by Brad Sherman

21

  The War of Preparation




All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to
Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel
were of one heart to make David king.  —  1 Chronicles 12:38


The Builder/Warrior
     In the previous chapter we saw that the construction of the New Jerusalem is underway, being built of living stones: gold, silver, and precious stones. But the act of building God’s house, the spiritual work of preparing a dwelling place for Him on earth, precipitates warfare with many battles. This principle is evident in the  history of Israel and the building of the temple (house) of God in Jerusalem.  The enemies of Israel have always sought to prevent or tear down what God is building in Jerusalem and the same applies to the New Jerusalem. Satan resists the building up of Jerusalem and he hates the building up of the church. To be successful builders, we must also be warriors.  

     The picture of the builder/warrior is vividly seen in the book of Nehemiah. After being in captivity for 70 years, the Jews gained favor and were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple in which to worship God.  They immediately set out to rebuild the walls around the city as protection from their enemies who began to threaten attacks as soon as they started building. It is in this context that we read:

So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. — Nehemiah 4:16-18 (NKJV)


War On Two Fronts  
     David, the king of Israel, was a type and shadow of Jesus, the King of Kings.  One of the parallels we can see in David’s life is the general process by which David became king. It was a process that involved war.

Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. —2 Samuel 3:1 (KJV)

     Even though David had been anointed as king, it took a long time and many battles before he actually sat on the throne. In fact, as soon as it was known that God had favored David, Saul began trying to kill him. There was a long war that ensued until David finally became king and ruled the nation. 

     Likewise, Jesus has been anointed (Christ means anointed) as King of Kings and ever since there has been a war against Him with the goal of preventing Him from literally being seated as King and ruling the nations. It is interesting that one of Jesus’ titles is Prince of Peace (Is 9:6). What is a prince? A prince is one who has legal claim to the throne, but has not yet been seated on it. Though Jesus is King, He has not been installed in that position to rule the whole earth. The work of building and preparing for this to happen precipitates war.

     David and his mighty men (representing Christ and the Church) warred on two fronts. The battle front against the Philistines, which was more of an external war, represents our struggle with the non-Christian systems of this world.  But the war with the house of Saul could be termed an internal war representing those previously anointed elements of the Church who have turned from the truth but still seek power and control. Though they claim the name Christ, they are not true Christians. Paul wrote to Titus about them:

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. —Titus 1:16 (KJV)

     The parable of stewardship in Luke, Chapter Nineteen again gives insight and confirms the reality of these two enemies of the purposes of God. The lazy servant hid his talent in the ground and did nothing to prepare for the return of his master. This parallels the internal battle with those who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof (see Luke 19:20-26). The external battle with the non-Christian elements of this world is portrayed by the citizens in the parable who did not want the nobleman to rule over them (see  Luke 19:14, 27).

War with the Philistines
     In David’s time the Philistines were enemies of Israel. It was during a stand off between Goliath (the Philistine champion) and Israel, that David arrived as a lowly delivery boy and asked:  “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God” (1 Sam 17:26)? The Philistines can be compared to the non-Christian elements of this world who challenge the message and work of the Church. This includes our mission to teach the nations to observe the teachings of Christ (see Matt 28:18-20). When Paul wrote to the Romans, he said:

 ...so that for my part I am willing and eager to proclaim the Good News to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes—the Jew first, and then the Gentile. — Romans 1:15-16 (WEY)

     He knew that proclaiming the gospel of Christ in Rome, the center of political power, would be to confront Caesar and essentially inform him that there was a higher power to which he must answer. This precipitated a battle with the political powers of the day.  Paul was not ashamed or fearful to proclaim this gospel of the Kingdom to the political powers of his day. We must take the same position today.

War with the House of Saul
     Whereas the war with the Philistines is about taking the gospel of the Kingdom to those outside the Church, the war with the house of Saul is about keeping the gospel of the Kingdom pure among those within the Church:

... I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. — Jude 1:3-5 (NKJV)

     There are three important points in this passage from Jude: 1) We must contend for the true message; 2) Those who would corrupt the message have crept in unnoticed;  3) They were once saved, but having perverted the truth and departed from it, they will be destroyed unless they repent.  Paul warned Timothy about these enemies:

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. — 2 Timothy 3:2-5 (KJV)

     Again we see that, though the characteristics of these traitors are described quite vividly, they are not necessarily easy to spot because they have a form of godliness.  But the identifying earmark is that they deny the power of God.  This denial of power is a denial of the anointing as discussed in Chapter Ten: The Spirit of Antichrist. When we do spot them, we are told to turn away from them.

     This is not talking about the, the immature or untaught, those who have a different eschatology, or those who are struggling with weakness. These are those who boldly sin and excuse it, turning the grace of God into lewdness. They should know better. Grace is the power to overcome sin, not continue in it (see Rom 6:1). This is talking about those who, though they call themselves Christian, have departed from the foundational basics of Christianity.

A Generation of Warrior Builders
     God is raising up a mighty army like the house of David who will grow stronger and stronger. But those who have departed from the truth will be like the house of Saul who grew weaker and weaker (see 2 Sam 3:1). We can expect to see increasing numbers of spiritual warriors join the war of preparation with the common purpose of seeing the King and Kingdom of God appear on earth. These will be people who keep rank and operate in a strategic effort to see the Kingdom of God come.

All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. — 1 Chronicles 12:38 (KJV)

     David foresaw a future generation, “... the generation of those who seek Him...” (Ps 24:6) and first the Kingdom of God (Matt 6:33).  This is a generation of mighty men and women of God who are of one heart with a determination to make Jesus King. This is a multitude of unified voices calling for a regime change, if you will. It will be a Kingdom movement seeking Jesus to appear as King crying out, “Come Lord Jesus!  Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven!”

     The concept of a generation of builder/warriors coming forth from the earth is also seen in the dream shared in Chapter Two. A portion of that dream is provided again below.

 ...we looked down at a different field on the other side of this structure. From this field, people were emerging from the ground! As they came out of the ground, it was as if they were being birthed from the earth. At first they looked like an expanding bulge on the surface of the ground, but as they emerged completely, they morphed into living soldiers who marched toward a different section of the metal building that was actively under construction. In this construction area, the sounds of clashing swords could be heard and the soldiers joined a battle already in progress.

     In interpreting that portion of the dream, I felt that God was communicating that a mighty army was being birthed, and this army will be birthed with an immediate understanding of spiritual warfare. They will come forth as an army of warrior/builders who operate from a new paradigm. This army has only one goal: preparing the earth to receive her King!  "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory" (Psa 102:16).


Paradigm Builders
     Though Jesus is already King, He has not been installed in that position to rule the whole earth. Jesus has been anointed as King of Kings and ever since there has been a war against Him with the goal of preventing Him from literally being seated as King and ruling the nations. The work of building and preparing for Jesus to rule the earth precipitates conflict.


How would you describe your position regarding this concept?
    Before reading the chapter :
        1- I disagreed
        2- I was unaware or ambivalent
        3- I already agreed

    After you read the chapter/book:
        1- I disagree
        2- I am considering
        3- I agree   



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(c) Copyright, 2013, Brad Sherman