- Mar 5, 2024
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Like War Horses They Will Run, Part 1
Before the age of mechanized warfare, horses were a staple of ancient armies. They outweighed men by more than a thousand pounds, and by the time a war horse got up to full speed, very little would stop it short of a brick wall. Thus, a unit of chariots or cavalry charging at full speed towards the enemy was usually enough to instill great fear in the hearts of soldiers on foot.
Nor could they be outrun if the enemy chose to flee, and this was the imagery God used of those who will be soldiers in the end-time army of God. As a unit they will charge at the enemy like an unstoppable force, and no one will be able to escape them:
As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty army coming. There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it unto the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses so they run. (Joel 2:1-4, NASB)*
Much can be said of the war horse, and why the Lord chose to compare His end-time soldiers to such animals. For one, the war horse was trained to not only be highly disciplined but fearless in battle. Nothing could rattle it emotionally, so it would not be startled by the noise of battle. Nor would it be effected by anyone suffering or dying around it. It had one job, and that was to remain disciplined and ready to receive orders from its rider.
So, too, soldiers in the end-time army will be called to discipline themselves emotionally. As scripture states, God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Many things can potentially make us ill-at-ease and emotionally restless. Threats to loved ones, conflicts in marriage or close relationships, the potential dissolution of partnerships in ministry, and the numerous emotional affronts we endure from friend and foe alike as servants of God. But a spiritual soldier who is fully trained and disciplined will not allow himself to be effected by any of it.
According to the teachings of the New Testament, the trick here was reorienting one's emotions by focusing the mind on the victories, not the sufferings. Christ Himself taught this principle to the disciplines when He said:
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
He was talking here about reorienting their emotional makeup to be happy about their sufferings rather than miserable about them. James taught the same thing in regard to enduring trials of all kinds (not just persecution) when he said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the perfecting of your faith builds endurance." For the spiritual athlete, any form of mistreatment was to be taken as reason for rejoicing, because they were opportunities for perfecting your endurance.
Paul was essentially teaching the same thing when he told the Thessalonians not to despair if they should lose loved ones, but focus on being reunited with them in eternity, not grieving because they would no longer be with them on earth:
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope... 16 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Thus, the general teaching was that no matter what the Devil might throw at us, soldiers in Christ were to discipline their emotions and redirect them by focusing on victory. Whether in life or death, believers in Christ are going to win, and will be glorified throughout all eternity for the lives they lived. This also allowed believers to simply remain cognizant of what the Lord would have them do, and open to hearing His voice alone, rather than giving themselves over to anxieties and grief.
In reality, not only the emotions but the mind and will must all be brought under discipline by a soldier of Christ as well, so we will discuss the disciplining of the mind and will in Parts 2 and 3 respectively.
Like War Horses They Will Run, Part 2:
________________________________________________________
Note: *So reads the NASB, ISV, Holman's and a few others. The translation of "horsemen" rather than war horses or chariot horses is in error here, as men on horseback do not need to run. The war horse does the running for them.
Before the age of mechanized warfare, horses were a staple of ancient armies. They outweighed men by more than a thousand pounds, and by the time a war horse got up to full speed, very little would stop it short of a brick wall. Thus, a unit of chariots or cavalry charging at full speed towards the enemy was usually enough to instill great fear in the hearts of soldiers on foot.
Nor could they be outrun if the enemy chose to flee, and this was the imagery God used of those who will be soldiers in the end-time army of God. As a unit they will charge at the enemy like an unstoppable force, and no one will be able to escape them:
As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty army coming. There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it unto the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses so they run. (Joel 2:1-4, NASB)*
Much can be said of the war horse, and why the Lord chose to compare His end-time soldiers to such animals. For one, the war horse was trained to not only be highly disciplined but fearless in battle. Nothing could rattle it emotionally, so it would not be startled by the noise of battle. Nor would it be effected by anyone suffering or dying around it. It had one job, and that was to remain disciplined and ready to receive orders from its rider.
So, too, soldiers in the end-time army will be called to discipline themselves emotionally. As scripture states, God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Many things can potentially make us ill-at-ease and emotionally restless. Threats to loved ones, conflicts in marriage or close relationships, the potential dissolution of partnerships in ministry, and the numerous emotional affronts we endure from friend and foe alike as servants of God. But a spiritual soldier who is fully trained and disciplined will not allow himself to be effected by any of it.
According to the teachings of the New Testament, the trick here was reorienting one's emotions by focusing the mind on the victories, not the sufferings. Christ Himself taught this principle to the disciplines when He said:
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in Heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
He was talking here about reorienting their emotional makeup to be happy about their sufferings rather than miserable about them. James taught the same thing in regard to enduring trials of all kinds (not just persecution) when he said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the perfecting of your faith builds endurance." For the spiritual athlete, any form of mistreatment was to be taken as reason for rejoicing, because they were opportunities for perfecting your endurance.
Paul was essentially teaching the same thing when he told the Thessalonians not to despair if they should lose loved ones, but focus on being reunited with them in eternity, not grieving because they would no longer be with them on earth:
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope... 16 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Thus, the general teaching was that no matter what the Devil might throw at us, soldiers in Christ were to discipline their emotions and redirect them by focusing on victory. Whether in life or death, believers in Christ are going to win, and will be glorified throughout all eternity for the lives they lived. This also allowed believers to simply remain cognizant of what the Lord would have them do, and open to hearing His voice alone, rather than giving themselves over to anxieties and grief.
In reality, not only the emotions but the mind and will must all be brought under discipline by a soldier of Christ as well, so we will discuss the disciplining of the mind and will in Parts 2 and 3 respectively.
Like War Horses They Will Run, Part 2:
________________________________________________________
Note: *So reads the NASB, ISV, Holman's and a few others. The translation of "horsemen" rather than war horses or chariot horses is in error here, as men on horseback do not need to run. The war horse does the running for them.
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