24/03/2022
When David Captured Jerusalem, Part 1
One of the great errors of the Church is to limit the expectation of our faith to what God did with previous generations. It is not wrong to want what others had, but God actually has more for us than what occurred in past eras. Indeed, many promises concerning the Church are yet to be fulfilled before Jesus returns. The Bible tells us that the Church will not only experience "perilous times" in the last days (2 Tim. 3:1, KJV), but also seasons of restoration and refreshing (Acts 3:21). Consequently, in the midst of worldwide conflicts, the Kingdom of God on earth will continually be restored and renewed until it is conformed to the Kingdom of God in Heaven! Plan on seeing new harvests and expressions of God's glory and power. We should expect to see wonders that our fathers did not see (Acts 2:19-21)! Yes, and let us also trust that the promises we fail to possess, our children will walk in.
We can find encouragement and guidance once again in the life of King David. He was born into a time similar to ours. The Hebrews were in the Promised Land, but they shared the land with unconquered enemies. When David became king, he knew that God had promised more for Israel than the Jews had attained. In particular was the fact that the Jebusites still occupied the area now known as Jerusalem. Now if David measured himself by the success of his predecessors, he never would have contemplated an attack against the Jebusites. The Jebusites were a fierce mountain people and, in spite of being on the list of nations to be dispossessed by Israel, they had never been conquered.
Think of it: Israel's greatest heroes from Joshua to the judges had tried and failed to conquer the Jebusites. Thus, the Jebusites were contemptuous when they heard of David's plan to possess their chief city, Jebus (Jerusalem). They mocked Israel's young king, saying, "You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away" (2 Sam.5:6).
There are two lessons here. First, for everyone who desires to see the awesome promises of God fulfilled, the Lord is saying to us all, Don't be conditioned by the past! Just because you have not seen the manifest power of God over your church or city or nation, do not take that as a forerunner of things to come. God can change everything overnight.
The second lesson is this: it probably will not be the devil himself who comes out to defeat us; rather, we must guard against the misguided advice of unbelieving Christians. Remember, the taunt of the Jebusites was that the "blind and lame shall turn you away." We may stand firm in faith against the spiritual hosts of wickedness only to be defeated by the spiritually "blind and lame" sitting next to us in church.
Who are the blind? Put simply, they are the ones who do not see the vision you see. They are blind to the faith-future God has put in your heart. We cannot let people who do not see our visions become our counselors. Beware of becoming sympathetic toward the spiritually blind. A little leaven of their unbelief can undermine your faith in a time of battle.
Along with the spiritually blind are the emotionally lame. These are people who have stumbled over something (or someone) in the past. They no longer walk stride for stride with Christ. Beware of sharing your dreams with cynics. If we heed the warnings of the "lame," it will only be a matter of time before their woundedness and lack of grace depletes our strength. Then we, too, will become overly cautious and suspicious.
Although we need counsel from other Christians, and we must remain forgiving and kind toward those in opposition, we cannot allow the words of the spiritually blind and the emotionally lame to guide us.
The fact is, Satan has watched the failures of many Christians. One can almost sense the devil's scorn as pastors and intercessors pray for citywide or national revival. The devil's taunts are not without substance, for generally speaking, our spiritual forebears have failed in dislodging the strongholds of wickedness from their cities. History is indeed on the adversary's side.
But God has given us His unalterable, immutable Word. He promises:
"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith" (Hab. 2:3-4).
To "live by faith" is to believe God until the vision He gave comes to pass. David believed God, and in spite of history being on the side of the Jebusites, we read: "Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion" (2 Sam. 5:7).
