Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
There are many in the world today that would take arms against God, thinking to shout him down and defeat him. How quaint. Joel records these verses, quoting the surrounding nations calling for an attack on Jerusalem. You may have noticed the reversal of Isaiah 2:4, where the swords will become plowshares and spears, pruning hooks. No one knows which writing came first but it illustrates the contrast between the purpose of God and that of man. Man still contends with God but now instead of swords and spears, they use words and images, educating our children to reject God’s statutes for those of their own making. They, and possibly you too, may think they are winning.
What if we Christians had a similar call to arms, not with weapons but with the sword of the Spirit. There was a time when we could lament the state of the world but resign ourselves to our role in it. Those days may be over. It may be time to go on the offensive with the gospel, and the gospel is offensive. We can no longer sacrifice our children to the world and its perverted teaching. Let all men and women of war draw near. Let us lovingly advance the gospel, one person at a time. Armed with a Bible, tell someone that there is a better way and Jesus Christ is that Way. With the gospel in your quiver, even the weak can say…
I am a warrior.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church