Your Warfare Is Ended!

Isaiah spoke a word of comfort to Isreal. Their warfare had ended, their sins were forgiven and they would be restored. The people had received retribution for their sins and the sins of their parents and it was now time for them to have rest. There were other times in the bible when rest was declared over God’s children. “And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands” (Joshua 21:44). This season followed years of intense warfare as the children of Isreal advanced towards the promise land. There were many giants in the land who tried to withstand them.

God kept his covenant promise to Abraham and the word he gave to Moses and Joshua concerning his children. “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). The Lord gave the people rest, once they had taken possession of the land of promise. As long as there were giants occupying the land of promise, the people did not have rest. They drove out the giants little by little and then the people allocated the land and settled on the land. “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses” (Joshua 1:3).

God also gave David and his people rest, after years of intense warfare and fighting. “Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies” (2 Samuel 7:1). God gave David rest after he took the ark of God and settled it in Isreal. The people praised and worshipped God and gave offerings before the ark of the Lord. “And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts”(2 Samuel 6:18).

We are soldiers in the army of God and there are seasons when we will experience intense warfare. There are also seasons of rest, after we have driven out the giants and taken possession of what God has promised. We have to take our God given authority, ask God for the strategies to take possession of what has been promised to us and dislocate any giant standing in the way of what belongs to us. Once we take possession, we consecrate ourselves to God in worship and thanksgiving and enter into our season of rest. “And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts” (2 Samuel 6:18).

A.P.-Y.