The Way Ahead

Volume 3 1994

In 1 Chronicles 12 the soldiers of David are listed and described - thousands of “brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear”, “experienced soldiers... with undivided loyalty” and “fully determined”. Yet amongst the list of hundreds of thousands of armed and battle trained soldiers a small group of men are listed who seem out of place:

“Men of Issacher, who understood the times and know what Israel should do - 200 chiefs.”
1 Chronicles 12:32

Not only do the numbers seem insignificant compared to the vast divisions of other men, but their qualifications hardly seem relevant to warfare. They: “understood the times and knew what Israel should do”.

Actually such people are of strategic importance. Warfare is only 15-20% military. More than 80% of warfare is social, economic, psychological and spiritual. It is critical that every nation has men who understand the times and know what we need to do.

God judges nations (Jeremiah 18:7-10). The Lord chastises, disciplines and purges His people from sin (Isaiah 1:13- 20). The book of Judges records how God judges faithlessness and disobedience. And it shows how God graciously redeems and restores His repentant people (Judges 2:10-16). Much of the Bible deals with times of captivity, exile, imprisonment and war.

Joseph is an example of how a believer can remain faithful to the Lord even in exile, slavery and imprisonment. And God rewarded Joseph’s faithfulness by raising him up to be prime minister of Egypt.

Daniel remained faithful to God even in exile in a foreign land and was raised up to serve as prime minister even under a heathen king - yet without compromising his faith. Nehemiah managed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem even while under foreign occupation. Elijah managed to evade the murderous persecution by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He finally saw the false prophets exposed and defeated them on Mount Carmel.

As we face the moral breakdown of South Africa: the deteriorating pornography plague, the exploitative gambling industry, the desecration of the Lord’s Day, increasing blasphemy in “entertainment”, the secularisation of schools, increasing crime and lawlessness, probable higher taxes, possible attempts to legalise abortion and even the beginning of persecution of Christians - how should we respond?

In any conflict we can say with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego:

“The God Whom we serve is able to save us.. .and He will... But even if He does not, we want you to know O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." - Daniel 3:17-18

We must recognise that God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:25). Times change. Seasons come and go (Eccl 3:1-8). Kingdoms rise and fall. Leaders come and go. (Psalm 2). The wicked carry in themselves the seeds of their own destruction (Psalm 37:38). Humanism is a self-destructive ideology (Psalm 34:21). God is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). If our lives are firmly built upon the Word of God then we can endure the storms of life (Matthew 7:24- 25). Even amidst chaos and catastrophe we can experience the comfort and calm of Christ (Psalm 46).

A Christian response to the present situation would be: To grieve over the destructive results of sin (Psalm 31); to repent for the sins of our nation (2 Chron 7:14); to pray for spiritual revival in the churches of South Africa (Daniel 9:3-19); to proclaim the Word of God (2 Tim 4:1- 5); to evangelise (Luke 24:47); make disciples (Matt 28:18-20) and strengthen the churches (Acts 14:22).

Peter Hammond

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