The General’s Name

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit..." - Matthew 28:19-20

Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, Rommel, Patton, MacArthur, Colin Powel – all are names we recognize. We have heard of some of their tactics: envelopment, strategic withdrawal, blitzkrieg, carpet bombing, shock and awe.

But who were the soldiers who enacted these brilliant maneuvers? We rarely remember the names of the thousands who bled and died, or killed and survived. Instead, we look at the grand strategies in awe for though each hero brought his or her unique talents and character to bear on the challenges placed before them, it was the general’s brilliance that put it all together into a victory.

"Hashem ish milchama; Hashem shemo." "God is a man of war; God is His name.[1]" Under His command, the people of Israel won every battle. Only when they failed to fully obey did they lose.

Notice that the verse ends saying “God is His name.” He does not need weapons and ammunition. When He so chooses, He can split seas and cause them to crash in on themselves. He can send huge hail to devastate an army. He can slow the earth’s rotation so that the sun remains hanging in the sky until all His enemies are defeated. He can open the earth and cause traitors to be swallowed alive. Who needs bullets? He has His powerful name!

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.[2]" Our General has given us the needed armor and weapons[3]. He has called us to go out and in His name bring down satanic strongholds, liberating those who are held in chains of darkness[4]. He demands that we set aside everything we think we know about strategy and tactics and instead do it His way. And though our general has stepped off our beach, He has promised “I shall return.[5]”

Each of us must be willing to fight the good fight.[6] But do not be mistaken. Our names will probably never be remembered. Our heroic endeavors will merely be threads in the vast tapestry of God’s strategy. It is in His name that we fight – and it is HIS name that will be remembered.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[7]

[1] Exodus 15:3
[2] Ephesians 6:12
[3] Ephesians 6:8-10
[4] Isaiah 58:6
[5] Acts 1:10-11
[6] 2 Timothy 4:7
[7] Philippians 2:10-11