BATTLE TACTICS

 

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

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,

 

1 John 4:4-5

“The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”