Image courtesy of Jan van ‘t Hoff, GospelImages.com
And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands. 1 Samuel 17:47, KJV
After the children of Israel arrived in the promised land, they had plenty of opportunity to make poor choices and often did, including the adoption of pagan practices of their new neighbors. Because the Israelites refused to follow God’s laws and embraced idol worship, he allowed the Midianites to make their lives miserable for seven years.
To protect themselves from their enemies, the Israelites built shelters in caves and rock clefts. But as they planted crops, their enemies trampled the land and stole their food and livestock. Oppressed and impoverished, the Israelites finally cried out to God for help.
He first sends a prophet to tell them why he’s allowed the Midianites to oppress them. Their idolatry and disobedience will need to be dealt with before he delivers them. Then, he sends an angel of the Lord to confront the man he has chosen to spearhead the rescue plan.
He finds Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press in order to hide it from the Midianites, and greets him with an affirming statement, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior!” After years of harassment, Gideon reacts with skepticism.
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Judges 6:13-16, NIV
Although Gideon doesn’t see himself as a mighty warrior, the angel of the Lord described the truth of a future event where God would transform Gideon into a brave leader who would help deliver his people from their enemies. When we are at our lowest point, it is very hard to imagine the potential that God knows is in our future. That is why we are admonished to trust him by faith and not rely solely on the circumstances that we can see.
As the Midianites and their allies join forces to invade the land again, Gideon summons the Israelites for battle. To their credit, thousands of them show up. But God tells Gideon that he has too many men—in that if he delivers the enemy into their hands, they would boast that it was their own strength that saved them. Gideon tells the men that all of them who are afraid can leave. Twenty-two thousand return home, leaving ten thousand still available to fight. God tells Gideon there are still too many, and directs him to separate the men further by noting how they drink from the nearby spring.
Image courtesy of Jan van ‘t Hoff, GospelImages.com
Those who showed alertness are chosen over those who drink carelessly. The exercise decreases the company to just 300 men. That’s a number God can live with, and the plan is set into motion.
Gideon divides the men into three groups, giving each a torch inside an empty jar and a trumpet. As they surround the enemy’s camp, the men are instructed to follow Gideon’s lead—to blow their trumpets and to shout “For the Lord and for Gideon” when they see his company of men do so.
The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. Judges 7:20-22a, NIV
Note that in this case, Gideon and his men did not engage the enemy directly. Nor did they carry offensive weapons to do so. God asked them to blow their trumpets and to shout, much like he did when the Israelites surrounded the walls of Jericho. The battle belonged to the Lord, but he used the 300 men for a specific part of his plan to save his people, and their obedience was used to accomplish that plan.
Today, our country finds itself where Gideon was at the beginning of this story. The enemy has infiltrated every level of government to the extent that very few politicians are working on behalf of the American people. Nearly every industry is corrupt and we’ve been lied to so many times by people we are supposed to be able to trust, that now we’re not sure who we can trust. This country needs divine intervention, and those of us who recognize just how far gone the nation is, cry out to God to deliver us. We are Gideon in the wine press, feeling as though we’ve been abandoned by God, and threshing wheat in secret—keeping our heads down to avoid attracting the attention of our oppressors.
This is no way to live. So how do we fight back?
For starters, we need to stop agreeing with the enemy that we are too far gone to save. It is never too late for God to act, and he’s shown in his word that even death itself does not limit his ability to save. I understand that people are frustrated and tired—we all are. But all those Debbie-downers out there need to trust in the God they claim they know. Walking by faith means BELIEVING EVEN WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE ALL IS LOST. Ask Martha and Mary about God’s ability to bring life out of death after their brother Lazarus died. Jesus waited until he was not only dead, but three days dead to show his power over death. So, when the enemy tells you “Nothing will ever change,” “Those people will never be held accountable,” “America is over,” or “Things are only going to get worse,” TELL HIM HE IS A LIAR, AND TO GO POUND SAND!
It is never God’s plan to abandon his people, so while we can expect to suffer some hardships, Scripture also tells us that God is a loving father who will never leave us to fend for ourselves in these battles with the enemy. The devil will use other people to make our lives chaotic and miserable, but conflict is not with them per se. Ephesians tells us that it is with the evil spiritual forces behind them. Jesus also tells us in the book of Matthew, that he has given us the authority to speak in a way that has power to affect the spiritual realm.
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. Ephesians 6:12, NIV
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19, NIV
Boy howdy, do we need some binding and loosening in the spiritual realm to free our nation from the cesspool it has become! Many Christians seem to miss the emphasis on using our speech to affect change because in a physical sense, it doesn’t appear that it would work. But Jesus clearly tells us in Matthew that it does. Just as he cursed the fig tree causing it to whither, what we say in the natural effects the supernatural.
I was convicted of this point recently in something as simple as attitude. At times, I can have a bit of a pessimistic perspective, and I believe the Lord was calling me out on that. Because of the long-term drought and severe water restrictions in California, there was a liquid amber tree in my front yard that appeared to be dying, prompting my gardener to remove several feet from the top. This last spring, a hand-full of lower branches developed leaves and I was really happy that it looked like the tree would live. But a few weeks later, most of those spring leaves had dried up and fallen off. As I surveyed the condition, I said to myself “This tree is probably going to die.” Then I was nudged with a “Stop it.” I took that to mean, don’t speak death to this tree-speak life. And I was convicted. What am I doing when I pessimistically say that things are going to get worse, things won’t work out, people won’t change, or I won’t receive God’s favor? Am I actually speaking curses into my own future? If I have the authority to speak into the supernatural, I really need to be mindful of what I say. Proverbs 18:21 says “death and life are in the power of the tongue.” If that is literally true, then I really don’t think Jesus was speaking metaphorically in Matthew when he said we have the power to affect things by what we say.
When we agree to partner with God and physically speak his word, his truth, and his promises, our voice has the authority to bring down strongholds. We battle in spirit by speaking, by declaring what should be bound and what should be loosed, and by praying for our will to be aligned with the Father’s will. Then he does the impossible in the physical realm.
With all of the bad news it is easy to get discouraged, but we need to speak life and not death into this country. We need to speak blessing and not cursing. We need to loose the power of God to change lives, to provide healing and to deliver people from deception and bondage. We need to bind the enemy’s evil plans to destroy our families and our freedoms. We need to believe in God’s promises to deliver those who are his.
This video by Rachel Shafer perfectly describes our cry. I hope it will encourage you to join us in praying for our nation.
America’s Anthem by Rachel Shafer, ©2019
Heavenly Father, we lift up our nation to you in prayer. We humbly come before you to acknowledge that we have sinned as a nation. We allowed evil to infiltrate our land and move us away from the principles of faith on which we were founded. Now deception and corruption are so engrained in our nation that we are overwhelmed. As you did with Gideon, we ask that you intervene and do what only you can do. We bind the powers of deception and darkness on our people and we loosen your truth and light. We pray for the rescue and complete healing of those being trafficked. We pray for the deliverance of those with addictions, and we pray for all of the prodigals to come home. May families be reunited and restored, and may the Holy Spirit draw many hearts to your son, Jesus Christ, for salvation. We trust in you and come into agreement with your will. The battle is yours, Lord. As we see your hand move, keep us focused on you. To God be the glory! Amen.
On the journey toward home,
Lynn
