Turning to the Offensive - Let’s get moving!

By Steve Maltz

Let’s be clear on this. There is a war currently being fought that affects us all, wherever we may live. The battles between Israel and Iran’s substitute armies of Hamas and Hezbollah are simply the front line of the battle. Israel represents us all and their success or failure will affect us all. It is time the Church at least understood this. Israel is the only country actively waging an existential war against the Global Jihadists and any Christian not supporting Israel through prayer, voice or action, is on the wrong side of the equation and will one day have to explain themselves to their Creator.

The battle has already spread to the UK, but it is a subtle one over hearts and minds at present. The Jihadists are being protected by the woke environment created by those on the far left and sustained by those currently leading us. Many Christians have been led blindly into this, as part of an ineffectual Church that wishes not to offend anyone apart from God and the Truth. Those of us who have ears to hear know this. The others, perhaps, remind us of the situation in Isaiah’s day. “Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge … They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain.” (Isaiah 56:10,11)

So, what can we actually do to have some kind of effect on the developing situation in the world, that gets more dangerous daily? Do we go on demonstrations? No! Do we lobby parliament? No! Do we write angry letters to newspapers? No! There is nothing wrong in these actions but, I suggest, in the current climate, they are going to fall on deaf ears, simply because those who we are trying to reach here are mostly caught up in the confused fog that permeates our culture.

But … Do we take up arms? Yes, because we have the greatest weapon of all, if we only realised it!

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

 Am I teaching grandmothers to suck eggs, here? Of course I am! But perhaps we need to widen and deepen our approach. Praying for protection and safety for Jewish people in Israel and everywhere else is a priority of course, but perhaps praying for our enemies needs to be stepped up, at a time when the main enemies of the Jewish people and us all are in a very dark place indeed, perhaps caught up in a bondage from birth, with no way of escape.

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)

Frankly this is difficult, when we see not just the acts but the hate that has initiated the acts. But we must never forget who we are and who we follow. He gives us the grace needed as long as we are willing to receive it. As Peter reminds us in the following verses:

For, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

We must not just pray for our enemies but to be known as those who are praying for them. Let people see that our weapons of warfare are not to harm but to do the very opposite. We are praying blessing over those who curse us, to help them find the path not just for personal salvation but to provide peace for their enemies. If two octogenarian sisters can bring about the Hebrides revival, then think what a whole room of motivated Christians can achieve!

We are an upside-down army, our battles fought on our knees, but in actuality we are the most effective army in history. Prayer has brought down tyrants, saved nations, brought deliverance and blessed us with revival. The world needs to see God’s power like never before, but they will only do so if God’s ambassadors start to get moving.

And that is you and I.