War With Covenant
Last week I told you that I would prove to you David defeated Goliath on the strength of his history. That begins today. The first thing God tells us in the story is the location of the battle.
“Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines” (1 Samuel 17:1-2).
I realize that doesn’t interest you. You’re like me: Come on, Holy Spirit, get to the good stuff: Goliath’s description; the drama of his taunts; the fear of the Israelites; David, the young sheepherder; the battle; off with the giant’s head. I skipped those two boring verses for the first 60 years of my life.
And missed a nugget.
This location was in the territory of Judah, which was the tribe David was part of. Holy Spirit was informing us, right from the start, that this land belonged to David and his tribe. It had been given to them by God generations ago. David had more than squatter’s rights to the property the giant was trying to claim; he had divine rights. If he followed God’s instructions, these first two verses of the story assure him of victory. The God who created and owns the earth (see Psalm 24:1) had the right to give it to whomever He pleased. And in history, He had given it to the tribe David belonged to.
Battle over.
Don’t think so? I’ll give you another reference that reinforces this truth. When Nehemiah was allowed by the Persian King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem in order to rebuild its walls, he faced great opposition. The locals, led by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, despised the Jews and were determined to stop them from building. When Nehemiah faced their threats and opposition, he stated his case for success in one verse: “I answered by saying, ‘The God of heaven will give us success. We, His servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it’” (Nehemiah 2:20, NIV, italics mine).
“We have a historical, God-given right to this city,” Nehemiah declared. “You don’t. Therefore, we win, you lose.” Case closed. It is beyond doubt that God raised up America for His purposes. I will say more in the next chapter regarding our God-given history. For now, however, suffice it to say that He owns America, just as He does the entire earth; and in that right of ownership, He delegated stewardship of this nation to followers of Christ, believers who would partner with Him in His great cause of redeeming the world. Do not listen to the liars and revisionists that say otherwise, be they secularists or deceived Christian leaders. If the body of Christ in America ever fully grasps this revelation, the giants attempting to steal our nation have no chance.
Uncircumcised Philistine
David’s next “history weapon” can be seen in the fact that not once did he call Goliath by name. He referred to him only as the “uncircumcised Philistine.” What is that all about? Imagine two guys about to fight, perhaps in a bar or at a rugby match, who begin to shout insults at one another.
Jed: “You’re ugly.”
Jethro: “Your mama is ugly.”
Jed: “You’re a wimp.”
Jethro: “You couldn’t beat up a flea.”
I know, these are a little weak. Not exactly Rambo-level insults but I’m trying to keep it clean here. And you get my point - insults and degrading salvos are flying back and forth. Then, one of them shouts at the other, sealing the deal with the ultimate insult:
“Well, You’re UNCIRCUMCISED!”
Huh? Didn’t see that one coming.
As strange as this seems, there was actually an important reason for David’s choice of names. Circumcision symbolized covenant with God (Genesis 17:13). Since the days of Abraham, this had been the case. It was a requirement mandated by God, some believe, for health purposes. Circumcision served the added purpose, however, of picturing New Testament believers who would have the “flesh” of our hearts circumcised (see Romans 2:28-29).
For our purposes in this story, however, what we must understand is that David was stating to the giant, “I’m in covenant with God; you’re not. Since those in covenant with one another share enemies, you’ll be fighting God, not just me. This battle won’t be decided by your size, experience, weaponry or strength. It was decided a long time ago when my Grand-daddy cut covenant with God, and I’m going to defeat you with my covenantal history. I win; you lose.”
No wonder secularists want to steal America’s history with God! We shouldn’t be surprised that former President Obama once said we were not a Christian nation, contending that we were also a Muslim nation, a Hindu nation, an atheist nation, and so on.(1) Karl Marx once said, “The first battlefield is to rewrite history.”(2) The demons controlling Marx knew the importance and power of history. And, of course, demons today inspire anti-Christ forces in America to try and rewrite our history for the same reasons. As believers, we must stake our claim to the fact that God birthed America, and that He and our Founders made covenantal promises to one another.
I’m not suggesting that God and those who came to these shores entered into a covenant on the same level as the old and new covenants in Scripture. There are different levels of covenants, however. The biblical word means “a compact, confederacy, league.”(3) The great Brown Driver-Briggs lexicon defines it not only as covenant, but as “an alliance (of friendship); an alliance (of marriage); a constitution; agreement.” The fact that our Founders covenanted with God when they came to this land is beyond dispute. Take time to read America’s Covenant With God by Dr. Eddie Hyatt, which makes this abundantly clear. Here is a link to that article.
Do not underestimate the importance of this. God put into the hearts of our forefathers to come to this land. He did so to raise up a nation that would form an “alliance,” a “sacred “agreement” (the definitions of covenant) to partner with Him for the propagation of the gospel to all the earth, to be a city on a hill shining His light for all to see.
Obviously, God’s intent was not for this to be accomplished through abusing First Nations people. Agreements, covenants, and purchases of the land could have taken place with them, just as William Penn did in what is now Pennsylvania.(4) His land and covenant is the “seed” of our nation (Penn’s words), not Washington, D.C. God’s plan is obviously for all races and ethnicities to share in the privilege of representing Him and enjoying the benefits that come with this.
In spite of our failures such as those with Native Americans, however, God redeems, cleanses, and continues to use us, just as He did with Abraham. We must believe this, and do as David did: stake our claim to this land based on our alignment with God and His plans, purposes, and promises. That is what empowers us to take out giants. Politics won’t defeat them; money won’t, great plans and strategies won’t, and well-meaning leaders won’t. Covenant will!
As we mentioned earlier, people aligned in covenant share resources and strengths; they also share enemies. If the Ekklesia in America face the giants of our day armed with the decrees that this land belongs to God (“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” - Psalm 24:1); that He Himself established our nation to represent Him; and that we now resist them in His name - we will defeat them!
War with covenant! War with history!
Pray with me:
Father, we thank You for America’s history with You. We are humbled by the privilege of partnering with You in Your great cause. Thank You for cleansing and healing our unrighteous past. We acknowledge that we are in another season that finds us requiring Your mercy, forgiveness, and healing. The powers of darkness have determined to cripple, and ultimately stop, us from being a voice and light for You. A rebellious culture, enabled by a lukewarm church, has allowed them to make great progress.
But today we grab hold of our covenant with You. We stand on the fact that You keep covenant and mercy to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). We reach back into our history, declare our faith in You, and decree that we will once again be a light to the nations. We will once again be a strong voice of the gospel and of freedom to all the nations of the earth.
On the other hand, the giants opposing You are in covenant with satan and his kingdom, whom You have defeated and stripped of his authority. So, in the authority of Your name, we decree that the giants of unrighteous government, false religion, pride, murder, and immorality will fall. They will no longer succeed in ruling this nation. Jesus will be exalted. Yahweh will be honored. Revival is here and coming. America shall be saved.
Our decree:
We decree that our covenant with Yahweh through the blood of Jesus Christ, and the covenant we made with Him as a nation, will defeat every giant of darkness in America.
Tomorrow we will see more indications that David faced the giant through the power of history.
Portions of today’s post were taken from my book Giants Will Fall.
Click on the link below to watch today's full prayer.
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Obama, Barack. “‘Call to Renewal’ Keynote Address.” Washington, D.C., June 2006. www.obama.senate.gov
Washington, Ellis. The Progressive Revolution: History of Liberal Fascism Through the Ages, Volume V, 2014-15 Writings. (Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2017). p.219.
Strong, James. The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Red-Letter Edition. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001). Reference no. 1285.
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