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Next in command was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines. But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.
2 Samuel 23:11 – 12
I’m surprised at how frequently the Lord brings me back to this passage, but I shouldn’t be. For two sentences, this passage is packed with principle and meaning. Let’s unpack the literal, then we’ll discuss why the Lord keeps bringing Shammah to my attention.
First of all, it’s important to understand why there is such fierce fighting in what is essentially a bean field. Every would-be student of Sun Tzu knows exactly what’s transpiring here – the enemy is attacking a source of provision for the army of Israel. The principle is simple and straight forward; an army that can’t feed itself, can’t fight – at least not effectively.
Secondly, note that despite the fact that the rest of the army had fled, Shammah stayed and faced the enemy. Recall that Philistines were not the most diminutive of peoples in that day, but Shammah stood his ground. He stayed in the fight because he understood what was truly at stake… and “the Lord gave them a great victory.“
“Dark have been my dreams of late…”
Theoden, King of Rohan – The Two Towers (Lord of the Rings)
I’d be lying through my teeth if I said that the last few months haven’t been a struggle. Do you, like me, find yourself weary? Have you been holding onto promises spoken to, or over you for what feels like ages? The waiting, in and of itself, can be difficult and I personally believe this because we see what the Lord has purposed, but only in part.
Often, we catch a glimpse of what is essentially an end-goal. We do not see the details of the journey, the progression, the work or the waiting that must transpire before that vision comes to pass. Because we lack these details, we can find ourselves discouraged in the midst of things, wondering if this was just “all in our heads” or if the God of the universe truly spoke.
I have personally been experiencing such a time – but I remind myself that the words I am hanging onto don’t address small matters; they don’t even address only myself or my family, but my people, my nation and by extension, the world.
As a good friend and mentor in faith reminds me, we need to “debrief” events as they are unfolding. It’s as simple as stopping and saying “Okay God, what’s going on here?” True to form, I did that… and God answered; a number of prophetic words came to my attention that spoke into my circumstances. They reminded me that we are instructed to rise above – that we shall mount up on wings like eagles:
But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.
Isaiah 40:31
They reminded me that the Lord does not fail:
And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you will see whether my word to you will come true or not!”
Numbers 11:23
As my hope began to renew, I inquired about some of the “weightier” matters I’ve been praying over for some time and God responded in short order. That isn’t to say that the solutions manifested, but that the explanations I sought did…
I recall that, approaching the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, I was perplexed. Many professing Christians seemed intently focused on the questionable character of Donald J. Trump, and wondered aloud if their conscious could allow them to vote for such a man. It seemed to me they had forgotten that the only other viable choice was effectively a literal incarnation of Jezebel herself?! How this could even be a question was completely beyond me.
Shortly before the election, I became aware of a number of prophecies relating to this election and this man that changed my own perspective in ways I could not have foreseen. Two that leap to mind are those of Kim Clement and Mark Taylor.
These men presented me with an idea that had not occurred to me previously; that Donald Trump could by a Cyrus, and while this didn’t change my intended vote, it drastically changed the motive behind it. My vote immediately went from being one of “not Hillary” to being an actual vote for Donald Trump.
I have held firmly to this over the last three years, as the media circus has continually rambled on about this or that fabricated scandal. Even now they want him tried in a kangaroo court and impeached over accusations that were literally immediately proven false.
To be clear, I don’t believe Trump, nor any human being for that matter, is some bastion of moral integrity – it is not man in which I place my faith. I do however, firmly believe that Trump is the man appointed by God for exactly this time, and exactly this purpose – to be a Cyrus to the American people, and a Jehu to the denizens of the swamp.
Recently, I had grown frustrated and impatient, I’m sure you can understand why. Anyone who doesn’t recognize that there are literal criminals dictating policy to our nation is quite frankly not paying attention. The swamp isn’t drained, and many of the injustices I’ve been praying over continue, seemingly unhindered – not the least of which is the systematic murder of the unborn.
It was during this period of frustration and failing patience that the Lord called these prophecies to mind. As I pondered, I realized hat the work that must be going on behind the scenes in order to bring these decrees about must be significant – both in the spiritual as well as the physical.
If there are criminals in our government, we must have just law enforcement officers to investigate and apprehend. We must have just judges to preside over these cases when indictments are issued. If Roe vs. Wade is to be overturned, we require moral, Biblically minded Justices seated in the highest courts of the land. If we are to see the mindset of the United States return to any sense of morality and sanity, we require an honest media with at least some semblance of journalistic integrity. In the last few decades, we have had very little, if any of this, but the tide is turning.
Lately however, on the personal, corporate and national levels, things haven’t felt like they are turning for the better, they’ve appeared to be getting worse. In classic form, I asked the Lord about all this – I debriefed it. Would you like to know what His answer was?
“Hidalgo“
Seriously – He said “Hidalgo“.
The thing is, I knew exactly what He meant because there has always been one particular scene from that movie that has always stayed with me:
Notice the frenetic, almost frenzied pace at the beginning of the race. Once the dust is kicked up and the racers have put enough distance between themselves and prying eyes however, a very different pace is adopted.
If you’ve seen this move or are familiar with the story, you know why they do this. This is not a sprint, or even a marathon – it’s a three thousand mile survival race. They cannot afford to expend more energy than required if they hope to finish this race, let alone win it.
Can you see the corollary?
The adversary has limited resources. Every piece of ammunition he uses now is ammunition he doesn’t have to use later. Currently, the enemy is using up his ammunition and, while it makes for a good show, the Lord is illustrating to me that it is just that… a show.
Conversely, our God, the Melech ha’Olam – King of the Universe – has unlimited resources. His arm has not grown short (Numbers 11:23) and His word will not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11), because it cannot. He says that he will make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28) and, so He shall do exactly that…
Like the walls of Jericho before Joshua and the army of Israel, those matters which stand now as high wall between you and the fulfillment of the promise will become the very ramp you will use to ascend into the land of promise and claim that which YHVH has given you – that which is rightfully yours by the decree of the Living God.
If you, like me, have found yourself discouraged, I say to you:
Don’t give up.
Don’t lose hope.
Stay in the fight!
חזק ואמץ – Chazak V’Ematz – Be Strong and of Good Courage!
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You