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."

     

Battle

Scripture tells us of a battle, and it was not an easy battle to win. It was long and protracted, going back and forth, wearying and challenging the people of God. This battle, related in Exodus 17, involved Moses, the children of Israel, and the Amalekites, who attacked them at Rephidim, meaning "rest, refresh, support". During the battle, as long as Moses raised up his rod/staff in his hand, the Israelites prevailed. However, if Moses did not keep his hand raised, the Amalekites prevailed. Moses grew weary, so two of the elders of Israel sat Moses on a stone, stood on either side of him, and held up his hands. The battle lasted all day, until the sun went down, and finally, Joshua, who was leading the Israelites in battle, was able to weaken (discomfit) the enemy enough to overthrow Amalek. The LORD told Moses that He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. This victory was not final, but the warfare with this nation would be a continuing thing. We would read of another campaign against the Amalekites in the future under King Saul, that would not be a complete success because of Saul's disobedience. Also, Haman, the persecutor of the Jews in the Book of Esther, was a descendant of Agag, a king of the Amalekites (Est. 3:1).
If we look more deeply into this battle with Amalek, we find some interesting things.
First of all, it must have shocked Moses to find that holding out his rod did not produce the immediate result that he had come to expect. This is the same rod that the LORD told Moses would be used to do signs in the authority of God (Ex. 4:17). It is the same rod that Moses used to  bring forth the plagues against Egypt (Ex. 7-10). It was this rod, outstretched in the hand of Moses, that parted the Red Sea, and allowed Israel to cross on dry land (Ex. 14:16, 21). Yet during this battle, Moses had to extend this rod of signs and wonders for hours, before seeing the eventual great victory. Who was this enemy, Amalek, and why was he so hard to defeat?
Amalek was Esau's grandson. Esau had despised his birthright as first born, and felt it had no value to him in the "now", as he expressed. He traded his birthright to his brother for a meal, because he was hungry. As firstborn, he would have carried the seed of promise (of the Messiah) inherited from His grandfather, Abraham, and from his father, Isaac, who was a prophetic type of the sacrificed Christ, but this covenant promise from God meant nothing to Esau. God in His foreknowledge, sovereignly had elected Jacob, the younger twin, instead, to carry this inheritance (Rom. 9:11). Esau even sought to murder his brother.
Esau had a son with his concubine, and named that son "Eliphaz", meaning "my God is pure gold". Eliphaz had a son named Amalek, meaning "valley, or depths". The Amalekites, the descendants of this son, attacked Israel in a place that means "resting place". They attacked the weakest stragglers at the rear of the Israelites. Amalek is described as not fearing God (Deut. 25:17-19). Amalek does not just represent a person, or even a nation, but also the eternal evil, who hates, persecutes, and seeks to murder those whom God has chosen for His own, especially when they are at their weakest.
The mention of the combination of resting place, a rod, and a valley mentioned in this account of the battle with Amalek, brings to mind Psalm 23:
"...He makes me to lie down in green pastures ; He leads me beside still waters (waters of rest). He restores my soul...Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
Also, as Moses had two to support his weary hands, David had two supports in this Psalm-goodness and mercy.
Moses (meaning to draw out of water, to save, to preserve) grew weary, and sat upon a rock (Christ, and the revelation of Him). Aaron (light bringer), Christ as the Light and the Word, which brings light (Ps. 119:105, 2 Pet. 1:19, 2 Pet. 1:19), and Hur (hole, crevice of a serpent, a cell of an abominable subterranean prison; root meaning: white cloth, fine white linen), held up the tired hands of Moses. Joshua ("Jehovah is Salvation") led the Israelites in battle. The fine, white linen, connected to the name "Hur", represents the righteousness of Christ. Christ as righteousness, delivered out of Hell. The righteousness of the saints, also, is founded in faith (Rom. 1:17, 3:22, 4:5, 9, 13, and many more), that faith being that Christ has delivered us from the power of sin, death, and Hell. This righteousness that begins in faith in Jesus, also produces works, or fruits of righteousness in the believer, and the wedding garments of the Bride of Christ for her marriage to the Lamb ( Rev. 19:7-9 ).
At the successful conclusion of this battle, Moses built an altar (sacrifice), and called the place "Jehovah-nissi", or The LORD my Banner (something lifted up, a signal pole, lifted up to be seen far off), like Jesus lifted on the cross of Calvary. An account of the battle was to be written in a book, which was to be read repeatedly to Joshua. "Joshua" would be a form of the name that we know as "Jesus". The memorial of this battle was for the use of Joshua.
To me, this battle represents not only Jesus, and His sacrifice, but also what the battle must have been like that Jesus fought in the three days that He descended into Hell. While there, He preached "to the spirits in prison" (1 Pet. 3:19). He was able to lead those captives (root meaning: precious stones in the high priest's breastplate) out of that captivity (Ps. 68:18-20). Jesus entered Hell in the same manner as He died, as the Son of Man, while also being the Son of God. During those three days, in what we refer to as Hell or Sheol, Jesus, I believe, must have had to do intense spiritual warfare in order to escape the bars of death for Himself and the captives. I base this thought on what Jesus said about Jonah. Jesus told an "evil and adulterous generation" that the only sign that would be given to them was the sign of the prophet Jonah (Mt. 12:39-40, 16:4, Lk. 11:29-30). Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights (Jonah 1:17). He cried out to the LORD from that terrible place of death:
"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice...The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me...I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God."  Jonah 2:1-6 (excerpt)
In the Psalms, there are also many references of the psalmist crying out to the LORD to rescue him from death, the pit, the grave, the mire, deep waters, darkness, Hell/Sheol, etc. Here are some examples:
"The pangs of death surrounded me...The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God..."
"I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength, adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave...Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead rise and praise You? Selah. Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or You faithfulness in the place of destruction?...But to You I have cried out, O LORD..."  Ps. 18:4-6, Ps. 88:4-13 (excerpt)
Jesus, the Word, must have earnestly prayed all of these many verses on our behalf while He battled the hold of death in the depths of the earth. If death on the cross was unimaginably torturous, why would we think that the battle to break the bonds holding Him in death and Hell would be any less difficult?
This battle between Moses and the Amalekites to me, especially because of the meanings of the names and places involved, is a prophetic type of Jesus' warfare in the pit-to come out of it alive, in resurrection: not only for Himself, but for the other captives there, and for us, the generations who followed. He descended into the depths, and He who lives and was dead, and alive again forever, has the keys of Hades and of Death (Eph. 4:9, Rev. 1:18).
Why is the war ongoing then, according to what the LORD spoke to Moses? The victory is already assured and won for those who believe Jesus' atonement for them, but death, hell, and the grave for all others, will exist until after the  reign of Messiah on earth. At that point, there will be a final warfare. At its conclusion, the devil, those who refused the salvation of God, who were not written in the Book of Life, also Death and Hades, will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death (Rev. 20). Paul says that at Christ's coming, "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death."  1 Cor. 15:24-26
Similarly, the Amalekite enemy in Exodus 17, is described as one with whom the LORD will have war for many generations because the LORD has sworn it (v. 16). He swore that promise to Abraham when Abraham obediently offered his son Isaac, a type of Christ, on the Mount:
"By Myself, I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son...your descendants shall posses the gate of your enemies. In your seed (Messiah, Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."   Gen. 22:16-18
Included in the reference to the enemies' gate above, are also the gates of Hell: "...on this rock (the revelation of the person of Christ-Moses was sitting on a rock) I will build My church (called out assembly-called out of the darkness and into His marvelous light), and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  Mt. 16:18
How powerful and awesome is Christ's accomplishment for us!
There are so many more things that can be revealed in this account of the battle against the Amalekites, but even if we stop here, it is more than enough to think about!

Our Father has won the victory over Death and Hell for us through His Son, Jesus.


"The Anthem"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkAREE-h2Dc

"10,000 Reasons"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E