Bible Studies: Total Victory Part 2

Keeping the Peace

Second Chronicles gives us an account of King Asa. During his times of peace, he removed foreign altars and high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Israel to seek the Lord and obey His commandments. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town, and built fortified cities in Judah.

The Scripture: 2 Chronicles 14:5

“No one was at war with him during those years and the Lord gave him rest.”

1. What was significant about these times?

As spiritual warriors we might expect that we would be allowed some time off between battles. But we see that during these times of rest, we must fortify ourselves in the Lord.

Personal Question:

• How can we, as Christian soldiers, fortify ourselves in the Lord?

To the Victor

A look at several passages of scripture will show us what we should be doing during these times of peace.

The Scripture: Numbers 31:10-11

“They (the Israelites) burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled as well as all their camps. They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, to Moses and Eleazar.”

2. What did the Israelites do following their victory?

Read the following scriptures and list the results of victory in each case.

The Scripture: Joshua 11:14

“The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed.”

3. How did the Israelites respond to their victory?

The Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:25

“Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder…There was so much plunder that it took them three days to collect it.”

4. What was the result of the Israelites’ victory?

Those engaged in spiritual warfare should be seeing tremendous victories. We should not only be winning the individual battles we set out to accomplish but we should be reaping spiritual dividends as well.

In the account of Jericho, when the two spies entered Jericho, they were hidden by the prostitute, Rahab.

The Scripture: Joshua 2: 8-9

“Before the spies lay down for the night, she went upon the roof and said to them, ‘I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.”

5. What did Rahab tell the two spies?

Just as the exploits of God’s mighty warriors have the power to strike terror into the hearts of Satan’s troops, we should never be satisfied with small victories. We should keep up the warfare until the enemy turns tail and runs, leaving behind the spoils of lives set free, whole areas coming out from under the dominion of their wicked one.

The Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

We have been given our objective and our marching orders.

6. What did Jesus say He had come to do?

How many prisoners have you released lately? How many downtrodden have you set free? If this was Jesus’ job while He was on earth, isn’t it even more so our job now that He has returned to heaven and left the establishing of the King in our hands?

Personal Question:

• Can you think of a time when you successfully fought through a spiritual battle? What were the spoils?

The Scripture: Luke 11: 21-22

”When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.”

Satan is the strong man in this passage.

7. What was his previous position?

8. Who is the One stronger?

9. What has He done to the strong man?

This is a picture of how Jesus described Himself, even before Calvary. Think how much power He has over Satan today.

Personal Question:

• If Jesus has given us His authority, what does that make us today in terms of the parable He told?

Yes, Jesus has left us fully armed, with the power to destroy the strongman who is illegally living in the territory that rightfully belongs to Jesus and to us. It is time we began our warfare in earnest, settling for nothing less than total victory!