³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

We are involved in a spiritual battle, and sometimes it is easy to forget this important fact.

Yet, when we look at the Bible, warfare is perhaps its central message and that comes through in one of the names of God, the Lord of Hosts, Yahweh–Sabaoth, which literally means the Lord of armies.

God is referred to by this name 290 times in the Bible, more than the total of all other names of God combined. These include the names we are more familiar with such as, Yahweh-Rapha, the Lord is my healer or Yahweh-Jirah, the Lord is my provider.

Even the name, Yahweh-Nissi, the Lord is my banner, had military implications as flags or standards were also used to rally troops. The name showed up in Exodus 17:15-16, when Moses used it to describe the altar of the Lord in the context of war, writing:

And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner; ¹⁶ and he said, “Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Lord of Hosts is used in the context of a great spiritual battle raging around us after Satan enticed a third of the angels to join him in a rebellion against God. They were driven out of heaven down to earth where that battle continues to this day (Revelation 12:4, 7-9).

When Joshua was preparing to take Jericho after they entered the Promised Land, he encountered the captain of the Lord of Hosts (Joshua 5:14), as he was alone planning the upcoming battle.

This was the captain of God’s army. Some believe this was Christ, or more likely I think it was the archangel, Michael, who led the angelic army that drove Satan from heaven (Revelation 12:7-9), and also battled Satan for control of Moses’ body (Jude 9).

Archaeologists believe Jericho is the world’s oldest city and if this is true, it should not surprise us that not only was it a human stronghold, but a satanic one as well.

Taking this city would require more than spears and arrows, there would need to be a spiritual battle before the earthly one.

The Captain of the Lord of Hosts commanded the Hebrews to march around the city once each day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times, and when the priests made a long blast with the shofar, the people were to shout and the walls would collapse.

I suspect during the six days an unseen spiritual battle was waging over the city, why else would the captain of the Lord of Hosts need to be there.

But the enemy had also left satanic landmines in Jericho.

The city was accursed and all the things in the city were accursed as well. If the soldiers took any of the accursed things, they would become accursed. It would transfer onto them. But not only that, if they brought these accursed things back to camp all of Israel would become accursed (Joshua 6:18).

There were unseen spiritual forces at work here.

Though it was unseen to Joshua, the prophet Elisha saw it. When Elisha’s servant came with the terrifying news that soldiers from the Syrian army had surrounded their home, Elisha prayed, so his servant could see what was taking place in the spiritual realm:

¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17 ESV)

There was a mountain full of fiery horses and chariots defending them. These were not sweet baby-faced cherubs with wings as angels are often portrayed. This was a spiritual army engaging in raging battle, that spilled over into the physical world (2 Kings 6:18).

When engaging a spiritual enemy, faith, prayer (2 Kings 6:18), and praise are the only type of weapons that work.

When King Jehoshaphat sent worshipers out before his army, it wrought confusion among the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mt Seir. Though we can’t be sure what happened, we are told that the Lord set ambushments because of praise:

²² Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. (2 Chronicles 20:22 NKJV)