Bill Johnson - Principles of Warfare
Open your Bibles to Second Kings chapter six. We’ve got four stories, three of which we’re going to read parts of. The amount of time and the length of the message just make it impossible for me to read the bulk of the story, but I will try to give you the context. Has anyone figured out yet that God thinks completely differently than we do? It’s not close; it’s not even similar. He thinks completely differently. One word from God is more powerful than a million well-intentioned words from good friends. One word changes everything. He literally spoke the worlds into being. What we’re going to look at today is that I want to examine principles of warfare. I’m not interested in creating an atmosphere where we intensely focus on destroying the powers of darkness—Jesus already did that. Our responsibility is to implement the victory He has already obtained for us. However, I do want to bring out certain principles and then wrap them up with a conclusion.
Here’s a strange story: in Second Kings six, the Syrian army was coming against the people of God and was about to destroy them. They were skilled enough and their numbers were great enough to destroy them, but there was a secret weapon called Elisha. Elisha, the prophet of God, was sent out, and he prayed and called down blindness on this army. So if you can imagine a Syrian army—you’re buff, you’re strong, you’re ready to have this great victory—and suddenly blindness comes over the entire army. Well, Elisha’s there, and he just kind of herds the cattle and takes them into the city of Samaria. Then he says, «God, remove the blindness,» and suddenly this entire army is inside the city of God, surrounded by Israel’s army. They realize they went from aggressively attacking a city to being captives. They didn’t do anything; they just literally followed Elisha into the city and found themselves captive.
So here’s the story, and it’s unusual. Verse 21: the king of Israel saw them and said, «My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?» I just think it’s so funny; it sounds like a little five-year-old saying, «Can I kill him? Can I?» I’m sorry; I know this is R-rated, but most of the Bible is. Benny and I wrote this book on raising kids called «Raising Giant Killers,» and somebody wrote me a note saying, «That’s a rather morbid title.» I responded, «Yeah, a lot of the Bible stories are rather morbid, so adjust.» Alright, verse 21: when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, «My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?» But he answered, «You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.» Then he prepared a great feast for them. Afterward, they ate and drank, and he sent them away; they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more to the land of Israel.
This is one of the strangest—we’re going to look at three awkward victories—but this is one of the strangest ways to win a battle: feed your enemy. There are times when compassion will take you into triumph and victory that skilled warfare and all your praying and fasting will not. There’s something about compassion. Compassion is so vital that in Ezekiel 16 there’s this bizarre dialogue about sexual perversion that had taken over society. The Lord, in verse 49, says the reason this giant grew to dominate the hearts, minds, and values of people was because you left the door open with the absence of compassion and caring for the poor.
So it’s such a big deal that when compassion is demonstrated, it transforms not only the immediate condition—in this case, food—but it did more than that. The Passion Translation—sorry, I forgot to look up the verse again—but the Passion Translation in Proverbs has this one verse that says, «Through our generosity, we awaken the conscience of other people.» That’s stunning! Through our acts of kindness, we actually awaken people’s awareness of what is written in their heart by God Himself. Compassion, generosity, and kindness awaken that stuff in people’s lives. That’s what happened here. Suddenly, warriors that wanted to destroy Israel lost the desire to destroy anyone, and they no longer went into Israel to fight and war, simply because they got fed. It wasn’t the power of food; it was the power of kindness.
Compassion is generosity of heart. It may be a meal; it may be a hug; it may be an afternoon of counsel. The point is that excellence here creates a generous heart where compassion is demonstrated. The second one is in Second Chronicles 20. If you look there, it’d be great—Second Chronicles chapter 20. Here’s one that the first two are, I think, fairly well-known to us as a church family. The third one is just weird. These are strange, but the third one is even stranger. The first one, the compassion and generosity thing, is well known. We’ve had the way we live our lives and the way we have run things here as a ministry.
I remember in the early days, we wouldn’t have enough money in the bank to pay staff salaries, and I would go into Steve’s office and say, «Write me a check to such and such a church. We’re going to help them pave their parking lot; they don’t have the money to pay for their own parking lot.» So we would take out of our place of need and just break through that thing through generosity. It affects the people you’re serving, but it affects you too. It transforms a value system here, and that’s what we did. The Lord enabled us to get out of messes by doing the opposite of what you would think in the natural. That is, you listen to what God is saying, and you move accordingly and express that generosity, and it breaks that cycle.
Well, here’s another story: Israel is being invaded, surrounded, if you will, by Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. All these nations have banded together in an alliance to destroy the people of God. Jehoshaphat hears of this, and he’s absolutely terrified; he calls for a prayer meeting, and then he calls for a fast—a fast. He calls for the people to cry out to God, and so they do. In the midst of this prayer time, a prophet stands up and begins to prophesy—a guy named Jahaziel—and in the midst of this assembly, he begins to prophesy, «Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! You won’t have to fight in this battle. God’s going to fight on your behalf.» So this prophetic word is released. It says later that Israel trusted in their prophets and succeeded, which is very important. You have to recognize the word of the Lord, regardless of who it comes from. Your job is to recognize when it’s Him. It may come from a child; it may come from a prophet or something.
I remember once I wanted so badly to test drive this new car, and I knew I wasn’t supposed to buy a car. So what I did was talk myself into just test driving it. I said, «Lord, I’m not going to buy. I just want a test drive.» So I took the family to the car lot; we got into the car. My kids were small—Benny and the boys were in the back seat—and I get behind the wheel; the salesman is right here to my right. I start the car, and Brian is in the back seat. He starts to sing, «Be careful, little eyes, what you see. Be careful, little eyes, what you see. There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love, so be careful, little eyes, what you see.» I did not enjoy that test drive; it totally ruined the entire moment for me. I literally pulled out of the driveway, pulled around the block, parked it, and left. It was just horrible; I had no conversation. It completely ruined a really good test drive of a car that I thought would be perfect for my life. Trust your prophets and succeed.
But we come down to verse 22; it says, «Now when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.» I love stories like this. This particular theme is actually prevalent throughout the Old Testament, especially from David onward. He learned in his own experience the power of praise. He learned that God actually establishes His throne upon the praises of His people. He saw in his own experience the triumph of how worship and praise transform a person’s life. We’ve learned together that when things are difficult, you don’t respond according to the circumstance. You respond according to the nature of God. When we do that, when we’re anchored into the heart and the nature of God and the nature of His promises, we have reason to celebrate before the answer. This scripture, this story goes on to say the Lord made them rejoice over their enemies. The key was they rejoiced before they won the battle.
By the way, don’t ever think the battle is between God and the devil—there is no threat there whatsoever. Satan is not the opposite of God; he’s an adversary of Michael. They are both created beings. There is no struggle between God and the powers of darkness; that is a laughable concept. The enemy only exists as a training ground for the people of God who will reign with Him forever. It has one purpose alone: God designed humanity to destroy the powers of darkness in creation. We had that assignment, but with sin, we forfeited the ability to defeat him. So Jesus took on flesh, defeated the powers of darkness on our behalf, and then handed us the keys of His own personal victory. We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory towards the broken conditions of life. That is the responsibility of every believer. So when we talk about warfare, we have reason to celebrate ahead of time because the battle has literally already been won. We’re just learning how to apply that which Jesus has been victorious over.
In this particular story, they began to sing, and the Lord set ambushes before the people of God. I had an interesting experience about 20 years ago—fairly soon after we had been here for 22 years, I think it’s 22 years? What year is this? What year is it? 19? We’ve been here 23 years this week. About 21 years ago, it was a Saturday night; I was fast asleep in the middle of the night, and a voice awakened me—the voice of the Lord woke me up. I don’t remember the time, but He woke me up with His voice. I laid there literally the rest of the night putting this phrase through my mind, and come back next week, and I’ll tell you exactly what that phrase was. That’s just so cruel, but that’s what I do. You know, He spoke to me, and He woke me with His voice, and this is what He said: «He watches over the watch of those who watch the Lord.» He watches over the—I literally laid there all night thinking that through. What does this mean? We know that we have responsibility. If you’re a parent, you’re a watchman over your children and your household. If you’re a pastor, you’re a watchman. If you’re a business owner, you’re a watchman over that place of responsibility. We all have responsibilities, and God never leads us to be irresponsible. But He was showing us how His world works—He was showing me, I should say, in this situation. He spoke to me, and He said, «Basically, I’ll watch over your watch if you’ll watch Me.»
And that’s what worship is: worship is the engagement of heart to heart. The word worship actually means to kiss; it’s a face-to-face encounter. The Lord draws us into this kind of relationship regardless of circumstances because He remains the same. His promises have solutions and answers for every problem we could ever face in our lifetime. Whatever you think is the biggest problem in your life right now, He already has a plan and a solution charted out for that situation. It is not Russian roulette; it’s not random. I hope we get a breakthrough—He has a very specific course of direction where His redemptive touch will be applied to that problem. That’s who He is. That is His nature. And because that is so absolutely true, we have every reason—kingdom reasoning is: I get to celebrate ahead of time! In thanksgiving and praise, whenever we offer thanksgiving to the Lord, we thank Him for what He has done; we praise Him for who He is.
What’s important, what I learned early on is that I would get so discouraged; I’d get so bummed out, and there’d just be like this cloud over me. I’d try to quote scripture or do whatever to try to get my head cleared, but it just wouldn’t work. What I finally figured out is that the darker the cloud, the more exuberant my praise needed to be. So the time I least felt like dancing before the Lord is when I would dance before the Lord. The least time I felt like shouting and raising my hands, laying prostrate before the Lord, whatever it might be, those were the moments I would do that, and it would break that cycle over me. You can stand here like this for five days and have nothing happen, but when you give yourself—spirit, soul, and body—to glorify His name through your offering, something happens. The air becomes charged with the power and the presence of God because He shows up in that moment to deliver, He shows up in that moment to heal. I remember in the early days having to learn that because I knew it on paper, but I didn’t know my experience.
In thanksgiving, we give Him a sacrifice for what He has done, and in praise, for who He is. But in worship, I’m the offering; I just step right onto the altar. «Here I am. Do as You please; accomplish Your purposes.» That’s really what worship is.
The next story I consider to be the strangest of all—if worshiping your way to triumph wasn’t challenging enough, let’s take it to another level. Go to Zechariah chapter one. Are you alive? Are you still breathing and everything? Good. It’s hard to explain when people die in the meeting. Zechariah chapter one—a book next to the last in the Old Testament. If you get to Matthew, turn left; if you’re in Psalms, turn it hard right because you’ve got a ways to go, but you’ll get there.
Alright, let me mention two items in prophetic language that exist in this story so that as we read it, it’ll make a little bit more sense. First of all, when you see horns in scripture, horns represent authority and power. The horns of an animal represent its strength, so anytime you see horns—the horn of David—David didn’t have horns coming out of his head; it was his authority, it was the power that he lived in. When you see the number four, it often refers to the four corners of the earth: north, south, east, west. In other words, it’s a global reaction to something.
So let’s look at this passage beginning with verse 18 of Zechariah chapter one: «Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns.» And I said to the angel who talked with me, «What are these?» So he answered me, «These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.» Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen, and I said, «What are these coming to do?» And he said, «These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up their head. But the craftsmen are coming to terrify them and cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.»
Now let’s read 21 again: «And I said, what are these coming to do?» So these are the horns, or the powers, that have been used to scatter the people of God so that no one could lift their head. The craftsmen, the artisans, the creative team is coming to terrify the horns and cast out the powers that have been released to the nations that have brought division and loss of vision, loss of identity that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
So here’s this very strange story where the prophet is standing there, and he’s having a vision, but he doesn’t understand it. He sees horns coming and asks, «God, what is this?» He said, «These are the powers—these are the horns—that it’s a global release against the people of God to bring destruction.» Then he says, «I see them coming.» And then he says, «Oh, I see four artisans, four craftsmen.» The creatives have been released. What are they released to do? They will terrify the powers of the earth that have been released to divide and take away the identity of the people of God.
What do you have when you have a people who cannot even lift their head? You have loss of courage, loss of vision, and loss of identity. Those three things are robbed from the hearts of people at that point. The scripture says God is the glory and the lifter of our head. He is the one who restores identity. He lifts our head because He is a perfect Father who, through His countenance, gives us identity, and it’s in that embrace, if you will, in that face-to-face with a loving Father that our identity is shaped and formed in us.
He’s the glory. You know you have a child who’s done something wrong, and they hang their head. You lift their head and say, «Now look at me, son. Listen, you are forgiven.» What’s happening there? There is the joyful acceptance of a loving father, a loving mother, to release forgiveness and identity, to restore identity and get rid of shame, restoring that back to the child’s life. That’s what’s happening here.
But what is unusual is the tool that God used to destroy these powers that were released into the earth to bring division and loss of identity, and it was the creative people. Now, I don’t mean just singers and painters, but that’s huge. It is the creative expression of God that uniquely fits into every person’s life—that has sent the city to Jesus. I don’t care if you’re an accountant. I don’t mean creatively doing the books and changing the numbers; I mean the way you handle the people you work with, the way you display the excellence and the beauty of your work. Everything we do is to be done with a touch of excellence and beauty.
This was such a profound thing in Solomon’s life that he actually won the heart of the queen of Sheba who came to visit him, not just through the answers he gave—he answered every question she had—but the only things listed were the stairway from his house to the house of God, the clothing of his servants, the way the tables were set, and the way they were fed. All the natural mundane things had been so impacted by this genius, by this man of wisdom, that expressed a level of creativity that stunned her and made her speechless.
It was that value that was set on beauty and excellence that restored identity—not only for Solomon; it was for the people of God. It was for the nation of Israel. Israel obtained a sense of identity and purpose through the beauty that was released through the leadership of this man, Solomon.
Stunning. I was looking through an introduction of a book—I apologize I haven’t read the whole book yet—I understand it’s outrageously wonderful. I’ve got to get rid of Dr. Geezer; here we go. Brian Zane wrote a book called «Beauty Will Save the World,» and I absolutely love the title. In fact, I wrote a chapter in a book that I have—"Power That Changes the World» on beauty itself. He sent groups of teams of people, Prince Vladimir sent these groups to research the religions of the world. Prince Vladimir the Great was looking for a religion that would unite his people. He was a heathen; it wasn’t that he was looking to be converted, but he wanted to research the religions of the world to see what to bring to his people so that they would find a sense of identity, be united together in purpose.
So he released the envoy to examine Christianity. They went to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, and this is what they wrote in response to their visit to this capital. «So then we went to Constantinople and they led us to the place where they worshiped their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or earth, for on earth, there is no such vision nor beauty, and we do not know how to describe it. We only know that God dwells among men. We cannot forget that beauty.»
When a people lose their sense of identity, the value of beauty goes downhill because the value switches to survival. The Lord… It’s not just about a nice painting—although I love them, and I have some nice pieces in my home. It’s not just about them; it’s not just about the beautiful design of an automobile or the coat or the dress that you bought or whatever. It includes all of that. It’s about this approach to life that says, «I serve a God of excellence,» and excellence demands I give attention to beauty because beauty restores the soul of a people.
There’s something about the creative expression released over a family. My mom was amazing. We celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday and the day before, and we will continue for the next couple weeks probably. Our home, no matter how much money we had or didn’t have, she had this ability to add such beauty to every home we ever lived in. We could be as poor as could be, and I would never know it because everything she touched—honestly, not just because she’s here, I’ve said this all over—she has such an artistic eye and a value for beauty and for excellence. If she couldn’t buy it, and she didn’t have the money, she would make it, and she did. I grew up around beauty—paintings she would paint, I mean outrageously good paintings.
So I grew up in this environment where beauty had this place of value—where it not only was on the wall, it had to be in the right place on the wall, a correct distance from this one that is also beautiful. Everything was so structured for excellence and beauty that we grew up in that environment, and I don’t know—it’s only been in recent years I realized, «Oh my goodness, I’m a spoiled brat in the nicest possible way.» I grew up in an environment where everything was beautiful.
They never set up the table and ever heard them criticize another person. I never once—don’t ever—because there was excellence of speech, excellence of honor. It was an excellence of value and celebrating. They believed they could do anything. She still thinks that’s true—don’t tell her otherwise. I jokingly told my dad once I was about 20 or so; I said, «I think I’ll pick up the violin.» He said, «Damn.»
So he finally came to his senses and thought there’s one thing you can’t do—you can never play. Beauty is God’s mark that helps to restore the soul of the people. God is not a God that makes do. I mean, how much sky do we need? When He multiplied food, there was never just enough; it was always more than necessary, but He didn’t waste anything. He was always extravagant.
And the hour has come for the people of God to place value because you are going to be used by the Lord to help restore the soul of a city that was devastated through fire this last year, and it’s going to be through beauty. It’s going to be through the homes that you rebuild, the enablement and the help we have to stand alongside and help people restore their lives, their businesses, their families. It’s all through this thing called excellence and beauty.
There’s one of my favorite quotes in all of history—not from the Bible, I apologize ahead of time for that, but it’s a good one—from John Adams, one of the founding fathers of our nation. It’s a pretty popular quote, so many of you have probably heard it: «I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics, philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.» He understood something. He understood that it is all about creating this culture where we’re advancing to the place our souls are restored, and beauty has its rightful place.
It’s not misplaced; it’s not worshipped. It’s a normal expression of those who are healthy in here. The last story I will just make reference to: David was being attacked by the Philistines, and it says, «And David inquired of the Lord, 'Shall I go up against them? Will you give them into my hand? ' And the Lord said, 'Go up against them; I will certainly give them into your hand.'» He does, and he brings about a tremendous victory. Shortly thereafter, the Philistines decide to attack again, and David inquires of the Lord and says, «Shall I go up against them? Will you give them into my hand?» And the Lord says, «No, do not go up against them; circle around them, and when you hear marching in the mulberry trees, that’ll be a sign to you: go after them.»
Here’s the deal: momentum. The momentum of success creates an assumption that I know what the will of God is in this next situation. It’s the most dangerous area for me; I confess it outright. Every time I read through David’s story, I come face to face with the fact that if I’ve had a victory here and I’ve had one here, it creates the momentum: «Oh, I know what God’s will is.» And don’t do what David did, where he inquired of the Lord, «Shall I go up against them?» He already knows God wants him to be victorious; he already knows God has promised that land; he already knows all that stuff. So based on principle, he’s supposed to go up against them. But principle without presence is a kingdom without a king.
The lifestyle we’ve been summoned to live is that in response to the voice of the Lord, I’m a person of principle. I study principle; I love the principles of the kingdom; it’s what I give myself to. I love to learn about the power of generosity and kindness and the things we just talked about—the incredible things that take place in worship—all that stuff I love. I love looking for the gold in people’s lives and calling those things to the surface—all the principles of the kingdom, the value of honor, how it shapes culture. These are all kingdom values; I love all of it. The problem is it’s really easy to misapply a principle or to apply it at the wrong time.
I’ll give you a case in point: the Bethel family has heard me quote this one many times in Proverbs. Solomon says, «Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him.» So I look at that, and I go, «There’s the principle: don’t talk to a fool.» The very next verse he says, «Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.» So like which one of those do I do? And that’s the point: He puts us in a position where unless He speaks, we don’t know what to do. The addiction, if I can use that term in a positive sense, is not to be to principles we put to memory; the addiction is to the face, it’s to the voice—it’s when He speaks!
So Father, I ask that You would release a fresh grace over this family of believers, those who watch on Bethel TV, that there would be something released over us of a caution, a care—not a paranoia, but an acute awareness of our need just to hear: Do we go up against them or not? If so, what do we do? How? When? Help us to become a people that are nervous to make assumptions but are delighted to yield to Your voice. I pray for that grace upon this church family in Jesus' name. Amen.