power is entrenched in the land affects the people. If it is evil it must be dealt with.

In 2 Samuel 22:35-41 and Psalm 144:1 we find that God taught David to war:

He teaches my hands to war

He has girded me with strength to battle

He has given me the necks of my enemies that I might destroy them that
hate me

Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my hands to war, and my
fingers to fight.

With eyes to see and ears to hear, the army of the Lord is coming forth trained for battle to accomplish the greater works. We will not win this battle God’s way by using our wisdom or understanding or might. It is only those who KNOW the Lord who will do mighty exploits.

In 1 Chronicles 12 we find that God brought men of war to David for the purpose of turning a kingdom into the hands of those God chose. He brought men that were expert in war with all the instruments of war. He brought those with understanding of the times, and knowledge of what Israel should do. All were at their command. It was time to shift a whole kingdom from the control of one who was aligned with witchcraft and no longer fit to be leader. 2 Chronicles 32:6-8 – "And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah."

Many words of the Lord from many prophets have been spoken saying that there is a time of war at hand. We know that Satan is trying to pull the whole world into a third World War ahead of God’s timing, but God has His strategies and purposes which war against Satan’s plans. In one of Chuck Pierce’s newsletters he states that in 2001 we entered into the Jewish civil year 5762, which has the meaning "the beginning of wars for the next seven years." In Matthew 24:6-8 Jesus said, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

Satan’s works are demonstrated through evil forces. We are told in Amos 5:15 to "hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate." Psalm 2:4 says that God just laughs at those who hate Him and take council against Him. Why? Because God has a plan to destroy evil when the cup of iniquity is full. Psalm 37 and Isa. 13:9 substantiate this as well as the following verses:

Proverbs 20:18 – "Every purpose is established by counsel; and with good advice make war."

Proverbs 24:6 – "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counselors there is safety."

In 1 Samuel 17:45 and 47b David said to Goliath, "I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands." If David can overcome the enemy with a sling and a stone, then one Word from God spoken by God’s anointed people can bring down the biggest giant in the land. God will give it into our hands. All it takes is the faith of a grain of mustard seed to speak to the mountain and see it removed and cast into the sea.

Judges 5:8 says, "They chose new gods, then was there war in the gates." When a nation is serving any god other than Jehovah and His Son Jesus, you can bet there will be war in the gates of that nation. Conflict is on the way. Are you getting the idea that God uses war to accomplish His purpose? Jeremiah 12:17 says "But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord." Not only does He use war, but He also foreordained certain men to carry out His purpose.

When God is ready to do His work, His strange work, and His strange act (Isa 28:21) look out! The word "strange" means foreign. God’s work can be so foreign to our minds we might miss it. When the cup of iniquity of Babylon was full, He used a man who did NOT even KNOW HIM to accomplish His work. He anointed and appointed a man, Cyrus, and even wrote his name in the scriptures 150 years before he was born to carry out HIS purposes. In Isaiah 45 God spoke of Cyrus, and said he had been anointed by God to destroy Babylon, to loose the wealth, to release the captives, to build His City. In Jeremiah 51 God called Cyrus His battleaxe and weapon of war.

If God wrote a man’s name in the scriptures before, I believe He can and will do it again. Several times I have found the name of a person (in the Hebrew meaning) whom God is using today. As a group of us were praying for President Bush one day, we began to pray that the enemy would be confounded. When I looked up the word confounded in the Hebrew it was spelled BUSH. The Lexical Aids to the Old Testament of the Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible defines H954 – "To be ashamed, to be confounded, to be disappointed, to humiliate. It is the feeling of public disgrace. The idea of shame at the hands of an utter defeat pervades the mood. Disillusionment and a broken spirit follow." These are some of the meanings of this word.

Does it make sense to strike the enemy before his strength is strong enough to overtake you? Consider what happened in World War II. Hitler was a man completely possessed by Satan for the purpose of bringing the world into war. World War II killed more people, involved more nations, and cost more money than any other war in history. Altogether, 70 million people served in the armed forces during the war and 17 million combatants died. Civilian deaths were ever greater. At least 19 million Soviet civilians, 10 million Chinese, and 6 million European Jews lost their lives during the war. Over 50 million lives were lost at the hands of Satan and his adversaries.

World War II was truly a global war. Some 70 nations took part in the conflict, and fighting took place on the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as on the high seas. Entire societies participated, as soldiers, war workers, or victims of occupation and mass murder.

The weapons of warfare that are available today are far more destructive and able to reach more nations than even the horrifying devastation that took place during World War II. Remember Satan’s goal is to kill, steal, and destroy. If the world had recognized Hitler for who and what he was and the plans that he would carry out, then perhaps many of Satan’s plans could have been thwarted and many lives saved. Could a preemptive strike at this time be God’s way of shutting down Satan’s attempt to start World War III? Perhaps this is God’s plan to re-direct history at this time. We are in God’s time and now must hear His plan of action.

We recognize that our war is not against flesh and blood, but there is a war and it is against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness and wicked spirits in high places. When Satan has completely possessed a human being and is using that person as a carrier of evil on the earth, then God’s remedy is destruction for the city and the man. This is reflected in Eze. 26-29. God spoke to a city and to the King of Tyre as though he were Satan himself, and told him (Satan) he (Satan) would be utterly destroyed. In Eze. 27 we find that the city of Tyre was full of men of war (filled with demons of war); they had to be destroyed. In chapter 29, God spoke the same way to Pharaoh King of Egypt. When Satan is manifesting on the earth through an evil ruler, God will choose the time and the method to remove him. God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon to take down Tyre and Egypt (Ch 29:18-20), then He used Cyrus to take out Babylon.

We must prepare for war, as Satan will not just give up anything, but THE CHURCH must take it back. We must take the kingdom by force. Satan is still desperately holding on to the anointing and the things that belong only to God and we must strip him of these things. Jesus stripped him bare, and we have the power and authority to enforce that victory. Things Satan once had or was once called were: wisdom, understanding, riches, gold, silver, brightness, beauty, precious stones, tabrets, pipes, anointed Cherub that covered, holy mountain of God, stones of fire, perfection, son of the morning. It is time for the Church to preach the kingdom to the ends of the earth, heal the sick, raise the dead, and do the greater works of Jesus. We can only do that when we can get to every corner of the world, but at this time we cannot do these things since Satan is blocking the way. God has counsel, strength, wisdom, timing, and strategy for war, but the Church must be standing with the man God chooses for this time and season to accomplish His purpose.

We must cut apart Satan’s league by going into the battle with God’s standard, His Word, lifted high. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and they that dwell in it. We must take the sword of the Spirit and cut through the darkness to the hidden riches in secret places and treasures of darkness, the souls, silver, gold, precious stones, minerals, oil, it is all HIS and has been put here for the benefit of the Church for the building of His kingdom. Lord You are our defense, for if You don’t keep the city the watchmen wake in vain and if You don’t build the city we build in vain. As we watch with You, give us eyes to see and ears to hear that we may only do what we see You doing and say what we hear You saying and pray it from heaven to earth.

We need to know when to cry out for mercy and when to execute the judgments written. Psalm 149:6-9 says, "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD." This passage says the saints have the honor to execute vengeance, punishments, and the judgments written upon the heathen, the people, their kings and nobles. Some of the meanings of the Hebrew word for "execute" include to advance, to accomplish, and to finish. God’s kingdom will advance and His purposes will be accomplished as we carry out His orders and give Him the praise. As uncomfortable as we may be with the thought of an actual war in the earthly realm, could it be that a preemptive strike is God’s timing? A preemptive strike could put a stop to Satan’s greater plan of a third World War. If it is God’s timing, then His kingdom is advancing. It is not God’s heart that any should perish. God may choose to use war to remove the evil forces that are holding back the gospel of the kingdom from being preached to those who have never heard the truth.

We have the opportunity as God’s saints to join in with the hosts of heaven and any military activities that are occurring in the land to turn the course of history. There are two realms of war, the heavenly realm and the physical or earthly realm. Sometimes God may choose to use a physical, earthly war to bring about His purposes and at all times He choose to use His saints to war in the spiritual realm. In either case He is the one who causes all things to happen in their seasons and gives everything a purpose. We as His representatives on the earth along with the Holy Spirit and the angels of God need to be prepared to carry out the plans of THE Commander in Chief.

God often uses war to bring about freedom and life. God’s free spirit upholds all things. Speaking of the liberty that will come to blinded minds when the veil is removed from their heart, the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." It may take the destruction of land, possessions, and people to remove the veil that still remains today over many hearts throughout the world. We need to know how God wants to bring about His purpose in this season so we can align ourselves with His purposes and pray accordingly.

We need a mind set that embraces the urgency of the times - a change that incorporates a militant approach to spiritual warfare. It's time to be on the offensive, to operate under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and attack the enemy's camp with force. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, but the violent take it by force.