This week we are going to continue.....

This week we are going to continue with the subject of spiritual warfare and be dealing with the subject of wise preparations. Battles are won or lost before any fighting begins. The Lord is not going to entrust His truth to the weak and timid. There are several spiritual preparations we need to make. First, we must pray and study the Word of God. These two need to be balanced. In Gen 49.8-12 we have the blessing given to Judah by his father Jacob. In Judah’s blessing all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are present except the letter “zayin.” This letter means “weapon” and this tells us that spiritual wars are fought with the Word of God, not carnal weapons (2 Cor. 10.4). Another thing we can do is fast. In Ezra 8.21-32, Ezra fasted until God showed him what to do. Giving to others is a crucial preparation. There is also the area of praise and worship. Jacob made sacrifices before entering Egypt, the priests carried the Ark and praised God before Jericho and other battles. We must also separate from the world. The war is coming and you must learn the Scriptures. You won’t have time for hayrides and socials because you must be getting ready for a battle. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, but remember this must be balanced also. Remember, you are either going into a battle, going through a battle or coming out of a battle. Preparations can only be made before it comes. Once it starts and you are coming out of one, it’s too late. There are some defensive things you can do. Don’t fight alone, make sure you have people around you. There’s a joke that says that we should have at least 6 friends because then your family doesn’t have to hire pall bearers at your funeral. Anyway, we should always have back-up protection. And speaking of protection, we must know our protection and it must not “weigh us down.” The crusaders wore so much armor that in one battle The Moslems started the brush on fire, raising the temperature. This caused the Crusaders to get hotter and this cause heat sickness and heat stroke. Eventually they just fell off their horses and were killed. Not having the right armor can limit your mobility, defense and firepower. You must know the potential of you adversary, so there must be time to assess. Until you get good equipment (weapons, intelligence, etc) you can’t fight the battle with confidence. And once you have superior weapons, you must know how to use them. Don’t get caught in a place where you can’t maneuver spiritually. Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 did not make the right preparations and got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. This nearly cost them the war. So, don’t get caught in a “Yom Kippur” war. 

  When you are at peace, keep your fortifications strong. King Solomon built a huge chariot force with towns during a time of peace. It was that strength that contributed to the peace. Today, politicians want to cut the defense budget and not develop weapons and this is a serious mistake that this country will pay for. Nearsighted, ignorant people contribute greatly to war by putting their country in harm’s way by weakening the country’s defense. The same applies spiritually. We must prepare our fortifications before they are needed like King Hezekiah did. We must also know what we are talking about. The more you “build” the less you will “contend” because you won’t have time nor be interested in having battles. When building a good stronghold you will need good footing (your walk) and foundation (the Word). To move from the “stone age” to the “iron age” it’s going to take maturity and training. You must have “basic” training and this is found in Heb 6.1-2. Next week we will continue discussing what kind of preparations we can make before a battle even begins.