pieces and ponderings

It seems my family watches more movies in the summer and this summer is proving to be no different.  The other night, my youngest had a friend spend the night and we watched Disney’s “Prince of Persia.”  It’s an action/adventure story about a royal family made up of a father and three sons, and of course, an evil uncle.  Two of the sons are the biological sons of the king and the third is an adopted son, a boy taken off the streets of Persia because he had a look of royalty.

The Persians are valiant warriors, who vanquish their foes with great courage and skill.  And there seem to be a lot of enemies in this movie to vanquish.  An attack is led by the brother princes on the neighboring holy city ofAlamutbecause its inhabitants are supposedly selling weapons to the enemies of thePersian Empire; a ruse conjured up by the deceitful uncle.

As the story progresses, more and more enemies seem to appear, not all are enemies on the outside, but the biggest enemy is found within the royal family itself. Dastan, the adopted prince, is falsely accused of killing the King and trying to take the kingdom.  There is much killing, much intrigue, much deception.  Thankfully, the truth wins out in the end and Dastan is restored to his brothers and all is set right.

I had been thinking about enemies before I watched this movie because of something I read in Joshua chapter 10.  Just as there are dangerous enemies in the make-believe movie about the Prince of Persia, there are definite and deadly enemies inJoshua 10.  Five kings join together to fight against Joshua and the people of God, and five kings and their people will suffer defeat at the hand of Joshua and the people of God.  It wasn’t just defeat like, “Hey, we won and we beat you.  We’re the winners and you’re the losers!”

This defeat was the kind where all the kings and all of their subjects, every one in their kingdoms were put to death.  And when the five kings themselves were killed…when the Israelite commanders were told to put their feet on the necks of these kings so that Joshua could present them with a vivid picture from the LORD about what God would do to all of their enemies, it was not a PG-13 scene.  It was violent…it was complete…and it was final.

Joshua told those commanders, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  Be strong and courageous.  This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” (vs. 25)

Whoa…that’s heavy stuff.  I read this chapter cringing.  It seems so harsh.  But, enemies are scary.  The kind of enemies talked about here are not the kind that go away when the movie ends…they are for real…they want to do you harm…they want to hurt you…they want to kill you…they want to destroy you and those you love.

Most of us don’t come into contact with enemies like that, the kind that want to kill us.  How in the world does Scripture like this apply to my life?  That’s what I’ve been thinking about.  And as I have thought about that, other Scripture verses have come to mind.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible says that I do have an enemy, there is someone who wants to do me harm.  The Apostle Peter names this enemy in his book, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  And Jesus said that this enemy only wants to steal, kill and destroy.  (John 10)

I don’t like having an enemy like that; that’s bad news.  Thankfully, though, God has some good news regarding His children and our enemy.  Just as God took care of those enemies of His children, the Israelites, He promises to take care of His children today.

I don’t like being in a war, but I believe that there is a war raging between God and His kingdom and Satan.  I don’t feel like a warrior, but Scripture says that is part of my calling as a child of God.

I’m even given instructions about fighting in the book of 2 Corinthians, “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 Cor. 10:3-5)

So this morning, sitting at my computer typing, in my pajamas and robe, I realize that I need to prepare my mind for the battle that’s raging…and put my trust in the God ofJoshua 10, who will take care of all my enemies.