WarfareHeights

     There is warfare in the high places. 

     Scripture tells us that the king of Syria was making war against Israel and kept trying to lay traps to capture its king. However, the king of Syria found that the king of Israel always changed his travel path and managed to avoid the ambush that awaited him. The king of Syria became very frustrated and thought that he had a traitor in his midst that was leaking information to the king of Israel. One of his servants told the king that there was no traitor, but Elisha a prophet of Israel prophetically sees the plans of the king and tells the king of Israel to avoid them. Then the king of Syria sent a great army out to capture the prophet at his home in Dothan (meaning, "two wells"): "And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he (Elisha) answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'Lord, I pray, open (paqah - to open, to blossom, to enable to see things which otherwise are hidden from the eyes of mortals) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) his eyes (ayin - eye, sight, fountain, spring of water [see Dothan meaning above], face, mental and spiritual faculties, favor, humble, knowledge, having beautiful eyes, between the eyes) that he may see (ra'a - look, behold, appear, seer, foresee, perceive, have vision, discern, visions).'...And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (2 Kings 6:8-17, excerpt). Elisha also prayed that the eyes of the attacking army be stricken with blindness, and then Elisha led the Syrian army away from Dothan. (v. 18-19).

     The angelic army of the LORD was revealed as Elisha's servant's eyes were opened by the LORD. The great Syrian army became insignificant in comparison. Spiritual warfare was conducted on this mountain as the Syrian army was stricken with sudden blindness. The heights are a place that requires the ra'a vision and discernment of the people of God in order to perceive the warfare which God fights on behalf of His people.

     Satan took Jesus to the heights in order to show Him things that might tempt Him: "Then the devil, taking Him (Jesus) up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Get thee behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' Then he (Satan) brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle (pterygion - a wing of birds, extreme top corner) of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written...: (see Ps. 91:11-12).' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." (Lk. 4:5-13, excerpt).

     Jesus used His knowledge of the appropriately applied Word of God to fight the spiritual warfare on the heights.

     It is mentioned in scripture that Jesus would go up to a height to pray (Mt. 14:22-23, Lk. 6:12-13), sometimes all night. No doubt there were times when He did spiritual warfare from that position. On one occasion, after feeding the five thousand by a miracle, Jesus retreated to a mountain because He perceived (see ra'a above) that the crowd was about to take Him by force to make Him a king. (Jn. 6:15).

     The greatest spiritual warfare in history occurred at an elevated height. Jesus was crucified on a mount called Golgotha, which is estimated to be about 2500 feet above sea level. Scripture says that if the spiritual rulers realized the overwhelming, overcoming victory that would be achieved by the death of Christ at that appointed place, they never would have crucified the Son of glory. (1 Cor. 2:7-10). What was unseeable to them on that hill was made seeable to us by the Holy Spirit as we came to believe.

     This brings us to this week's Sabbath reading portion titled Balak. Balak was the son of Zippor (little bird, chirping and hopping in a circle) and he was the king of Moab. Balak's name means "devastator, annihilate, make empty, make void." The congregation of the children of Israel was encamped near the boundary of Moab, and its king, Balak, was sick with dread at the sight of them and wanted them destroyed. He sought to hire for a diviner's fee a sorcerer named Balaam (bilam/bala - not of the people, foreigner/consume, waste, wear out, decay, spend) who dwelled a distance away at Pethor (petor - Mesopotamian town on the Euphrates River, soothsayer, interpreter of dreams). King Balak's message to Balaam said: "Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover (kasa - cover, conceal, hide, clothe, overwhelm) the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) face (ayin - eye, sight, fountain, well, face, mental and spiritual faculties) of the earth ('eres - whole earth, region, territory, ground, Sheol: land of no return and the underworld), and are settling next to me! Therefore please come at once. curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Num. 22:1-6).

     King Balak being mentioned as the son of Zippor above has a special significance. "Zippor" refers to a small chirping and hopping bird, like a sparrow. Jewish tradition relates that the bird, in this case, may refer to a little model of a bird that kings like Balak used for divination, receiving demonic spiritual guidance from the underworld. It's where we get the expression, "A little birdie told me." 

      A panicked and desperate King Balak must now seek out a soothsayer of reputation, Balaam, because the presence of the Israelites has covered or blinded his eyes of "spiritual" sight according to the Hebrew meanings above. We read in the account of Elisha above, how the enemy army was suddenly "blinded" and could not find the one they sought, while the servant of Elisha had his eyes opened, discerning the presence of the angels of God.

     The presence of the Israelites had brought spiritual blindness to those who depended upon occultic practices. This may be one reason that the nations around them would not allow the Israelites to cross their borders. All of those nations had fallen into idolatry and demonic practices and were to be dispossessed from their land by God because of it.

     Without going into all of the details of the encounter between Balak and Balaam, we can read that King Balak took Balaam to certain heights from which to curse Israel.: "So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the high places (bamot/bama - great high place/mountain, battlefields, high places of worship, fortress) of Ba'al (name of a false god), that from there he might observe (ra'a - see above) the extent of the people." (Num. 22:41). Balaam was not able to curse God's people from there because God had not cursed them. (Num. 23:8). King Balak discovered that the sorcerer Balaam's power to bless and curse was not unlimited as he had stated above. Balaam was limited by the commands of God concerning His people.

     King Balak then took Balaam to another place in the heights: the field of Zophim (spym - "watchers") at the top of Mount Pisgah (meaning cleft, fragment, to pass between or within, contemplate, consider, divide palaces) to make another attempt to curse the Israelites. Balaam again could not curse Israel, but he prophesied: "For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel." (Num. 23:23). Of cursing Israel, Balaam told King Balak the Word he received from the LORD: "Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it." (v. 20).

     Then King Balak took Balaam to "the top of (Mount) Peor (peor/pa'ar - name of false god of Moab, similar to Baal and worshipped by prostitution/gaping open mouth of a ravenous beast) that overlooks the wasteland (Jeshimon/yasam - waste/to ruin, be desolate)." (Num. 23:28). At this location, for the first time, Balaam prophesied not by his sorceries as he had at the other locations, but by the Holy Spirit: "the Spirit of God came upon him." (Num. 24:1-2). When this happened, Balaam said: "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eyes (ayin - see above) are opened (satam - to open, to unveil, to 'unclose'), the utterance of him who hears the words of God, and sees (haza - see, perceive, look, a seer in the ecstatic state, to have a vision, to see God) the vision (mahaze - have a vision in the ecstatic state) of the Almighty, who falls down with eyes wide open." (v. 3-4, see also 15-16).

     Balaam saw now by the Holy Spirit as he never had before when using his sorceries. He still could not curse Israel for King Balak, of course. The king became very angry as a result and sent Balaam home without the honor that the king would have given him. The sad part of the story is that even after this experience with God, neither man ended up serving God, but they worked together to try to bring harm to Israel. They both ended up dying in their future activities towards this ungodly goal. Here's an additional piece of information to consider: it is no coincidence or accident that those high places named in the Barak/Balaam verses above that were once located in the nation of Moab in its border area, are now shown on maps as being located in the middle of Israel! Those high places became part of the territory of Israel and Moab no longer exists as a nation. We can only marvel at the workings of our God and His justice.

     We can understand why the false gods and those who worship them covet the heights. It is the position of "seeing", of having open eyes, and spiritual vision. The heights also represent the power and authority of God, and the anointing and purpose upon His people. Even Satan is revealed to desire the highest places. The covetous thoughts of Satan were revealed by God to the prophet Isaiah. Satan or Lucifer said: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation (mo'ed/ya'ad - congregation, feast, appointed place, appointed and fixed time, appointed meeting, sacred season, appointed sign or signal/meet together, assemble, appointed, betrothed, gather by fixed appointment) on the farthest sides (yereka/yarek - extreme parts, border, flank side, recesses/thigh, loins as the seat of procreative power, thigh where the sword is worn) of the north (sapon/sapan - north, hidden, obscure/hide, esteemed, hidden ones, secret places, inaccessible, treasure or store up, hide from discovery by covering over [see also Ps. 91:1-2], protect, to be destined [see also Eph. 1:3-6]); I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." (Isa. 14:13-14). However, the LORD promised to bring Lucifer down to the lowest depths of the Pit of Sheol. (v. 15).

    It is important to pay special attention to the meanings associated with "congregation" and "the farthest sides of the north" used in the above verses. There was something hidden in the heights. There was something concealed from spiritual eyes. God covered over this special something in order to hide it, but Satan knew something called "the congregation" was there. He wanted to occupy that spiritual high place. We, the believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, are appointed to that meeting place. The apostle Paul wrote about the whole armor of God, which has been supplied to us. Part of that armor requires us to have our loins (see "farthest parts" above), our procreative parts by which we multiply and bear fruit, girded with truth. We are bearers of truth, which is the Word and Person of Christ (see Jn. 1:14). We are to carry the sword on our flanks (see "farthest parts" above), which is the Word of God, the weapon of our warfare. With the armor of God, we are able to stand in opposition against the wiles (methodeia - cunning, deceit, trickery, methods, devices, craft) of the devil. (see Eph. 6:11-20).

     We were hidden and protected in the Spirit by God until the appointed time had come for Jesus Christ to be sent, and for those who would believe on His name to become sons of God. (see Gal. 4:3-7).

     From another portion of this Sabbath's Balak readings, the prophet Habakkuk wrote that regardless of whatever trying circumstances, which are reflective of a poor spiritual condition, that might come upon his nation: "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk (darak - tread upon, bend a bow, shoot an arrow, lead forth, guide, march forth, tread on a press of wine or oil, tread down enemies as grapes, overtake, enter a threshold) on my high hills." (Hab. 3:18-19).

     Here we can see that walking on the heights includes the warfare meaning that we have seen throughout the above accounts. My nation has long mountain ranges running all the way down near its eastern and western borders and along part of its northern and southern borders. These high places are a spiritual battleground that is calling to us according to what I have learned this Sabbath, and the victory is the LORD's. I live in an area surrounded by hills and mountains. It is known that a satanist some years ago dedicated the mountains and hills in the area to Satan. It is also known that a man of God later flew over those same hills and poured anointing oil out upon them from the window of the small airplane. After this Sabbath study, I now look at these hills differently and I am determined to spiritually "walk upon my high hills", by the Spirit and in the name of the LORD. 

     If you would like to learn more about this kind of warfare, you can pray with me: "Heavenly and Most High Father, You have destined me through Your Son, Jesus, to walk the high places with open eyes and "see"  - to see the King in His beauty", and "the land that is very far off." (Isa. 33:15-17). You have equipped me to do so, not in my own strength, but with Your truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and Word, according to the armor with which You have clothed me. You spoke blessing over my life in Your Word, including within the epistles of Your apostles. Help me, Lord, to walk faithfully and to grow in the knowledge of Your salvation. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.