God Defeats Armies

God defeats armies. The True God acts on behalf of his True Servants. God's true servants can not be defeated because God can not be defeated.

Elijah Calls Fire from Heaven (Woodcut, Nuremberg, 1702).

  

God's true servants can not be defeated because God cannot be defeated. The Scriptures contain many instances where even enemy armies of overwhelming size and strength are defeated by God's power.

“The battle is not mine, but the Lord's.”

First, we must admit the servants God so blesses are marked with lives dedicated to God through obedience. Yes, they sometimes feel reluctance facing confrontation, but they chose obedience when God directs them. Frequently, they consult God before battle.

“Fear not, for those who are with us

are more than those with them.”

One of my favorite stories is when King Ahaziah fell through the upper lattice of his palace in Samaria and injured himself. He sent palace messengers to the town of Ekron to consult the idol, Baal-Zebub, (Sound familiar?) regarding the King's health. God told the Prophet Elijah because the King consulted the idol, the King would not recover, but die.

Even today, servants forget to consult the True God of the Universe. Undoubtedly, many do not really believe in Him, except as a last resort.

The King asked the royal messenger who had spoken to them. They described Elijah the Tishbite as a man wearing a hair garment and a leather belt, very prophet-like. King Ahaziah sent a company of fifty soldiers to bring Elijah to the King. Bad mistake.

“Man of God” ordered the curt commander, “Come down!”

“If I am a man of God,” answered Elijah, “may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And it did. In fact, the King sent another fifty men and the same result occurred again. They were burnt toast.

When the King sent a third company, this unit's commander was a little wiser and a little more humble. He fell on his knees. (Another lesson for today.)

“Man of God,” he said. “Please respect my life and the lives of my men.”

God told Elijah to go with him. In the outcome, Elijah again told the King that because he consulted the idol, he would most certainly die. And the King died. Even today, men make idols, substitute concepts in their hearts, or use idols that are not the True God. And they wonder why their prayers are not answered.

You can read about miraculous battles as a matter of scriptural record, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Hezekiah, Deborah and Barak, Jonathan, David, and many more. And there are many reports from modern wars.

The True God acts on behalf of his True Servants.

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NKJV).

(Story Ref. 2 Kings 1 NKJV)

– Bill Hunt

World in Christ/Messiah

In God's Gaze

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

(ChristiansUnite.com)

 

Eyes watched the sprinkled stars above.

You bound me in the gaze of solemn love.

You're there, I prayed.

I'm here, you said.

Alone, near the Hindu Kush one warm night,

I knew the presence in the desert sight.

You're there, I prayed.

I'm here, you said.

Face to face with the hooded black snake.

Cobra, you must do what the Master bade.

I prayed, God I'm yours.

I'm here, you said.

Hanging high from the mountain cliff,

the periled black bus bound in strife.

If I live, I live; if I die, I die.

My life is in your hands.

I'm here, you said.

Fifty men hold packed grey stones in hand,

as we exit the myriad tile mosque, stand.

I really didn't plan to die this way.

I'm here, you said.

She's the royal beauty I want to meet.

Wait, don't move, the princess greet.

I backed against the white wood wall.

I'm here, you said.

Years in a row, the morning dawn,

rays of your cosmic light across the lawn.

Excited, I know this day

the Lord has made.

I'm here, you say.

– Bill Hunt © 2012

Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you" (Deut 31:23 NKJV).

God revealed his presence to me in the night sky,

alone in the deserts of the Hindu Kush,

face to face with a venomous black cobra,

hanging in a bus over a high mountain cliff,

about to be stoned to death by a Muslim crowd,

in selecting miraculously my beautiful wife,

and multiple times in the daily gift of life.

Heb 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb 13:5 NKJV).

Grouchy Midnight Mountain Lion

Yes, like for Samuel, David or Daniel, God protects from a grouchy midnight mountain lion.

(Photo by fPat Murray, Flickr.com)

 

One evening, the growls of a mountain lion interrupted my sleep about midnight.

"Mountain lion!!!"

I rushed into my clothes and headed up the other end of the house to the back door, barefoot. In the light of my flashlight, I could see the big, saucer size, bright reflecting eyes of a male Texas Panther. Florida State transplanted the lions into Northern Florida for a time as an experiment in change of habitat.

The lion continued to growl repeatedly, looking straight at me not a hundred feet away. Then the worst possible thing happened. My entire herd of goats came rushing out of their hutch to see what was happening. Oh, no!

Goats are very, very curious. I was in panic, and knew I had to act fast. I possessed no gun.

"Shall I fight the lion barehanded like

David with a kitchen knife?"

I thought fast, as I looked back through the open kitchen door at the knife drawer.

v34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it (1Sam 17:34-35 NIV).

"No, that's not a good idea!" Of course, there was Samson....

v5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done (Judges 14:5-6 NIV).

I ran out of the house,

jumping off the porch!

I dived into my small car, an old Chevrolet Cavalier. I drove it onto my woods road, honking the horn, and flashing the lights wildly. I was in a panic to save my goats!

Mister Lion actually backed off toward the snake ravine! He remained in that area, growling demonstratively through the hours of the night.

The blessing for the shepherd was this--none of my goats were harmed. No lamb chops! And the grouchy midnight mountain lion on his rounds never came back!

I felt the victory of Daniel!

v19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
v21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
v23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God (Dan 6:19-23 NIV).

--Bill Hunt

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Miracle of a Vicious Snake Strike

Yes, as for Paul the Apostle, God protects his servants from the danger of snake attacks.

Do You Trust God to Protect You Even From a Vicious Snake Attack?

 (Photo by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fhwa.dot.gov)

Overhead, a bald eagle flies by, looking like a huge bomber bird. Two rusty Cooper's Hawks regularly visit my back field where a herd of goats pastures. The prime purpose of the herd is to keep the grass short to discourage the presence of Florida's poisonous snakes. Over the years, I've encountered rattlesnakes, coral snakes, and water moccasins in turn.

In the far front corner of the wild property is a ravine overgrown with bushes, wild grasses and leafy trees. It's a deep, dark, murky pool of water in the rainy season. One day I trudged down there to fix the barbed wire fence line built around the property.

As I came close to a woody fence post, I heard the tail rattling of a nervous snake, noisy in the dried grasses. Looking carefully, I caught a glimpse of him stretched out barely seen near the fence line. He looked like a rattlesnake, but I saw rows of long sharp teeth. Being too close, I turned my back to step away from the post.

WHACK! That snake struck at 

my leg with a mighty force!

But he bit the fence post instead! This was a miracle. Snakes see with infrared eyes, and he confused the fence post for my leg which was exactly behind the post. The snake's teeth stuck hard in the wood post for a few moments as he struggled to free himself with his figure eight coiling body.

I raised my long handled shovel to strike at him, but in a flash he disappeared as I shifted my feet to make the hit. I walked away trembling with double layer goosebumps all over my skin. I felt frightened and alone. But the still, soothing voice of the Lord spoke to me calmly and echoed through my whole being.

"I will never leave you nor forsake you” 

(Joshua 1:5 NIV).

Later, I learned the snake was a Florida Banded Water Snake. With his rows of long razor sharp teeth, he could tear a cube of flesh out of man's leg.

Preachers often have trouble with the snake scripture, but I've had my encounters a few times, and I believe it!

"And these signs will accompany those who believe:… they will pick up snakes with their hands…it will not hurt them at all” (Mark 16:17-18 NIV).

Paul the Apostle understood.

When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god (Acts 28:4-6 NIV).
 

Now, I understood, too.

--Bill Hunt

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