Current Message…………4/27/08 TKC Ministries - Leon Hagins
God’s people are not wimps
Some people have the notion that serving God and being mindful of the things that are important to him, somehow shows timidity and weakness.
However as you read through the scriptures you find that this is not the case.
Let’s grab our bibles and take a look………
Genesis 14: 1-16 - Here we have a serious battle going on. 4 kings take up arms against 5 other kings. Abram (Abraham) had a nephew named Lot who unfortunately got swept up into this conflict, and was taken away, he and all that he had. Someone managed to escape and came and told Abram.
Upon hearing this Abram armed his 318 trained servants, born in his own house,(vs. 13-14) and took off after the enemy. They overtook them and smote them. Then brought back Lot and all his goods, women, and all the people. Abraham, more widely known as the father of faith, also proved to be a wise military commander. He used guerilla tactics and attacked at night. This tactic is widely used in today’s militaries.
The Book of Joshua - It’s fascinating, as you go through this book, to see just how much fear the Israelites put upon people as their conquest of the promise land unfolded.Joshua 2: 9-11 - The Harlot (prostitute) Rahab hides and helps two Israelite spies. She says to them …….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. For we have heard how the Lord dried up water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out Egypt; And what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon, and OG, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. I always mention the fact that even though Rahab‘s lifestyle brought about criticism, you can’t deny that she was well aware of the things concerning this mighty Israelite God heading towards them, and when the opportunity arose to be spared the same fate the previous enemies of the Israelites had suffered, Rahab acted quickly and wisely. An act that saved her and all her household. I encourage all who will listen, to be attentive like Rahab, and get yourself familiar with the things of God so when trouble comes………you can not only save yourself but possibly your entire household.
Joshua 5:1 - The kings of the Amorites become extremely nervous when they hear that the Israelites are in the land, and how their God miraculously, got them there. The passage declares that ’ their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
Joshua chapter 6 - Joshua takes the city of Jericho. Before the battle, God shows up in the form of a man, and he has his sword drawn ready to do battle ( Josh 5:13-15).
Also one has to take note of the planning and military tactics used in these battles.
Joshua chapter 8 - Joshua divides his men up, sets up an ambush, and then leads his enemy away from their city. They pursued Joshua and one part of his men, who were acting as if they were fleeing in defeat. As the enemy was led away from their city, Joshua’s other set of men run and take the enemies’ city. The enemy, now seeing their city in flames, turn back to rescue their beloved home. Then to their horror, the group they were pursuing turned on them and they suddenly became the hunted. The final outcome, Joshua and his men destroyed the city of Ai and all it’s inhabitants. About twelve thousand men and women.
Joshua chapter 10 - Joshua defeats 5 kings of the Amorites. What’s fascinating about this battle is that Joshua, needing some additional time to whip the enemy, commands the sun and the moon to stand still for a whole day (v 12), which in turn means the earth had to stop revolving, because either the sun and the moon stopped their influences on the earth and continued having their influences on other planets or all of them stood still for a whole day. (Dakes pg. 419 *f )
Joshua’s conquests continue……
*Josh. 10:28 - Joshua utterly destroys the king and all the inhabitants of Makkedah
*Josh. 10:31-32 - Joshua takes Lachish
*Josh. 10: 33 - the king of Gezer made the fateful decision of attempting to help Lachish take on Joshua…………however he only ended up taking a serious beating from Joshua and his fighting machine.
*Josh. 10:34-35 - Joshua takes Eglon
*Josh. 10:36-37 - Joshua takes Hebron
*Josh. 10:38-37 - Joshua takes Debir
* Please note that the command to Joshua from the Lord was to utterly destroy all the inhabitants ……
Josh. 10:40 - So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded.
*Josh. 11:1-5 - King Jabin of Hazor, when he hears of Joshua’s victories, rallies together a mighty army consisting of kings from 13 surrounding areas along with approximately 400,000 troops. Nevertheless, God brought victory (vs. 6-11)
*Josh. 12 - gives a complete roster of all 33 kings that the Israelites defeated.
The book of ‘Judges’ - deals with a time period after the death of Joshua when Israel had no leader. Throughout the entire book you find this ‘up and down’ scenario where the Israelites would cry out to God for a leader or a deliverer , God would provide someone, and they would get delivered from their enemies, and then after all is quiet, the Israelites would not stay faithful to God, thus finding themselves in the hands of their enemies once again………This is what I fear concerning America, with our “we don’t want God in our lives attitude………..a grave mistake!
Here are a list of some the judges God raised up to deliver the Israelites…….
* Judah - along with his brother Simeon and the Israelites slew 10,000 men. (Judg. 1:1-4)
* Othniel - captured the city of Debir. He judged Israel 40 years (Judg.1:11-13)
* Ehud - the left handed Benjamite, who created a two edged dagger and thrust it into the belly of Eglon, the king of Moab. The design of the dagger was so that when the front part of the blade went in and the belly flesh would close over the remaining part of the dagger, and it couldn’t be pulled out. (Judg. 3:12-30)
* Shamgar - slew 600 Philistines with an ox goad (8 ft. long pole and 2 in. in diameter. At one end a sharp point for pricking the oxen when they were moving too slow. The other end had a sharp chisel - like blade used for removing weeds, roots, thorns or hard clay. Ref. Dakes bible pg. 455)
* Deborah, Barak & Jael - Judges chapters 4 & 5 -
the Israelites , being oppressed by the Canaanites, cried out to God for deliverance. God raises up two judges, Deborah and Barak. Their coalition defeats the Canaanite army, however the captain of the Canaanite army, Sisera , slips off the battle field and takes up sanctuary in a young woman’s tent, whose name is Jael. After making the weary captain comfortable, and allowing him to fall fast asleep, our young heroine proceeds to drive a tent peg through Sisera’s temple, fastening his head to the ground!
* Gideon - Judges chapters 6, 7, 8 - Here is a man, commissioned by God, who commanded an army of 32,000 men, then watched as God, refusing to let the people think they would be the cause for victory, reduced his once large fighting force to a mere 300 men to take on a mighty Midianite army . And the Midianites and Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. (vs. 12)
But despite the large numbers against him, God was in the midst of the battle and brought confusion amongst the enemy, thus allowing Gideon and his men to defeat the Midianites and slay their kings.
* Jephthah - Judges chapter 11 - was known for being a mighty man of valor. His father, Gilead, knew a harlot (prostitute), who bore him a son, whom he named Jephthah. However Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. As time went on they eventually thrust Jephthah out of the family saying……thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman (vs. 2-3). So naturally , Jephthah took off. As time passed on he became the leader of a group of rough characters, during which time he perfected the art of warfare. (ref. Dakes bible pg. 469 #5) However, when it came to pass that the Ammonites decided to make war against Israel, all of a sudden they want brother Jephthah to come back and lead the charge. He agrees to do so, and the Lord delivered the Ammonites into the hands of Jephthah , and they smote them with a great slaughter.
* Samsom - Judges chapter 13 - One of the more popular judges was the Nazarite from Zora (a city of Dan), whose name was Samson. As a child, I grew up admiring Samson for his supernatural strength. Although his death was sad, tragic and avoidable (like many of the things we do) he was, no doubt, a mighty man of God. Let’s take a look at some of Samson’s feats……..
First of all Samson’s birth was foretold.(Samson’s mother was 4th of 7 barren women in scripture who gave a miraculous birth) The angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s mother, and gave her specific instructions for herself and her son.
* Samson first started flexing his muscles against a young strong healthy lion, who unfortunately never made it back to the pack, because Samson ripped him apart. I was once the proud owner of a large 16 lb. ‘Maine Coon Cat’, and he would’ve probably rip me to pieces (although he was very gentle) , had I made any attempts to attack him J . However such was not the case with Samson. It’s almost too much for one’s mind to grasp when you try to visualize this man snatching the king of beasts and tearing it apart.
Samson displayed this great strength when “the spirit of the Lord came upon him” (Judg.14: 6)
* Samson’s next feat was as bizarre as his first one. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tales together, put a fireband between them and sent them through the crops of the Philistines and burnt them up.
Judges 15: 15-17 - Samson’s unbelievable carnage upon 1000 grown men, using the jaw bone of an ass. OK so once again let’s get our imagination going. Just visualize our Nazarite superhero (all glory to God, for this is where his great strength came from) putting a serious whipping on a 1000 men! Would not people pay good money to see such a feat?! And, prior to this ferocious whipping, if you jump back to (vs. 8) it says, concerning another incident, that Samson smote them with a great slaughter. No actual body count was given but whenever God’s word uses the word ‘great’ it means ‘ ‘big time’.
* Judges 16:23-31 - I rarely read this part of Samson’s story because it speaks of his tragic and avoidable death. And as I stated earlier before we start bad mouthing Samson just remember we all have done things and gone places we shouldn’t have. Samson’s death is a harsh lesson to hear but it is one we should all take heed to. Nevertheless before he stepped into eternity he performed one last feat of superhuman strength. He pulled the pillars, of a large structure, down killing himself along with 3000 men and women, who had gathered to make sport of him………..betcha they wished they had decided to go to a Red Sox game. J
Samson had a total of 12 exploits. I encourage you to read all the supernatural feats he accomplished, when the spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Our next no nonsense warrior for the good Lord was David. Famous for taking out the champion of the Philistines, the giant named Goliath. However David had such an exciting, action packed life, I won’t have time to go over all of it in this article. Perhaps one day in the future I will do an article on King David.
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