There is a battle line that has been drawn through the ages—a battle that began in heaven and is being played out on earth. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth according to Genesis 1:1. The Bible does not specify an exact date or time when God created angels, but it is clear that they existed before the creation of the earth and the subsequent creation of humanity. Job 38:4-7 suggests that angels were present when God laid the foundations of the earth, indicating they existed prior to the creation of the physical world. Angels are described as spiritual beings created to serve God and carry out His will. Deuteronomy 32:4 emphasizes God’s perfection, saying, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” These verses highlight God’s perfection and justice in all His actions. In Ezekiel 28 God gives us insight into the unfallen state of Lucifer, the anointed cherub that guarded His Throne. His beauty and workmanship and his talents were magnificent! Verse 15 reveals that “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Isaiah 14 details the overthrow of Lucifer because of his pride and rebellion wanting to be like God. He was cast out of heaven to earth with one-third of the angels who followed him. Hence, the sin, evil and rebellion that began in heaven was transferred to earth through Eve’s deception by the serpent and she and Adam’s disobedience to God. Lucifer became Satan, adversary of God and mankind and is the real unseen ruler of the successive world powers. According to verse 15 he knows that his days are numbered, and God will bring him down to hell and his fate in the lake of fire along with his minions. Verse 17 describes his goal: to make the world a wilderness, destroy the cities, to enslave mankind and bring death (separation from God). One of his most defining characteristics is that of a murderer, a title that underscores his role in the spiritual and physical destruction of life. This verse explores the biblical basis for understanding Satan as a murderer, destroyer and liar. BUT GOD in verses 20- 22 declares that the seed of evildoers will never be renowned; they will not rise and possess God’s land and creation; God will rise up against them saith the Lord of hosts—heavenly and earthly hosts! The Bible is the account of God’s victory over Satan, sin, evil and death through the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world, who rose on the third day, ascended into Heaven, sent His Spirit to empower His followers and will come again to finish the battle!
As we enter 2025, we must be encouraged that we can trust an unknown future into the hands of an All-Knowing God! The phrase “the battle is the Lord’s” is derived from 1 Samuel 17:47, where David declares this before facing Goliath. This statement emphasizes that the victory in any battle or struggle does not depend on human strength or weapons, but on the power and will of God. It reflects the belief that God is ultimately in control and will provide the necessary strength and victory to those who trust in Him. We see this principle reflected through all the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. Let us examine examples of God’s faithfulness and be assured that God is real, God has a plan, and God is in control!
God’s message to Zerubbabel by Zechariah is a truth that echoes throughout the Bible and is still true today: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6) God is not finished with His heavenly or earthly host—God wins! Let us review some of the examples of God’s ruling and overruling in the affairs of men to accomplish His plan of redemption. First, we see God killing innocent animals—shedding of innocent blood for clothing for Adam and Eve after their sin setting forth a picture of Christ’s death on the Cross for remission of sin. Second, in Genesis 6 we see Satan’s attempt to corrupt the race that the Messiah would come to redeem man, when the fallen angels (sons of God) invaded the human race taking wives from the daughters of men and producing a hybrid—giants. (Gen. 6: 2-4) We read in verses 5-7 that both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls in the air were corrupted by evil. God intervened and brought the Divine judgment of the flood and saved Noah and his family who had not been corrupted by the seed of Satan. God did a Divine Reset and a new beginning—a picture of the salvation in the Ark as God closed the door. Third, we see the battle continuing in Noah’s failure as he became drunk that led to an evil act by his son Ham. That act resulted in a curse upon his line and the producing of ungodly offspring including Nimrod (a picture of the Antichrist) who was a hunter of men’s souls. He was the builder of great cities and the progenitor of an attempt for world dominance in the building of the tower of Babel. His descendants were the arch enemies of God’s people—among them the Philistines (Goliath and present-day Palestinians), the Amorites and Canaanites and other giant clans. According to Amos 2:9-10, the Amorites are described as having the height of cedars and suggests that they were giants. Deuteronomy 3:8 mentions Og, an Amorite king, who is described as a giant. In Genesis 11, we see God’s judgment in verses 5-8 where the LORD came down, confused their language, scattered them over the earth, and stopped the building of the city.
We then see God’s hand upon the godly line of another of Noah’s sons—Shem to raise up the lineage of Abraham who would be God’s chosen to be the patriarch of the Hebrew nation and lineage through whom Christ would come. God chose Abraham to fulfill a significant role in His plan of redemption of humanity. According to Genesis 12: 1-3, God called Abraham to leave his homeland that was dominated by paganism and travel to a land that God would show him. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and through him all nations of the earth would be blessed.
Over and over in the Old Testament we see God conquering Satan and his foes. One of the accounts that stands out is God’s deliverance of His people from slavery and tyranny in Egypt (symbol of this world system in scripture). God called Moses, a man with a stammering tongue, to be His instrument in the Exodus and liberation of His people. We see in the miracles performed before Pharoah the dominance and power of God over the power of Satan and his pawns. With overwhelming power and might, God brought His people out of darkness and bondage by the blood of the Passover Lamb upon their doorposts. This was a picture of Christ’s sacrifice of passing from death into life as they were saved by the blood from the angel of death. We know that God brought victory in a miraculous way as He parted the Red Sea making a pathway for His chosen people on dry land and the destruction of Pharaoh and his army! God is greater than the enemy! God performed a major shift to liberate His people and move them into a place of blessing in the Promised Land.
It was God’s desire to set His people free and to bless them with a new beginning—to perform a Divine shift to fulfill His plan. It was only an eleven-day journey from Egypt to the Promised Land God promised to Abraham. The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. (Ex. 13: 21) God always goes before His people to make the way and give victory to His people. Moses led the children of Israel in a song of glorious triumphant of the LORD and declared “the LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name…Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy and in greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee; thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.” (vv. 3, 6-7) God provided for all their needs—manna, quails and water from a rock. God gave them His Law and Commandments and His Presence was in the Tabernacle with them. The journey was a faith walk with God and His chosen people. However, as they approached the Promised Land God instructed Moses to send spies into the land of Canaan. He said, “Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.” They came back with a report of a land flowing with milk and honey and great fruit BUT that the giant clans of the Amorites, Jebusites, and Canaanites—enemies of God already identified were present with the children of Anak being very great in size! The men that went in to scout the land said: “We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we and they gave an evil report about the giants.” (vv. 32-33) Caleb and Joshua only said to Moses: “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome.” (v. 31) Therefore, because of the unbelief of the people in God’s power and might to deliver, they would not enter Canaan but they would have to wander in the wilderness for forty years! The people had obeyed God in sprinkling the blood and coming out of Egypt, but did not enter the Canaan rest because of unbelief. (Heb. 3: 18-19) Therefore, although members of a redeemed nation, they were a forty-years’ grief to the LORD. God is looking for overcomers today who are willing to answer His rally cry like Caleb and Joshua: I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you; Be strong and courageous; Don’t turn to the right or to the left; Meditate day and night on the Word and obey it so you will prosper and be successful; Do not be afraid or dismayed for the Battle is the Lord’s! (Joshua 1: 5-9)
God wants us to learn life lessons from His Word as believers—to trust in His sovereignty during difficult times and to remind us that our battles are not our own but belong to the Lord. We as a nation and a church are in a pivotal place in history much like the Israelites as they faced the giant enemies in the Promised Land. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He is still a man of war with power and great strength who is able to overthrow the enemy that rises up against Him and His people and reduce them to stubble. The god of this world has not changed his tactics as this present world system, organized upon the principles of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and sinful pleasure, is his work. The giants of old described in the Bible that were the enemies of God and His people have taken on new forms and faces today as Satan seeks to wield his final attempt to have his kingdom and be worshipped as God. Today we have a multitude of giants that are enemies that are Satan’s instruments to bring deception, destruction and death to God’s people—both the Jews and the Body of Christ and His creation. The modern-day Pharaohs have sought to enslave the people by overreach of control and power; taxation and slavery to debt; censorship; unlawful acts and violation of human rights and privileges; control of media that generate lies and fear; a corrupt justice system; a police surveillance state that spies on its citizens; a culture that targets Christians and deems them domestic terrorists; devaluation of life, godly marriage and gender and the list could go on. An attack has been launched upon life itself through the poisoning of the air, water, food and soil. There have also arisen the giants of entertainment, big pharma, social media, pornography, sexual perversion and specifically pedophilia, addictions, cancel culture, illegal immigration, witchcraft and satanism, and a high-jacked medical and education system to name the most prominent. None of these takes God by surprise as He sees it all and like in the days of Exodus “the LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name…Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy and in greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee; thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.” God is calling us to be a Joshua and Caleb at such a time as this—to stand and resist the evil giants! The Battle is the Lord’s—they will be destroyed! God will have the final word! God is giving us His marching orders as He did with Joshua and Caleb: Use God’s Word as our offensive weapon against any foe! (When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He responded to each of Satan’s three temptations by appealing to God’s unchanging Word.) Put on the whole armor of God that we can stand against the wiles of the devil! Watch, keep guard and pray! Surrender—God’s will over our will! Do not fear or be discouraged! Stand firm in the Lord and in the power of His Spirit! Make disciples! Keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all God is doing! God is about to take out the trash—the Battle is the Lord’s! “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Eph. 3: 20-21)