A Spiritual Blindedness We May Not Perceive

Illustration courtesy: Bible Study Tools

“So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.” (1 Samuel 13:22)

The Philistines seemed to have a monopoly over iron weapons in Biblical times. We read about it in 1 Samuel 13:19-22:

No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all the Israelites went to the Philistines to sharpen their plows, mattocks, axes, and sickles.^[k] 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel^[l] for plows and mattocks, and one-third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes, and for putting a point on a cattle prod. ²² So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

Imagine going to battle without weapons of war!! Saul and his son were the only ones who were armed! The entire army lost faith- because they depended on their physical weapons to defend themselves and win the war.

In the chapter right after this we read about Jonathan climbing a steep cliff with his armour bearer and killing 20 Philistinians. Right after that we read in 1 Samuel 14: 12-15 and 23 :

“Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.” ¹³ Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. Jonathan cut them down, and his armor-bearer followed and finished them off. ¹⁴ In that first assault Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck down about twenty men in a half-acre field.

¹⁵ Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.

²³ So the Lord saved Israel that day.

No one in the Israel army had weapons on them. Only Saul and Jonathan did. When the battle raged, the army was terrified because they felt they did not have the weapons to fight the enemy.

Although Jonathan lived in the Old Testament times, he was able to perceive that God fights for him and the Israelites and that the battle was not about being physically armed. He was able to see beyond what was in the physical realm. He knew without a shadow of doubt, that when God was with them, He would rout the enemies, no matter how strong they were, or how many troops they had, how strong their weapons of war were.

My friends, many of us in this day and time live like those in the Israel army of Saul’s times. We feel powerless when challenges arise. We feel terrified and easily give in to fear like those who do not know God. We allow our human feelings to supersede.

We can do very little when we do not take hold of what God has give us!

We become like those Jesus talks about- those who see but are unable to perceive.

Why do I say that?

My friends, we live in post Pentecost times!! We live in times after Jesus has risen from the dead. We live in times Jesus talked about where people will do even greater works than He had done.

Firstly, the Holy Spirit has been freely given to every believer who has accepted Jesus and their Lord and Saviour. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was not freely given to everyone. He came selectively upon some and strengthened them for that moment to accomplish a God given task.

Secondly, we are spiritual beings (our inner spirit man comes alive when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour) fighting spiritual battles every day when we live on this earth. And no wonder God gave us the spiritual armour to wear every moment of our lives on the earth- read Ephesians 6 to know more about this.

We ought to live like Jesus did on this world- in close fellowship with God and the leading of the Holy Spirit every single day, completely surrendered in the flesh. We ought to wear our spiritual armours every day- going about our daily lives yet being discerning of the spiritual battle that rages against us.

Satan does not want us to be focussed on the purpose God has given us. He wants to distract us with problems and challenges so that we will tend to worry, get anxious and bogged down. God knew of this so He warns us repeatedly to neither worry nor give in to anxiety. God knew that we cannot fight spiritual warfare with our bare hands, so He has given us a powerful spiritual armour. He knew the enemy is fierce, so He gave His Holy Spirit to not just take residence in us but to be given absolute authority over all areas of our lives.

Oh, may it not be said of us, when we fight our spiritual battles that on the day of our battle no weapons of warfare were found on us. That despite knowing what we have, we do not understand.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You have given me great and powerful resources to fight my every day battles yet I see that I often do not realize this nor take hold of what You have given me. Forgive me that I have not taken hold of what You have granted to me. Help me to continually stay close to the leading of the Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment every single day of my life. I take hold of all You have given me and I declare victory over every area of my life, in the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.