Our Warrior God
Did you know that God hates sin? He hates the destruction of His creation caused by selfish mankind. He hates the killing of innocent lives, the abuse of the weak and the disregard for the elderly and the poor. He hates the neglect and abandonment of children. He hates the rebellious and haughty attitudes of those lusting after power and fame. He hates the greedy, love of money and the heartache that it causes. He hates the suffering of the sick and the death of the starving. He hates strife, divorce and wars of every kind. He hates everything about sin and its evil consequences. Yet, He loves the sinner.
God is not indifferent to evil and He does not want us to be as well. We are not to run from resisting evil or to pretend it doesn’t exist. We must be a light that shines to dispel the darkness. When David was sent by his father to bring supplies to his brothers who were in the army, he heard the blaspheming of Goliath and the intimidation felt by the Israeli army. The anger of the Lord welled up in him and he decided to do something about it. He confronted Goliath with these words: “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, (YHWH-Tzevaot), the God of the armies of Israel,” (I Samuel 17:45). With a sling and a stone, that evil tongue was silenced that day.
The name of God that David used that day on the battlefield appears over 260 times in the Bible. Literally it means that God is the Commander of Armies. He does not need an army to win His battles, because He operates from His omnipotence, but rather reveals the well organized and ordered multitude of heavenly beings that are inseparably linked with His will. The hosts of angels that He leads are a demonstration of His majesty. In the Proverbs it says that, “in a multitude of people is the glory of a king,” (14:28). Isaiah saw this glory on the day he was commissioned as a prophet, (Is. 6:1-6). Yahweh-Tzevaot exercises His power against all evil, whether directly or via His angels or through a people that have aligned themselves with His will.
There can be no victory without a fight. We cannot just hope things will get better. There is no room for compromise or truces. The enemy’s intent is to rob, kill and destroy and he must be confronted in the name of the Lord. We must hate sin and love the sinner. Fight against evil and extend a hand to those caught in its snare. For the enemy to win all we have to do is nothing. Be like David; stand up against the enemy and his works in the name of the Lord of Hosts.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Rev. 5:12; Heb. 1:14; Ps. 27; I Samuel 17:31-54; Is. 6:1-6