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Tag: Enmity between God and satan

Professional Speaking :: Jesus The Captain of the armies of the LORD

Joshua 5 records the encounter that Joshua the Israelite leader has with a man with a drawn sword. When Joshua lifted up his eyes and saw this man, he went to this man and asked, “Are you for us or are you against us (on the side of our adversaries)?” The response he received was “Nay, but as the captain of the host (army) of the LORD have I come”. Joshua spiritually recognizes that this was Jesus he had seen and falls down to the ground and worships him. Can we be sure that this was Jesus? Other parts of the Bible can help us come to that conclusion. When man tried to worship an angelic being, sent by God, the angelic being immediately stopped that person from worshipping anyone other than God and cautioned that man worships no one else, other than God (Revelation 19:10). This helps us recognize that the man that Joshua envisioned was not just an angel sent by God. 1 Timothy 2:5 refers to Jesus the one mediator between God and men as “the man Christ Jesus” and whom Joshua saw was “the man” Christ Jesus. Furthermore, just as Joshua saw the man with a drawn sword, Revelation 19:11-15 portrays, Jesus as the rider on a white horse, from whose mouth a sharp sword proceeds (Revelation 19:15), whom the armies of heaven followed (Revelation 19:14).

Points to ponder:
Shaitan/Shaytan from which we get the word, “satan” means the “opposer” or “adversary”. He has been at war with God since the time of is rebellion (Ezekiel 28) and the fall of man (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is the commander and chief of the armies of the LORD. He is The Captain. Are you part of his army or are you on the adversary’s side? And if we are part of Jesus’ army, is our response as that of Joshua, “What saith my Lord unto his servant?” (Joshua 5:14).

Joshua 5:13-15 (KJV)
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Revelation 19:11-16 (KJV)
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.

Sow Christ Jesus

Once while traveling for work, in one of the airports, I came across an advertisement which caught my attention. It was the advertisement for the organization CARE (www.care.org) which aims at defending dignity and fighting poverty. The advertisement had in it a picture of an African woman with the following words, printed next to her – “She can plant the seeds of change. If she can get the seed.”

This social message has some serious undertones in our Christian life.  Christian have The Seed. Jesus Christ is The Seed. This is how He is referred to in the very first book of the Bible, much before His birth on earth. When man and woman sinned by disobeying God, because of the deception of satan, God declares war on satan, informing him of his impending doom, by expressing that God will put an enmity between satan and the woman and between the seed of satan (self-righteous; counterfeit believers) and the Seed of the woman (referring to Jesus Christ) who will crush the head of satan, while satan merely bruises His heel. (Genesis 3:15). At the Cross, satan bruised the heel of Jesus by nailing his feet, but by His sacrificial dying and by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus crushed the head of satan, totally defeating satan and the power of death that he had.

Just as a seed germinates and brings forth life, in the soil that receives it,  so does Jesus germinate and brings forth eternal life in all who receive Him. Jesus Christ is The Seed that changes death to life; He is The Seed that brings life. But how can one plant when they don’t have The Seed, themselves? This is a stark reminder for all those who have The Seed (Jesus), that they ought to sow Jesus Christ in someone else.

Point(s) to ponder:

Do you have Jesus Christ; The Seed? If not, receive Him with a fertile heart, so He can bring you life! and if you do, Sow Jesus Christ in someone who does not have Him.

Genesis 3:15 (KJV)
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

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