Eph 1209, 1257; Rev 568; 9/8/74; Rev 6:3 9/26/82; 11/27/82

DOCTRINE OF WARFARE

A. The Concept of Warfare as Taught in Scripture.

1. In spite of man’s efforts for peace throughout the ages, warfare will exist until the Millennium, Mt 24:4-7

. 2. There will be no warfare in the Millennium, Isa 2:4.

3. Man will not accomplish in the Church Age or Tribulation what only Jesus Christ can accomplish in the Millennium—perfect peace. Just as Jesus Christ made perfect peace with God at His first advent, so He will provide the basis for no more war at His second advent.

4. Therefore, war is a bonified part of history. It is used by God to kill off the leaches of society; it is a cleansing agent, Eccl 3:8, “There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.” Num 21:14.

5. The misnomer of war is the word “sword” in Mt 26:52, “For all who draw the sword shall perish by the sword.”

a. The sword in this passage refers to crime and capital punishment. Peter was not a soldier; his act was a criminal act.

b. The sword also refers to capital punishment in Rom 13:4. Gen 9:6 is the first statement of capital punishment. Numbers is the book of the war plans for Israel.

B. The Concept of the Military.

1. Under the laws of divine establishment, all national freedom and security comes through military victory. Two factors protect a nation.

a. The spiritual factor of Bible doctrine in the soul, prayer, and the grace of God, Neh 4:8-9, “And all of them together to invade and fight against Jerusalem and to destroy it. But we made intersession to our God, and established a military security system against them day and night.”

b. The establishment factor, Neh 4:13-15, “Therefore, I garrisoned troops on the lower slopes behind the walls as a mobile reserve. On the higher places I stationed the troops according to their tribes with their swords, spears, and bows. And I inspected the defenses and I stabilized the perimeter. Then I spoke to the generals, the commissioned officers, and the men in the ranks, `Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord, Hero Warrior and respected One. Therefore, fight in battle for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan [surprise attack], then they all returned and departed, leaving our men on the walls.”

2. Failure of the military on the battlefield indicates lack of training, self-discipline, respect for authority, proper motivation, courage, character, and stability of the citizens in the nation.

3. God uses the military in action to demonstrate the decline and degeneracy of a nation and its virtue.

4. The army becomes the index of national character.

5. National integrity, sovereignty, and freedom depends on what nation wins in battle, Jer 40:1.

6. A nation must have a spiritual incentive from Bible doctrine to fight, Jer 34:7. The book of Jeremiah teaches that Jewish military failure in 586 B.C. was attributed to the spiritual and moral decline of the people.

C. The Military Image of Jesus Christ.

1. The Lord fought for Israel at the Red Sea, Ex 14:14. As God the Lord cannot sin. Therefore, war is not sinful.

2. The Lord is described to Joshua in the Hebrew as JEHOVAH TSABAOTH, Josh 5:13-6:2, “the Lord of the Armies.”

3. The concept of Christ as a warrior will continue until the Armageddon campaign, Zech 14:3-4

4. Jesus Christ delivered Israel, and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in 701 B.C., Isa 37:36.

5. At Armageddon, Rev 19:11-15, He will break His own record, Rev 14:19-20; Isa 63:1-3. There will be maximum slaughter, Joel 2:20; Ezek 39:11-13 describes the stench.

D. The Biblical Principle of Universal Military Training.

1. Universal military training demands total national conscription, Num 1:2-3. Numbers is the book of the mobilization of Israel’s army.

2. The only exception is a man who is newly married, Deut 24:5.

3. The principle of mobilization is taught in Num 31:3-5.

4. Each generation must be trained in war, Judges 3:1-2. God left nations behind in the land of Israel to train the young men for war.

5. There must exist in the national entity a capable professional staff of high ranking officers whose life is devoted to preparing and planning for war, Lk 14:31, “What king or ruler of a nation, when he advances to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with 10,000 men to attack the one coming against him with 20,000 men?.”

6. True motivation for military training comes from God Himself, 2 Sam 22:35, “He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” Compare Ps 18:34, 144:1, “Blessed be the Lord my rock who trains my hands for war and my finger for battle.”

7. Military training is useless and neutralized when men of a nation are apostate, reversionistic, degenerate, full of emotional revolt and scar tissue of the soul, anti-establishment, addicted to drugs, and antagonistic to authority.

8. Universal military training gives you a scale of values you’ll never have in any other way. It prepares you for life.

E. Draft dodgers, slackers, and deserters are sinful before the Lord, Num 32:6,14,20,23, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”

F. Warfare is from the Lord, 1 Chr 5:19-22. Just warfare is always from the Lord.

G. Peace is maintained by having a military deterrent.

1. Military victory produces peace, Josh 11:23, “Therefore, the land had rest from war.”

2. Jesus Christ ordained the principle of peace through military victory, Ps 46:7-9. Jesus Christ controls history through warfare.

a. Jesus Christ protects a righteous nation, Ps 55:20-23.

b. God uses war to discipline believers and nations who do not mind their own business, 1 Pet 4:12-17.

3. God protects nations from crafty, evil, warlike nations, Ps 55:20-23. Therefore, God destroys nations who seek to conquer other nations, Dan 2:44, 4:17.

4. God scatters the nations who delight in attack and war, Ps 68:30.

5. Mature believers can pray for national deliverance, Ps 120:2, 6-7.

6. God delivers from nations who talk peace but mean war, Ps 140:1-2; Jer 6:13-14, 8:11. Deliverance comes from killing the enemy.

7. Because of lack of common sense among the leaders, Jesus Christ overrules their stupidity and blunders for the sake of the mature believers in that nation.

8. Peace propaganda is used as a weapon of war, Jer 6:13-14.

H. The Mature Believer and Warfare.

1. The mature believer is courageous in battle and puts to flight the invading armies, Heb 11:33-34.

2. Ps 27:3 is the testimony of David.

3. He is protected in combat, Job 5:20.

4. He has leadership characteristics; e.g., he understands and uses self and group discipline, has a relaxed mental attitude, common sense, a sense of responsibility, understanding of strategy and tactics, loyalty to those both above and below him, good health, poise, courtesy, good judgment, and the ability to delegate responsibility.

I. Principle of Leadership in Warfare. (See the Doctrine of Military Leadership.)

1. Prov 20:18, “With wisdom make war.”

2. Prov 24:1-6, by understanding Bible doctrine you prepare yourself for war and for leadership.

J. Warfare demands character, Deut 20:1-8. The believer must have both moral and battle courage.

K. Warfare is a means of discipline, Jud 5:8; 2 Chr 16:6-9. Women always suffer in war as a part of national discipline, Isa 3:16-26; Jer 6:22-23.

L. Basic Principles of Warfare. (See the Doctrine of Warfare and the Doctrine of Protocol Plan of God.)

1. Introduction. Our Lord Jesus Christ won the strategic victory of the angelic conflict during His First Advent and His saving work on the cross. The tactical victory for the angelic conflict is now assigned to each Church Age believer. As royal family of God, you are assigned the responsibility of tactical victory.

2. The Principle of Objective.

a. The purpose of a military operation is the attainment of an objective assigned to a designated force, Judges 7:4-7, Gen 14. This objective constitutes the guide for the interpretation of orders, for the formation of decisions, and for the employment of the means available. The nation, its military forces, and each element of the latter have their objective. The selection of national objectives depends upon political, military, and economic conditions under the following general rules.

(1) The neutralization and destruction of the power of the opposing military forces in battle.

(2) The possession of localities which will attain the national objective.

b. So in the Christian way of life the principle of the objective is the fulfillment of the plan of God through the attainment of spiritual maturity.

c. Distractors to objectives in the Christian life are too much social life, self-pity, too much entertainment, drugs, and arrogance. The major objective in life is not pleasure.

d. A woman should never distract a man from his objective. She should never make demands on him to make him change his modus operandi. He whole life is him; his whole life is his objective.

3. The Principle of Offensive.

a. Offensive action is the only means by which a decision is gained in warfare. When successful, the offensive brings victory whereas the defense can only avoid defeat. Therefore, the only effective way to win a war is to act on the offensive.

b. The offensive increases the effectiveness of the force that adopts it. It raises morale, permits concentration of effort, and allows freedom of action.

c. The defensive should be used to assist offensive action elsewhere, to gain time to utilize the advantage of terrain, and to compensate for some weakness. We only have spiritual equipment to take the defensive against Satan and fallen angels. God fights Satan and fallen angels without our assistance.

d. The offensive in the Christian life is the fulfillment of the plan of God. We go on the offensive by our daily intake of doctrine.

(1) Human emotion does not advance you to the fulfillment of the plan of God. In fact, emotion is often a terrible deterrent. This means that neither human morality, nor energy of the flesh works advance you.

(2) The number one priority in offensive action in the Christian life is perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. The second priority is to use your spiritual skills in relation to your production skills.

e. God’s plan is designed to run only on God’s power. As Zechariah said, “`Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.”

f. The purpose of the offensive in the plan of God is to advance to spiritual maturity. Christian offensive action is postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation by which we attain spiritual skills. We do not have the power to take the offensive against Satan or demons. This is why we are to be on the defensive against Satan. We take offensive action in relationship to witnessing and other Christian service activities related to people.

4. The Principle of Mass.

a. The term “mass” is used in the military to define combat power. The concept includes the numbers, the weapons, the tactical skill, the fighting ability, the resolution, the discipline, the morale, and the leadership, which are all part of the power in the military principle of mass.

b. Mass also means the concentration of combat power at the point of maximum effectiveness. Success in warfare is attained by the employment of mass in a main effort at the proper time at the proper place for the accomplishment of a definite purpose.

c. By analogy, mass in the Christian life is the cognition and utilization of divine power delegated by God the Father in His protocol plan and the function of the power of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere (i.e., the sphere of divine power equals the filling of the Holy Spirit). The principle of mass is directly related to the omnipotence of God.

d. A perfect plan can only function on perfect power; therefore, we cannot use our power in the plan of God. In the Christian life, there are many distractions to the use of divine power. The principle of mass calls for the grace policy of God to supercede the human power and human arrogance in trying to fulfill the protocol plan of God.

e. Mass illustrates the importance of combining positive volition with the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit in learning Bible doctrine.

5. Economy of Force.

a. The economy of force is the application of the principle of mass. Economy of force is the means by which military mass is employed in a main effort to achieve an objective. When the time and place of the main effort is determined, then men and means are conserved by reducing their employment in other directions to the minimum, consistent with tactical and strategical safety.

b. By analogy, you need Bible doctrine concentrated in your right lobe of the soul. There is no economy of force when believers are ignorant of the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God or when believers are distracted from Bible teaching and involved in the “beyond-doctrine movement.” God has designed a plan from which we are not to be distracted. God has made provision for our failures of distraction in the rebound technique.

c. In the Christian way of life, the economy of force principle is tantamount to:

(1) Epistemological rehabilitation, that is, the intake and application of the Word of God on a daily basis.

(2) The priority of relationship with God over relationship with mankind must be understood and lived.

(3) The utilization of divine power rather than the function of human power in Satan’s cosmic system.

d. Therefore, the economy of force is the establishment of Biblical priorities.

(1) Number one priority is assigned to relationship with God over relationship with man.

(2) Number two priority is the application of number one priority: the use of divine power in the divine dynasphere over the use of human power in the cosmic system.

6. The Principle of Movement.

a. The term “movement” is a technical, military category referring to the maneuver of combat arms and their support units. Maneuver is designed to place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through flexible application of combat power. Under the principle of offensive, it means to bring military mass into close contact with the enemy to secure a decisive result. It can also be used for placing combat arms where it can attack with advantage.

b. Movement is analogous to every positive decision toward Bible doctrine that you make after salvation. Movement is related to your daily cognition of Bible doctrine, including: your attendance, the filling of the Holy Spirit while attending Bible teaching, your concentration on doctrinal teaching, and the utilization of the problem solving devices to solve your own problems from the privacy of your priesthood.

c. Movement is most effective when concealed. God has designed a plan whereby your spiritual growth is concealed; only results at certain stages are apparent to others. This emphasizes the privacy of your priesthood in living your own life as unto the Lord. Until the believer attains spiritual self-esteem, such movement in his life is concealed but effective. Not until you reach spiritual self-esteem will anyone notice any spiritual advance on your part. Until then, people will only observe the ups and downs of spiritual childhood. But the effectiveness of the Christian life is not in spiritual childhood.

d. Movement is most effective when covered by the effective employment of fire power; this is the concept of artillery supporting advance (when movement is not concealed). In the plan of God, movement refers to momentum in the divine dynasphere and its result: invisible impact on history, which is like attacking from a concealed position.

e. At the point of spiritual self-esteem, movement is visible, and must be supported by maximum artillery fire. Firepower in the Christian life is the utilization of certain logistical grace principles and certain problem solving devices, like rebound, the faith-rest drill, and hope two and three. While you have the motivation of virtue-love with your personal love for God and occupation with Christ, you do not as yet have its full function as the greatest problem solving device in life. God provides your barrage in these problem solving devices, as well as providing the opposition in providential preventative suffering. With firepower plus suffering for blessing, you can advance through each stage of spiritual adulthood to the point of maximum glorification of God.

7. Unity of Command.

a. Unity of command is the decisive application of full combat power. Unity of command results in unity of effort. Unity of command is tantamount to everything in the Christian life that contributes to the concentration of effort in the perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine.

b. Unity of command is the coordination of all the soul’s faculties under the filling of the Holy Spirit toward consistent cognition of doctrine; in other words, the filling of the Spirit in the stream of consciousness. This is the elimination of character flaws, arrogance, lust, wrong motivation, or simply becoming a strap hanger.

c. Unity of command is achieved through the cognition and utilization of the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God and the attainment of spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity. This is unity of command in your own soul.

8. The Principle of Surprise.

a. Surprise in some form is essential to obtain maximum effect in battle with minimum loss. Surprise occurs in many categories of military activity: time, place, direction, force, tactics, and weapons. The great captains of history all used surprise: Hannibal, Caesar, Adolphus, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and MacArthur.

b. The surprises to Satan during the Church Age are the tactical victories of believers from varying races, cultures, mentalities, talents, and handicaps. Equal opportunity provided by God means you are not handicapped in any way by race, culture, mentality, talent, etc. Satan, the ruler of this world, is not only surprised but shocked every time a believer cracks the maturity barrier.

c. The Church Age with its unique factors, including the indwelling of the Trinity is a complete surprise to Satan. When the Church Age began, and the unique factors began to multiply, Satan received the greatest shock he’s had since he was thrown out of heaven in prehistoric times. No greatness by any Old Testament saint has so shocked, surprised, and defeated Satan like the most “insignificant” of believers attaining maturity in the Church Age. It is the greatest single utilization of divine power in all of history! And it is available to you, not to anyone in the past before the Church Age. (We have the greatest pattern in the apostle Paul.)

d. The mystery doctrine of the Church Age was not known to Old Testament writers, and neither was it known to Satan and fallen angels. Hence, every factor related to the protocol plan of God, the unique Life, the lifestyle of wisdom, the divine dynasphere has taken Satan completely by surprise.

e. Now, in every generation of the Church Age, Satan counterattacks with his cosmic system. Satan invented the cosmic system as a direct result of the new protocol plan of God for the Church Age. The cosmic system, as we know it, did not exist in the Old Testament. The cosmic system exists now in the Church Age as Satan’s greatest genius put to work in order to distract, to counterattack, and to neutralize the effectiveness of God’s power on earth inside the divine dynasphere.

f. In our day, this counterattack is highly successful. Satan counterattacks from his cosmic system with temptation, with human good, and with evil. Today Satan’s counterattack is effective because of believers’ lack of cognition of doctrine, and because of the failure of the believer in spiritual childhood to establish and continue the habit of epistemological rehabilitation.

g. Perhaps the greatest surprise to Satan in every generation is the fact that there is always positive volition, and that there are always believers who pass evidence testing as a witness for the Prosecution in the appeal trial of Satan. When anyone passes evidence testing, that is the maximum blow to Satan.

9. The Principle of Security.

a. Security is defined in military science and tactics as all measures which are taken to guard against observations, surprise, and hostile interference with effective maneuver. Security is designed to gain and maintain the power of freedom of action.

b. The analogy not only includes eternal security for every believer at salvation, but also emphasizes the fantastic problem solving devices - rebound, faith-rest drill, hopes one, two and three, logistical grace supply, the indwelling of all three members of the Trinity, and the provision of your power system: the divine dynasphere.

10. The Principle of Simplicity.

a. “Simplicity” is used in a technical sense in the subject of military science. Simplicity means that all military plans, at any level of command, must be simple and free from complicated maneuvers. Orders have to be direct and free from contingencies. Frequent changes of plan should be avoided, and the unity of command should be observed.

b. What a wonderful application this has to the Christian life. Changes of plan are avoided by God. There’s only one plan, and it’s the same throughout the entire Church Age.

c. The unity of command is in the hands of God the Father, who authored the plan; God the Son who provided our entrance into the plan by His work on the cross; and God the Holy Spirit, who provides the power for our execution of His plan.

d. The principle of simplicity as related to the plan of God is related to the mechanics of spiritual function inside God’s power system.

11. The Principle of Cooperation.

a. By cooperation is meant that all elements of a mission work together for the accomplishment of that operation. This includes the principle of teamwork. Cooperation within a command is attained when everyone interprets his orders in an intelligent manner, and executes them in accordance with the spirit and the intent of the authority issuing them.

b. Between independent commanders, cooperation is attained by each working for a common objective without reference to individual ambition. (The classic failure of this principle was seen in the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914.)

c. The whole concept of virtue-love demands coordination.

d. This principle illustrates the importance of the believer identifying his spiritual gift and utilizing his spiritual resources, not only in the function of intercessory prayer, but in advancing in the privacy of his own priesthood, while not interfering in the lives of others.

e. The greatest illustration of teamwork in the Church Age is the fact that all three members of the Trinity indwell our bodies.

K. Summary. All of this emphasizes that God has a plan for your life, a plan carefully designed by God the Father. It reflects His omniscience, His sovereign decisions, and the fact that God has not given us a plan which calls for us to operate on our own devices, our own personalities, our own concepts, and our own human dynamics. We are to operate under divine power. Therefore, we have been given the delegation of that divine power in the divine dynasphere. The name of the plan is the protocol plan of God; the name of the power is omnipotence.

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