I AM YOUR SHIELD

Freed to Serve God

When God is your Shield, you are set absolutely free to do God’s will alone. Within His protection, you only fight when and how He asks you to. Under the New Covenant He does not allow us to attack even those who attack us. In the most difficult situations, we are under obligation to affirm our faith in God as the Saviour of the world, of all people, of all nations.

Abraham and His Offspring Insured

Survival warfare was the order of the day when God called Abram to make him a blessing to all nations. Fundamental to the assurance that made Abraham move out of safety zone was God’s assurance of his safety, that “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse” (Gen 12:3 ESV). The Lord reiterated this assurance after Lot left Abraham for Sodom, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." (Gen 15:1 ESV)

For Abraham to fulfill God’s mission, he had to leave his own mission of eking out survival (which was mainly through rampant warfare) in those times. God therefore retired him from the imperative and sustained feuds and warfare of those times, with the assurance, “I AM YOUR SHIELD”. The shield is a defensive weapon worn on the arm and or held by the hand, used to parry all offensive blows and weapons. In declaring Himself the shield of Abraham, God was effectively telling Abraham that he needed no longer fight anybody for his survival. If he would ever fight again, it would be as directed by God, since he and his household was concluded under the special protection of God.

An Army of Shepherds

Thus, Abraham converted all the men in his household into shepherds, armed only for deterrence purposes. Throughout his existence, Abraham himself was never directly or successfully attacked, and he never rushed to war. He sought negotiations, peace and sometimes abandonment of well earned resources. Abraham’s reputation among those among whom he lived was quite impressive and gave a good testimony to God.

A Promise to Abraham, Israel and You

God’s pledge to Abraham was equally valid for all his offspring, and those who relied on God as their shield prospered, while those who preferred offensive weapons of war and other survival maneuvers that ignored God earned poor reputations. Jacob relied on trickery for half of his life, and began to flourish only when he began relying on God. Moses was told from the very beginning that he and Israel with him had no bona fide battle, and that their battles were the Lord’s (Exo 14:14)

Battle is God’s

Joshua and Israel attacked only places the Lord indicated needed wiping out because “their cups were full”. (Gen 15: 16) They were therefore just mere instruments of God’s execution of justice. They were not fighting for themselves. So long as they dwelt within the bounds of God, Israel’s safety was never in question, as God himself fought for them on numerous occasions without they striking any blow. He drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea behind them (Exo 14:14), rained hailstones on …(Josh 10:11) caused … to turn on themselves (2 Chro 20:17) , caused the besieging Aramean army to flee at the sound of approaching lepers (2 Kings 7:11), sent angels (2 Kings 19:35). The successful kings of Israel and Judah are those who consulted God before warfare and relied on Him for the survival of the nations. Those who relied on warfare, intrigue and other gods failed woefully.

Any obsession with fighting, vindictiveness and wickedness therefore was and is sorely frowned upon. For example, although David was touted as a warrior on being called up to serve Saul, God rejected his offer to build the first temple for His name for being a “warrior and for shedding much blood”. (1 Sam 16:18, 2 Chro 22:7-8, 2 Sam 7:12-13; 8:1-).

God is not a Vindictive God

Nor does He hate any nation or any person. The apparently terrible executions of the Old Testament were rightly deserved judgments for the sake of preserving a remnant of people until the appointed time for the redemption of mankind. Many peoples walked in sin and were deserving of extermination as their cups filled up: Sodom and Gomorrah, for example, exalted debauchery and homosexuality to levels that are hardly conceivable today. If God’s judgment had not intervened, wickedness would have wiped mankind out before Christ. Even then, when God pronounced judgment, He always sought repentance, not destruction.

Unintended Effects

The intended effects of involving people in punishing sinful people was to sensitize them against engaging in the same negativeness they were permitted to punish others for. This was successful up to a point. However, its unintended effect on Israel is that they confused God’s mission to save the world through them as God’s desire to preserve only them against the nations, and engaged in several unwarranted atrocities that cast God in a bad light.

Our Struggle and Fight

The blessing of Abraham has passed on to those of us who believe in Christ Jesus, God is our shield! We should handle this better than Israel did (Mat 5:43-45). He has freed our hands from all weapons of personal warfare and replaced them with weapons for His mission. He assures us once again not to worry about who may be against us (Ro 8:31). Of course, we must equip ourselves for a struggle, but that equipment must only be for standing in the righteousness won for us by Christ as we send the Gospel of peace into a dark world (Eph 6:11-15). We are set free from the obligation to fight for ourselves, in order for us to fight to bring others from darkness – the fight the good fight of faith (1Tim 6:12). If we live in that knowledge, our reward for saving many souls will certainly be great. Amen!