THE LORD’S BATTLE WITH ISRAEL’S ENEMIES
Exo 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Exo 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Exo 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Exo 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Exo 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Once God had victoriously brought Israel out of Egypt by single-handedly destroying Pharaoh’s armies for them; and also once He had provided Israel with their basic education in the issue of His “Jehovah-ness” for them, (especially including what He taught them about the military aspect of His “Jehovah-ness” when they went to battle with Amaiek as related in Exodus 17:7–16); this meant that Israel’s success in their battles with their enemies was going to depend upon their confidence in God’s “Jehovah-ness” when He told them about how He would go with them to fight.
Exo 17:12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Exo 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Exo 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Exo 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
Exo 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Hence as per what God taught them in their battle with Amaiek, if in their battles they upheld His “Jehovah-ness” by depending upon it, then individually and collectively they would be successful in the battles. For the LORD would fight with them and for them on an individual basis in connection with the individual soldiers that they were, and He would do the same collectively with them as the army that they were, to save them and to enable them to prevail. But if in their battles they either individually or collectively did not uphold His “Jehovah-ness,” then they would not succeed.
Deu 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Deu 20:2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
Deu 20:3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
Deu 20:4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Deu 20:5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
Therefore for this reason every battle was to be preceded by what is described in Deuteronomy 20. And in connection with this it is especially significant to take note of what “the officers” were to say to every man under his command, after “the priest” had publicly addressed the army as a whole and in doing so had underscored and extolled the issue of God’s “Jehovah-ness.” By what “the officers” said to every man the provision was made to eliminate from the battle any man whose heart may be distracted from completely relying upon God’s “Jehovah-ness.”
Deu 20:9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
Deu 20:10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
Deu 20:11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
Deu 20:12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
Deu 20:13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
Deu 20:14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
So then according to the application of the military aspect of God’s “Jehovah-ness,” when the LORD said that He would ‘go with them’ into their battles and ‘fight for them against their enemies’ He did this through each individual man; and accordingly each one of them would benefit from God’s “Jehovah-ness” as he confidently depended upon the LORD doing what He said that He would do.
Isa 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
Isa 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
Isa 42:15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
Following the “great tribulation” when the Lord ‘rides upon the heaven unto Israel’s help’ and comes as a “man of war” to execute His “great and terrible day,” He will fight both for Israel and with them following the same basic pattern as when He first fought not only for them but also with them according to His “Jehovah-ness.” Or in other words, the same basic pattern will be followed of what the Lord did from the time He brought them out of Egypt until the time He gave them rest in their land following the victorious campaigns of Joshua.
Psa 18:9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
Psa 18:10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
Psa 18:12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
Psa 18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
Psa 18:14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
Now that basic pattern involved three major manners, so to speak, of military exploits: (1) it involved some fighting and battles in which the Lord alone did the fighting; (2) it had other fighting and battles which involved His angel and the hosts of heaven; and (3) as was the issue in the first part of your question, it also had fighting and battles in which the people of Israel fought and the Lord fought with His people. All three of these manners were a part of the implementation of the military aspect of God’s “Jehovah-ness” for Israel when He first fought for them according to His “Jehovah-ness” and demonstrated its capabilities to them. And so in accordance with this, all three of them will occur again when the Lord has His “great and terrible day” and He fully executes “Jehovah-nissi,” i.e. the military aspect of His “Jehovah-ness.”
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
So then when it comes to describing the fighting that the Lord will do in ‘His day,’ He is going to fight in all three manners. Which is why there are passages that describe the Lord fighting alone, as for example in the opening portion of Isaiah 27; and passages that describe Him fighting with His host of heaven, as for example in Joel 2; and ones that speak of certain of the people of Israel fighting with Him, as for example in Zechariah 10 and 14.
Isa 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Isa 27:2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
Isa 27:3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Isa 27:4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.
In accordance with this the ‘method of the Lord’s weaponry’ in that day will include His own personal armaments, like His own “glittering sword,” that are part of His personal “garments of vengeance” and that are part of His total military array. The host of heaven led by Michael the archangel will also be arrayed with all of their fitting and similar weaponry. And /in accordance with/ [according to] the pattern for the implementation of God being “Jehovahnissi,” /both/ when the Lord fights alone, and when His hosts fight with Him, they will each employ their weapons to the destruction of His enemies and Israel’s enemies /at/ [in] each of the battles and [at each of the] battle sites that are written in “the book of the wars of the LORD.” Then when those of Israel also join the fighting in one of the final battles, they too will employ their weaponry in the fighting.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries