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02 Spiritual Warfare God Is a Warrior Part I

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02 Spiritual Warfare God Is a Warrior Part I Spiritual Warfare: Global Jailbreak Class 2: God as a Warrior (Part I) Introduction Throughout the Bible, in both Testaments, the Lord (YHWH) is presented as a warrior. Exodus 15, the Song of Moses, presents the first explicit reference to this theme, though the presence of Satan in (Genesis 3) presupposes a condition of war in the heavens. As the theme emerges through Scripture, the Lord’s cosmic battle against Satan and his demons in a sense “spills over” onto the earth. Deuteronomy 32:9 states that Israel is God’s special possession—His Chosen People. Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and then Jacob are the founders of this special nation, which is bound to God in a series of covenants (Abrahamic—Gen. 15; Davidic—2 Sam. 7; and the New Covenant—Jer. 31). In short, Israel would be the light to the nations for God’s plan of salvation and restored cosmic order through her coming Messiah (Jesus). God is presented as a defending warrior on behalf of His people. Throughout the historical narratives, He rescues them from Egypt and saves them continually from their enemies. In the books of the prophets, there is an added dimension of God’s universal war, the Day of the Lord, which is foreshadowed in Israel’s history. Israel had a pattern of continual disobedience, which God would not overlook. So, there are times of great calamity when the Lord actually goes to war against His own people. We will trace these themes in the next lectures and show how they relate to the present state of spiritual war that began with Satan’s rebellion, spilled over to the nations of earth, and that will one day culminate with the binding of Satan and his forces into eternal hell that was prepared for him and his fallen angels. Throughout this course I have relied heavily on the scholarship of Longman and Reid and their superb scholarship in God is a Warrior. I will place a link on my website if you would like to order this book. 1 I credit their work as I have quoted liberally (with footnotes where appropriate), but I take sole responsibility for the final product of these notes. (That’s the famous “blame me” clause). 1 Tremper Longman and Daniel G. Reid, God Is a Warrior, Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995). 1 | P a g e I. Spiritual warfare in the Ancient Near East beyond Israel A. There exist many accounts of warfare in various ANE creation accounts from Egypt to Canaan to Mesopotamia (and throughout the world as well) 1. In the Babylonian creation account, Enuma Elish, the gods are also at war. Ultimately, Marduk slays the mother-goddess Tiamat, cuts open her belly on thereby forms the heavens and earth.2 a) Two primeval gods, Apsû (fresh waters) and Tiamat (ocean waters) begin the account of war among the gods. b) Ultimately Marduk, the main god of Babylon in Bible times, wins the contest. c) Here is a summary of the account.3 The epic names two primeval gods: Apsû (or Abzu) who represents fresh water and Tiamat representing oceanic waters. Several other gods are created (Ea and his brothers) who reside in Tiamat's vast body. They make so much noise that the babel or noise annoys Tiamat and Apsû greatly. Apsû wishes to kill the young gods, but Tiamat disagrees. The vizier, Mummu, agrees with Apsû's plan to destroy them. Tiamat, in order to stop this from occurring, warns Ea (Nudimmud), the most powerful of the gods. Ea uses magic to put Apsû into a coma, then kills him, and shuts Mummu out. Ea then becomes the chief god. With his consort Damkina, he has a son, Marduk, greater still than himself. Marduk is given wind to play with and he uses the wind to make dust storms and tornadoes. This disrupts Tiamat's great body and causes the gods still residing inside her to be unable to sleep. They persuade Tiamat to take revenge for the death of her husband, Apsû. Her power grows, and some of the gods join her. She creates 11 monsters (Bašmu, Ušumgallu, Mušmaḫḫū, Ugallu, Umū_dabrūtu, Kulullû, Kusarikku, Scorpion man, ?, ?, ?) to help her win the battle and elevates Kingu, her new husband, to "supreme dominion." A lengthy description of the other gods' inability to deal with the threat follows. Marduk offers to save the gods if he is appointed as their leader and allowed to remain so even after the threat passes. When the gods agree to Marduk's conditions he is selected as their champion against Tiamat, and becomes very powerful. Marduk challenges Tiamat to combat and destroys her. He then rips her corpse into two halves with which he fashions the earth and the skies. Marduk then creates the calendar, organizes the planets and stars, and regulates the moon, the sun, and weather. The gods who have pledged their allegiance to Tiamat are initially forced into labor in the service of the gods who sided with Marduk. But they are freed from these labors when Marduk then destroys Tiamat's husband, Kingu, and uses his blood to create humankind to do the work for the gods. Most noteworthy is Marduk's symbolic elevation over Enlil, who was seen by earlier Mesopotamian civilizations as the king of the gods. 2 The accounts come from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh in Assyria. Originally discovered by Austen Henry Layard in 1849, they were published by George Smith in 1876. 3 Wikipedia contributors. "Enûma Eliš." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Sep. 2014. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. 2 | P a g e 2. Accounts from the Canaanites come from a series of tablets written in cuneiform and discovered at Ugarit (ancient name of the site on the northern Syrian coast) in what is called the Ras Shamra (modern name of the mound) tablets. a) In the Canaanite creation account, Baal defeats the sea monster, Yam for supremacy. b) This is the same Baal found throughout the Old Testament, and the same one whose prophets Elijah slew on Mount Carmel. c) Here is a brief synapsis of the “Baal Cycle” courtesy of Wikipedia.4 (Baal-Hadad is the same as Baal) Yam wants to rule over the other gods and be the most powerful of all Baal-Hadad opposes Yam and slays him Baal-Hadad, with the help of Anath and Athirat, persuades El to allow him a palace Baal-Hadad commissions Kothar-wa-Khasis to build him a palace. King of the gods and ruler of the world seeks to subjugate Mot Mot kills Baal-Hadad Anath brutally kills Mot, grinds him up and scatters ashes Baal-Hadad returns to Mount Saphon Mot, having recovered from being ground up and scattered, challenges Baal-Hadad Baal-Hadad refuses; Mot submits Baal-Hadad rules again B. Pattern of warfare that developed in the ANE and seen in biblical accounts as well 1. Longman and Reid make the case for a pattern that develops in the ANE, which follows a sequence.5 a) Warfare itself b) Victory in the war 4 Wikipedia contributors. "Baal Cycle." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Sep. 2014. Web. 19 Sep. 2014. 5 Longman and Reid, God Is a Warrior. 3 | P a g e c) The king is established by the victory d) The king builds a “house” (temple) e) Celebration follows 2. In the case of the Baal the pattern becomes clearly visible (the Baal cycle of the Ugaritic tablets tells this account) a) Baal challenges Yam=sea b) Baal defeats Yam c) El (chief god) appoints Baal over the pantheon of gods d) Baal builds a “house” = temple on Mt. Saphon (north) e) Baal throws a banquet C. The same pattern exists in the Bible. 1. Keep in mind that what I am trying to do here is to show that the patterns of warfare in the Bible exist in the ANE context. a) I am not saying the Bible copied them b) I am actually saying the opposite—God sets the pattern in the Bible and the devil copied it throughout the ANE. c) As an example of what I mean by that, let’s talk about the “opening of the mouth ceremony” in Egypt and Mesopotamia. (1) This ceremony is the final act of the demonization of an idol as the breath of the demon then enters the idol. (2) The ceremony can be seen as a perversion of the breath of life that God breaths into man. (3) So, what I am emphasizing is that the devil counterfeits and twists the biblical patterns. 2. Exodus 15:1-18 (Song of Moses) shows the pattern in the Exodus a) Warfare against the gods of Egypt b) Victory by the Lord at the Red Sea c) Praise of YHWH’s kingship 4 | P a g e d) Anticipation of the temple one day in the land 3. Israel’s early history shows the same pattern as the Lord engages in warfare for His people a) War: Conquest of the Land and the divine presence in the Ark that leads out in war b) Victory over the people of the land (Joshua then David) c) King (1) David becomes king and received eternal covenant (2 Sam. 7) (2) Solomon become the most glorious king (3) The can both be seen as foreshadows of Jesus in His first and second comings d) Temple (House Building) under Solomon e) Celebration (2 Chronicles 8) 4.
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