BattleForLife

      There is an enemy that is against all life and there is a warfare for life, not only for physical life but for spiritual or everlasting life. It would seem that death is winning in this generation. Pope John Paul II called this "a culture of death". However, I believe that the believers in Messiah/Christ Jesus are a secret weapon in this warfare for life. This is what was brought to my mind as I looked at the scriptures that carry the title words of this week's Sabbath reading portion titled Ki Teitze, meaning "When you go out."

     This phrase is used three times in or around this Sabbath reading portion: 

• "When you go out to battle against your enemies...do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." (Deut. 20:1)
• "When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand..." (Deut. 21:10).
• "When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing...then he (meaning the accidentally unclean) shall go outside the camp...he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp." (Deut. 23:9-11).

     As we can see above, the phrase "go/goes out" used in connection with this Sabbath Ki Teitze reading portion is associated with the going out in warfare against enemies. The Hebrew word which is translated as "go out" is the word yasa which means "go forward, come forth, depart, proceed to something, come or go forth with a purpose for a result, bring out, lead out." However, also included in the meaning of yasa is "begotten, break out, shoot forth, spread, spring out." Conception, birth and life are part of the meaning, and part of the warfare. 

     The "battle" (see Deut. 20:1 above) and "war" (see Deut. 21:10 above) is the word milhama, which has the root word laham meaning "fight, overcome, eat, devoured, prevail, to eat or use as food." Joshua and Caleb used this meaning when they described the enemy nations that were inhabiting the Promised Land which God gave to Israel: "...nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread  (lehem/laham [see above] - food, eat, feast, banquets, meals/fight, make war, eat, overcome, devoured, prevail)...and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." (Num. 14:8-9). This warfare is "Eat or be eaten."

     Deuteronomy 23:9-11 above refers to the "host or army" that goes out against the enemy. This word for army is mahane, meaning "camp, tents, armies, body of people, angels, battle," which has an important root word in Hebrew, hanan, that means "mercy, gracious, favor, pity, show consideration, stoop in kindness, pray, make supplication." Only the wisdom of the LORD could conceive through His language an army that goes out against the enemy that has its root existence and purpose in the mercy, grace and loving-kindness of God through prayer and supplication. The enemy tries to withstand the move of the grace of God towards man, grace being another expression of life, and the door to eternal life. Jesus is described in the Gospel as being full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14), as He also described Himself as being "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (Jn. 14:6). The Greek word used in this verse for "grace" is charis, and its meaning is very similar to the Hebrew word hanan above: "merciful kindness of God by which He influences souls and turns them to Christ, good will, loving-kindness, favor, the gracious divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life." It is the grace of God that saves our souls and our lives. (see Eph. 2:4-10).

     Not only does Jesus, full of grace and truth, have life in Himself, but He is the beginning source of life for all men: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the light was the life of men." (Jn. 1:3-4). We see that through the Person of Jesus Messiah/Christ both grace and life are joined together in meaning and power. Sometimes in our spiritual warfare regarding many things, we forget that one of the greatest spiritual victories that can be won is the prayerful application of the grace and mercy of God towards man, achieved through Christ, which yields not only life, but resurrection life. To separate grace and life from each other would be like trying to separate Christ into little pieces. He cannot be separated or divided. He is echad (unified into one whole with the Father and the Spirit).

     The verses above from Deuteronomy also mention an enemy or enemies. This is the Hebrew word oyeb/ayab meaning "enemy, foe, adversary, to hate." Peter described Satan as our adversary: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (see milhama/laham above)...But may the God of all grace...perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Pet. 5:8, 10-11). The enemy cannot destroy the grace that saves. It is a sovereign gift from God that is not contingent upon man earning it, nor being "worthy" of it.

We tend to view grace as a quiet, gentle thing, but grace is so powerful that even the speaking of the word can level obstructing mountains into flat plains, and beget or bring forth the chief headstone, Messiah/Christ: "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth (see yasa above, including the meaning "begotten") the capstone (eben rosa - top most stone, headstone) with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!" (Zech. 4:7, see also Eph. 1:22-23, Eph. 2:19-22, Col. 1:17-18).

     Jesus described Satan, the devil, and Jesus' own opposite purpose this way: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (apollymi/apo - destroy, render useless, kill, devote or give over to eternal misery in hell. to perish, be lost, ruined, destroy fully/to separate one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed, state of separation). I (Jesus speaking of Himself) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (Jn. 10:10-11). One kills and One brings abundant life. Many do not believe in the existence of Satan, but God certainly did, as Satan is described in scripture. Jesus certainly believed in Satan and had encounters and conversation with him. Satan is counting on man's false belief that he doesn't exist - the easier it is then to devour man by separating him from fellowship (see apollymi/apo above) with the Lord, Who is life.

     From another reading in this Ki Teitze, "When you go out" Sabbath reading portion, we can see miraculous life brought forth from the lifeless through God's undeserved gift of mercy. The Hebrew word yasa, seen above, meaning "Go out," includes the meaning "begotten, shoot forth, spring up." In Isaiah 54, the prophet addresses the prophetic Word of the LORD to the barren: "Sing, O barren (aqar - barren of either male or female, sterile as if rooted out and destroyed in the generative organs, rooted up, plucked up, to cut, to exterminate), you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child!...For your Maker is your Husband, the LORD of hosts (saba/seba - war, army, battle, warfare, soldiers, appointed time/fight, mustered into an army, go forth/out to war, wage war) is his name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel...For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies (raham - compassion, merciful, the womb as cherishing the fetus, tender love, great tender mercy, pity, womb, love deeply, to obtain mercy) I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,' says the LORD, your Redeemer...For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,' says the LORD, who has mercy on you...All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children." (Isa. 54:1-13, excerpt).

     The LORD was angry with His people as we see above. However, He turned again and poured out His mercy upon them, not because they did anything to "earn" His mercy, but because of His own love and compassion for them. The meaning of the Hebrew word for mercy used above, raham, has a direct connection with the fetus that is cherished in the womb, and is a synonym for the womb as we see above. As the mercy of God is poured out upon His people, the spiritually and physically barren will bring forth life. Mercy and life are connected to each other. As we again see in this Sabbath portion from Isaiah, in connection to this outpouring of mercy, the LORD calls Himself the LORD of hosts (see above), a name directly connected to armies and battle, as we saw at the beginning with our verses from Deuteronomy. There is a battle for mercy, a battle for grace, and a battle for life.

     The LORD of hosts fought that battle in the scriptures above from Isaiah for God's people. If we look at the chapter before Ch. 54, we see that the battle took place on the cross. Isaiah 53 shows us the battle. The devil meant for grace, mercy and life to die and be utterly destroyed that day as the Son of God was crucified for our sins, but the awesome power of God cannot be destroyed. The cross became instead a fountain of life (see Zech. 13:1-2) as God's grace and mercy were spoken and displayed from it. Jesus called each of us to this same battle (Lk. 9:23-25), if we are willing to carry forward the fight to our generation.

If you would like to know more about the battle for mercy, grace and life, you can join my prayer: "Dear Father, in the name of Your Son of mercy, grace and life, Jesus, I pray for a great outpouring of mercy and life for those who are perishing. I pray life, abundant life, eternal life, for the inhabitants of the earth. I pray that the battle for life is already won, and the whole earth is full of the glory of the LORD. Your mercy and grace saved my life, Lord, and I pray the same for the people of all the nations. Your grace is the divine power by which You touch the hearts and souls of men with mercy and bring them to the salvation knowledge of Your Son, Jesus. I ask for and speak this miracle victory in the hearts of men in the name of Jesus. AMEN."