We are in War!
1 Chronicles 18 NASB
18 Now after this it came about that David [a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.
2 And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his [b]rule to the river Euphrates.
4 David took from him a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and David hamstrung almost all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for a hundred chariots.
5 When the Arameans of [c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David [d]killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans.
6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of [e]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.
7 And David took the shields of gold which were [f]carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8 Also from [g]Tibhath and Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze [h]Sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.
9 Now when [i]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had [j]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,
10 he sent [k]Hadoram his son to King David to [l]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had [m]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze.
11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah [n]defeated eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
13 Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.
14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he [o]administered justice and righteousness for all his people.
15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was secretary;
16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary;
17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.
I was tempted to cut the text I read short and give you only the pertinent parts to the message I’m about to preach, but I wanted you to see something.
The Philistines seemed to never go away completely—they just kept coming back, thousands strong. Israel always had to deal with these people.
The Philistines had no problem raising an army. They terrorized Israel, raided their cities, raped their women, and killed entire families. All this animosity against Israel was more than just someone hating them—it was antisemitic.
Antisemitism, or Jew-hatred, is hostility toward, prejudice against, or discrimination toward Jews.
This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbors it is called an antisemite.
There is a spirit behind this. Hell is behind it. The devil is behind it. There are so many references to the Philistines attacking Israel that I could spend hours reading them all.
What I began to notice is that how you deal with the Philistines isn’t about how big the army is that you come against them with, but rather, who is its leader. Free people want to stay free, but the Philistines intended to kill all the Israelites.
Listen to what Goliath said to the Armies of Israel,
1st Samuel 17
8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
Goliath was lying—they intended to kill every one of them.
What is a lie? A lie contains enough truth to make it believable. It’s a whole lot of lies with a smidgen of truth. Truth is believable, but a lie is meant to deceive.
David was an extraordinary leader and warrior. The women chanted, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7).
As long as Israel lived for the Lord, she would have Philistines to fight. But the victory all came down to who was leading.
During Saul’s 42-year reign as king, there was little victory because Saul was led by his soul, not by God. Saul had no foundation of trusting the Lord—he trusted himself, which made him a failure!
David, on the other hand, put his trust in the Lord. He wasn’t just one of the best, but the best in the Bible when it came to dealing with the Philistines.
Let’s look at this from another perspective when it comes to leadership. The Philistines’ cause was, and is to this day, to exterminate Israel—to kill them all.
1st Samuel 7:3-14
3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.”
4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the LORD alone.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the LORD for you.”
6 So they gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the governors of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard about it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines!”
9 Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him.
10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great [d]thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were struck down before Israel.
11 And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as below Beth-car.
12Then Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it [e]Ebenezer, saying, “[f]So far the LORD has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel [g]recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
David led by Sword, and the Spirit of God. David wanted the Presence of God, loved God. The Sword and the Spirit came together and did its job.
Samuel’s approach was the sword of the tongue, the Word of God spoken. Obedience brings a response from heaven. It opens doors and closes them to your enemies.
After that point, Samuel no longer had to deal with the Philistines as a military threat for the rest of his life.
The spirit that was upon the Philistines was hate. Were they born with it, or did the spirit choose them? Did this spirit look for a host that had the traits of evil people?
Ephesians 4:27-30 Neither give place to the devil.
Sin repeated becomes spirit-enforced. Liars usually run in packs, and unfaithful people gather with other unfaithful people. This is why bad behavior becomes spirit-enforced.
Today, Israel’s ancient enemies have risen again. The Philistines are once again warring to destroy Israel.
That same spirit has migrated across America’s universities. The ancient enemies of Israel have taken hold of the youth of our nation. Did they choose it, or did that spirit choose them?
We have also seen revivals break out in universities over the last couple of years. Why?
Ephesians 6:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against [f]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The church’s greatest ministry is the ministry of prayer. It brings us into the will of God.
The second is to give ourselves to the Word of God. The Word determines our direction. It is your shield from the fiery darts of the enemy, and your sword to be brave in battle.
Saul’s sword cut very little and left fear in its place, but David’s sword cut much, brought victory, instilled trust, and provoked faith.
Ephesians 6 :13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 [g]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
When you’re not saved, your spirit is dead to God. But when you repent and the Spirit of the Lord comes inside you, the opposer comes to stop your forward motion. The devil never bothers those he already has. It’s only when you stand up for Jesus.
Some of you have never gone this far in living for Jesus—this is uncharted ground for you. You have lived for Jesus, you have been faithful, and now your opposer has been raised from the dead. The underworld has sent an opposer to oppose you.
You say, “Pastor, I’m in a situation. I’ve never been this far before. It’s harder. The warfare is on a scale I’ve never seen.” Why? There has been a shift—you are now a leader.
Don’t lay the sword down. The Spirit of the Lord is upon you. You’re a warrior. I know you think you’re alone, but He is with you.
Don’t follow a leader who does wear a sword. Don’t follow a leader who isn’t clothed in the Spirit of the Lord. Take my hand. We are going to take back what the devil has stolen from us.
Joel 2 and Acts 2 both tell us the Lord will pour out his Spirit in the last days, its been the last days since Pentecost.