Thursday, September 1, 2011

Battle Flags

Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own standards for signs. (Psalm 74:4)

Who can forget the iconic picture of the American battle flag being raised on the World War II battleground of Iwo Jima? When I think of this passage I perceive a picture of a great battle. The battleground is God's ground. When you see God moving into the realm of the entrenched spiritual opposition, the enemy digs in. His forces will brazenly come into the place where God has claimed for Himself. They will plant their flags on holy ground...just to let us know the enemy fights on. In the gospels we read of an occasion where Jesus encountered a demonic manifestation in the synagogue...the meeting place. The psalmist is talking about a reality many centuries before that time where Jesus cast out devils in Bible study. This tells us that first century demonic appearances were not a unique phenomenon. This is a common thing, before and after. And we can gain the understanding that we are not talking about the devil invading God's strongholds...it's the other way around. The Lord Jesus did not authorize a retreating action or a defensive battle. He came to destroy the works of the devil...to do battle with sin...and He won. He engages the enemy and commands us to join Him. The Lord is on the offense and He expects the people of God to engage the enemy with the Word of God. The psalmist is crying out for the expulsion of the unauthorized occupation of wickedness in holy places. The standard of the adversaries, the battle flag of ground taken in warfare, is to be thrown down. The psalmist is not telling the Lord what He doesn't already know. He is declaring a desire for the day to come when God makes the earth a footstool for His feet and His enemies serve Him and surrender to His authority. Have you ever been weary of the devil's constant assault on humanity in general and you in particular? Are you tired of the appearance that evil is winning the battle? Sometimes we can be deceived into thinking that the Lord has rejected His people and God doesn't care about us. But that is only the appearance...it's a lie that is the basis of the enemy's strategy. This devil is defeated and is losing the war...but he is an expert in the propaganda battle. The good news is that the battleground is God's ground. And soon His standard of righteousness will be raised for all to see. The standard that we shall raise will be our intolerance for wickedness in holy places and in holy people. Righteousness reigns in God's kingdom.

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