As Joel
described the invading army to the people of Judah, he told them they
would “run like mighty men, and shall march every one on his
ways”. There was to be no “breaking of the ranks”
among them as they were to be unified, and in chapter two and verse
eight of his prophecy Joel gave a further description as he wrote,
they shall neither “thrust another” nor
be “wounded” which they “fall upon the sword”
where we read:
Neither
shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path:
and when
they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
The
verse begins, “Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk
every one in his path:” Joel began with the phase, “Neither
shall one” which means “no male, husband, human being, person
or servant” “thrust” or “oppress, vex or crowd”
“another” which means “another brother, relative, kinsman,
or person of the same tribe”; “they shall walk” or
“depart, proceed, move, go away, or live in a manner of life”
“every one” which means “each and every strong man,
warrior and valiant man” “in his path” or “in his
causeway, course, highway, terrace, raised way and public road”. In
other words, they will not “press upon and crowd” one another so
as to push their fellow soldiers out of their designated courses.
The
verse goes on to say, “and when
they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.” Joel
added, “and when they fall”
or “lie, cast down, fail, prostrate, desert and fall into the hand
of” “upon the sword”
which means “weapon, missile, sprout or shoot”, “they
shall not be wounded” which means “cut or
broken off, gained by unrighteous violence, get, finish, be covetous
and greedy”. This invading army shall have “missiles” and
“swords” attacking
them, but they shall easily deflect them with their shields so as to
not be “harmed” by them in any manner.
When we think about
Joel's words in this verse, he added to the intimidation and
aggression of this invading “nation”.
This “army” was
to be so unified they would not push each other out of rank nor “turn
aside from their directed mission”. Even when they are attacked by
“missiles” there would no damage done to them. We often face a
spiritual army such as this. Paul the apostle wrote, “For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
(Ephesians 6:12), and we must rely upon our relationship with Jesus
Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit to defend against these
vicious attacks. May we continue in our pursuit of growing in our
faith and trust in God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, so “When
the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall
lift up a standard against him.” (Isaiah
59:19)
Next
time shares about people “running to and fro”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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