2 Kings 13:25 (KJV)
And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
Elisha’s last act before his death was to encourage the king. He would defeat Syria, but it was accompanied by some annoyance because Elisha recognized that the king would not utterly defeat the enemy. The result was that the cities of Israel kept falling in and out of the hands of the enemy.
Imagine the frustration of the citizens of those cities. First, there was the danger. Certainly every time Syria took control of a city there would be deaths involved. People would be imprisoned, exiled, or worse. Children would be taken captive and enslaved, never to be seen or heard from again. The little girl who became Naaman’s slave comes to mind.
Then would come the conquest by Israel. There would still be tension, trouble, and probably loss of life in the battle and the transition back to their own culture. I am sure people liked it, but I am also sure they could tell when the victory was tenuous. Gaining a victory one can’t hold is not much of a victory.
I think we’ve seen something like that in recent years. The wars in the Persian Gulf, and then after 9-11, were shallow at best. Now we find ourselves in another conflict in the region, and one can only hope that—whatever you think of the current administration—they will have the resolve to finish what they’ve started.
Spiritually (or rather in church history) we see something similar in what happened in England when the nation was passed back and forth between Catholicism and the Church of England. The same people, the same church buildings, the same religious structure, even the same parishioners. But people were being executed right and left depending on who was on the throne, what religion they favored, and where the ministers and people leaned at the time. No one was really safe until something finally settled in England.
I also see in this a picture of what happens in a lot of modern-day Christianity. People who claim faith in Christ but are driven about by every wind of doctrine. They are faithful to church, and then they are not. They are dedicated to Christian service, and then they are not. They are regular in prayer and the Word of God, and then they are not.
And what happens is they are victorious in their lives—and then they are not.
Let’s apply the faith-or-works principle across the board. God says salvation is by grace and not of works, and that when one attempts to add works it is no longer of grace. It is all of grace or all of works, but it cannot be some of both. Christian faith is an all-or-nothing truth. One can’t have a foot in faith and a foot in the world. The friendship of the world is enmity with God.
The tragedy I witness so often around me is the collapse of marriages, families, children, and sometimes even churches because there is no real commitment to the things of God and no destruction of the things of the flesh.
As an older preacher, may God help me to spend my remaining years urging the younger generations toward a passionate, all-consuming walk with God and a clear separation from the flesh.
#FinishTheBattle #FaithfulToTheEnd #VictoryThatLasts #AllInForGod #StandFirmInFaith
The Danger of Winning Battles You Can’t Keep: Why Back-and-Forth Christianity Leads to Spiritual Defeat
What do you think about this lesson from 2 Kings 13? Have you ever seen a time when a victory didn’t last because the battle wasn’t finished? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
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