We left off in Part 7 talking about the problem of having a little knowledge, how it “puffs up.” We need to learn to be quiet when given great truths. Don’t confuse your compulsion to say something as being from God, when it is really your ego.
On the other side of this is not ever saying anything. The ideal is to learn, learn, learn and to know when the Lord speaks, then follow his leading. The enemy uses you to “beat yourself up” and that is called “friendly fire.” We don’t realize how his strategy and tactics work.
The opposite to this is to study and learn, and when the enemy comes in you can defend yourself, and God can send you out to strike blows to the enemy, and cause him to back off. How do you strike a blow? Every time you learn the truth of the Torah, Prophets and the Writings. Not too many years ago, there were not many around the world studying what we are studying or what is contained on this website. Now, there are probably millions. That is a “blow” to the enemy. Every time you turn from darkness to light it strikes a blow to the enemy. Remember, that even though you are led of God, and in a great battle, that you may still be hurt, or in some cases, even killed (Judges 20.18-48).
There was a movie years ago called “Schindler’s List” and he stood against the Nazi’s. He saved over a thousand people, and over 6000 have descended from them. One man made that kind of difference. What do you think would have happened if twenty or thirty had done the same thing? What about twenty or thirty of us in the spiritual realm, teaching the truth about the Torah and the Messiah? Even one life that was changed is major.
Look at the modern Israeli army, which we will study later in this study. Unless the Lord was with them, they could not have won any battles. In the 1973 Yom Kippur war, they were outnumbered 50 to 1. There were battles in the Golan Heights where 120 tanks took on over a 1000. Many fought alone, against 30 tanks. They used hide and seek tactics. Zvi Greengold was part of the Barak Brigade of tanks, and they were wiped out. He fought alone against overwhelming odds, for 24 hours straight. He had to be ordered to receive a medal because he refused to do so (more on him later). They are part of the active plan of God. Without the Israeli Defense Force, you could not go to Israel and see what can see today.
The faith today is full of people who want to have a good time. Commitment to them means Sunday and Wednesday church attendance, maybe a Bible Study, but it takes more than that and we are not talking about salvation here. What we are talking about is doing what the Lord would have us to do. Attitude should be consistent with Isa 55.8 where his thoughts and ways should be ours. Are you doing this to gain favor with God? If so, get out right now because that is not the attitude to have. However, if you believe God is calling on the Jewish people, and protecting the land and the city of Jerusalem then stand with them and support them. Forget the politics, go where the Lord is going and moving. Do we think we have the guts of a Schindler or a Greengold? Could you go on, no matter what the odds? Could you find a way when one avenue is shut off?
Most of us have never been through the ordeal these men went through, so we don’t know. But, the message they sound can be seeds inside of us. They gave us a glimpse into how we should stand, no matter what.
Moving on, while Israel was in Goshen, the major power to the north was the Hittites. There were major changes going on in Egypt. They were moving away from the Hyksos to a “new kingdom.” Their armies were modified, with a six-spoked chariot wheel, with bows and spears being used in chariots. Hittite chariots were using three men in a chariot, with spears.
As we have mentioned before, there was a major battle at Megiddo involving the Egyptians and the Hittites. Egypt came up the Via Maris (way of the sea) and a more difficult route and the Hittites had a small force there. The easier routes were guarded by two larger forces. Before the battle, Thutmoses III divides his forces into three groups. They routed the Hittites who were literally pulled over their walls by their clothes. The Egyptians made a critical mistake by not maintaining the attack. That is a mark of an undisciplined army. Ancient accounts say that if they would have kept up the fight, Megiddo would have fallen at the time, but final victory had to wait for nearly a year.
Spiritually, how many times has God given us a victory and we went to “enjoy the spoils” and we lost the advantage. Then we had to go and make up for it all over again. We can be too quick to rejoice, and keep in mind you are a soldier in the Lord’s army and we need to think like one. We need to be disciplined, and there is a proper time for everything (Ecc 3).
In an ironic twist 200 years later, there was another battle between the Egyptians and the Hittites. This time, the Hittites jumped off their chariots to plunder the army of Ramses I and it took 7 months for the Hittites to get Megiddo back.
The second major battle during this period at the end of the Bronze age and the beginning of the Iron Age I was at Kadesh. The Hittites have learned much by this time and did not fight too far from their home base. So, when Ramses I comes up against them, they draw him to the north to Kadesh. This drew the Egyptians far away from their home base and stretched the Egyptian lines too thin. This isolated him.
Spiritually, isn’t this the tactic of the enemy? Doesn’t he try to isolate us, to draw us away? How do you fight against this in spiritual warfare? The first thing we must do is confirm things you think are from God. There are many ways the Lord speaks. First, he speaks with an audible voice called a “bat kol” but don’t wait for this one. Second, he sends messengers. In the Bible he sent prophets, or even donkeys, to speak with people. Why a donkey? Because we tend to elevate the messenger! Would you elevate a donkey? Don’t ever discredit the message by the vessel. Third, he speaks through the Scriptures. The “davar” (Gen 1.1; Rev 22) is the written word and the “rhema” is where he takes one of those passages and speaks to you.
On the other side of this is the basic rule to remember when listening to “faith” teachings and the “name it, claim it” crowd that is so prevalent today. A teacher tells his student, or a parent to his child, “You will do what I say, I will not do what you say.” God says this, “I am the Lord and you are not. You will do what I say, I will not do what you say.” You can’t take a scripture and make it happen, that is like “witchcraft” and you will spin your wheels and go nowhere. The balance is, God can tell you a scripture to stand on and it will come to pass (Lam 3.37).
What do you do when you haven’t heard from the Lord? Wait by serving, studying, seeking, growing and learning.
The fourth way the Lord can speak to you is through circumstances. This can be dangerous. If some doors close and one opens and you go through it, it could be a trap, so this requires a confirmation also. The fifth way he speaks is through prophecy. The Lord does speak and he does direct us through prophecies. However, most prophecies today are not from the Lord and you’ll know which ones as you grow. They will all sound the same, so you will need discernment.
We could name many false prophecies that we have heard. God may tell you and show you something, and step 2 is to ask what you are to do. Also, there are no true prophets today (but there will be in the Birth-pains), and we have an article about this called “Are There True Prophets Today” on this site and it will go into more detail as to why, but that doesn’t mean the Lord won’t use someone to speak to you, but that doesn’t make them a prophet.
We must get to the point where you totally depend on the Lord to lead you and who to talk to, where to go and what to teach. That is when you really become a soldier and he becomes “Yehovah Zava’ot” and “Lord of the armies.” But if you are doing these things on your own, you are going to get hurt. Make sure it is the Lord speaking, and if it is, do exactly what he tells you, no more and no less.
The sixth way is the still, small voice. This is a “voice” within you and it is a frequent way God speaks. This can also be confirmed and when you know that the Lord told you, then you can stand firm and not run when all else is falling apart. The seventh way he speaks is through dreams and visions. These usually come to confirm something that you already thought. Their interpretation uses images and ideas you will understand. The eighth way is called “dark speech” and these are puns, figures of speech and parables.
In Num 1.2-3 we learn that Israel was numbered by their “armies.” Exo 12.37 says that there were 600,000 people in the army. Num 1.47-54 says that the Levites were not numbered for war. This is the first time Israel is organized into an army, up till then they were the 12 tribes. After Sinai they are a nation, and Num 2.1-34 describes how they camped.
The tribes were divided into four corps, with three tribes in each corps. The total number of people on the east was 186,400, the total on the west was 108,100, the total on the north was 157,600 and the total on the south was 151,450.
Now, there is a prophetic picture to all of this. First, when you lay out these totals it forms a cross because they did not camp in a big, large group. They camped in four corps, with four sections (Num 23.10). The tribes and where they were camped teaches about the Messiah, and even the False Messiah. When Israel journeyed it was structured around the army (Num 10.11-28).
The way the tribes are situated tells us something. Yeshua is from the tribe of Judah and he is camped on the east, the direction Messiah will come from, like the sun (a picture of Messiah-Psa 19; Mal 4) moves from east to west. So, the tribes on the west teach his second coming. Judgment comes from the north, so the tribe of Dan (judgment) is there. Also, there is evidence that the False Messiah comes from Dan.
The tribes on the south teach the judgment after Messiah returns. Look into the names of the tribes and where they are situated and you will have a tremendous prophetic picture. Now, talking about the Ark for moment, there is a false concept that teaches that whoever has the Ark will be invincible in battle (1 Sam 4.1-11). This was the premise for the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” However, this is not true. Nothing will fight your battles for you. You can wear all the crosses you want around your neck, put mezuzahs on every doorpost, hang garlic and have saint medallions or even a Star of David, but they will not help you.
The Ark is a picture of the Messiah and he goes before you in battle (Num 10.33; Josh 3.1-6). He will scatter our enemies. People want to put their faith in objects, rather than in what the Lord has said. Numbers teaches us that whenever we go on a “journey” or into a battle, we have the Ark (Messiah) before us, which symbolizes the promises of God. We also see in the Israelite encampment that there is order to the movement of the army and each went in his own order.
In Part 9, we will pick up here and begin to talk about the first battle Israel had with the Amalekites. This is important because it will extend into the future, so we will give some prophetic insight into this. Then we will move into the Iron Age I (1200-900 BC) and the time of the Judges to the Divided Kingdom, picking up valuable information along the way concerning our spiritual warfare.
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