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Note: This blog post is part of a series titled "Cosmic Warfare." To view all parts, click the link below.
The present battle is due to end tomorrow night. I am hoping that there is not a Part 2 yet to come, but if so, we will be ready and prepared for it. The red dragon is a ruthless spirit that pretends to be the protector and benefactor of mankind. Those who are of this spirit are willing to kill the innocent in order to maintain power.
I am reminded of King David’s evacuation of Jerusalem when the forces of Absalom came to overthrow him and usurp his crown. In 2 Samuel 15:14 he was concerned, “lest he overtake us and bring down calamity on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” He left town in order to prevent many innocent people from being killed.
David did not fight Absalom, though it would have been his right to defend his throne. In this he became a type of Christ and, in fact, he prophesied of Christ, who allowed the chief priests to usurp His throne without a fight. Verses 30 and 32 say,
30 And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered, and he walked barefoot…. 32 It happened as David was coming to the summit [rosh, “head”], where God was worshiped….
A thousand years later, Jesus followed the same path up the Mount as an act of worship on the summit, the “head,” a skull (John 19:17). There He was crucified.
In that story we find a long-forgotten incident that the biblical writer thought was important. As David left town, those who were loyal to him went with him. These supporters formed the army of David, for they disagreed with Absalom’s claim to the throne. Among them were Philistines from Gath, the hometown of Goliath and his brothers (1 Samuel 17:4). Though David had killed their champion and had subdued the Philistines, they remained loyal to him in the Absalom revolt! 2 Samuel 15 says,
18 Now all his servants passed on beside him, all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites [men of Gath], six hundred men who had come with him from Gath, passed on before the king. 19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why will you also go with us? Return and remain with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile; return to your own place. 20 You came only yesterday [recently], and shall I today make you wander with us, while I go where I will? Return and take back your brothers, mercy and truth be with you.”
David knew that they were foreigners, so he gave these Philistines the opportunity to return to their own home town without losing face. But he found they were true believers.
21 But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord [YHWH] lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.” 22 Therefore David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” So Ittai the Gittite passed over with all his men and all his little ones who were with him.
The leader of the Philistine troops swore an oath of loyalty in the name of YHWH. This indicates that he was a believer in the true God and not a follower of Dagon, the old Philistine god. In remaining loyal to David, they were types of Christian believers, unlike the majority of the men of Judah, who followed Absalom. This prophesies of the situation in the New Testament, where only a few men of Judah remained loyal to Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Most of them decided to follow the chief priests—the “Absalom” in the day—who convinced them that Jesus was not the rightful heir to the throne of David.
The word Palestinian today is derived from the biblical word Philistine. Although there is little genetic connection with the Philistines any more, there is certainly a prophetic connection. For example, the peaceful Christian Palestinian town of Birim was usurped by the Zionists in 1948, who told them to evacuate for about two weeks for “security” reasons. They left peacefully and sought shelter in a nearby village.
They were never allowed to return, and in 1953 the Land Acquisition Act gave all “uninhabited” land to the Israeli government. The army blew up the houses as the villagers watched from a nearby “hill of tears,” and the trucks hauled away the ruins.
Can we not identify these Christian Palestinians prophetically with those Philistine followers of David? Like David, they became refugees from the followers of Absalom. You can read of the story of Birim in Israel Shamir’s account, Exposing the Big Lie About Muslims and Christians, here:
http://www.revisionisthistory.org/palestine41.html
The point of this is to show that the red dragon is a usurper of power operating in violation of the Law of Impartial Justice. This is evident in Egypt’s mistreatment of Israel when Pharaoh sought to destroy their children in Exodus 1:22. It is again evident in the story of Amalek’s attack on the Israelites in Exodus 17:8. It is reflected in the judgment of God against the Ammonites and Moabites in Deuteronomy 23:4, who were barred from entering the assembly (church) until the tenth generation. Why? “Because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt.”
In other words, they were inhospitable and did not love their neighbor as themselves. The Israelites were thus treated badly because they were foreigners. So God told Israel not to mistreat foreigners, because they knew what it was like to be mistreated. The Golden Rule applies: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
My question is this: If God barred the Moabites and Ammonites from entering the assembly (kahal, “church”) on account of their refusal to be neighborly, how much more might God hold Israelites accountable? After all, God judges the knowledgeable more severely than the ignorant. See Luke 12:47 and 18.
It seems to me that this is why Jesus spent so much time teaching the Golden Rule and how to be neighborly toward people like the Samaritans. Yet the spirit of the red dragon has not only empowered Zionism, but has also brought much of the church into bondage. I was in a megachurch just yesterday for a funeral, and I noticed two flags near the front altar: a Christian flag and an Israeli flag. There was also a donation box where people could contribute to the Zionist cause.
Why would Christians fund a movement that is based entirely on persecuting their neighbors? Why would Christians support Absalom? Why not have a donation box to support Christian Palestinian refugees? The answer is simple: IT IS WRITTEN. It is written that Philistines remained loyal to David when most of Judah supported Absalom, the usurper of Christ’s throne, the “anti-David” which John says is “antichrist.” Among the supporters of Absalom was Ahithophel, David’s “friend” who betrayed him. Ahithophel later hanged himself (2 Samuel 17:23). He then became a prophetic type of Judas, who was paid by the chief priests to betray Jesus when this story was repeated a thousand years later.
How important was it to support David rather than Absalom? How important was it to support Jesus rather than the chief priests in the conflict over the throne? How important is it today to support Jesus rather than the Zionists in the struggle for the birthright?
Our present warfare against the red dragon has revealed some important issues that must be addressed in the church and in the world in general. First, there are those who are disputing the right of Jesus Christ to rule the earth and to receive the birthright as the Heir of all things. This issue centers around the First Great Commandment—to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, etc. Secondly, the two sides of this conflict have different interpretations of the Second Great Commandment—to love your neighbor as yourself.
It is obvious that both sides interpret these commandments differently. The biblical examples are clear when we look at the stories of David and Jesus. It remains for us to understand the issues and to choose the right side, backing the rightful Heir and seeing our neighbors in the same light that He does.
While it appeared that David lost the war against Absalom, David eventually returned to reclaim His throne. Likewise, it appeared that Jesus lost the war against the chief priests, but Christ too returns to reclaim His throne. Even as Absalom lost his life when David returned, so also will the Zionist leaders lose their lives in the return of Christ. Even as Absalom did NOT end up ruling with David, so also will the Zionists NOT end up ruling with Christ in the Age to come.
In this warfare against the red dragon, Christians are either part of Christ’s army of spiritual warriors, or they are fighting for an antichrist usurper. Most of the world is looking on to see who will win this battle. Scripture says that Christ is the desire of all nations (Hag. 2:7). They will rejoice when Christ overcomes the adversaries, for then we will see the true godly government in the earth that administers impartial justice and upholds the right of the victims to show mercy as they are led by the Spirit.
Note: This blog post is part of a series titled "Cosmic Warfare." To view all parts, click the link below.