God the Creative Warrior – Introduction
Lord God, the Creative Warrior.
“Yahweh is a warrior! Yahweh is His Name! (Exodus 15:3).
Moses and Miriam in their famous Song at the Red Sea, were the first ones to describe the Lord as a warrior. And throughout Scripture, God was identified as a warrior ever since. The Hebrew word for warrior in this passage is “ish milhamah,” which means man of war, warrior, champion, hero, fighter, mighty man. God’s stature as a fighter was taken up by the prophets, like David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zephaniah:
“Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Yahweh-Sabaoth, the Lord of the Angel Armies, He is the King of glory!” (Psalm 24:8-10).
Psalm 24 is the coronation song crowning Christ as Lord of all. It is a celebration of the Lord’s glorious entrance into the heavenly sanctuary and royal court.” (Father Reardon). The Ascension, when Jesus was taken up into heaven in bodily form. He was then received by the angels in the glory of God’s Kingdom. In this act, Jesus united earth and heaven, and through this event, the Father verified the successful accomplishment of Jesus’ earthly mission… the victory over Satan and the forces of evil, the conquering of death, the salvation of the world from the consequences of sin through the Cross and the Resurrection.
“Lord Yahweh goes forth like a warrior; like a fighter He will stir His zeal. With a shout He will raise a battle cry; like a hero, He charges upon His enemies and will triumph over them.” (Isaiah 42:13).
Isaiah’s word here is a prophecy about the final Judgment. The Lord in His righteous indignation and His hatred of sin will defeat the spiritual enemies in a divine show of power and act of vengeance. The foes here are spiritual, the demonic forces of Satan and Satan himself, and the front line of battle was the Cross. The final battle for all time will be on Judgment Day, when all forces of evil will be defeated and thrown into the lake of fire, specially prepared for them. Isaiah provides an interesting picture of the conquering Warrior in 54:17. “And He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head. And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.”
“The Lord Yahweh is with me like a dread champion, a violent warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed because they have not acted wisely.” (Jeremiah 20:11).
Jeremiah declares his firm trust in the Lord, based on God’s earlier promises that He would protect him throughout his prophetic calling. Even if it looks like his detractors would attack him from every direction, they would not overcome him in the end. “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, says Yahweh, to deliver you.” (Jer. 1:19). So the prophet Jeremiah has come to see his God as a warrior for him, a mighty soldier, who will protect him and help him when battles arise. Jeremiah certainly had his ups and downs throughout his ministry after his calling from the Lord in Jerusalem. But he reminds himself that Yahweh is a fighter, a warrior, and would be there to protect him as a shield.
“The Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior, a warrior who brings triumph. He will rejoice over you, taking delight in you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love, renewing you, soothing you, and calming your fears. He will exult over you, dancing with joyful songs as in the day of festival.” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Zephaniah‘s beautiful passage is about the final messianic era in human history to be characterized by great joy and the ultimate triumph of our Warrior-King. There will be singing, our hearts bursting with gladness. This Savior of ours will pour out so much love that we will be silenced, we will all enjoy a peaceful spirit in our being forgiven and released from all fears. God Himself will be silent, refusing to mention or recall any of our former sins. We will be like a weaned child who has calmed and quieted his soul (Ps. 131). There will be a hush of peaceful rapture all over the world.
The Fierce Warrior with a Vivid Imagination. Lord Yahweh, as we would expect, was not just any common fighter. He was a warrior with the divine imagination that created completely unpredictable battle plans for every conflict between an enemy of God and His Chosen People. In Scripture, the Warrior-King was the master of unconventional warfare, unexpected schemes that would leave people scratching their heads in surprise or shaking their heads in amazement. God’s strategies were so diverse that they might appear to be random, but of course they were divinely orchestrated. His battle strategies to victory were well outside the human imagination, in such a way that the faith of His fighters on the ground was tested. It became obvious to His fighting men, though, that God was going about this battle in a completely different way than they would, and they were wise when they trusted in Him.
God’s Creative Battle Plans. God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thought, so it follows that His battle plans do not even remotely resemble our battle plans. His unconventional battle strategies included everything from His instructions to picking up the sword, to telling the people to stand still and do nothing; from using natural means at His disposal such as thunder, hailstones and hornets, to simply marching around an impregnable walled city and blowing the shofar; from creating mud to impede the enemies chariot, to making the sun stand still in order to finish off the enemy; from blowing strong wind to part a sea, to putting priests on the front lines to worship their way to victory; from sitting on a rock and holding up a staff, to an undersized troop of soldiers holding up torches and yelling a battle cry; from using His angels to do the dirty work, to creating sounds on the tops of mulberry trees; from using a brash young boy with a sling to slay an experienced giant of an enemy, to placing a woman prophet to command the battle; from renewing the strength of a rebellious strong man, to assigning some heavenly horses and chariots to intimidate the enemy; from causing an enemy to hear a frightful heavenly army, to causing an enemy troop to go completely blind. Gods battle plans were effective, impossible to predict, and can only be explained as divine intervention. Time and again we read phrases such as, “God routed the enemies,” “God handed the enemies over,” and “God gave His enemies over to Israel.” One way or the other, Lord Yahweh was invested in each battle to protect and defend His people and assure their survival. And through it all, the Lord did the strategizing and heavy lifting.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the enemy and his hordes that are with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and fight our battles.” (Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 32:7-8).
Spiritual Battles Now. In many ways, nothing has changed for Christian believers now. There are still battles, but now they are spiritual in nature. Thankfully, the Lord God continues to be creative in His coming to our aid regarding our spiritual warfare. God is just as imaginative now for us as He was in ancient history. We each fight in battles that are unique to us in our walk with God. And every time, God rises to the occasion as the Warrior, aiding us through whatever particular strategy will lead us to eventual triumph. God promises to be our refuge and dwelling place in times of trouble, and our strength in times of battle. The fact is, God has already won the war through the Cross, the Resurrection, and Ascension. The battle is won, the victory is secured, but the after-skirmishes between the enemy and believers continue, even if the enemy knows it is a lost cause. The enemy wants to get his last licks in before his final doom, and so these battles now can certainly be painful and difficult, but, as St. Paul instructs us, each believer is equipped to be every bit as victorious as Moses, Joshua, David, and Deborah.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For this struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faithful trust, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and deliverance, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:10-20).