In the last two years the world has battled the power of Covid. We as the church have also engaged in this battle, though our battle is both with Covid and the spiritual power behind it. There have been conflicting perspectives on it, failed prophecies on when it will end and on and on. Many of us have prayed and not yet received the answer or outcome that we sought and so we live with the certainty of uncertainty, and for many of us a sense of growing weary in the battle.
So, we will take a look at what we are battling against. In scripture horns represent power. In the Old and New Testaments, we see it in both a positive and negative light.
1 And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.” 1 Samuel 2:1 (NKJV)
10 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. Psalm 92:10 (NKJV)
8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. 9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. Daniel 7:8-11 (NKJV)
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:6 (NKJV)
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Revelation 13:11-12 (NKJV)
In the passages where we see a horn or horns representing power. Yet the power of the enemy is always defeated by the authority and power of the Lord. No matter how long it takes or what we have to face we can be confident in something Jesus said.
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.Luke 10:19 (NKJV)
We also see the extent of Jesus authority in The Great Commission.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth and He has delegated us to exercise His authority in the earth. To do so we must be actively engaged in the battle that we are all in and the battle is first fought in the realm of prayer. We not have seen the things we would like to see in the last two years. In spite of what we have not seen our response needs to be one of continuing to look to Him. A response of repenting of anything that He has put His finger on in our lives (2 Chronicles 7:14) and coming before His throne seeking His face. The world needs to see a testimony of a church that reflects the Jesus of scripture not the Jesus of our culture. There are pockets of this so let us press in for more and obey what Jesus said.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)
Jesus never told us to pray once, never to pray until we are tired, never to pray when we feel good. He told us to pray until the answer comes. In fact, the Amplified Bible captures the Greek tense in the above verses and says to ‘…keep on asking…keep on seeking…keep on knocking.’
What we are facing looks intimidating. We need to face it with confidence in the authority that we carry. When we look at scripture and history we see these strong horns, these horns of power rising up again and again but ultimately always bowing to the authority of the King of kings and
Lord of lords. We are also assured in Revelation that this will continue until consummated in the final outcome!
So, as this year ends and we step into the coming year let us continue to battle to overcome the power of the enemy, persisting in prayer, seeking His wisdom and exercising His delegated authority. Let our lives be an emphatic yes to Jesus’ question, “when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
