Sharpening with the Enemy

19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. 

So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. [1 Samuel 13]

Photo by C D-X on Unsplash. 

First, the enemy limited them to inferior weaponry. Second, the enemy eliminated all means of sharpening. Third, it was the enemy who decided what kind of weapons Israel could have. Fourth, only the enemy could sharpen Israel's weapons. Fifth, the enemy decided who could have a sword and who couldn't. They were practically at the mercy of the enemy.

Click here for a book review of God's Flesh.

It was a useless war where everything was dictated by the enemy. Can you imagine having your enemy sharpen your sword? Not only is that ridiculous, it's the worst thing that can happen to you during fierce battles, especially when defending your territory. Question is, why did Israel come to this?

Compelled to Worship

We see why in the preceding passage. It was due to wrong worship motives. Particularly, it was worshipping in man's ways, how man sees it fit. It was man with his nice worship program to entertain and keep people inside his church building, scared of losing them. In Saul's case, it was worship to keep his men from abandoning him. It was worship to keep his men enlisted.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

When you're scared of losing church members, you will be "compelled" to please people. How? By making your worship attractive and putting gimmicks and fanfare in the programs--making sure people are "helped" by it all, according to their needs and expectations. Worship is purely an eye-catcher and incentive. These are all men's carnal ideas. Worship ceases to be for God. When you get this low in worship, you begin to sharpen with the enemy--often without realizing it.

When the Enemy Sharpens Your Sword

When the enemy sharpens your sword, he decides your warfare capabilities. He decides what you can use. Probably why a lot of Church people cannot believe in the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit and in on-the-spot miracles, because the devil has forbidden them to. The devil limits sharpening to inconsequential weapons that have little to zero usefulness in the spiritual realms. 

Here's an example. When disaster strikes, you see the church doing what most organizations do--relief operations. But what would've Jesus done? He would've stopped the disaster as he stopped the furious squall at the lake with a command. Or, he would've multiplied bread and fish supernaturally and distributed to people than ask for donations or solicitations. In Christ, the church is equipped and empowered to do the things that Jesus did. But nobody in church would do this today. Why? Because the devil doesn't want that weapon (signs and wonders) sharpened. 

The devil does not allow the church to carry its Sword (supernatural power of the Spoken Word), except for a handful individuals. So all it carries are plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles which are all farm implements of tenant-farmers who serve a landlord. They're not warriors but rebel-slaves. Their weapons actually serve the enemy. So, instead of healing illnesses and eliminating demonic oppression, they use medical doctors and medicines to help the sick. Instead of evangelism with miracle healing crusades that really demonstrate the awesome power of God like what Jesus and the apostles did, they have medical missions which highlight what doctors and medicines can do.

Enemy Allows Sword Wielders to a Limit

Only Saul and his son Jonathan had swords back then. Today, very few ministers genuinely operate in God's supernatural signs and wonders. The rest have serious difficulty believing. In King Saul's time, this limited their warfare capacity to running and hiding and merely hitting the enemy a little bit now and then. They were mostly in holes and caves hiding and trembling in fear. The one time that Jonathan attacked a Philistine detachment which sent chaos to the Philistine camp was more the exception than the rule.

And even that victory was mishandled by Saul who used it for his own designs and interests, glorifying himself. This made the Israelite army suffer thirst and hunger needlessly because Saul made an oath of hunger until he had "avenged himself" against his enemies. Sharpening with the enemy ends in pride and self-centeredness, eventually resulting in the majority suffering. Everything then revolved around Saul, not anymore the Lord.

Medical doctors and medicines are good, but God wants his church to do something else (because human organizations are already doing medical remedies). God wants the church to demonstrate his supernatural power. This is why Jesus and the apostles in Acts did nothing but the supernatural to heal diseases when they preached the Gospel. This is obviously God's design for his glorious church.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. [1 Corinthians 4]

You Go Down

Finally, when you sharpen with the enemy, you "go down" to the enemy's territory. "So all Israel went down to the Philistines," says 1 Samuel 13.20. It's different when you're inside enemy territory to demolish it from the inside (like what God did with Egypt in Moses' time), than when you're in enemy territory because he controls you as a subject.

GOD's Flesh E-Book

The first edition was radical but this new edition is simply unbelievable. You want to buy a PDF copy (100-plus pages) for only P800 to help support my ministry? Then click here for a book review and payment option. And then you get subscribed to my Emailed Apostolic Teachings (EAT). Find out what it's all about.