Biblical Battles

Biblical Battles

War and battles have played a very present part in the Story of God’s People.

Obviously, Spiritual Battles began in the Garden, with catastrophic results.

The providential progression from Seth to Joseph and Mary is obvious.  This was a strategic war that God planned, orchestrated, and carried out.  With the result of the Messiah’s birth.

The Gospels and Paul’s Letters describe with military terms what the life of believers often looks like.

The Old Testament, and occasionally the New Testament describe actual physical battles… both in terms of strategy and tactics.  These events did not just happen randomly in history, to be recorded at a Biblical author’s whim.

Rather, these battles or examples of God’s active part in our history.  These battles are examples of sin’s terrible effects.  These battles are examples of some of the work that God’s people might be called to do.  These battles are important enough to spend some time considering them.

So for the next while, let’s look at Biblical Battles.

God's Justice and Tasting

God’s Justice ----- Tasting

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6 ESV)

Justice is understood by the idea that everyone should receive what we deserve.  Much more than a legal or judicial concept, Justice can include ethics, opportunity, and respect.

God, because of His omniscience and holiness is the best arbitrator of what is just, and how to achieve justice.

God seems to believe that humans (each person) deserves information… or as he puts it, “answers.”  Thus, God has given us revelation.  Thus, God has given us knowledge.  Thus, God has given us understanding.

Paul suggests an interesting side note here, when WE give information.  He tells his readers to season our ‘answers,’ the information that we give, with salt. 

Not to give due information or answers blandly, but seasoned with salt.

Not to focus our information, or answers, in a way that will fade, but seasoned with salt.

Not to horde information, or answers, only informing what WE think is necessary, but to speak, write, and sing graciously! To be God-like in our answering, copying HIS gracious giving of information.

Food without seasonings like salt would be bland, less helpful, and boring.

This is true with God’s information that He has given His people, too.

Information without seasoning would be secretive, cold, and dull.

Be glad God uses salt when He justly gives the information we need.

And we get to season liberally, like Him.

God's Justice and Smelling

God’s Justice ---- Smelling

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24 NIV)

At the dining room table, as a young boy, I sometimes was commanded to apologize for misbehavior.  I sometimes said the words, but did not mean them.

When in the middle of a financial crises, I have sometimes tithed purely out of obligation, with no gladness in my heart.

I remember worshipping one particular Lord’s Day, while failing in a struggle with Sin.  I sang praises.  I read God’s Word.  I muttered prayers.  But I meant none of it.

All of those things are a stench, in Amos’ words.

And the answer to all of them, and others like them, is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer… Christ Jesus.

Because He brings justice.  He takes the penalties of Sin on Himself, and frees my back from those burdens.  He brings justice.  He covers me with His holy robes so that I become, in God’s eyes, righteous.  He brings justice.  He takes all my stenchy insincerity, when I cry out to Him, and changes me in God’s eyes.

It is a surprising Justice.  It is a gracious Justice.  It is a saving Justice.

And it smells wonderful.

God's Justice and Touching

God’s Justice --- Touching

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. (Daniel 5:4,5 ESV)

Some Christians focus a lot on the Spiritual aspect of God.  Others focus a lot on the Physical aspect of God.  Of course, God is both.

And the Physical aspect of God is connected to the sense of touch.

In Daniel 5, the finger of God wrote on King Belshazzar’s wall.  God touched the wall, and wrote a message to the King.

And it was a message about justice.  In essence, the message proclaimed that God had numbered the king's days, weighed him on the balances, and found him "wanting".

In this event, God communicated about justice by touching that plaster wall, with a sort of holy and righteous graffiti.  King Belshazzar was judged, and found guilty… with the result of God’s wrath.

God’s interaction with the world often involves physical touch.  He blesses physically, and H curses physically.  All of God’s blessings and curses found in Deuteronomy 28 involve the Hand of God, in fact. 

Christians, those whom Christ replaces in God’s judgement, have no reason to fear God’s justice.  We can examine our life and find physical, touch-oriented ways that God blesses His people, because of the curse/blessing exchange made on Christ’s cross.

God’s touch reveals His justice.

God's Justice and Hearing

God’s Justice – Hearing

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. (Proverbs 17:4 ESV)

It is easy to blame liars, deceivers, and gossipers for a lot of the troubles today.  Justice seems hard to find when liars distort the truth, deceivers hide the truth, and gossipers make truth a game.

But right along side those who abort justice with words, are those who listen to those liars, deceivers, and gossipers.

Justice is nurtured when we listen carefully rather than believe whatever is being told.

Justice is nurtured when we listen with discernment rather than doubt whatever is being told.

Justice is nurtured when we listen humbly rather than eagerly hear of others’ faults.

Justice is nurtured when we listen to God rather than to those who oppose Him.

Justice is nurtured when we have filled our minds with God’s foundational truth, centered around the gospel, rather than tickle our ears with selfish self-promoting fiction.

God's Justice and Seeing

God’s Justice – Seeing

So the king arose and sat in the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate,” then all the people came before the king. (II Samuel 19:8 ESV)

One of the best visual evidences for God’s justice is found in the existence of the governments that He has established.

Mankind does not naturally like justice, other than when it suits us.  We like to receive our own perception of justice a lot more than we like to dispense fair justice.  We like to receive the blessings that we think we deserve rather than ensure blessings that others deserve.  We like to get OUR way, rather than be concerned that true justice is found.

So God gives us governments.

Whether ancient kingdoms, modern republics, or something in between, God sets up (delegates) authority structures as an expression of His Justice.

It does not always work perfectly.

Some government forms, and some individuals within those forms are better at Justice than others.

But the fact that Almighty God institutes such things is evidence of His justice.  Our acknowledgement that we NEED that help is evidence of His justice.  And our conscience regarding the value or failures of those governments is evidence not of our nobility, but His justice trickling down through His people.

Admittedly, it is hard to see at times.

But that is why God’s people strive towards MORE justice in our societies, communities, and governments.

God's Faithfulness and Tasting

God’s Faithfulness ----- Tasting

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103 ESV)

God’s ways are sweet. 

I am often grateful to God that He not only gives us food to eat, but that He gives us tasty food to eat.  He COULD have made all vegetables taste like kale.  But He did not.  He also gave us carrots, peas, squash, and yes… Brussels Sprouts.

He COULD have made all meat taste like chicken.  But He did not.  He also gave us beef, salmon, pork, and possum.

He COULD have made all bready things taste like saltless saltine crackers.  But He did not. He gave us birthday cake, sourdough, biscuits, and Fritos™

His Faithfulness to His people is demonstrated in His gift of taste…

And then add the Old Testament Feasts, culminating in the Lord’s Supper! He sweet is the bread, because it is the Body of the Lord!  How sweet is the wine, because it is His blood!  That bread and wine celebrate His faithfulness!  And isn’t it sweet?

God's Faithfulness and Smell

God’s Faithfulness ---- Smelling

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9 ESV)

Dirty socks are stinky socks.  Dirty automobile trunks are stinky automobile socks.  Dirty dishes are stinky dishes.

Unclean things have a smell, an odor, a stench.

While perhaps mostly in a metaphorical sense, our sins and unrighteousness are dirty, and smelly, and stinky.

But God is faithful to clean up our stench-causing dirt.

He is faithful to His promise to forgive.  Really forgive, not just a hope for forgiveness.  Really forgive, not just a symbol of cleansing.  Really forgive, not just a future holiness.

God is faithful to remove our stench.

God's Faithfulness and Touching

God’s Faithfulness ---Touching

But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.” And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. (Luke 8:46,47 ESV)

Jesus Christ, Himself Trinitarian, fulfilled God’s promises faithfully.  While He could have simply HEALED, He chose to heal through touch.  He touched eyes and healed the blind.  He touched skin and healed lepers.  He touched the lame and they walked.

And here, this woman touched HIM, and she was healed.

Consider Thomas’ touching of Christ’s healed deadly wounds.  Consider the embrace of the Prodigal Son and the Gracious Father.  Consider Christ’s hands as He ministered.  Christ was faithful to God’s people through His holy touch.

And we can do that, too.  Touching appropriately combats emotional distance.  Touching allows practical help, instead of merely thinking helpful thoughts.  Touching is a means for us to be faithful as God the Father is faithful, God the Son is faithful, and even God the Holy Spirit is faithful.

I recall an old chorus… “He touched me, and made me whole.”

God's Faithfulness and Hearing

God’s Faithfulness – Hearing

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27 ESV)

My dog recognizes my voice.  Even when he is asleep, his tail wags (a little bit) when I say something in the room.  I do not know exactly how it works in the brain of a dog, But I suspect it has something to do with a connection made between the sound of my voice and what he has experienced with me.

If I were regularly mean to him, the sound of my voice would make him cringe.

If I neglected him, the sound of my voice would be meaningless to him.

But I am generally kind to him… I feed him… I call him to me and pet him… I give him treats…. I protect him from the evil cats.

And so the sound of my voice is a good thing for my dog.

Because God is faithful to us… He is creator, provider, protector, redeemer, and promise-keeper… when we hear His voice we are drawn to Him.

When we hear of His actions we are drawn to Him.

When we hear the sounds and noises of His creation we are drawn to Him.

When we hear His voice we follow Him.

God's Goodness and Smell

God’s Goodness ----- Smelling

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (I Peter 4:8 ESV)

Perfumes, air fresheners, and deodorants are successful Industries because most people, at some time or another, desire to smell nice.

And usually, such a desire arises from the need to mask something ugly.

We do not usually say something like, “my breath smells like daffodils… I will mask that odor by smelling like a blueberry instead.”

We do not usually say something like, “my car smells like springtime… I will mask that odor by smelling like a bakery instead.”

We do not usually say something like, “I want to impress that girl, so rather than my usual scent of strawberries, I will smell instead like daisies.”

Peter quotes a Biblical Proverb here, and points out that love masks the odor of sin.  Our sins are not as offensive, reproachable, or hurtful, if we mask them with our loving thoughts, words, and deeds.  We still have sin… but we can lessen sin’s effects.

Christ’s love: sacrificial, unconditional, and humble, masks our sin, too. He pays for our sin.  He presents our lives before God masked with His holiness.  He covers over our stench, replacing it with the scent of Easter lilies, holy incense, and love.

But God does not need to mask anything.  He is already good, all the time.  There is nothing God needs to disguise, hide, or cover up.

HIS Love is not a masking, but His natural state.

God's Goodness and Taste

God’s Goodness ---- Tasting

Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8 ESV)

The ability to taste is a good gift from our creator.

The other senses are a lot more necessary.  But the sense of taste does not help us survive.

Corn, watermelon, and pizza would still be nutritious if they tasted the same as cardboard.

Even those things that taste bad can be understood as giving us context for the things that taste good.

Every time we taste something, it should remind us that God is good.  Things that taste good, things that taste bad, and everything in between.  Because it is tasting itself that shows us God’s goodness.

We get to enjoy His gift of taste.

God's Goodness and Touch

God’s Goodness --- Touching

And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:56 ESV)

Physically touching Jesus was a sure way to experience God’s goodness.  Often in the form of healing. 

Healing is a pretty good thing!

I wonder if this is part of what Paul had in mind when he instructed us to ‘greet each other with a holy kiss.’ (Romans 16:16) Socially, that would probably not go over well, today.  But a handshake can be an encouraging thing… a way to bring goodness into the moment.  A friendly simple hug can do the same thing.  Maybe even a high-five or a fist-bump.

God created us as Physical Beings… and touch is a way to communicate something good.

God's Goodness and Hearing

God’s Goodness – Hearing

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10,11 ESV)

“That sounds good!”

“I like the sound of that!”

“… and now here are the dulcet tones of…”

And of course, benediction literally means good words.

God’s goodness and hearing are closely aligned.  The good news, the gospel, that the angels brought to the shepherds was not sent in a telegram to be read, felt in a massage at the end of their hard shepherding day, smelt over a campfire, or licked from an ice cream cone. 

The gospel was heard.

The State Song of Kansas reaches for this concept when it declares that in Kansas, “never is heard a discouraging word…”

But in fact discouraging words ARE heard in Kansas.  Words like drought, tornado, and taxes.

But the goodness of God, found in His Words, are not discouraging.

The things we hear from God are the good news of eternal life.

Listen up!

God's Goodness and Sight

God’s Goodness – Seeing

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5 ESV)

When I was very young, my bedroom had a very scary closet.  Many nights, I was convinced that something scary was in that dark place.  I was too proud to seek help, but I found a simple solution.

I turned on the lights.  Because light made the bad dark disappear.

When my parents eventually observed that I had gone to sleep with the lights on, they turned them off.  So rather than suffer the terrors of that closet, I found strange illogical comfort in turning on a flashlight, placing it in the closet, and closing the closet door.

Whatever was in the dark, it was not good… but the light that defeated it was good… very good.

Even though I could not SEE the light, I knew the light was there, combating the scary darkness.  And it was enough.

While darkness can be spiritual or emotional, it is first physical.  And the light defeated the darkness in my closet, whether I could observe it or not.

God purposefully describes Himself as light. 

Because light always defeats darkness.

Lights on, scary darkness gone.

Dark pushing against our minds and hearts, His light will always overcome it.

God's Power and Smelling

God’s Power ----- Smelling

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  (I Corinthians2:14 ESV)

Smells, odors, and fragrances are often the result of something else.  We do not usually think of a smell simply existing… but instead something smells.  Someone smells.  Somewhere smells.

And Christ’s victorious power causes the fragrance of His people to drift through the world.

That fragrance, be it the gospel, be it loving acts, be it true hope, is spread throughout our families, throughout our communities, throughout our communities, and throughout our relationships.

And because the Gospel is powerful, our ability to spread is powerful.

God's Power and Tasting

God’s Power ---- Tasting

 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. (Exodus 12:8 ESV)

God’s Word contains detailed descriptions of the original Passover meal, and similarly detailed descriptions of how the food of the Feasts was to be prepared.

And those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the appearance of the food.

Those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the texture of the food.

Those descriptions regard the taste of the food, not the sound of the food.

Certainly the festive ingredients had appearance, texture, and sounds.  But God, in His instructions, emphasized the taste.

The rich symbolic taste.  The surprising contrasting taste.  The deep memorable taste.

Because God’s people can experience the power of God through taste.

It might be more subjective than we are comfortable with… but it is real.  It might be more personal than we are comfortable with… but it is real.  It might be more temporary than we are comfortable with… but it is real.

In the light of the Scriptural connections with God’s power, taste brings us into His throne room, too.

God's Power and Touching

God’s Power ---Touching

Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27,28 ESV)

For many folk, seeing is believing.  But for Thomas touching was believing.

Thomas knew that he was not seeing an illusion because he touched Christ’s wounds.

Thomas knew that he was not dreaming because he touched Christ’s wounds.

Thomas knew that he was not having a vision because he touched Christ’s wounds.

We call this disciple “Doubting Thomas”, but that is unfair.

Thomas’s sense of touch led him to believe.  He felt the result of the power of God.  He touched the proof that Jesus had died, and rose again.  He physically experienced his own future, as Christ’s resurrection paved the way for all believers.

Thomas touched the power of God.

Th

God's Power and Hearing

God’s Power – Hearing

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3 ESV)

God does not say, here, that He will hear His people as long as we call to Him at a particular time.  God does not say, here, that He will hear His people if we call to Him from a particular location.  God does not say, here, that He will hear His people so long as we speak in one particular language.

No.

He hears us and will answer us if we call to Him.

No one else hears like that.

No one else listens like that.

No one else has the power of hearing that God has.

And God’s power is also shown on the other side of that coin.

He will reveal Himself to us by telling.

He will teach us the hidden truths of salvation by telling.

He will educate us in HIM by telling.

We can graft in to God’s power by hearing His Word.