The Priest’s War

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:3-4).

The Greek historian, Herodotus once remarked that “in times of peace, sons bury their fathers; but in times of war, fathers bury their sons.” This is a sobering reminder that draws my sweet son’s face to my mind and provokes me to pray that God would never cause my son to see war, and never require that I bury him.

Around the world today there are a number of regions that are in the midst of war, but for many American Christians, and others, war still seems a fantasy, a long-distant past reality, and an impossibility today. God knows what may lie ahead of us and our nation. God knows whether my son will ever have to face earthly war. For now, however, by God’s Grace and Mercy, we are mostly at peace. For this I am grateful, but I believe it must be said that though our nation currently exists in relative peace, Christians are at war.

Indeed, there has been a war raging since the days of the first Adam, a war between the sons of God and the seed of the Serpent. This is evidenced by the fact that God the Father Himself buried His own Son, Jesus, who gave His own life in this great war. Since the very beginning, Satan has been waging war against the Holy God of the universe, attempting to usurp His crowned image-bearers. Alas, it has all been for naught, for though the Serpent struck true the Son of God in hopes of a final victory, and the Father did indeed bury His Son, what the Serpent failed to realize is that the Son’s submission unto death was not a defeat, but was actually His own head-crushing death blow to the Serpent.

This war has not been waged by traditional means. True, there have been swords, blood, and violence at times, but even in these instances, they have not been wielded in the same traditional means as in earthly war. No, as we survey the Scriptures, we find that God and His people engage in a unique type of warfare. The warfare that we have seen modeled by God’s people throughout history is that warfare which resembles the Son’s. It is a priestly type of warfare, ceremonial in nature. In Exodus, God never had the Israelites clash swords with the Egyptians and their own serpent king; rather, He commanded a sacrifice and a ceremony. In so doing, the Israelites preserved their sons, while the Egyptians buried theirs.

Later in Joshua, even as the Israelites prepared to bring the sword to bear against God’s enemies in Canaan at the battle of Jericho, it was ultimately the priestly and ceremonial procession that would truly grant them victory. As the priests marched around the fortified walls of Jericho and sounded their trumpets, they prepared Jericho as a sacrifice (Num. 10:10), crumbling its walls and preparing to offer it as a fragrant burnt offering unto the Lord (Josh. 6:21). Indeed, the whole of Israel’s routine cultic practices served as a type of warfare. Through their worship, sacrifices, music, and proclamation of the Word, they waged war against Satan, steeling themselves against his attacks (2 Chron. 20:22).

This ceremonial warfare is the chief tactic of the supreme tactician. Jesus, our great High Priest, did not come bearing arms, but rather, he came armed with the Word of God in His heart (Luke 16:17), the songs of God on His lips (Matt. 26:30), and in Himself He offers a perfect and final sacrifice for the elect of God, making atonement for sin, rescuing sinners, and condemning once and for all the Serpent and his ilk. Jesus waged a Priest’s War. He has encircled the walls of the Serpent’s kingdom, He has blown the trumpet of victory, and He has commanded His people, the Church, to charge straight ahead, promising us that “the gates of Hell will not prevail.”

The time is nye, Christian soldier, for you to take up your priestly garments, the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18), and your sharpened sword (Heb. 4:12), and to begin your faithful charge on those weakened and crumbling walls. You need only shout your praises in the assembly, proclaim God’s Word on the street corner, and remember frequently the atoning work of our Lord in worship, and those walls shall utterly crumble before you. Victory is yours for the taking, but the war is not over! Rise for worship on Sunday morning, rise for worship with your family throughout the week, rise to the occasion in your community, on the street corner, in your city hall, and anywhere and everywhere that you can draw your sword, the Word of God, and bring it to bear. Hunt for Rahab and her family, and those like them, but fear not those who would revile you. The time is nye, Christian soldier. Join your brothers and your sisters in the Priest’s War.