Clean Transcript

God is a Warrior

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• Let me just make a statement about the subject that I'm going to be dealing with. In fact, several men had asked that I deal with this subject. But I'm going to be dealing with the biblical doctrine of war.

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• Now, those of you who've had a chance to look at some of the tapes back there, I have 15 messages in this series, and I can't preach 15 messages in four nights, OK? So what I'm going to do tonight is basically give you an introductory message, and then for the next several nights, try to combine a couple of messages so that I can give you as much of the material as I possibly can. Tonight, we're just going to lay the foundation. And let me just make a statement, and I want you to think about this. We are living, as Ted just pointed out, in extremely dangerous times, not just nationally, but also societally and familially, that is, in our families.

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• There is more violence in this country than you can shake a stick at. Now, my question is, do you really know what God's Word says? Do you know what you're allowed to do or not to do based upon the Word of God?

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• Now, if you wait until you get into trouble and say, well, I'm going to study it out, it's probably going to be too late. You better make sure that you know what God allows before you ever get into trouble. So with that, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Hosea chapter 8. And we're going to look at verse 12. And I'm just simply going to use this as a springboard to get into the subject. The message that I'm bringing tonight is entitled, "God is a Warrior." And I think you'll understand when I get to the Scriptures toward the end of the message. Notice the book of Hosea chapter 8 in verse 12.

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• God writes, "I have written to him," that is to Israel, "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. Humanism has basically captured the minds and even the bodies of American Christendom. Our ideas, our philosophies, our attitudes, our actions, so many times are contrary to God's Word and contrary to God's truth. And even when we hear the truth from the Bible, many times we think it's strange. We hear God's truth and we do not believe it. Or we hear God's truth and we certainly do not receive it. Why? Because we count it as something strange. We count it as something foreign. We have been so addicted to being brainwashed and propagandized and watching TV, most people cannot even think for themselves. And consequently, when we hear truth, we think it rather strange. It is a foreign way of thinking to us when we study the Word of God.

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• We think that if we hear it being taught, that maybe the preacher is wrong. Or maybe the preacher is just making this up. Or maybe we come back and say, well, that's just his opinion. And many times, we try to defend what we think, even when we've not even studied out what we think. Do you realize that most Christians cannot even defend the doctrines they profess to believe in? If I were to ask you to believe in justification by faith, most of you would say yes, but then if I were to ask you to demonstrate that doctrine to me from the Word of God, you couldn't do it. If I were to ask you, do you believe in baptism? You'd say, yes, but where is it in the Bible? You couldn't tell me. If I were to ask you, well, do you believe in limited government, as Ted just pointed out? Well, you say, yes, that's constitutional. But it's not just constitutional, it's biblical. Where is it in the Bible? The point I'm trying to make is we are so used to hearing everything else except the Word of God, except the truth of God.

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• When we hear the truth of God, it sounds so strange and so foreign to our ears. And the interesting thing is this, when we hear God's Word and we haven't been taught that and brought up that way, you know what we do? We say, that could not possibly be true. Because we reason it like this, if that is true, then I'm wrong. And I've been wrong all my life. And we don't want to admit that we're wrong or that we've been taught wrong.

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• Now, the message tonight is going to amply illustrate my point, because the Scriptures teach emphatically that God is a warrior. He is a warrior God.

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• Now, we've been taught all of our lives that war is wrong, or that God does not approve of war, or that sometimes war is a necessary evil, or sometimes it may be necessary, but still it is evil and God does not approve of it. There have been many people who have refused to allow their children, especially little boys, to have play guns or toy guns. They refuse to allow them to wrestle because, you know, they don't want them to grow up with a warrior mentality.

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• My youngest daughter, her boy is now 11 going on 12. But when I was raising my children, I had four daughters, I taught them all to hunt, they all shot—not only shotguns, but high-powered rifles and pistols as well. And most of them were very good deer hunters, and they were all raised around weapons. They hunted and shot all of their lives. And so my youngest daughter told me, she said, "Now, Dad, I know that you raised us around weapons, and we hunted, and we used those weapons. But now," she said, "Dad, I'm not going to allow my little boy to even have a play gun or to be around weapons until he gets older." I said, "Well, fine, sweetheart." I said, "I raised you the way I wanted to and so you can raise your child the way you want to raise your child."

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• And when he was about two years old, she happened to look out in the yard and he picked up a stick and he was going, "Bang, bang, bang, bang." I didn't even have a TV, you know, and it just came natural. Well, I want you to understand. The reason a lot of people say, well, I don't want my child to have a toy gun or I don't want my child wrestling or learning martial arts or something like that is basically because they believe that all fighting is wrong. Well, let me ask you a question. In fact, let me ask you a series of questions. Is it wrong to fight against sin? Is it wrong to fight against wickedness? Is it wrong to fight for freedom? Is it wrong to fight to preserve one's life? Is it wrong to fight to preserve the life of someone else? Is it wrong to fight for truth and liberty and freedom and righteousness and justice? And you know the answer to all of those questions. Let me ask you another question.

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• If fighting is wrong in and of itself, if fighting is inherently evil in and of itself, why does God fight? You say, well, God doesn't fight. Oh, yes, He does. And I'll show it to you from the Bible in just a moment. But I want you to understand, if one denies the validity and the morality of fighting, he not only accuses God of sin and immorality, but at the same time, you invalidate church discipline and family discipline and also civil justice. Do you realize that family discipline and church discipline and even civil justice are to be acts of fighting against wickedness and against sin?

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• Now, we must learn, therefore, then, to fight biblically, or else we destroy ourselves, our families, our churches, and our society. You see, God is indeed a warrior, and we must follow His example and follow His commands. It's interesting to note that the word "war," the Hebrew word is milchamah, and it occurs 313 times in the Old Testament. When you get to the New Testament, the Greek word is polemos, and it occurs 18 times in the New Testament.

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• Now, if you take the Bible from the beginning to the end, I want you to understand that the theme of the Bible, of God as a warrior, is given to us from Genesis all the way through the book of Revelation. For instance, first God appears as a warrior who fights for Israel against her flesh-and-blood enemies.

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• Now, I don't have to ask you to turn to the Scriptures for that. Everyone knows it was God who destroyed Egypt. It was God who fought for Israel against the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Perizzites and all those other "-ites." So it was God, then, who was fighting against Israel's flesh-and-blood enemies. Secondly, and I'm going to show you this from the Bible, but secondly, when Israel rebelled and sinned against God, God fought against Israel.

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• I want you to hold Hosea, but look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 24. Let me show you several verses. 2 Chronicles 24, and please turn with me because I have a new Bible, and my pages are sticking together, so at the same time, you'll have time to find it as well as I, okay? So, 2 Chronicles chapter 24, and notice if you would please verse 24. 2 Chronicles 24 verse 24.

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• The Bible says, "For the army of the Assyrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand." Now, why did God deliver a very great host into their hand? Here's why. "Because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers, so they executed judgment against Joash." So God now is fighting against his own people because they have forsaken his law.

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• Look in 2 Chronicles 25 and verse 20. The Bible says, "But Amaziah would not hear. For it came of God," watch carefully, "that He might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom." Now what is God doing? He's fighting against His own people. Look in chapter 28, if you would, at verses 4 and 5, and then verse 9. Here we're looking at the wickedness of the king, King Ahaz. And the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 28 in verse 4, "He sacrificed also and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills and under every green tree. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria."

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• "And they smote him and carried away a great multitude of them, captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter."

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• Now skip down to verse 9. "But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out before the host that came to Samaria and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage that reached up into heaven." So here now, Judah has been destroyed because God was fighting against them because of their sins. So first of all, God appears as a warrior in fighting against the enemies of Israel. Secondly, he appears as a warrior in fighting against Israel when Israel sins against God.

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• Thirdly, the Old Testament ends with the prophets looking into the future and proclaiming the advent of a powerful divine warrior. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 3 to begin with, notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1. The Word of God says this: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant," who is none other than Christ, by the way, "whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." Now watch.

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• "But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that he may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." And then if you look in chapter 4, beginning there with verse 1, "For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

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• "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. And you shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." So the Old Testament ends then in looking forward then to a great divine warrior who's going to destroy all of his enemies and all the enemies of his people.

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• Now if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 1, because when Jesus Christ appears on the scene then, Christ comes as a warrior to deliver his people from their sin, from Satan, and from their enemies. Look in the book of Luke, chapter 1, beginning there with verse 67. Here's the father of John the Baptist prophesying, and look at what he says. Luke 1, verse 67, "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began."

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• Now watch carefully, "that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all them that hate us, to perform the mercy promised our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." Note, if you would, carefully, especially verse 71. Why did Christ come? "That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all them that hate us." And verse 74, "that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear."

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• So the divine warrior then came, who conquered sin, and conquered Satan, and even conquered all the physical enemies, and he came as that divine warrior. And then fifthly, let me point out, this is just giving you the broad overview, when Christ returns at the end of this age, He is returning as the divine warrior who is going to judge and destroy all of His physical and spiritual enemies. Let me just point out 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, let me quote beginning with verse 7.

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• You don't have to turn there. But here the Apostle Paul wrote, "...and you who are troubled, rest with us, when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Note, if you would please, the Bible says when Christ comes back the second time, He's going to come back in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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• So even when he returns fully and finally, he does so as a divine warrior. Now, the entire Bible is developed around this theme of God as a divine warrior. In fact, there's one name that is given of God over and over in the Bible. In fact, many times we have read that name and never even thought about it. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 1. I'm going to show you this name in several passages. And now I'm going to tell you what it means. Look at it, if you would please, in 1 Samuel chapter 1 and verse 3. 1 Samuel 1 and verse 3. Here is Hannah and her husband, and the Bible says, "And this man," that is Elkanah, Hannah's husband, 1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 3, "And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice," watch carefully, "unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh." Note the title of God, "the Lord of hosts." Look in verse 11. "And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me."

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• Look, if you would, in chapter 4 and verse 4 of 1 Samuel. And by the way, it's all through the Bible. I'm just choosing this one book. 1 Samuel 4 and verse 4. The Bible said, "So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth between the cherubims." Note what he's called: "the Lord of hosts." Then if you'll turn to 1 Samuel 15 and look at verse 2. 1 Samuel 15 verse 2. And God himself is speaking, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for them in the way when he came up out of Egypt." And then one more passage in 1 Samuel 17. Look in verse 45. Everybody knows this story.

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• This is David and Goliath. And so there's a battle going on. And look what David says to Goliath. 1 Samuel 17, verse 45. "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." Now I hope, having read that last verse, you know what the phrase "the Lord of hosts" means. Literally, it is "the Lord of the armies." Every time you read "the Lord of hosts," it is "the Lord of the armies."

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• He claims to be a captain. He claims to be the Lord over all of his armies. Not only the angelic army, but also those armies of saints that he has in the earth as well. There is an entire book in the Bible that is dedicated to war. I don't know if you know that or not. An entire book that is dedicated to the subject of war. It is the book of Numbers, and I want you to turn there. Let me just show you several things in the book of Numbers. Let's begin in Numbers chapter 1. And let's begin reading there with verse 3. Numbers 1 verse 3.

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• In fact, you're going to see this phrase over and over. In fact, the book of Numbers is about numbering the young men of each tribe who are able to go forth to war. So Numbers chapter 1 verse 3, look carefully. "From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies." Now God says, if there's a man that's able to go to war, look carefully, from twenty years old and upward, God gave the command that they be numbered. Now skip down to verse 20. "And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generation, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of their names, by their polls, every male from 20 years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war." Look in verse 22. We don't have to read all of this verse, but the first part says of the children of Simeon, skip down the latter part of it, "every male from 20 years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war."

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• Look in verse 24, of the children of Gad, the latter part of the verse, "from 20 years old and upward all that were able to go forth to war." Verse 26, of the children of Judah, the latter part, "from 20 years old and upward all that were able to go forth to war." You'll find that in verse 28, in verse 30, in verse 32, in verse 34, in verse 36, in verse 38, in verse 40, in verse 42, and now if you'll skip down to verse 45, "So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth unto war in Israel." So of every tribe then, God had all the men from twenty years upward, numbered, who were able to go forth to war.

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• Now turn over to Numbers chapter 10. Look if you would please at verse 9. Numbers chapter 10 and verse 9. Note, if you would, what he says. "And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies."

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• And I'm going to get into this maybe on Wednesday night, but there were divine rules and regulations concerning warfare. And here is one of them. God said, when you go to war against your enemy that is oppressing you, when you blow the trumpets that I've given you, it is a religious act. When you blow the trumpets, He said, then you're going to be remembered by the Lord, your God.

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• In other words, He will help you, He will aid you, He will fight for you. Look in Numbers chapter 26 and verse 2. Numbers 26 and verse 2.

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• Note if you would, our Lord says, "Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel from 20 years old and upward throughout their father's house and all that are able to go to war in Israel." Now turn to Numbers chapter 31. Numbers chapter 31, and look if you would please beginning there with verse 4. Actually, I'm not going to take the time to do it, but actually you need to read all of Numbers chapter 31, but look in verse 4. Moses is sending the children of Israel to war. In fact, let's read verse 2. In fact, read verse 1. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying," So here is something that God ordered, God ordained. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites."

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• "Afterward shalt thou be gathered in thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian."

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• Now, I want you to know that God ordered and ordained this war. And Moses said, "The reason we're going is to avenge the Lord." In other words, it's His honor that has been sullied. It's his word that has been defied and this war is a war for God's honor and God's glory. So this goes all the way down to verse 53. But look if you would at verse 21 particularly. "And Eliezer the priest said unto the men of war who went into the battle, this is the ordinance of the law which the Lord commanded Moses." So there is a whole ordinance, there's a whole field of regulations concerning biblical warfare. And we're not talking about spiritual warfare, we're talking about physical warfare. Look at Numbers chapter 32 and verse 20. Moses is telling the people, he says, "And Moses said to them, if you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the Lord to war." Now skip down to verse 27. "But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war before the Lord to battle, as my Lord said."

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• So Moses said, look, if you want the land on this side of the river, you may have it. But you can't have this land until you help all of your brethren conquer their enemies. So we want you to go armed before the Lord. That is, we want you to go armed in the presence of God, as unto God, and fight the rest of the enemies of his people, and they said, that is exactly what we would do.

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• Now, let me ask you a question. This may have never entered into your mind. Many wrongly suppose that God is not a warrior, and that God does not use war, and that God does not condone war. But here's my question. Have you ever wondered how God got Israel out of Egypt? Well you said, he used all those miracles, he used all those plagues. Well that's true too, but if you'll turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 4, you'll find an interesting verse where God himself tells you what he did to get the children of Israel out of Egypt.

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• Look at what he says. Deuteronomy chapter 4, and let's begin reading there verse 32. Deuteronomy 4 verse 32. He says, "For ask now the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there have been any such thing as this great thing is, or have been heard like it." Now look what he asks. "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard and lived?" Well, he's talking about on the mount there when God spoke and the mount was on fire and was smoking. And yes, they heard the voice of God and they lived. Now watch.

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• That was the first question. Has anybody ever heard anything like this? And the answer is no. No one had ever heard this before.

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• Now look at verse 34. "Or has God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation?" So God's taken His people out of one nation. How did God do it? "By temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes." So God Himself then calls what He did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians as an act of war.

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• And I don't have time to preach on this tonight, but you remember there were ten plagues. Do you know why there were ten plagues in Egypt? Because Egypt was polytheistic. That is, they had many gods, and each one of those plagues was aimed at a particular god in Egypt. And the reason the firstborn died, one of the reasons, is because Pharaoh himself claimed to be a god. And Pharaoh, who claimed to be a god, could not even save his own firstborn, much less the firstborn of the others in Egypt. And so all of these plagues, all of these temptations, all of these trials, all of this was war, said God. He was having a war against Egypt and the false gods of Egypt. And God brought Israel out of Egypt by war. Now, if all war is inherently sinful and evil and wrong, then you're saying that God must be inherently sinful, evil and wrong for God Himself engaged in war.

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• And that certainly would be a blasphemous statement because God is infinitely holy and infinitely righteous. Which means this, we must rethink and we must re-educate ourselves according to the Bible and develop a biblical attitude toward war. We must have a biblical attitude toward education. We must have a biblical attitude toward government. We must have a biblical attitude toward economics. We must have a biblical attitude toward every subject that is mentioned in the Word of God. And one of those subjects that is mentioned over and over is the doctrine of war. Now, God did use war.

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• Now, I will hasten to say this. You say, "Brother Weaver, are there unjust wars?" Oh, plenty of them. "Are there unholy wars?" Oh, plenty of them. But there is such a thing, and I'll demonstrate it tomorrow night, that there is such a thing as a holy war. There is such a thing as a just war. It is not wrong to fight for the right reasons, because God Himself fights. You say, "What? You say, Brother Weaver, you're trying to tell me that God Himself fights?" Well, I'll show it to you from the Bible. All you have to do is believe the Bible.

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• If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 1. Deuteronomy, chapter 1. We'll begin there. Deuteronomy 1. Look if you would please at verse 30. Deuteronomy 1, verse 30. In fact, let's begin reading with verse 29. Look what God says. "Then I said unto them, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes." God will fight for you? Certainly. That's exactly what the Bible says. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 2, beginning there with verse 19. He says, "And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon," now the children of Israel are passing into the land, so he says, "When thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them. For I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession, because I gave it unto the children of Lot for a possession. That also was accounted a land of giants."

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• "Giants dwelt there in old time, and the Ammonites called them Zamzummims, a people great and many and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they succeeded them in their stead." Now watch verse 22. "As he did unto the children of Esau who dwelt in Seir, when he," that is God, "destroyed the Horims from before them, and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day."

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• Now, let's stop just for a moment. The children of Israel are marching through the land and God says, now when you come to the children of Ammon, don't you bother them. I'm not going to give you one ounce of their dirt. You're not going to have a half an acre. It's their land. I gave it to them. And he said, by the way, when you get to the land of Edom, you don't mess with those folks either, because I gave them that land, and I drove out the giants out of those lands. I'm not going to give you that land. Don't mess with them.

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• Now, look in your Bibles at verse 24, same chapter. God says, "Rise you up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given in thine hand Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land," look what God says, "begin to possess it and contend with him in battle." Ah, God says, I've given you this land, but there's some people on it. And I want you to start a battle. I want you to start a war. By the way, I've heard people say, and I understand this, I've heard people say, well, the only just war is a defensive war, but that's not necessarily so. It is true that most just wars are defensive wars, but here's one that God started. God said, you go in and you start the battle, because this is a wicked man and I'm taking it away from him. Let me just take a moment and explain this.

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• I was preaching in Ohio. And there was, in the church, an American Indian. And he was a professing Christian, and maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, I don't know, but at least he was a professing Christian. And we went out, the whole week I was preaching there, we went out and had meals together. The pastor always invited him and others, and we fellowshiped together and had a good time. And toward the end of the week, the Indian man sat across the table just looked plain mad.

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• And finally I called his name and I said, "What in the world is wrong with you?" And here's what he said. "You white men stole our land." And when he said that, my temperature gauge rose greatly. I said, "Let me tell you something. And let me tell you something right now. First of all, it was not your land, it's God's land." I said, "Secondly, you were not even the first people here. There was a little people here before you and your people killed and ate them. You were cannibalistic."

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• And boy, when I said that, he looked up, he said, "How did you know that?" I said, "Well, I know that's beside the point." I said, "But it is a fact. And I said, you know it's true and I know it's true." I said, "Let me tell you something. God is the true owner of this land. Not you, not your people, not my people. And God has a sovereign right to dispossess any people who will not pay him his rent or his taxes or his tithe." I said, "Let me tell you something. If you own the house, and you rented it, and the man would not pay you rent, what would you do?"

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• He said, "I'd kick him out." I said, "Do you know why God kicked the Amorites out of the land, the Hittites and Jebusites? They dishonored God. They wouldn't honor Him. They would not give Him recognition. They would not give Him glory." I said, "And here you people were out worshipping the sun and the moon and the wind, and you're complaining because God kicked you out?" I said, "I got news for you. He'll kick us out the same way if we get so proud and haughty and don't give God His righteous honor and glory indeed." I said, "Don't come here telling me that we stole this land from you."

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• "We didn't steal it from you. It is true there was a lot of dishonesty, but God indeed kicked them out. He dispossessed them just the way He did right here. Here were wicked, ungodly men. And God has the sovereign right to give His earth to whomever He wants to give that earth." Look at verse 36. Deuteronomy chapter 2, verse 36. What are they saying? When God says don't touch the land, we don't touch it. Why? Because it's God's land. God puts people wherever He wants those people. And He said we are staying away from that where God refuses

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• to give us that land. Look in chapter 3, beginning there with verse 1. He says, "Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei." Now here's Og coming out. Watch verse 2, "And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not." Don't be afraid of this king. Look what God says, "For I will deliver him and all his people and his land into thy hand. And thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we smote him until none was left of him remaining." Now, on the one hand, God told Israel, you go contend with this people and you take that land.

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• "I'm giving it to you. It's mine. You get them off."

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• On the other hand now, here comes Og and his people out to start a fight. And God says, "Don't be afraid, because I'm going to deliver him and his people into your hand, and you do to them exactly what you did to the other folks. You kill them." And God gave Israel that land. Look, if you would, in verse 21. Deuteronomy 3, verse 21. "And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings." Note what he said. "Thine eyes have seen all what? That the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings. So shall the Lord do unto all the kings whither thou passest."

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• "You shall not fear them." Watch. "For the Lord your God, He shall fight for you." God is a warrior.

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• Now, it is true that Israel used their sword. It is true that Israel used their bow. But may I point out the fact it was not Israel's bow, it was not Israel's sword that saved them. It was God who gave them the victory. If you don't believe that, hold Deuteronomy, we're not quite through there. But look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Psalm 44. Watch this Psalm.

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• What's the song that is being sung? Psalm 44, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 44, verse 1. The psalmist says, "We have heard with our ears, O God. Our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days, in times of old." Now look, "How thou," that is God, "didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them," that is, you planted Israel. "How thou didst afflict the people," that is, the heathen, "and cast them out." Now watch, "For they," that is, Israel, "got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them." How is it that Israel defeated all of these other nations who were greater and mightier, and rooted and established? God gave them the victory. It was God who was fighting for Israel. God is a warrior. So therefore, in Deuteronomy chapter 3, he said in verse 21, "And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto these two kings."

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• And then he says, here's a little assurance. "So shall the Lord do unto all the kings whither thou passest." He said, "Joshua, when you take on the others, God's going to destroy them as well. God will fight for you. Because God is a warrior."

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• Now, have you ever stopped to think about this? Every warrior has his own arsenal. If I'm going deer hunting, I'm going to use a high-powered rifle. If I'm going bird hunting, I'm going to use my shotgun. I don't normally shoot quail with a .308. I'm not that good. You have to have a shotgun. You have to have a different weapon for whatever you're shooting or hunting. God has his own arsenal.

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• Look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 50. Jeremiah, chapter 50, and watch verse 25. Look what God says. Jeremiah 50, verse 25. Jeremiah 50, verse 25. "The Lord hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation. For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts," that is, the Lord God of the armies, "in the land of the Chaldeans." What did God do? God opened his armory, and He chose whatever weapons he wanted to use, and used them against the Babylonians. Now look in chapter 51, if you would please. And let's begin reading there at verse 19. Look what he says.

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• "The portion of Jacob is not like them, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance." So Israel is the rod of God's inheritance. Watch. "The Lord of Hosts is His name." The Lord of the Armies is His name. And look what God says to His people. Look what He calls them. He says, "Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war."

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• "For with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms." So here He refers to His people as His battle axe and as His weapons of war. So God then is a warrior. God has his own armory. And God oftentimes uses his own people as his own battle axe and weapons of war.

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• Now let me ask you another question. And I'm just asking questions tonight, trying to set you up and get you ready to listen to what I'm going to share with you for the next several nights. But if you think that war and fighting is inherently evil and wicked in and of itself, then you still must answer the question, why then does God claim to be a warrior and a fighter himself? Why does God have his own armory? Why does God have his own weapons? If war is evil and wicked in and of itself, may I ask you another question? If fighting is all wrong, why would God teach others to fight? You say God teaches people to fight? Oh yes.

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• Look in your Bibles to Psalm 18 to begin with, Psalm 18 and verse 34. I'm not going to make you turn there, but 2 Samuel 22 verse 35 says exactly the same as Psalm 18 verse 34. Look what the psalmist said, Psalm 18, in fact, let's begin reading with verse 31. "For who is God save the Lord?" So we're talking about the one true and the living God. "Or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect," verse 33. "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet and setteth me on my high places."

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• "He teaches my hands to war so that a bow of steel is broken by my arm." David says, it was God who taught me how to fight. It was God who taught me how to make war. Turn right over, if you would, to Psalm 144. Psalm 144. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 144, verse 1. Look what David says.

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• "Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight, my goodness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I trust, who subdueth my people under me." Now look what David said. "God," said David, "taught my hands to war. He taught my fingers to fight. And it is God who subdueth the people under me." That is, it is God who gives me the victory. It's God who taught me.

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• Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Judges, chapter 3. The book of Judges, right after Joshua. Judges, chapter 3. And before I read this verse, you know that when Israel went into the land, they destroyed many of the kings and many of the people. But they did not quite conquer all of the people. God left some enemies in the land. What in the world would God leave some enemies in the land for? Well, let's look in Judges chapter 3. Begin there with verse 1. "Now these are the nations which the Lord left." Now note, the Lord left them. "These are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan," watch, "only that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war."

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• "at the least such as before knew nothing thereof." Isn't that interesting? God said all these men that came out of Egypt, that got into the promised land, they knew what war was about. They fought. They understood. But God said, I'm leaving some enemies in the land. And the reason I'm leaving those enemies is so the next generation can learn to make war. So they'll know how to fight. So if all wars and if all fighting is wrong, why does God engage in it? Why does God have His own armory? Why does God teach others to fight and to make war?

  #73 | 48:09 to 49:00 | cleaned

• Let me ask you another question. If all fighting, if all wars are inherently evil and wrong, why in the world would God even preserve anyone who would engage in it? I want you to turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 18, and I want to tell you something before I read that. 1 Chronicles chapter 18. I'm sure that there are many men in here who've been in the military, and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

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• But when I was in boot camp, one of the things they did was we went out on a night maneuver and there was an 11-man squad. It was a night firing exercise. Every fifth bullet was a tracer, which means it was a red flash. You could see it. So for every one that you could see, there were four that you could not see. All right? And you have an 11-man squad.

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• And usually back then, of course it's different now, telling my age, but back then they had BARs, Browning Automatic Rifles, usually on this end and on this end, and they would be aimed like this. And every other man in that squad, whether he was shooting that M1 or whatever he was shooting, he had a field of fire from here to here, this man over here from here to here, and all this fire was intersecting. And I never will forget when that sergeant gave the command for that 11-man squad to begin firing.

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• All you could see was a solid sheet of red. I thought, "Oh Lord, how could anybody ever live through that?" But hundreds and thousands crawled through that without a scratch. Look what David said. 1 Chronicles 18, verse 6. "Then David put garrisons in Syria, Damascus, and the Syrians became David's servants and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David, whithersoever he went." We're talking about fighting. He just conquered the Syrians. God preserved him. Look in verse 13. "And he put garrisons in Edom." That is, he's now conquered Edom. "And all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David, whithersoever he went." Do you know why David was such a mighty warrior? Because he had the blessings of God upon him. Sovereignly, miraculously, graciously preserved David wherever he went. And David was a warrior.

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• Do you remember how jealous Saul was? When David came riding into town with his band of men, and what did all the women begin to do? They began to sing and dance, and they would say, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." What I'm trying to point out is this. David was a man of war. He was a warrior. And God sovereignly preserved him. But you know something else the Bible says about David? He was a man after God's own heart. Isn't that interesting? You would think that somebody who killed as many people as David could not possibly be a godly man, and yet he was. And God sovereignly protected him. Now, I've told you all during this message that God is a warrior. That God fights. God has his own armory. God teaches others to fight.

  #78 | 52:26 to 53:39 | cleaned

• But I want to show you two verses in the Bible that if you want to argue with me or disagree with me, you're going to have to really overcome these two passages. The first one is found in the book of Numbers, chapter 21. Numbers, chapter 21. And look if you would please, first of all, at verse 14. Numbers 21, verse 14. Look at what the Bible says. Numbers 21, verse 14. "Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord what he did in the Red Sea and in the brooks of Arnon." Do you realize all of those battles that are recorded from the destruction of Egypt on through the conquest of Canaan, all of those battles, all of those wars are known as the wars of the Lord. That's what it says. "Wherefore, it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, what He," that is what God did in the Red Sea and in the brooks of Arnon, that He goes on down and tells about these battles.

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• And they're called the wars of the Lord. This is something that God did, something that God initiated. And then if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 15. Exodus 15. You remember how Israel has been delivered from Egypt? You remember how Pharaoh and his men tried to chase them into the sea? Moses and all the people walked across on dry ground, but when the Egyptians came in, God brought the sea back and drowned them all. Watch this. Exodus 15, verse 1. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song."

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• "He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation. My Father is God, and I will exalt Him." Are you ready? "The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is His name." Jehovah is a man of war. Jehovah is His name. And then He goes on and tells how He overthrew Pharaoh and all of his army. The Lord is a man of war. What does that mean? It means God is a warrior.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, chapter 5. Here's a passage that probably everyone knows about. You may not have thought about it, but you remember when Israel has come to Jericho. Jericho is a city that's going to be destroyed. It's under the curse, the anathema of God. Do you remember how Joshua goes out and he tries to survey the situation?

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• And all of a sudden he sees a man standing over there. And undoubtedly Joshua probably put his hand on his sword, but he said, "Art thou for us or for our enemy? Who are you? Whose side are you on?" Watch this. Look in Joshua chapter 5 there, and let's begin reading with verse 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 a sword drawn in his hand." If I were Joshua, I'd be putting my hand on my sword too, probably, because here stands a man with a sword drawn in his hand. "And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?"

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• "Ah, and he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." Watch, "and Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? 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."

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• This is nothing less than what is known as a Christophany. A Christophany is a pre-incarnate appearing of Christ in the Old Testament. It's where Christ appears in the flesh before He ever became flesh, so to speak. Joshua said, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" He said, "Neither. But as captain of the Lord's host, am I now come." And Joshua fell down and worshipped. The same thing was said to him that was said to Moses.

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• "Take the shoes off your feet. The ground on which you're standing is holy." Because God is a warrior. He comes as Captain of the Host. Look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 13 and verse 12. 2 Chronicles 13 and verse 12. Look what the King says. 2 Chronicles 13 and verse 12. "And behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight you not against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper." What did the King of Judah say? We have God as our captain. He's the Lord of his army. Look in your Bibles if you would please to 2 Chronicles chapter 6. Because since God is captain of the host, he therefore has the right to send forth his army. And in 2 Chronicles chapter 6 and verse 34 we read this.

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• "If thy people go out to war against their enemies." Now watch carefully. "If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them," Whoa, let me read that again. Did you hear that? "If thy people," now Solomon is praying to God. He said, "if thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them," that is God sends them to war, "and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name, then hear thou from the heavens

  #87 | 1:00:18 to 1:00:50 | cleaned

• "their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause." They're going, says Solomon, but you're the one that sent them. You're the captain. Look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and look in verse 22 because I want you to see something else that God does as captain of his host. He not only sends his army but God also sets ambushes. Look at it 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and look if you would please verse 21.

  #88 | 1:00:51 to 1:01:23 | cleaned

• "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, that they should praise the beauty of holiness. And as they went out before the army..." Now watch. "...as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten." God set an ambush for his enemies. Hmm.

  #89 | 1:01:24 to 1:01:56 | cleaned

• And then if you look in 2 Chronicles 20, verse 17, in fact, let's start reading in verse 16. Look what God tells Judah. He says, "Tomorrow you go down against them. You go confront your enemies. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz." You know, it's hard to fight against God when he knows which way you're coming and what your plans are. But he says, "They're coming up by the cliff of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel." Now watch. Look what God tells them. "You shall not need to fight in this battle."

  #90 | 1:01:58 to 1:02:35 | cleaned

• "Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you." And they didn't even have to fight because God turned their swords on each other, and they killed each other. Now, the Lord fought.

  #91 | 1:02:38 to 1:03:02 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to look in 1 Chronicles chapter 5 and verse 22 before I begin making some applications. Look in 1 Chronicles chapter 5 verse 22. You say, "Brother Weaver, war is awful." It is awful in one sense of the word, and I concur. But do you realize God uses war many times? Look what the Bible says. 1 Chronicles 5 verse 22, "For there fell down many slain." Why did many people get killed in the war? "Because the war was of God."

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• "And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity." Do you realize that one of God's judgments, not only against his enemies, but oftentimes against his own people, is war. It was God who brought the Assyrians against Israel. It was God who brought the Babylonians against Judah. The very fact that God is a warrior teaches us something. Are you listening? It teaches us, first of all, that there is a proper and a just violence. There is a proper and a right use of war. But it is a right use that is grounded in the principles of justice and of divine vengeance. There's a proper use, but it's guided exclusively by the Word of God. You and I cannot say that war is inherently evil. We cannot say that it's wicked in and of itself, because it's not. God Himself uses it. God Himself engages in it.

  #93 | 1:03:48 to 1:05:15 | cleaned

• Now listen carefully to this next application. Pacifism is anti-God, anti-Bible and anti-Christian. Pacifism, that is a refusal to fight, rejects the fundamental opposition of righteousness and sin. Pacifism teaches that the ultimate sin is violence, not rebellion against God. And so the pacifist will not fight. And therefore, there is no restraint upon evil. So pacifism basically promotes evil by failing to punish it. A number of years ago I was preaching in Indiana and I was dealing with, not the biblical doctrine of war, but I was dealing with the civil government, the Christian civil government, Romans 13. And the interesting thing was that in that congregation that night was a visitor and he had several of his members there, he was a pastor, and he was a pacifist.

  #94 | 1:05:16 to 1:06:28 | cleaned

• And he came up to me afterwards, he said, "I want to ask you about what you taught." I said, "Go ahead and ask." And he did, and I once again went over and explained numerous verses that I did not explain while I was preaching. I said, "Let me ask you a question." I said, "Here you are at home alone with just you and your wife. And since you've already told me that you will not fight, I suppose that means you will not defend your wife either." I said, "Well, let me ask you, what would you do if someone broke into your home with the intent of raping your wife and maybe murdering her and killing you as well?" Well, he said, "I wouldn't do anything." I said, "What do you mean you wouldn't do anything?" Well, he said, "I'd just pray and trust the Lord." I said, "Well, neighbor, I just want to tell you one thing."

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• He said, "What is it?" I said, "I'm surely thankful that I'm not your wife. I'm surely thankful that I'm not your wife." Because there is a just and a righteous use of violence, of force, of war, of fighting. Not all fighting is evil. Not all war is evil. Not all war is wicked. I want you to understand. God does not make war against the righteous. God only makes war against the wicked.

  #96 | 1:07:28 to 1:08:02 | cleaned

• You know, we need to learn that. I get so amused at Christians. It's seemingly endless how we're always attacking each other. I tell people, if the enemy really knew how we really were, they would leave us alone. We'd kill ourselves. You don't make war against the righteous. You make war against the wicked. God never makes war against the obedient and the holy and the righteous. He only makes war against the wicked. He punishes the wicked.

  #97 | 1:08:07 to 1:08:49 | cleaned

• Why do you think He sent the flood in Genesis chapter 6? Why do you think he sent Israel against the Amorites and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and all the other "-ites"? He was punishing wickedness. And we need to learn that we fight that which is wicked and wrong. We don't fight a fellow believer just because he happens not to agree with us on every little detail and dot every I and cross every T the way we do. God fights against the wicked. God is a warrior.

  #98 | 1:08:50 to 1:09:30 | cleaned

• And I probably will not get to preach the final message in this series. But I'll tell you this, God calls us to be warriors. We're to be spiritual warriors and physical if need be, but we're to be spiritual warriors in fighting against sin and wickedness and lifting up our voice like a trumpet and declaring to people their sin and their rebellion and their wickedness and demand that they bow the knee to Jesus Christ.

  #99 | 1:09:31 to 1:10:04 | cleaned

• One of the problems in Christendom today is that we've lost the warrior mentality. We don't want to fight. We don't want to stand. What we want to do is cower or run or get out of the way. We don't want anybody shouting at us or shooting at us, spiritually speaking. And I'll tell you something, folks. One of the things that you and I need is a good dose of holy boldness. We need to go back through God's boot camp and learn once again how to be a warrior and how to stand for truth and righteousness and to stand biblically. You need to make sure that you understand the rules and the regulations of biblical warfare. So whenever you're accosted, or whenever you're in a situation, you don't have to study it out.

  #100 | 1:10:06 to 1:10:58 | cleaned

• You'll say, "I know what I can do by the grace of God. This is allowed. This is biblical. This is scriptural. And I'm going to trust God to make the means effectual." Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful today for the Lord Jesus Christ and for his grace. We're thankful for your word. We're thankful for the truth, Lord, that you are indeed a warrior God and you fight for your people. Lord, where in the world would we be without you? Where in the world would we be without the sovereign, omnipotent God of heaven and earth? Give us Your grace, Lord, to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Change our attitudes, change our philosophy, change our worldview, and bring us, Lord, into a biblical position where we think biblically and scripturally in every area for Your honor and Your glory. In Christ's name, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:45:44Z