Chapter
Twenty-Nine
NO
DISCHARGE
IN
THAT
WAR
Ecclesiastes
8:8
There is no
man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit;
neither
hath he power in the day of death: and there is
no discharge in that war;
neither
shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
Hollywood is only a copy-cat in The War of the Worlds, or in the
creation of Star Wars, or Battle Star Galactica. The real interstellar war began the day
the Lord Jesus Christ created Lucifer, Son of the Morning, and set him over the
kingdoms of the earth. His kingdom
rebellion is well documented in the Book God gave us, and the resulting ruin
can be found in ancient (pre-Adamic)
history.
From that day to this, and into the
future (until God disposes of the dragon), that war will continue between the
Saints of the Most High and the “children of disobedience”. Whatever side you elect to enlist in you are
in the war and it is a war without a discharge. There is no leave of absence, no furlough, to time for
liberty. It is a perpetual war and if
you are not a victor than you are a casualty, deserter, traitor, or prisoner of
war.
Israel is out of Egypt, they have
crossed the Wilderness of Sin, and they are on the “other side Jordan”. The next venture in the perpetual warfare of
the saints of the Most High is to cross the Jordan and enter the promised
land. But the promised land has to be
taken by warfare. It will not be by
political coersion or diplomatic talks.
The orders given will be “get out or die”. As Israel approaches Jordan Reuben, Menassah, and Gad come up
with a plea bargain:
Numbers 32: 1-5 -
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very
great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of
Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; The children of Gad and
the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest,
and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and
Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, Even the country which the LORD smote
before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have
cattle: Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this
land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and.......
bring us not over Jordan.
A song about General Custer, about
thirty years back, had the words “please, Mr. Custer, I don’t want to go”. These tribes had found land to their liking,
they had had enough war, they were ready to set up house keeping. They were ready to give up the war. Years
later the other tribes would learn to deal the same way.
Amos 6:1 - Woe to them that are
at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the
nations, to whom the house of Israel
came!
Zechariah 1:15 - And I am
very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but
a little displeased, and they helped forward
the affliction.
Where are you in your Christian
warfare? How long has it been since you
enlisted in the army of God? There is a
hymn that begins with the words “In the holy army we’re enlisted”. Have you enlisted? If you did, when did you get your discharge to quit the
battle? You didn’t because there is no
discharge. If you are not in the battle
then you are a casualty, deserter, traitor, or prisoner of war. Which is it?
Back during the Gulf War there were
several Military Reserve personnel who refused to go to the war when orders
were given. They were subsequently
tried for their failure to follow orders.
I don’t remember the outcome, but there was a war, they were in the
military, and they refused to go. What
do you suppose God thinks of one of His saints that refuses to go to His holy
war?
In this situation at the Jordan Moses ask the following question:
Numbers 32: 6-7 - And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the
children of Reuben, Shall
your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
And wherefore
discourage ye the heart
of the children of
Israel
from going
over into the land
which the LORD hath given them?
Who do you think you are any way?
Should only ordained preachers and missionaries be the ones in the thick
of the battle? Is this a crops of
volunteers? The decision to get in
might be on the basis of “free will” but once you sign on you have deserted the
“kingdom of darkness” and you have entered the “kingdom of light”. Your fight against that kingdom only
begun. Now it is a test of endurance
till Jesus takes you home. It is a war
without discharge.
Deuteronomy 1:21 Behold, the
LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the
LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto
thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
discourage ye
the heart of the children
by your continue acceptance of being a casualty
by your desertion of duty
by your being a traitor to the cause
and by becoming a prisoner of war.
This is a war without
a discharge. Your only escape is the
door of death. If you’re real lucky,
may be the rapture.
Numbers 32: 11 - Surely
none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and
upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto
Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
The only way for you to see the land of victory and promise is to
wholly follow the Lord. It will take
many battles to concour the land of the enemy, but if you keep at it eventually
you will find that “peace that passeth understanding”. You have been “called out” to be
somebody. You can be a soldier or a
“sad sack”. You can come to Jordan and
cross over or you can die in the Wilderness of Sin.
Hosea 11:1 - When Israel
was a child, then I loved him, and
called my son out of
Egypt.
Numbers 32: 13 - And the LORD's anger was kindled against
Israel, and he made them wander in
the wilderness forty years, until all the generation,
that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.
The generation of
recruits called out of Egypt did not want the prospect of war and the hardships
that go with warfare. Like most
military personnel they grumbled about the food rations and the living
conditions. At
Kadash-Bernea they grumbled about the war plan and the battle strategy. So, because they did not enter into the
warfare wholly following the Lord they were given a leave of absence of 40
years followed by a death warrant.
Numbers
32: 20 - And Moses said
unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to
war,
I Timothy 1: 18-20 - This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before
on thee, that thou by them mightest
war a good warfare;
Holding faith, and a good conscience;
which some having put away concerning
faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they
may learn not to blaspheme.
I spent almost 28 years in the United States Navy. Let me assure you that the last thing you
want to do is anything that would cause the ship to wreck. Whenever there is a ship-wreck, if there is
any implication as to the fault of the
Commanding Officer, he is immediately relieved of his duty and replaced. What part are you playing in the Church
of God? Is your presence a threat to
the warfare and the commoradory of the unit?
Are your actions and direction toward ship-wreck? Are you at the point that God is ready to
deliver you over to the Adversary the Devil?
Numbers 32: 21 And will go all of you armed
over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from
before him,
Ephesians, Chapter Six gives you a
listing of your armour. Have you put it
on lately? Have you ever put it
on? All of you are to be armed and to
cross over and drive our the enemy until.
Until when? Remember that the
last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Until then there is no discharge from this war.
I Peter 5: 8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil,
as
a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking
whom he may devour:
If you are not diligent in your role
as a soldier of Jesus Christ, He may just set you aside and let the Adversary
have his way with your life. You will
serve either the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, or this “roaring lion”. The choice is yours.
22: And the land be subdued
before the LORD: then afterward ye shall
return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession
before the LORD.
You cannot have your promised land in possession until you have fought
all the battles of the Lord and been discharged from the warfare. Then you will be free to possess the land of
promise and free from the ravages of war.
In the mean while we have to keep on top of things lest we become a
casualty, diserter, traitor, or prisoner of war.
I Corinthians 9: 27 - But I keep under my body, and bring
it into subjection:
lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway.
23: But if ye will not do so, behold,
ye have sinned against the LORD: and
be sure your sin will find you out.
If you will not go with your brothers and sisters in Christ to the war
for which you are called, then be sure that it is a sin against Christ and the
brotherhood. It is a sin that will be
revealed at the judgment seat of Christ.
James 4: 17 - Therefore to
him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin.
So, are you going to choose sin or war? Are you going to participate in the battle or slip over to the
side of the Adversary? Are you going to
be a causality, diserter, traitor, prisoner of war, or a soldier that pleases
his master?
Numbers 32: 27 -
But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for
war, before the LORD to battle,
as my lord saith.
OK, we want to stay
but we will go. We will go fight and we
will set up housekeeping when the war is over.
Matthew 21: 29 - He answered and said, I will not: but
afterward
he repented, and went.
Now is the time to make up your mind.
Choose you this day whom ye will serve!
There are only two masters in this war.
You serve one god or the other.
You can choose the god of the giants, or you can choose the God of the
victors.
Deuteronomy 3: 13-
14 - And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og,
gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all
Bashan, which was called the land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all
the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and
Maachathi; and called them after his own name,
Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this day
Joshua 13 :12 - All the kingdom of Og in Bashan,
which reigned in Ashtaroth
and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants:
for these did Moses smite, and cast
them out.
This is a description of the land and the inhabitants. They are an admixture of human degenerates
and fallen demons. They are stupped in
occultic idolatry.
7497 ap'r' rapha'
{raw-faw'} or hp'r' raphah {raw-faw'} •
from 07495 in the sense of
invigorating; TWOT - 2198d; n pr gent •
AV - giant 17, Rephaim 8; 25 • 1) giants, Rephaim 1a) old race of giants -Genesis 6
5747 gA[ `Owg
{ogue} • probably from 05746;; n pr m •
AV - Og 22; 22 • Og
= "long-necked" 1) the Amorite
king of Bashan and one of the last
representatives of the giant race of
Rephaim
6252 tArT'v.[; `Ashtarowth {ash-taw-roth'} or troT'v.[; `Ashtaroth {ash-taw-roth'} • AV - Ashtaroth , Astaroth 1; •
Ashtaroth or Astaroth = "star" deity 1) false goddesses in the
Canaanite religion, usually related
to fertility cult 2) a city
in Bashan east of the Jordan given
to Manasseh 2a) same as 06255
Here is what God says
to do with these half-breed demonized idolatrous heathens:
Numbers 33: 52 - Then ye shall
drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy
all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images,
and quite pluck down all their high places:
DESTROY ALL
4906 tyKif.m; maskiyth {mas-keeth'} • from the same as 07906; TWOT - 2257c; n f • AV - picture 2, image 1, wish 1, conceit 1, imagery 1; 6 •
1) show-piece, figure,
imagination, image, idol,
picture 1a) show-piece, carved
figure (of idols) 1b) imagination,
conceit
PICTURES - Isaiah 2: 12 - 16
- For the day of the LORD of hosts shall
be upon every one that is proud and
lofty, and upon every one that is
lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted
up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon
all the hills that are lifted up,
And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And
upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
7914 hY"kif. s@kiyah {sek-ee-yaw'} • from the same as 07906; TWOT - 2257b; n f • AV - picture 1; 1 • 1) image, ship, craft 1a) meaning very dubious
The
day of the Lord is a day of vengeance.
If when the Lord comes to visit He finds you full of imaginary pictures
it will not be a pleasant visit. Some
of you need to clean out your closets
destroy all their molten images,
6754 ~l,c, tselem {tseh'-lem}
• from an unused root meaning to shade; TWOT - 1923a; n m • AV - image 16, vain shew 1; 17 • 1) image 1a)
images (of tumours, mice, heathen gods) 1b) image, likeness (of resemblance) 1c) mere, empty, image, semblance (fig.)
IMAGES - II Corinthians 10 : 5 - Casting
down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
3053 logismo,j
logismos {log-is-mos'} •
from 3049; TDNT - 4:284,536; n m
• AV - thought 1, imagination 1; 2 • 1) a reckoning, computation 2) a reasoning: such as is hostile to the Christian faith 3) a judgment, decision: such as conscience passes
As a professing believer we are to take charge of our cognitive mind
and all the imaginations thereof and in the name of Christ cast them down
quite pluck down all their high places:
1116 hm'B' bamah {bam-maw'}
• from an unused root (meaning to be high); TWOT - 253; n f • AV - high place 100, heights
1, waves 1; 102 • 1) high place,
ridge, height, bamah (technical name for cultic platform) 1a) high place, mountain 1b) high places, battlefields 1c) high places (as places of worship) 1d) funeral mound?
HIGH PLACES - II Corinthians 10:4 - (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
3794 ovcu,rwma
ochuroma {okh-oo'-ro-mah} •
from a remote derivative of 2192
(meaning to fortify, through the idea
of holding safely); TDNT -
5:590,752; n n • AV - strong hold 1; 1 • 1) a castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness 2) anything on which one relies 2a) of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent
One
day we can rejoice when the accuser of the brethren is cast down. But until then, in this present evil world,
it is up to us to identify the strong holds of the Adversary in our lives and
to pull them down. We have the power
and authority to do so. If you do not
then you will suffer the consequence.
Numbers 33: 55 - But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the
land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let
remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in
your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
pricks in your
eyes,
7899 %fe sek {sake}
• from 05526 in the sense of 07753; TWOT - 2262a; n m • AV
- prick 1; 1 • 1) thorn
Acts:9:5: And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord
said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
2759 ke,ntron kentron {ken'-tron}
• from kenteo (to prick); TDNT - 3:663,427; n n • AV - sting 3, prick 2; 5
• 1) a sting, as that of bees, scorpions, locusts. Since animals wound by their sting and even cause death, Paul attributes death, personified as a sting, i.e. a deadly weapon 2) an iron goad, for urging on oxen, horses and other beasts of burden 2a) hence the proverb, "to kick against the goad", i.e. to offer vain and perilous or ruinous resistance
thorns in your
sides,
6796 !ynIc' tsaniyn {tsaw-neen'} or !nIc' tsanin {tsaw-neen'} • from the same as 06791; TWOT - 1936c; n m • AV - thorn 2; 2 • 1) thorn, prick
2Cor:12:7: And lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance
of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
4647 sko,loy skolops {skol'-ops}
• perhaps from the base of 4628 and 3700; TDNT - 7:409,1047; n m • AV - thorn 1; 1 •
1) a pointed piece of wood, a
pale, a stake 2) a sharp stake,
splinter
Now is the time for
making a choice. Now is the time to
repent and separate. If we do not
then...
56: Moreover it shall come to pass,
that I shall do unto you, as I thought
to do unto them.
Will you join the
ranks of the soldiers of God or will you hang behind with the casualties,
deserters, traitors, and prisoners of war?
We are ordered into combat and there are no discharges from the warfare!
Deuteronomy 3: 18 -
And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath
given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed
before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the
war.
When I was in Navy
basic training one of the things we did every morning was to march past the
infirmary. We would stop and the
company commander would say, “OK, all the sick, lame, and lazy, fall out.” Really made you feel good.
Romans 13: 12 - 14 - The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour
of light. Let us walk honestly,
as in the day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to fulfill the
lusts thereof.
We have the
armor. We have the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have the Sword of the
Lord. We have no excuse, normally, for
not getting into the Lord’s battles. We
are to fight, take the strong holds, and hold the fort. And we are to do so without fear.
:22 - Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God
he shall fight for you.
II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind.