Are We Battle Ready?

November 2024 NewsletterI recently received a newsletter from a ministry which contained the exhortation: “The Bible says there is a season for everything. This is our season to fight hard—to battle back—to win." The timeliness of their statement could not have been better fitting with the main point of this TBC article. We without doubt are in the “last days” (possibly even the last hours) battle before Jesus returns. Scripture warns us that Satan knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12) and he's unleashing every wrathful and wicked device he has upon "the inhabiters of the earth."         Therefore, we need every insight we can find in God's Word that sheds light on how we are to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). In this article, we're featuring a man of God who embodies the qualities sorely needed in the church today. His name is Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah, who wrote most of the Book named after him. He certainly made himself aware of the times, and the Holy Spirit gave him tremendous insights in what the children of Israel ought to do regarding a variety of very difficult conditions. For example, when Nehemiah first became aware of the dire circumstances "concerning the Jews that had escaped" and were living in Jerusalem, his reaction was: he "sat down and wept... and prayed before the God of heaven…." Furthermore, he humbly confessed "the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned" (Nehemiah 1:2-6).