When the Beast rises with intense persecution, God has instructed us to overcome and be revealed as the Sons of God if we do this one thing.
READ Time: 8-10 Minutes
Sons of God and Mighty Men of Old
As the world grows darker and lawless, we must obey God to emerge victorious as His true children, as sons of God.
In the early days of the earth, The term “sons of God” referred to the angels, and even elohim, who sat on the assembly of God. Though God placed these elohim, or gods, over the nations, they ruled unjustly and sought their own glory. Some even bred with human women.
Their offspring are the substance of myth: demigods of pagan religions, referred to in the Bible as “mighty men.” These beings were mighty in battle and greatly feared because of their stature and ferociousness. And even after the flood, their ancestors lived on as mighty men of giant stature. Yet, backed by the Lord, Joshua’s army destroyed these mighty giants in battle.
About 400 years later, King David’s closest and most valiant warriors held the mighty men label. These men were the most fiercest of warriors. The chief of the captains slew 800 men in one battle—another slew 300. But the Bible credits these victories to the interventions of the Lord. The Bible states, “The Lord brought about a great victory that day” multiple times.
Today, 3,000 years later, we see a time approaching “such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.“
Biblical prophecy tells us that there will be mighty men (good and evil) and sons of God in these end times. One of these groups will be destroyed, and the other will be victorious. Jesus has given us instructions on how to be on the side of victory if we obey His instructions. But obeying may run counter to every instinct of our natural bodies.
Victory Requires Obedience
There was one key to victory in Israel’s conquests – obeying the Lord. When obedient, the Lord’s angel armies fought for Israel, ensuring their victory (2 Samuel 5:17-25). But disobedience resulted in death and defeat (Joshua 7 & 8). The accounts of Joshua and King David illustrate this principle.
When Joshua took command after Moses’ death, God told him, “…be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.“
God required Israel’s obedience to take the land God promised them. When Joshua prepared to cross the Jordan and enter Jericho, the Lord appeared and gave him specific, though unusual, instructions for victory. God told Joshua to have his army circle the fortified city of Jericho once daily for six days, led by priests with rams’ horm trumpets, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Then, on the seventh day, they were to march seven times around the walls, then blow the trumpets, and Jericho’s walls would fall.
This was God’s way, not man’s way. By following God’s instructions, Israel triumphed over Jericho. However, one man disobeyed God’s direct order not to take any banned items from Jericho. As a result, Israel failed in its next conquest, the city of Ai. Once God revealed the reason for the defeat and Joshua punished the perpetrator, they successfully conquered Ai.
This is only one of many lessons of the victories that manifested through obedience and the failures that resulted from disobedience.
Obedience Opens Heaven
Obedience allows God’s armies to fight for you. There is an interesting battle in 2 Samuel 5 where the Philistines gathered for war against King David. While the Philistines prepared for battle, David went to the Lord for guidance and received unusual instructions. The Lord told David to place his troops in front of an area of balsam trees and wait until they could hear the sound of marching on the treetops. This would signify that the Lord’s army had gone before them to strike the Philistine army.
King David knew the formula to know if the Lord would fight their enemies before them.
- Seek the Lord’s instructions.
- Obey the Lord’s instructions.
- Wait for the Lord to move.
Though David’s troops could not see the source of the marching sounds in the trees, we get a glimpse of what this may have looked like elsewhere in the Bible.
You’ve likely heard of the account of Elisha in 2 Kings 6, who found himself encircled by an Aramean army. While Elisha’s servant panicked at the sight of imminent death, Elisha was calm and collected. He asked the Lord to open his servant’s eyes, and the servant saw why Elishsa was calm. Surrounding the mountain where Elisha stood was a heavenly army of angels with horses and chariots of fire.
These are just a sampling of times when Heaven fought for the faithful. But do Heaven’s armies fight with us in our time?
Heaven Protects the Meek
I’ve heard multiple modern-day testimonies where Heaven showed up to protect the faithful.
The Untouchable Boy
One such example involved Henry Gruver. Henry walked into some of the most harrowing places as instructed by God. He told of a time when he was younger, a skinny kid handing out gospel tracts in a seedy area. On this particular night, he was outside a bar and tried to hand a tract to a drunk man exiting the bar. The man’s anger against God became rage against Henry, and the man swung at Henry.
One hit would have likely sent Henry to the ground, but he stood in place, seemingly defenseless. But with each swing, the man missed completely. Perplexed by his inability to slug the young Christian, the drunkard became angrier yet could not land a punch.
Henry was protected. He had followed God’s lead to serve in this area, and an angel or angels protected him from harm.
The Protector Angel
Another testimony I recall came from David Hogan, a missionary who, with his family, spreads the gospel in some of the most dangerous areas of Mexico. However, this testimony was not about David being attacked; he was the attacker.
Before God called David to his mission, he was a religious man in a bad sense. He did not understand the power of God nor the powers of darkness and had quite a temper. In a church service, he listened to a missionary describe his encounters with an African witch doctor. As the speaker described bizarre occurrences, David grew increasingly angry, confident that the missionary was making up these accounts. Upon hearing a testimony of the missionary praying over someone and seeing a frog exit the man’s skin, David had heard enough. In anger, he stormed to the front of the church to physically end the speaker’s testimonies.
Seeing the large, angry man approaching him, the missionary stretched out his hand and called, “Jesus!”
David was immediately picked up in the air and flipped backward onto the ground. There, he had a life-changing encounter with God.
See, the missionary knew the power of Jesus, and when he was in danger, he called upon His name. If David could have seen in the spirit, he may have witnessed a large angel pick him up and toss him like a rag doll.
The Mighty Men of the End Times
So now that we’ve established that victory requires obedience, obedience opens Heaven, and Heaven protects the meek, how does this apply to the end times?
End-times prophecy mentions both mighty men and sons of God. Of the mighty men, the Bible states the following:
Joel 3:9 – “Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!”
Daniel 8:24 – “…he [the Antichrist] will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.“
Revelation 19:18 – “…he [an angel] cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, ‘Come, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men…’“
In the end times, there will be mighty men on both fronts, but there is one thing common among the references to the mighty men… they will all be killed.
John wrote about the fate of the mighty warriors of the end times. He stated, “If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”
(This concept is similar to what Jesus stated in Matthew 26:52.)
But what does John mean when he refers to the “perseverance of the saints?“
Jesus Instructs us on How to Achieve Victory
Jesus gave us many instructions that conflict with our nature. He told us to love our enemies and those who persecute us. He also told us not to resist the evildoer; that if someone strikes our cheek, we are to give them the other cheek. And if someone takes our shirt, we should give them our coat too.
Similarly, in the book of Revelation, a strong voice in Heaven gives us seemingly impossible instructions.
The voice stated, “And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.“
The “they” above are us. We will overcome Satan because of the blood of Jesus.
Innocent shed blood speaks. Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus’ blood speaks of something better than Abels’. Abel’s blood cried out for justice, while Jesus’ speaks of forgiveness and mercy.
We overcome the king of evil when we stand on our testimony of God’s mercy towards us and choose mercy and forgiveness for others, even when faced with death. Even to those threatening our lives.
Will following Jesus’ instructions be easy? No. I struggle with these instructions. I pray He will strengthen me to follow Him and not my nature to fight back.
The “perseverance and the faith of the saints” is to obey Jesus’ instructions even when faced with death. His undeniable message to the saints in the end times is not to fight evil men, even when they want what you have, even when they harm you, even kill you.
The Sons of God to Come
So we have a choice. Do you want to be a mighty man or woman who fights with the sword but is killed in the body? Or do you want to be a son or daughter of God? The Bible tells us these things:
Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Romans 8:14 – “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Luke 20:36 – “…for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.“
Romans 8:19 – “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.“
This is hard to accept and hard to obey. We are promised a great destiny if we choose mercy, forgiveness, and peace over battle. But are we defenseless? Are we powerless?
The Perseverance and Faith to Become Sons of God
We are not defenseless if we stand in faith.
Isaiah 54:5 “For your husband is the one who made you — the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name. He is your Protector,…“
Isaiah 54:16-17 “Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. I create the destroyer so he might devastate. No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.”
Psalm 91:4-5 “He will shelter you with his wings; you will find safety under his wings. His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. You need not fear…“
Psalm 91:9-10 “For you have taken refuge in the Lord, my shelter, the Most High. No harm will overtake you;…“
Psalm 91:11-12 “For He will order his angels to protect you in all you do. They will lift you up in their hands,…“
Psalm 91:14-16 “The Lord says, ‘Because he is devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he is loyal to Me. When he calls out to Me, I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble, rescue him, and bring him honor. I will satisfy him with long life, and will let him see my salvation.‘”
Hold to these scriptures in faith and persevere.
We know we will live even if we die and lay down our lives in faith. And we will live in imperishable bodies and never know true death.
We have a destiny as sons and daughters. As an angel told Daniel concerning the end times, “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.“
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Days of Pagan Gods and Empowered Apostles