Animals, Colors, Metals, Numbers and Signs in Scripture.

600  War, and Weapons of War Continued

The Cost of War and Its Weapons

1 Ki. 10:26 "And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. 28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means."

While war is needful for defeating the enemies that would destroy us and for defending ourselves against those who would enslave us, yet there is a great cost for waging war.  In the above example, Solomon and the children of Israel paid six hundred shekels of silver for a chariot and one hundred and fifty shekels for a horse.  Since they had a thousand and four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, the cost was very great.  In a natural sense, the cost of war and being prepared for war is extremely steep in our country today.

Our warfare in the Kingdom of God is not a natural warfare, yet there still is a high price to pay in this spiritual warfare.  To be a soldier in the army of God, one must be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  The following verses tell us of the cost of discipleship and ultimately the cost of fighting the good fight of faith:

    1.  Luke 14:25 "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

    2.  Luke 9:57 "And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

    3.  Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

    4.  John 8:31 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

    5.  John 13:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

    6.  John 15:8 "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."

    7.  Matt. 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

From the above we draw the following conclusions of the cost of discipleship and of fighting the good fight of faith:

1.  We must love the Lord more than we love any of our family members.

2.  We must love the Lord more than we love our own life.

3.  We must take up our crosses daily.

4.  We must forsake all that we have to follow the Lord and be his disciple.

5.  We must be willing to not have a certain dwelling place.

6.  We must put serving the Lord above all else, even the burying of our father.

7.  We must put the Lord's service ahead of saying goodbye to our friends and family at home.

8.  The Lord must be our master and not mammon.

9.  We must continue in the Lord's word.

10.  We must love one another.

11.  We must bear much fruit.

12.  We must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Further, there are additional costs to being a good soldier in the army of God.  We must be willing to bear hardships, to be unselfish, to do things the Lord's way and not our way.  We must be willing to trust the Lord and his word.

The Mercies of God Manifest at Rock Rimmon 

Judg. 20:47 "But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months." 

In the 19^th and 20^th Chapters of the book of Judges, we read of a civil war in Israel.  The tribe of Benjamin had allowed and many had participated in the commission of Sodomy.  The scriptures plainly teach us that God had cast out the nations which dwelt in the land of Canaan before the children of Israel because of their wicked practices.  One of their wicked practices was that they engaged in sodomy.  Now the tribe of Benjamin was embracing the practice that resulted in the destruction of those nations preceding Israel in the land of Canaan.  Ultimately, this led to a war between Benjamin and the other eleven tribes of Israel.  In this war, Benjamin was put to the worst and all of Benjamin including men, women, and children were destroyed except for the remnant army of six hundred men. 

These six hundred men fled for their lives to the rock Rimmon, hoping to find shelter from the opposing army.  Rimmon was a deity worshipped by the Syrians.  In summary, the Benjaminite army had fought for the wrong cause (Sodomy) and then sought shelter in a false God.  One might think that God would destroy them, yet that was not the case.  Rather God was merciful to them for they were a part of the nation with which God had covenanted.  God moved the other tribes to mourn for Benjamin and to speak kindly to them and to find wives for them. 

Many of God's children today fight for wrong causes, engage in evil practices and worship false gods.  Yet God is merciful to his children.  His grace is manifest as they are a part of his covenant of redemption.  They will ultimately be housed in heaven's glory world.  While we often are chastened and punished for evil works and rebellion here in time, yet God is still merciful to us and will glorify every one that he foreknew before the foundation of the world.

The Greatest War of all Time

1 Chr. 21:25 "So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight."

2 Chr. 3:8 "And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents."

Satan had prompted David to number the children of Israel and for this sin of David, the Lord pronounced a plague of three days upon the children of Israel.  When the angel of the Lord stood with his sword drawn over Jerusalem, the Lord commanded David to go to Ornan, the Jebusite, and purchase the ground of the threshing floor, set up an altar, and make an offering.  When David had done this, the Lord stayed his hand and the plague was stopped.

The place that David purchased from Ornan was the same place on which Solomon and the children of Israel built the temple: 2 Chr. 3:1 "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite." 

There is a very strong correlation in the scriptures between the number six hundred and the subject of war and weapons of war.  The site that David purchased cost six hundred shekels of gold.  The most holy house that Solomon built was overlaid with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.  These two events point us to the greatest war of all time.  The site that David purchased was the site of the offering.  The holy place was the place where the High Priest presented the offering of the yearly sacrifice to God.  The sacrifice was a type of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 

The place of offering was typical of our High Priest, Jesus Christ, offering his blood to God: Heb. 9:11 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

The number six hundred suggests that the above was done in connection with a war.  The war was a war that only Christ could wage.  All of the elect had fallen in this war and, subsequently, completely unable to wage war.  The enemies in this war were Satan, sin, death, hell, and the grave.  There has never been a greater array of enemies than these.  None of Adam's race had been able to stand against this array of enemies.  They had conquered all.  Now, the greatest warrior King of all time had come to do battle with this array of enemies.  He came alone to do battle against this array of enemies.  There was none to help him.  In this battle this warrior King, Jesus Christ, waged war throughout his life against sin, as he first was conceived without sin and lived without sin.  Though Satan and his host (the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, priests, scribes, etc.) fired their best shots to try to get Jesus to sin, yet they were completely unsuccessful.  In addition, there were many plots and efforts to try to destroy Jesus, but they were all unsuccessful. 

Next, Jesus willingly went to the cross in this battle against this array of enemies in order to destroy Satan, sin, hell, death, and the grave.  On the cross, he was made to be sin for us in this war: 2 Cor. 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  He suffered the wrathful judgment of God poured out against the sins of the elect.  Subsequently, sin was destroyed and hell was conquered: Rom. 8:33, 34 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." 

Jesus died on the cross that death, the grave, and the Satan might be conquered.  He arose three days and nights later conquering, death, the grave, and Satan: Heb. 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 

Therefore, our conquering warrior King, Jesus Christ has legally and positionally gotten the victory over this great array of enemies.  The final consummation of that victory will come in the resurrection: 1 Cor. 15:51 "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

At the time of the resurrection, Satan, his angels, and the non-elect will be cast into the lake of fire to be bound there for eternity.  The elect, because of the efforts of their warrior King, will be carried to heaven's glory world to be with Christ in all eternity.  Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ who fought and conquered in the greatest war of all time.