In the Wilderness: The Battles We Must Fight

Text: Numbers 33:50-55

Theme: The bad news: We have an enemy who actively seeks to destroy us. The good news: In Christ, we have the authority to keep him at bay until his final defeat.

Date: 05/24/2020 Title: InTheWilderness-14.wpd No:

I want to preach this morning on spiritual warfare. The Book of Numbers, while recording actual Hebrew history, is also a metaphor of the three great themes of the Christian life. As we watch Israel go from slavery in Egypt to possessing the Promised Land of Canaan, we see these great themes:

Journeying

Warring

Inheriting

We’ve considered the first and the last. This morning I want us to consider the importance of the believer’s warfare. The Book of Numbers, as well as Deuteronomy, tell us of those nations who would oppose God’s people, and the battles Israel must fight to claim the Promised Land. Christians also experience spiritual warfare. To be a Christian, says the Apostle Paul, is to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And every day we must put on the full armor of God, if we are to withstand the onslaught of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

We’re in a battle in this world. We may not see it, and so we might forget it’s there. But the enemy would love nothing more than to fill our minds with discouragement and defeat. If you’re a believer who is living like salt and light in a dark world, you won’t go for long without encountering obstacles and attacks by the world, the flesh and the devil. And though we can’t stop all the attacks, we don’t have to let our enemies win. God reminds us in His word to stay aware of our enemie’s schemes, to live alert in this world, and to stay close to Him.

The military metaphors in both the Old and New Testaments call Christians to be alert, strong, prepared, smart, and loyal. They emphasize the need for discipline and self-restraint, virtues which have fallen out of favor in contemporary society. Let me walk you through the passage in Numbers and then help you apply those principles to your spiritual warfare.

I. THE WARFARE OF ISRAEL

1. this morning we pick up on the third great theme of the Book of Numbers that speaks to the New Testament believer’s faith experience

a. that theme is warring

1) today we call it spiritual warfare or spiritual battle

b. God’s people, in every age, have been a people called to resist the influences of the culture in which they live

1) that resistance, both in the Bible and spoken of by generations of Christian authors and hymnists, has been depicted as warfare

ILLUS. Unfortunately, it’s an image many modern Christians have become sensitive about. Over the last thirty years there has been a declaration of war on Christian war metaphors. The opening salvo (pun intended) was in 1988 when those revising the Methodist hymnal wanted to remove Onward Christian Soldiers, Marching as to War because it was deemed “too militant” conjuring up images of the Crusades. Ultimately, those wanting to remove the hymn from the Methodist hymnal reconsidered after rank-and-file Methodists opposed the move.

2) I would submit that the ample use of military metaphors by the inspired biblical writers supports the continued use of such language in our hymns and devotional writings

2. now, to be sure, our warfare is different in kind than Israel’s warfare

a. their physical warfare to take the Promised Land resulted in the death of others whereas our spiritual warfare to live the Christ-like life results only in the death of ourselves

1) the New Testament repeatedly encourages believers to mortify the flesh and feed the spirit that we might conform ourselves to the image of Christ

3. but in Israel’s physical battles, we see some principles laid down for fighting our spiritual battles

A. ISRAEL WILL HAVE TO FIGHT TO RECEIVE THE BLESSINGS OF THEIR INHERITANCE

1. beginning in Genesis 12:7 through Deuteronomy 34:4 God tells Israel one-hundred times “I’m giving you this land, flowing with milk and honey, that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”

a. God is bringing them into their inheritance, and promises to fight for them, and yet they will have to fight for it themselves

b. God will bring the Christian into their eternal inheritance, but in this life we must also fight the good fight of faith

2. chapter 33 in the Book of Numbers finds Israel on the Plains of Moab overlooking the Promised Land

a. very shortly, Moses will die, Joshua will succeed him, and Israel will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land

b. every night the residents of Jericho could look east to the heights of Moab and see tens of thousands of campfires flickering in the dark

1) no wonder Rahab would report that the inhabitants of Canaan quaked in their shoes at the sight

3. God is specific in what they must do

““Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.” (Numbers 33:51–53, NIV84)

a. Israel’s forward movement with God required a willingness to challenge the enemy on their own ground

b. in the Book of Deuteronomy God is even more explicit—Deuteronomy 7:1–11

4. certainly these words are harsh, and for many modern-day readers unacceptable

a. how are we to interpret God’s command to commit, what we in the 21st century would see as, genocide?

1) in a culture where tolerance for pluralism has become the most significant virtue of our era, (pluralism being the worldview that everyone’s worldview is correct, and no one can claim that their worldview is truly true) it is nearly impossible for many 21st century readers to get their arms around these and similar passages

a) is this a justifiable action on God’s part?

b) aren’t the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites entitled to their own view of who God is, and worship Him as the see fit?

b. then again, there are those biblical scholars who contend that Israel simply got it wrong ... they heard God saying what they wanted to hear and thus destroyed the inhabitants on their own initiative, and then claimed for historical posterity, God made us do it!

1) unfortunately there are simply too many such texts like this to assume that Israel was acting on their own outside of God’s will

c. there have even been those who see God’s command to utterly destroy the inhabitants of the land as proof that the god of the Old Testament is completely different then the Heavenly Father of the New Testament

1) such an interpretation is simply not possible for Scripture-honoring Christians

5. so how do we deal with the express will of God that the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites be totally destroyed?

a. 1st, Evil Will Always Merit God’s Wrath, and God Will Judge Sin Both in this World, and in Eternity

1) humanity’s problem is that we never see sin and evil as seriously as does God

2) both the Old Testament and modern near-east archaeology reveal the overall wickedness of the inhabitants of Canaan at that time

3) these were tribes of people whose culture worshiped sexual license, and whose worship practiced the sacrifice of babies and small children

4) we should not be surprised that God judged them harshly

ILLUS. James M. Boyce, a Presbyterian pastor, theologian and author, when asked about God’s command to annihilate the tribes of Canaan, said: "God's judgement, in the end, will be seen as so absolutely perfect that [even] the damned will agree with the rightness of their damnation."

a) this will not be the last time in world history that God sees entire nations as so morally corrupt, so idolatrous, that He will wipe them from the face of the earth, i.e. see the Book of Revelation!

b) at the end of time, all men, even evil men, will see evil for the evil it is, and God's goodness will be demonstrated for the goodness it is

c) we are dependent on the eyes of faith to see this

b. 2nd, God, Even in His Wrath, Is Patient with Sinners, and Evil Cultures

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NIV84)

1) we know from the Bible that God gave the people of Canaan hundreds of years to repent of their evil

2) when God made His covenant with Abraham, he told Israel’s Patriarch ...

“In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”” (Genesis 15:16, NIV84)

a) did you catch that last part?

3) in other words, one purpose of Abram's future family, the nation of Israel, is to serve as an instrument of judgment on the Amorite people for their sins against God

a) however, God would not preemptively judge the Amorites or any other people group of Canaan

b) in His justice, He would wait for them to earn the judgment He would pour out on them through His people Israel when they came to claim the land of Canaan as their own

4) this delay serves as an expression of God's mercy, allowing that much more time for the wicked inhabitants of Canaan to see their sin and repent

a) but God will not and does not delay his judgment forever

b) the Book of Revelation is a stark reminder that the world, even now, merits the unrestrained wrath of God

c. 3rd, God New That the Residents of Canaan Would Be a Cancer in the Life of Israel If They Were Not Thoroughly Destroyed

ILLUS. In the 25th chapter of the Book of Numbers we saw how quickly Israel began to intermarry with Moabite women, and fall into the apostasy of idol worship.

B. ISRAEL WILL HAVE TO FIGHT ENEMIES FAMILIAR TO US

1. Israel will have to fight the world ... When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you

a. the pagan culture of the Canaanites must be dealt with

b. their’s was a lascivious, corrupt, and wicked society that would constantly influence Israel away from God if not defeated

c. does that seem familiar?

2. Israel will have to fight the devil ... Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places

a. we know from the New Testament that idols are no god at all, but that behind them are very real rulers ... authorities ... powers of this dark world ... and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12)

b. Israel’s most sinister foes are not the Canaanites themselves, but the spiritual being they worship, and have surrendered their culture to, even if they don’t perceive that is who they are worshiping

c. does that seem familiar?

3. Israel will have to fight their flesh ... But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides

a. 1st, Israel will face the serious temptation to compromise with the cultures they come into contact with

b. 2nd, this is a land flowing with milk and honey, and if they are not careful, they will indulge themselves in the fat of the land, forgetting God’s provisions and grace

c. unfortunately, Israel never completely drove our all the inhabitants and what Yahweh warned them against actually occurred

4. so, does any of this sound remotely similar to our own era and culture?

II. THE WARFARE OF BELIEVERS

1. as long as we live among unbelievers, we cannot escape those dealings with them which relate to the ordinary affairs of life; but if we gain a deeper intimacy with them, we open the door as it were to Satan

2. therefore, we must be spiritually armed

Ephesians 6:10-17

A. A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT – BE STRONG

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:10–11, NIV)

1. in this passage Paul exhorts us, encourages us, commands us as believers to be strong in the Lord

a. the verb be strong in v. 10 implies a growing strength—a faith that does not waver in unbelief at the staggering promises of God

b. in these two verses, the Apostle Paul communicates four principles about our spiritual warfare:

1) the exhortation to strength

2) the source of this strength

3) the need for this strength

4) the deployment of this strength

2. 1st the Exhortation to Strength

a. the Apostle finishes his letter to the believers at Ephesus by telling them Finally, be strong ...

b.these words are reminiscent of the encouragement that God gave Joshua on the eve of Israel entering the promised land

1) Joshua 1:6 – “Be strong, and courageous ... I’ve give you the land

2) Joshua 1:7 – “Be strong, and very courageous ... I’ve given you success

3) Joshua 1:9 – “Be strong and courageous, do not tremble ... I am with you

4) Joshua 10:25 – “Be strong and courageous ... I’ll defeat your enemies

c. the Apostle Paul, like a commander encouraging his troops on the eve of battle, reminds them that the battle is upon them and they need to summon every ounce of strength for the fight

3. 2nd, the Source of Our Strength

a. in our battle against the world, the flesh and the devil the Bible teaches us to lean on God and His mighty power

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5–8, NIV)

ILLUS. George Duffield, in his hymn Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, reminds us that The arm of flesh will fail you; Ye dare not trust your own. Put on the Gospel armor, ... “

b. Christian armor is designed to protect the soul

1) God does not throw us unprotected into the battle against the world, the flesh and the devil

2) he has provided all that we need for complete protection of mind, heart, soul, spirit, conscience, and will

c. but we must put that armor on piece by piece – deliberately, thoughtfully, and intelligently

4. 3rd, the Need for this Strength

a. we face numerous enemies in our spiritual warfare, and one of them is a vicious supernatural enemy

b. the apostle Paul tells us put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes

1) when the apostle talks about the “devil’s schemes” he introduces the dark figure behind the caution in Ephesians 4:27 “do not give the devil a foothold”

2) the same evil spiritual being who was behind the idols and false gods of the Canaanites is the same evil spiritual being behind the idols and false gods of our day

c. the evil one has many names in Scripture, the most common being devil and Satan

1) as the devil, he is the accuser—the one who constantly assails us before God

2) as Satan, he is the adversary—the one who opposes God and constantly seeks to prevent us from entering into our birthright as children of God

d. the good news is that the evil one is a defeated foe, as the apostle Paul emphasized in his letter to the Colossians

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:15, NIV)

1) as believers, we stand, in Christ, on the victory side of the cross

2) the evil one may rage and roar, but he is powerless before a child of God who is arrayed in the armor of God, filled with the spirit of God, and strong in the power of God’s might

5. 4th, the Deployment of this Strength

a. the apostle Paul tells us put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes, the world’s temptations, and the flesh’s weakness

b. the verb stand occurs in several places in this passage

1) the idea is that we are to stand firm or stand our ground

2) in the ancient form of hand-to-hand combat described in this passage, the first duty of a line of soldiers is to stand side-by-side against attackers, to close ranks, and to prevent an incursion against the enemy’s ultimate target

3) in Christian warfare, Christ and his kingdom are the ultimate target

c. in essence, Christian warfare is about resisting the attempts of Satan to retake back territory no longer his

d. any time you decide to take a stand for Jesus you can expect an all-out assault upon your life!

1) spiritual battle goes with the territory

6. but consider this, spiritual warfare and spiritual attacks are signs that you are on the right side!

B. A WORD OF ENABLEMENT – BE COVERED

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11, NIV)

1. the Apostle Paul tells us that not only is our strength from the Lord, but so also must our empowerment come from the Lord

a. we cannot engage in spiritual battle against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of ...darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places, if we do it in our own strength, or our own authority, or our own methods

2. the right battle gear is found in Ephesians 6:13–17

a. God provides exactly the right battle gear you and I need in our spiritual warfare

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13–17, NIV)

b. three of these are defensive weapons

1) the belt of truth

2) the breastplate of righteousness

3) the helmet of salvation

c. three of these are offensive weapons

1) the shield of faith

2) the shoes of the gospel of peace

3) the sword of the Spirit

3. God has given us supernatural weaponry from his own Heavenly ‘Skunk Works’

a. God has won the cosmic spiritual arms race

1) neither the world, the flesh or the devil can develop a weapon that can out-gun God’s arsenal

b. all these weapons are foolishness to the lost, but to the faithful they are the power of God

4. but you must make the conscious decision to arm himself each day

ILLUS. Back in 1986, the contemporary gospel group Acappella, recorded a song entitled, Army of the Lord. Listen to the words ...

All around us a war's going on between the wrong and the right

We've gotta choose which side we're on—the darkness or the light

Some of the soldiers of the Lord just don't realize

that the captain of the army of darkness has come to blind their eyes

[But it’s the chorus that caught my attention the first time I heard it]

Chorus:

Are we walking into the enemy's camp, laying our weapons down

shedding our armor as we go, leaving it on the ground?

We've gotta be strong in the power of his might and prove to the enemy

We are the army of the Lord and we've won the victory.

C. BE AWARE — THE VICTORY IS YOURS

1. as believer's in Christ, we do not fight for victory, we fight from victory

a. in Christ’s power we are invincible

Romans 8:31-39

ILLUS. How many of you remember “Baghdad Bob”? His real name was Mohammed al-Sahhaf, and he was Iraq's Minister of Information during the Second Gulf War. As Operation Iraqi Freedom raged, he would go on Baghdad radio and TV and refute every clear piece of evidence that Iraq was losing the war. After coalition forces had seized Baghdad's Saddam Hussein Airport, and ventured into Baghdad itself, al-Sahhaf was reporting, "We [have] butchered the forces present at the airport." When U.S. troops actually penetrated central Baghdad and stormed Saddam's Republican Palace, Mr. Sahhaf told Iraqi citizens, "There is no presence of the American columns in the city of Baghdad at all. We besieged them, and we killed most of them." Referred to as “Baghdad Bob” by the media, his efforts to explain away coalition forces and their victories as illusions were comical.

2. in the same way, our spiritual enemy is already defeated at the cross of Christ, yet he continues to hurl out lies, insults, and condemnation at the saints

a. we fight a very real battle against a very real enemy, but we need to know without a doubt that our victory over him is assured

3. in summary, what are the keys to success in spiritual warfare?

We rely on God's power, not our own

We put on the whole armor of God

We draw on the power of Scripture—the Word of God is the Spirit's sword.

We pray in perseverance and holiness, making our appeal to God

We stand firm, and submit to God

We resist the devil's work knowing that the Lord of hosts is our protector.

"Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken" (Psalm 62:2).