God, knock the teeth out of their mouths. Lord, tear out the young lions' fangs. They will vanish like water that flows by. They will aim their useless arrows. Like a slug that moves along in slime, like a woman's miscarried child, they will not see the sun. (vs. 6-8)
We are at war. Should never forget that. Our enemy is fierce and unrelenting. Roars about like a lion seeking who he might devour. Hungry for prey. Lusting for our very lifeblood. Satan. Fallen from heaven. Beautiful and talented but bent on his own kingdom, God cast him down along with the angels who chose to follow his rebellion. Scorned, Satan is angry. Intent on our destruction.
Daniel had been praying and fasting for three weeks. He had a disturbing vision and needed to understand it. At the end of this time Daniel was standing on the banks of the river Tigris when an angel, probably Gabriel, appeared to him. "Daniel, God loves you very much," the angel said. "Since the first day you began praying your words have been heard. I have come because of your prayers. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me."
Michael is the prince over Israel, it seems. The guardian warrior angel protecting Israel's purposes. Fighting mighty battles we cannot fathom, much less see. Daniel fell quivering and breathless at the sight of the angelic being and those who had come to the river as his companions fled in abject terror!In the cosmic fight for us, angels war with the "young prowling lions" who follow their master. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Hebrews 1. For our prayer to be "God, knock their teeth out!" doesn't seem so harsh when we realize the minions of our enemy are out to destroy us mind, body, soul and spirit!
Consider this: There are fiery darts coming our way in the spiritual realm. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6). So what happens when we are ignorant of the war against us? We are killed. Pretty simple. The lion chases us down and devours our joy, peace, purpose, and power. Formidable and deadly. We need to arm ourselves and be vigilant or we are crushed in the battle.
Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6) It makes sense that we understand the fight. Open our eyes to the ploys and plots of the enemy. Recognize that the dimension in which we live is overlayed with a spiritual one. In that theater, we are constantly watched over and fought for. Jesus prayed for us that we be protected from the evil one. He will proudly say to the Father one day, "I have not lost one of them." (Revelation 3) But He has also equipped us to fight an enemy we cannot see with our natural eyes but whose tactics are obvious in our addictions and perversations. In wars and conflicts. Masterminding our demise, if possible.
Elisha, the prophet of God, was in Dothan with his servant. The king of Syria sent an army with horses and chariots there to kill Elisha because the prophet's warnings were always saving Israel. Get rid of the prophet, get rid of the victories. When Elisha got up early in the morning, he found himself surrounded by a powerful army.
"Master, what will we do?" cried the servant.
"Don't worry," replied the prophet. "Those with us are more than these."
Really? The servant looked around and saw....well...a bunch of soldiers ready to butcher him and Elisha.
Elisha prayed. "Lord, please open the eyes of my servant that he might see what I see."
The servant was flabbergasted when God revealed the mountain on which they stood was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. The heavenly hosts outnumbered the Syrian army. And they were ready to fight!
"Strike the Syrians with blindness, O God!" prayed Elisha.
Horses plowed into each other. Chariots crashed. Sudden loss of sight threw the Syrians into such chaos that they couldn't attack. Elisha told the sightless leaders they had come to the wrong city and he would lead them out. Took them to Samaria where the eyes of the troops were opened. They did not bother Israel again.
We need the tools of warfare to vanquish the enemy. To pull out his teeth and deflect his arrows. Make him crawl on his belly like the slug he is. Kill his plans for us before they see daylight. We who know Jesus have this confidence. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them! Psalm 34. So I am going to stand up today and engage in the fight knowing the toothless lion loses in the end because a bloodied Lamb has crushed the devil's head!
We are at war. Should never forget that. Our enemy is fierce and unrelenting. Roars about like a lion seeking who he might devour. Hungry for prey. Lusting for our very lifeblood. Satan. Fallen from heaven. Beautiful and talented but bent on his own kingdom, God cast him down along with the angels who chose to follow his rebellion. Scorned, Satan is angry. Intent on our destruction.
Daniel had been praying and fasting for three weeks. He had a disturbing vision and needed to understand it. At the end of this time Daniel was standing on the banks of the river Tigris when an angel, probably Gabriel, appeared to him. "Daniel, God loves you very much," the angel said. "Since the first day you began praying your words have been heard. I have come because of your prayers. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me."
Michael is the prince over Israel, it seems. The guardian warrior angel protecting Israel's purposes. Fighting mighty battles we cannot fathom, much less see. Daniel fell quivering and breathless at the sight of the angelic being and those who had come to the river as his companions fled in abject terror!In the cosmic fight for us, angels war with the "young prowling lions" who follow their master. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Hebrews 1. For our prayer to be "God, knock their teeth out!" doesn't seem so harsh when we realize the minions of our enemy are out to destroy us mind, body, soul and spirit!
Consider this: There are fiery darts coming our way in the spiritual realm. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6). So what happens when we are ignorant of the war against us? We are killed. Pretty simple. The lion chases us down and devours our joy, peace, purpose, and power. Formidable and deadly. We need to arm ourselves and be vigilant or we are crushed in the battle.
Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6) It makes sense that we understand the fight. Open our eyes to the ploys and plots of the enemy. Recognize that the dimension in which we live is overlayed with a spiritual one. In that theater, we are constantly watched over and fought for. Jesus prayed for us that we be protected from the evil one. He will proudly say to the Father one day, "I have not lost one of them." (Revelation 3) But He has also equipped us to fight an enemy we cannot see with our natural eyes but whose tactics are obvious in our addictions and perversations. In wars and conflicts. Masterminding our demise, if possible.
Elisha, the prophet of God, was in Dothan with his servant. The king of Syria sent an army with horses and chariots there to kill Elisha because the prophet's warnings were always saving Israel. Get rid of the prophet, get rid of the victories. When Elisha got up early in the morning, he found himself surrounded by a powerful army.
"Master, what will we do?" cried the servant.
"Don't worry," replied the prophet. "Those with us are more than these."
Really? The servant looked around and saw....well...a bunch of soldiers ready to butcher him and Elisha.
Elisha prayed. "Lord, please open the eyes of my servant that he might see what I see."
The servant was flabbergasted when God revealed the mountain on which they stood was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. The heavenly hosts outnumbered the Syrian army. And they were ready to fight!
"Strike the Syrians with blindness, O God!" prayed Elisha.
Horses plowed into each other. Chariots crashed. Sudden loss of sight threw the Syrians into such chaos that they couldn't attack. Elisha told the sightless leaders they had come to the wrong city and he would lead them out. Took them to Samaria where the eyes of the troops were opened. They did not bother Israel again.
We need the tools of warfare to vanquish the enemy. To pull out his teeth and deflect his arrows. Make him crawl on his belly like the slug he is. Kill his plans for us before they see daylight. We who know Jesus have this confidence. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them! Psalm 34. So I am going to stand up today and engage in the fight knowing the toothless lion loses in the end because a bloodied Lamb has crushed the devil's head!
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