We read in Isaiah 52:1, “Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourself with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.” (NLT)
All of us are aware that the elephant is a huge and magnificent animal, among wild animals. Have you ever wondered as to how this mammoth animal with such great strength, which can just about pick up anything or anyone with its trunk and trample them, can be controlled by a mahout with a small cane or be kept in place with a simple chain around it’s leg. The reason for this is that this enormous animal, has been led to believe a lie that it has no power, and that it has to stay in subjection to this man who has subdued it. In order to bring the elephant to this place of amenability, what the trainers do is that they restrict the movement of the elephant by putting it inside a huge wooden cage, and tie it with ropes so as to prevent any sort of movement. This process which is termed elephant crushing, brings the elephant to the point of being crushed in its spirit, getting domesticated, and thereby submitting to human control. Once the process is over, though there is no cage, the elephant is now classically conditioned to believe that it is incapable of exercising its strength or power.
Many of us as children of God have forgotten the fact that we are made in the image of God with the potential to do great things for the Lord, and have rather made ourselves believe the lie that we are incapable of accomplishing anything. We are content to accept life as it comes, and have therefore settled in for the mundane. To those who are in such a predicament the word of God from Isaiah 52:1 comes to quicken us, and to wake us up so as to be clothed with strength from on high.
Have you noticed how though a policeman may be well built, when he is in civil clothes, no one will respect him. However, when the same cop is in uniform, he will be highly respected. This is what the Lord is offering to us that we too be clothed with his strength, and to adorn the beautiful apparel that He wishes to gift us with. Instead of running along with the humdrum of life, being entangled with all kinds of hardships, which are brought into our lives by Satan, the Lord calls us to be set free to live the purpose filled life that He has called, and ordained for each one of us.
When the disciples encountered the storm, while all of them were gripped with fear, the Lord Jesus was fast asleep, because He knew that He had the authority to calm the raging storm. The word of assurance from the Lord to His children, is that He is able to remove, and destroy the yoke of bondage that has been placed on our shoulders, no matter what it is. The Lord wants to liberate His children, and is not pleased to see them struggle with any kind of bondage that is wearing them down. Our prayer to the Lord must be that He deliver us from every yoke of bondage that hinders us from serving the Lord, from leading normal lives, from bringing glory to the Lord be it sickness, poverty, weakness, conflicts or opposition so that we can go forth with the freedom that God has in store for us.
David was distressed
We read in 1 Samuel 30:6a, “And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.” (ESV)
David was in a serious predicament for his own people were plotting to stone him, and had turned against him. This was the same David who with a small stone had brought down a mighty giant. He was a brave and mighty man of valor. The situation that David encountered was so intense that what he needed, was a shield to defend himself.
Maybe there are those who are faced with a situation similar to what David was challenged with. There are people who are waiting, with stones in their hands, ready to hurl at them- stones that could cause hurt, accusation and insult. Sometimes we are required to bend down and willingly take these blows, but at other times we will have to stand up to face them with the courage and strength that the Lord endows us with. The word of God exhorts us to resist the devil, so that he will flee from us. For instance, when the enemy is trying to destroy the peace in our families we must stand up to rebuke him in the name of Jesus. Many are just content playing the defensive with the shield in one hand, but the Lord is admonishing us to also take up the sword, which is the word of God in the other, so we can be offensive to thwart all the schemes of the enemy, and come forth victorious. Let us not believe all the lies of the devil who like the mahout who subdues the elephant, wants to subject us to his evil control.
God has equipped us with the armor of God, which includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness to share the gospel of peace and the belt of truth. But, He also bestowed us two pieces of the armor which we are to take up in our hands, the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. While the shield of faith is a defensive weapon to stand our ground, the sword of the Spirit is the offensive we need to use to help us move forward. It is not enough for us to just be on the defensive, and escape all the darts of the evil one. When we take the word of God is our hands only then will the enemy flee from us, and we can move on to victory. God did not call us to stay behind the safety of the shield to keep our position secure, but to go into the enemy territory, and triumph over the enemy in the name of Jesus.
God has given us authority over the evil one, and we have the confidence that no weapon formed against us will prosper. We are also guaranteed that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. So with this assurance we can move forward. Many of us may have had this experience with stray dogs. When they snarl at us, if we show fear or run from them, they will take advantage of us and chase us. But, if we challenge them or even bend down as though to pick up a stone, they will run away. So also the Lord encourages us to stop running away from all the troubles the enemy heaps upon us, and instead to take up the word of God in our hands, and declare it by faith so that the devil will flee from us.
The raiders plunder Judah
We read in 1 Samuel 30:6b ... But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God (ESV)
While David and his men went to war, an enemy invaded their land and carried away their wives and children along with everything that belonged to them. When David returned to find this out, he enquired of the Lord, and on receiving the Lord’s approval he immediately went in pursuit of the enemies.
Satan is a thief, and his only intent is to steal, kill and destroy. If we were at home, and a thief came to loot something, none of us would welcome the thief, and send him out with our belongings or our good wishes, but instead would deal with him fittingly for having entered our home to steal what rightfully belongs to us. So also we cannot tolerate Satan, and allow him to steal from us our peace, our children, our future, our finances and all that belongs to us.
Some of David’s men drop out
We read in 1 Samuel 30:9, David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They arrived at the Brook Besor, where some of them dropped out. (MSG)
David left with six hundred men to pursue the enemy, but on the way some of them dropped out.
When the Lord calls us we need to press forward with the ones whom He has given us. Those whom God has chosen will continue with us, and we must not be surprised or worry when some abandon us along the way.
God gave Gideon victory with just a few men
Gideon is another great example of how God granted him victory with just a few men. Gideon was scared of the Midianites, who were plundering them and was in hiding when the angel of the Lord addressed him as a ‘mighty man of valor.’ That is how God wishes to beckon each one of us, as mighty men of war who need not fear the adversary. Even when Gideon went to war with the Midianites, God only allowed him to take three hundred men to fight against the Midianites, as the Lord intended that He alone receive all the honor and praise due only to Him.
To explain this concept of few and many, I would like to compare the way the New Testament explains about hell and heaven. When hell is referred to as a bottomless pit that can accommodate unlimited numbers, heaven is portrayed as being designed to perfect measurement, meant for the chosen few who are worthy to enter, which is what each of us must yearn for.
David pursued with just a few men
We read 1 Samuel 30:10 a, “But David pursued, he and four hundred men:” (KJV)
Also we read in 1 Samuel 30:16, And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah. (GNT)
As David pursued his enemies with just four hundred men, they came to the place where the ones who raided their land were found to be indulging in revelry from all the enormous plunder that they had carried away from Philistia and Judah. They had looted from Judah which literally meant a people of praise. God restored back to David, and the people everything that they had lost to the enemy raiders.
Satan is also like those raiders, he rejoices to see our misery and downfall. We must take courage to comprehend that when the Lord is on our side, even if the whole world is against us, there is no need to fear, for we are still the majority, and we will triumph. On the other hand if the entire world is on our side, and God is against us, our situation is most deplorable. As the word of God encourages us in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can ever be against us?”(NLT) May be the enemy has stolen from us our health, our people, our finances, our honor or whatever else. We must go forth with the boldness to know that the Lord who is on our side is able to restore it back to us a manifold.
God has rolled up His sleeves
We read in Isaiah 52:10, The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (ESV)
The message translation says it this way; Isaiah 52:10, GOD has rolled up his sleeves. All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm. Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other, sees him at work, doing his salvation work. (MSG)
A person usually rolls up his sleeve when he is going out to fight someone. We might have noticed cops have well developed muscles popping out of their sleeve, which are meant to put fear in the hearts of criminals. Here the Lord has bared his holy arm (or rolled up his sleeve) before the eyes of all nations, to enable them to grasp the fact that all might and power belong to Him. The hand of the Lord is not only one that protects His children, but one that is strong enough to crush the works of Satan in our lives.
God desires to do the amazing in our lives
• A woman who was bent was straightened
It is recorded in Luke 13:10-11, One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. (GNB)
We also read in Luke 13:13, He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God. (GNB)
When Jesus went into the synagogue, there was a woman who was possessed with an evil spirit that had kept her sick, and bent over for eighteen years. When God created the woman beautiful to stand upright, the devil had contorted her body so that she could not even look up at anyone, but had her eyes glued to the ground below. When the Lord Jesus placed his hands on her, immediately she stood upright, and praised God.
If there are any who feel like that woman that they have been robbed of the joy that the Lord had intended for them, and are being weighed down with burdens that are far too heavy to bear, the Lord assures such that He is able to deliver. Our God is a God of restoration, and He desires us to be set free from every bondage, so we too like the woman can stand up, glorify Him and praise His holy name. God delivers us not for us to take credit, but that His name should be magnified in and through our lives.
• The widow in debt was delivered
We read in 2 Kings 4:1, One day the widow of one of the LORD's prophets said to Elisha, "You know that before my husband died, he was a follower of yours and a worshiper of the LORD. But he owed a man some money, and now that man is on his way to take my two sons as his slaves." (CEV)
This woman was the wife of one of the prophets, and she lost her husband. She was also in debt, and the debtors had come to take her two sons away as slaves. This widow decided that she could not tolerate this anymore, losing her husband and now her children. She ran to the prophet Elisha, poured out her heart, and all of her troubles. When Elisha asked her what she had with her she told him only a little jar of oil. Elisha instructed her to collect as many vessels as she could from all her neighbors, and pour into them from the little oil that was in her hand. As she by faith poured out the little into every vessel, all the vessels were filled to the brim. The man of God then asked her to sell the oil, pay off her debt, and live her life in peace with the amount that remained.
To those who are in debt or sickness or any other problem, weighed down with huge burdens, the Lord assures such that He is able to set them free from all these encumbrances by doing the impossible in our lives. If we can stand up by faith, take the word of God and move forward, the Lord will destroy every ensnarement and move us on to victory.
• The Israelites plundered the Egyptians
We read in Exodus 12:35-36, Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (NASV)
For those who are wondering if it was fair for the people of Israel to plunder the Egyptians, the fact of the matter is that for many hundreds of years the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites, and kept them in bonded labor. They had not paid them their due wages, but had brutally exploited them. As the Israelites looted the Egyptians, the Lord made them find favor in the sight of the Egyptians for it was God’s way of restoring back to them all that they had lost.
This was also the law that God gave through Moses as found in Exodus 22:1,"If someone steals a cow or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay five cows for one cow and four sheep for one sheep.” (GNB)
The Law of God required that if a man stole or killed a cow, he would have to give back five and if it was a sheep then he would have to give back four.
There are those things that are due to a child of God; our health, our peace, joy, welfare of our children, and if Satan has stolen them away, we are called to claim them back in the name of Jesus. If the enemy has embezzled anything from us, let us remember that the Lord wishes to restore it back to us four fold or five fold. The Lord wishes to do great things in and through our lives, so that we can be a testimony to witness to others of the power of the mighty hand of God in our lives. Earlier we looked at the example of an elephant which has been tamed by making it believe it is incapacitated, but if that same elephant realized at some point that it was still powerful, there is no way anyone can control it, if it were to go on a rampage.
Instead of being cowed down by the enemy, may we stand up, and resist the devil so that he will flee from us. When God takes over He can transform any, and every situation; sickness will turn to health, lack of income will be regained with abundance, weakness will be replaced with strength, and the rebellious child will be changed to become obedient and a blessing to the family.
We read in Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. (KJV) and we read in in Joel 2:25 “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar.”(Webster)
The Lord aspires to do great things for us. He is the God who wishes to restore all that we have lost for He has promised that all that we have forfeited He is able, and willing to give it back to manifold, if we step out in faith, hold on to His word, and clothe ourselves with His strength.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
