More on the Different Ways God deals with enemy armies

Warfare in Isaiah

Unnerving verse of the day: Isaiah 33:18 Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”

33:22 For the Lord is our judge, The Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king, He will save us—

34:4 …and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll…

Better minds than mine can explain the dire situation Jerusalem is in when Hezekiah prays for deliverance:

Isaiah 37:15- And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear, open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and listen to the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. And now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, Lord, art God.”

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: “She has despised you and mocked you, the virgin daughter of Zion, she has shaken her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem! Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, and haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! Through your servants you hve reproached the Lord, and you have said, “With my chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon, and I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest. I dug wells and drank water, and with the sole of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.’ “Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, from ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, they were dismayed and put to shame, they were as the begetation of the field and as the green herb, as the grass on the houstops is scorched before it is grown up. BUT I KNOW YOUR SITTING DOWN, AND YOUR GOING OUT AND YOUR COMING IN, AND YOUR RAGING AGAINST ME.” (emphasis mine) “Because of your raging against Me, and because your arrogance has come up to My ears, therefore I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came. Then this shall be the sign for you: you shall eat this year what grows of itself; in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. “And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.” Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “He shall not come to this city, or shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with a shield, nor throw up a mount against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city,” declares the Lord. “For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.” THEN AN ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT OUT, AND STRUCK 185,000 IN THE CAMP OF THE ASSYRIANS, AND WHEN MEN AROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING, BEHOLD, ALL OF THESE WERE DEAD.

So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. (present day Iraq)

Neat, huh?? God warns, answers King Hezekiah’s prayer, and wipes out King Sennacherib’s army.

The difference in this story with the one I blogged about yesterday was that in this story we have dead bodies. How long did it take to bury 185,000??? The Bible says they were dead. Not just gone, as in left in haste when the lepers found tents full of food and clothing in 2 Kings 7:3. I had never pondered the difference in these two ways God dwelt with protecting Israel.

Our dear soldiers fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I want to repeat parts of this prayer for them:

Dear Heavenly Father, As Hezekiah prayed many years ago, You are the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, and You alone are THE GOD, and You alone, are enthroned above the cherubim, and You made heaven and earth. The Arab nations surrounding Israel still lob bombs into Israel, and send terrorists to murder people in Israel. You know and have known from eternity past what all the arabs are saying against Israel, and against the USA. Please deliver our soldiers from the terrorists so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God. Show the falseness of Islam, and reveal for all the world to see the evil in that religion. Destroy those who have hard hearts because they blaspheme You. And please destroy those in our country who would seek to undercut what our troops are trying to do in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please give our troops the equipment, funding, clarity, leadership, wisdom to bring peace to Iraq and Afghanistan by wiping out the terrorists. Please reveal where osoma is hiding and allow our troops to take him and his terrorists out. And what would You have our troops do about Iran? And Syria? Please keep us a friend and protector of Israel. Only You, Lord, can reveal to the arab peoples that Islam is a lie, and turn them from abusing their women and children. Your Will be done. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

Studying God's View of Warfare

The different ways God deals with enemy armies

2 Kings 6 The king Aram got tired of the prophet Elisha knowing what he spoke secretly, and tried to capture Elisha. The king of Aram sent his army to surround Dothan and when Elisha’s attendant got up early and saw an army with horses and chariots circling the city, he cried out to Elisha, “alas, my master! What shall we do?” So Elisha answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw, and behold, THE MOUNTAIN WAS FULL OF HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE ALL AROUND ELISHA. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city, follow me and I will bring you to the man you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria. And it came about when they had come into Smaria, that Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “Shall I kill them?? Shall I kill them?” Elisaha answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them, and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.

Now wouldn’t you like to see this depicted in a movie?? And throw in the floating ax in the special effects that comes in the story just one section before this narrative.

Another army came and besieged Samaria and caused a famine, and they had started eating their children, and the king got mad and sent a messenger to behead Elisha, but Elisha knew he was coming, and forewarned and then proclaimed what was going to happen. His followers probably thought he was talking in parables. Lets skip to 2 Kings 7:3 and meet four leprous men. Outcasts, unclean, living separately, we find them at the entrance of the gate of the city. They said to one another: “Why do we sit here until we die?” “If we say, ‘we will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we shall die there, and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.” And they arose at twilight to go to the camp and when they came to the outskirts of the camp, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.” Therefore, they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. So when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them, and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and hid them. Verse 9: Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent, if we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.” When the lepers came to the gatekeepers of the city, and told of the empty camp, the king did not believe it. The king’s servants had to convince him to send a band to investigate. Then the people were able to go out and plunder the camp. Other prophecies came true that day. But I will let you read it for yourself. 2 Kings 7

Deut. 20: When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you…Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the One who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Another chapter for soldiers—for very specific examples are given on how to deal with situations.

Joshua 24:6,7 Israel is never to forget how God dwelt with the army of chariots of Pharoah.

1 Samuel 13 tells the story of King Saul and consequences of not obeying God’s instructions.

Studying God's View of Army and Warfare

“…But there was no sword in David’s hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” 1 Samuel 17:50

At first glance, it looks like David is unprepared. But the verse actually starts with: “Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him,…”

It is just that a sling and stone did the job, but using the Philistine’s own sword was very effective in causing the enemy to flee. Goliath’s sword was probably very heavy and over-sided for Goliath’s nine feet. David rejected the heavy, too-big-for-him armor that King Saul provided. I love this concept that David, though young, ran toward the enemy, was a dead aim, and used weapons at hand---or in this case, a sword still sheathed.

1 Samuel 18:29 “then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David’s enemy continually.”

Another study to contemplate---this time of David rising and Saul living out a mean, hateful, disobedient life. David was anointed, but not crowned for some time. And David’s worst enemy sometimes was King Saul. David continued to be respectful of King Saul, and let his Heavenly Father decide the timing of Saul’s end. What a neat picture of Christ, our anointed King, but allowing history to play out. There is a lot to ponder in this relationship where King Saul is a type or picture of Satan.

And what do we make of King Saul’s own children helping David escape at different times? Michal, David’s first wife, and Jonathan, David’s best friend: see 1 Sam. 19:11 and 1 Sam. 20:16

1 Samuel 23:3 “But David’s men said to him, ‘Behold, we are afraid…’ verse 4 “Then David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, ‘Arise, go down…for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”

I love this verse because David’s men were not afraid to tell him what they thought. And David was not afraid to seek confirmation from his Heavenly Boss. Someday, our Heavenly Boss will speak directly to us and we won’t faint.

1 Samuel 24:5-7 “And it came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. So he said to his men, ‘Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, for the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.’ And David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul…”

David is a true leader. He has a conscience. He taught by example and words. Keep in mind that these men, these strong and valiant warriors will be honored at the end of his life, and honored for their brains, not just their skill.

1 Chronicles 27 speaks of the “men of outstanding capability” and “mighty men” and “counselors” and “commanders” and 2 Samuel 23:8 talks of what these mighty men did.

1 Chronicles 29 (from the middle of King David’s wonderful prayer) “…But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from Thee, and from Thy Hand we have given Thee. For we are sojourners before Thee, and tenants, as all our fathers were, our days on the earth are like a shadow…”

1 Chronicles 7 “mighty men of valor” “ready to go out with the army to war” “choice” “archers”

1 Chronicles 12 “mighty men” “equipped with bows, using both the right hand and the left to sling stones and to shoot arrows from the bow…” “mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and WHOSE FACES WERE LIKE THE FACES OF LIONS, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains.”

“famous in their fathers’ households” “who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David with an undivided heart.” “came with a perfect heart” “were of one mind” “like the Army of God”

The first Biblical army is found in Genesis 21 where Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do..”

Abraham trained and lead his servants in an army to rescue Lot and the captured ones.

The Bible says a lot about Pharoah’s army. And as Israel begins as a nation, the book of Numbers lists their army as an intrinsic part of order and security and obeying God’s commands.

Deut. 23:9 “When you go out as an army against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.” And verse 14: “Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, and He must not see anything indecent among you lest He turn away from you.”

And lest you ladies think your are exempt from preparedness and using what is at hand, see Judges 4:21. “But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to (Sisera hiding under her rug) and drove the tent peg into his temple...”

I like that gal. Put him to sleep with a bottle of milk, and used weapons at hand.

If you word search “army” in Quickverse, you will see that it occurs 207 times.

Some are given a glimpse of God’s Army. 2 Kings 6:17

2 Chronicles 16:8,9 “Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”

God delivers with small against great numbers again in 2 Chronicles 24:24 “because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.”

And for you romantics---amazing how many army references in the Song of Solomon. Banners, as in an army with banners.

Armies of the future: Ezekiel 1:24, Ezekiel 37:10

Ezekiel 38, Daniel 11, Joel 2, and Revelation 19

One of my favorite army stories is when an enemy has come to destroy Israel, and God just takes them out, but leaves their stuff to feed and arm the city, and how God used lepers to alert the city that they were safe. But, I will save that story for another day.

Badmouthing Ruth Chris To Everyone I Know

Ruth Chris oughta be Ruth Crisp

We were very excited to see a Ruth Chris steakhouse open downtown Fort Worth right across the street from my husband’s old building. We dropped in on them one day for lunch after they opened, but found out they are only open for supper. And they recommend getting a reservation. So, we took a card, and waited for a better time.

Even though we had a reservation, we were sent to wait in the bar, and it was very crowded, and by the time the one bar-waiter got to us, we were tired of waiting. The bar chairs were none too comfortable.

They tried shoveling us into a teeny booth, but I did not fit. I was amused to see that they usually shovel six people into this booth. The manager sensed my discomfort and gave us a table. I have never had a manager rub me on the shoulders like that. It was creepy. The light was better at the table. We could actually read the menu and were shocked to see that some items did not even have a price. Buffalo, for example, was open-ended as far as what it was going to cost. Buffalo are migratory creatures, so I guess, it depends on how far and wide they had to go to procure said buffalo.

We were provided with one sad French roll and a tiny bit of butter to keep us occupied until the food arrived. It bothered me and I realized later that we could have eaten at Carrabbas THREE times for what this ended up costing us. And the Carrabbas bread is heavenly, and they keep it coming, fresh and hot.

I ordered medium well, which promised some pink. Good thing I did not order well done. Our steak-loving son does not like broccoli so he chose the broiled tomato. I don’t think I have ever paid seven dollars for a broiled tomato. No bread crumbs, no cheese, no nothing. Just a broiled tomato. My grandpa, who was a farmer, would find high humor in the city slickers being so dumb.

Disappointed with Ruth Crisp? That would be an understatement. We have listened to Sean Hannity brag about them for YEARS on the radio. I realize this Ruth Chris had only been open a few weeks, but the service was agonizingly slow, the manager too touchy-feely, they ran out of cheesecake, and the prices way too high. Give me Carrabbas any day. And what is with this serving wine in a huge glass that they don’t even fill half-way? Precise measuring must be saving them some pennies somewhere, I guess. And they gouge the silly rich folks selling bottled water, too. Please.

A Runaway Pushing a Walker

Bob spotted her first. He said later that he saw her goofy grin, her arms gripping her walker and knew she was an escapee as she headed across the busy four lanes of traffic away from the nursing home. "Go back," I said as I dug my cell phone out of my purse and flipped it open to turn it on. Bob circled back through the neighborhood and we both thought, surely, someone from the nursing home can see her, or surely, someone in the traffic closer to her will stop and guide her back before we can turn around. But, no. As we approached from the south, we could see a line of stopped traffic. At least they stopped. And she had made it across the four lanes, but was looking around wildly like she might try to recross by herself again. I jumped out to block her from stepping out in front of the cars now whizzing by, and Bob used our car to block traffic. As I coaxed her back from the street, Bob eased into the parking lot and opened the back van door. He wanted to put her in the van for safety, and if she let us, haul her back. I was surprised she obeyed and he helped her climb in and stow the walker. I noticed a painted, flat heart shaped wooden name tag dangling from the walker, and called 911. I told the operator what we were doing, taking an elderly escape artist back to her facility as she was outside the gates and had just crossed four lanes of heavy traffic. I don’t know how coherent I sounded, as the operator wanted to know if we wanted an officer sent. “Yes,” “but this is not an emergency…” We had her in our minivan, and were going to give her a ride back, and the operator wanted us to stay put. We did not want to cause this lady any more distress than was necessary, neither did we want to get in trouble for kidnapping, so I insisted, “no, we are taking her back.” The operator said to call back if we wanted an officer sent. After safely driving across the street and back into the gated community of nursing home buildings, we pulling into the first building that looked like it had an office. I hopped out to find someone who knew where this lady belonged. The lobby area was empty of people. A desk, unoccupied. I ventured further into the halls and a dining area, but one lone man sat eating his supper. So, I went back outside, and called 911 again, asking for an officer to come help us find where this lady belongs. This time a different operator was able to call the facility and get ahold of someone. Mrs. L_________ wanted out of the car, and we walked beside her into this building. She seemed to know where to go, and was pushing her walker down the hall when we finally spotted a polo-shirted employee on her cell phone. I think she was talking to the 911 operator, and assuring them that Mrs. L__________ was back, safe and sound. When the 911 operator came back on the line, I assured him that everything seemed back to normal. The employee claimed the elderly woman.

Happy Mother’s Day to the family of Mrs. L. I wonder if she will admit to her adventure. I wonder if the facility will admit to losing your dear mother for an hour? We talked to Mrs. L about what a beautiful evening for a walk, and she had said something about her failed runaway. Why did she want to runaway? Was the food not good? Her name sounds vaguely familiar, and I wonder if she used to live on our street. Seven years ago, we watched them build those fancy nursing home facilities on the old farm property across from the elementary school where our boys attended. As we drove out of the facilities and by the school, we wondered what we were suppose to do now. It was resolved before the police came. But, do we need to report the facility to protective services? If my mother was living there and had escaped, wouldn’t I want to know why their procedures broke down and why they did not miss her? Shouldn’t the facilities have a security camera on the busy street? If we had not gone back, would she have made it back on her own? Did anyone else call or care? What if we had taken the other route home or stopped to buy milk at Braum’s? Would we be reading about an elderly lady who wandered from her keepers, and was hit by cars? Sleep well, Mrs. L________. Today was not your day to go.

Sweet Memories

I want to remember last Sunday. James’ last Sunday. Pastor asked James to come to the podium and explain where he was going, so James gave his list of places he goes this summer. Sounds like the Army is jerking him around, but he has it down pat. And yet, he is torn as to how much detail folks want.

James was not much ready to say good-bye because he knows he’ll be back for visits. He does not realize it, but folks will want a report then. And he may get tired of telling things, but we cannot depend on our press to get military stuff correct. And folks are grateful that men like James are purchasing our freedom on a daily basis. Soldiers in training don’t always feel like they are making a sacrifice having not seen battle nor the monotony of the in-between times. But, the training is what soldiers do 90 percent of the time. It gets them ready and keeps them sharp.

I think it kind of hit James that he was looking at a big change coming in his life. We have been counting down at home for months. Ever since last year’s commissioning ceremony, we have seen this day coming. And what with finals, and plans to accommodate friends and relatives for commissioning, we are sighing to the last time we ……………. This time next week, commissioning and graduation will be over, and James will be waiting for official grades and final paperwork and then he is off.

Little things occupy our time, like getting the correct patches on the uniform. Turning in old rotc uniforms. My little sewing ripper has gotten quite a workout. One patch came off okay, but we found a glue mess under another, so we took it by the cleaners for them to solve or dissolve. The Army green formal uniform is just for parties, dances, commissioning ceremonies, and reporting in. Camo is worn for everyday. And the camo diggies (ACUs) have myriads of pockets on the arms so that things can be stashed and accessed while wearing armor. Mr. Soon-to-be 2LT left a black pen in his brand new diggies. I bought the special “all” detergent without brighteners but no amount of detergent conquers black pens. I turned to my trusty JOY and got most of it out. Yikes. Our youngest used to leave black pens in his pockets all the time. These Army uniforms are not cheap. $85 for one piece. I don’t know if I even own an $85 pair of pants. I don’t think I own an $85 blouse, either!

One final down. Two to go. Then commissioning practice, and relatives start arriving. But, I want to remember Sunday, when Pastor asked Brother Ivan to come forward and pray for this man headed off to war. This man. Brother Ivan lost his wife of sixty years not too long ago. Brother Ivan included the family, and our firstborn in the Airforce. We will miss next Sunday, the Mother’s Day carnations and exhortations because UTA scheduled James’ graduation for noon.

And maybe the necessary patch James ordered will make it before Saturday so I can sew on one more ...one last time.

Review of Carrier

One of the military blogs linked to the PBS series, "CARRIER" and online you can watch the full length videos of episodes 1-8 . That is what I have been doing for the past few days. Riveting. I can usually knit and watch videos on the computer at the same time. But, during the chapters on jets landing on the carrier in high seas, while the deck is "pitchoing," I could not knit. Too intense. Wow.

I can't believe the NAVY let it all hang out in this series. The liberal slant of the PBS folks love showing the young sailor that has no clue as to why we are at war. And to spend a whole episode on "religion" but I have not seen hide nor hair of a hospital nor medical doctor so I guess Navy sailors are one hundred percent healthy all the time.

And they "ground" a pilot for running out of gas and landing at the airport in Bagdad?? Dang. What if he had crashed? Would his career be over? It is not like he lost the plane.

The funniest spot was a sailor visiting a camel park petting the camel on the head saying he had finally found someone in the middle east that liked Americans.

So sad when the pilot learned his wife had miscarried. And what is with the jerk sailor who keeps calling and emailing his knocked up girlfriend. Why won't he marry her? Wouldn't that be the responsible and honorable thing?? He gets so irritated when she does not email him every week. As if she is running around on him pregnant.

Did the Navy think they were getting free recruiting?? PBS loves to point out over and over how all the recruits are poor and middle class.