Welcome to Day 1556 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to WisdomHoly War – Worldview WednesdayWelcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps; thanks for coming along on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Today is Day 1556 of our Trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is essential to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical Worldview, you must have a proper understanding of God and His Word. This week, we will continue reviewing the book from Dr. Michael S Heiser titled “Supernatural.” The book is an abbreviated version of his more comprehensive book, “The Unseen Realm.” I highly recommend both of these books. Creating a Biblical Worldview based on how the Old and New Testaments connect with God’s overall plan for humanity is essential. This book review will help us understand what the Bible teaches about the unseen world, and why it matters.
Holy War
The Bible is a controversial book. People who don’t see it as the Word of God often object to what it says. But some parts of the Bible make even Christians uncomfortable. Israel’s war to conquer the Promised Land is a case in point. Why? Mostly because of the killing. It seems indiscriminate and far too thorough. Why was it necessary to kill entire populations in some cities—men, women, children, and even livestock? Why not let the inhabitants surrender? Wouldn’t it be better to exile them than to slaughter them?
There’s an answer to those objections—but I’ve discovered that the answer seems to make Christians as uncomfortable as the problem. You can only understand the rationale and motive of the conquest accounts when you see them through the supernatural worldview of an Israelite.
Israel’s Supernatural LogicThe battles for the Promised Land were framed by two factors, both deeply rooted in Israel’s understanding of their world as not only the abode of humankind but also the prize in an unseen spiritual war. We’ve talked about both of them already, but let’s review.
One factor is the fallout from the events at the Tower of Babel, when God decided, after the nations rebelled against him, that he no longer wanted a direct relationship with the people of those nations. Instead, he assigned members of his divine council, the sons of God, to govern them (Deuteronomy 4:19–20; 32:8–9). Afterward, he called Abraham and enabled him and his wife Sarah to have a child (Isaac), from whom the people of Israel would come.
We learned in Psalm 82 that these lesser gods became corrupt. They allowed injustice. People came to worship them instead of the Most High God. Thus, they became enemies of God and his people, Israel. Since some of those nations were within the land of Canaan, which God purposed to give to his nation Israel after the exodus, Moses and the Israelites believed the people who occupied those lands were their mortal enemies and their gods would do all they could to destroy Israel.
The second factor was even more frightening for the Israelites. It’s best explained by what happened when the Israelites arrived at the border of Canaan, the Promised Land.
Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to report on the land and its inhabitants. The spies came back with evidence that the land itself was wonderful—it flows “with milk and honey”—just as God had told them (Numbers 13:27). But then ten of the spies dropped a bombshell in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+13%3A32-33andversion=NLT (Numbers 13:32-33): “So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw...