Person-2-Person - October, 2018

One afternoon about a month ago, my wife, Charlotte, and I went to lunch after church, as usual. There were televisions in the restaurant and some of them were tuned to the baseball game. Our beloved St. Louis Cardinals were playing and they weren’t doing very well. In fact, the score was 9:1 in the ninth inning. I’m not much of a baseball fan but even I knew they were in trouble. 9:1 at any point is bad news and 9:1 in the ninth inning is almost a guarantee of disaster. We watched the end of the game and, sure enough, the Cardinals lost.

We all know that there are times in our lives when things look bad, when defeat seems inevitable. But, as persons of faith, we also know that God can give victories that are unexpected, that couldn’t be won in human terms. Joshua and the Hebrew people shouldn’t have been able to defeat the people of Jericho. But because of their previous victory over Pharaoh and his army, the people of Jericho had heard and were afraid (Josh. 2:10-11), as were the neighboring Amorites (5:1).

We should all know the rest of the story: Joshua sent spies into Jericho, and a woman named Rahab helped them avoid being caught (2:1-7). That was how they learned that the people of Jericho were afraid. After the spies returned, Joshua assembled a group of armed men, followed by seven priests blowing rams’ horns, followed by the Ark of the Covenant, followed by more armed men (6:8-9). They marched around the city once a day, with the priests blowing their trumpets of rams’ horns (6:11), each day for six days (6:14). Finally, on the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times (6:15). The seventh time around, the priests blew their trumpets and the people shouted (6:16, 20). The walls of the city collapsed and the Hebrew people destroyed all the people and livestock (6:20-21), and burned everything they couldn’t kill (6:24), except Rahab, along with her family and possessions (6:22-25).

Joshua and the Hebrew people shouldn’t have been able to defeat a walled city. They didn’t have cannons or bombs, or any of the weapons we know today, only simple ones like swords, spears, bows, and slings. But they had God on their side and that gave them courage, and their opponents were filled with fear because of it.

Our spiritual battles today are different but they are still battles. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12 ESV). Our battle isn’t against physical enemies or weapons of war but against ideas and philosophies, ways of seeing the world that don’t look through the eyes of faith. Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “. . . we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. . . . for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 4:18a, 5:7 ESV). Elsewhere, he describes our defense as “the whole armor of God.” (Eph. 6:11a, 13a ESV): truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer (6:14-18). My Bible and my thesaurus tell me the opposite of these is falsehood, immorality, discord, disbelief, loss, human philosophies, and demands. These are “the enemy,” not something “out there” but patterns of sin that dwell within each of us (Rom. 7:13-25), everyday temptations to go against what is best for us and in line with God’s will. If we wear “the whole armor of God,” we will “. . . be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (6:13b ESV).

We can’t achieve victory on our own but with God’s help we can. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, “. . . we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. . . . for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 4:18a, 5:7 ESV). In his previous letter to the Corinthians, Paul refers to this as “hav[ing] the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16b ESV). When we see the world through the eyes of faith, others will see us overcome “the enemy,” in our lives. They will know our faith is genuine and that we truly believe what we profess. Our faith probably won’t make them afraid like the people of Jericho but it might make them wonder.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5 ESV.)