What the Enemy Seeks to do to Men

"Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, 'Make a covenant with us and we will serve you.' But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, 'I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel."

The enemy is afraid of real men, because real men are powerful and dangerous. When real men are resolved to do something it is very difficult to stop them. In an attempt to control men, the enemy, and the world, seek to either distract or emasculate them. Pharaoh tried the first part of that tactic to keep Israel from following Moses. "Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words." (Exodus 5.9, see the post form May 10, 2014 "Buried with Work"). That tactic didn't work so well as Israel is currently in possession of the Promised Land. When that tactic fails the enemy will try another one that is more deadly.

The Ammonites attack Jabesh-gilead, and the men seek to surrender. The leader, Nahash, is willing to accept their surrender, but only by shaming them and making sure they can never rise against him. He will make peace with them only after he has put out the right eye of the men. In our present world this might seem like a mere painful inconvenience, but back them it would have been truly emasculating.

Most people were/are right handed, and in the ancient world where hand to hand combat was the only way of fighting, the right eye is essential to a right handed warrior. A warrior could hide behind his shield, peering out around the edge with is right eye, allowing him to be able to fight while still keeping most of his head protected behind his shield. A man with no right eye cannot maintain the same level of safety. To take the right eye of a right handed warrior is ultimately to make him useless as a warrior. That is what Nahash sought to do, and that is what the enemy seeks to do still.

Men, you possess God given strength and power that the enemy does not want you to understand, develop, or use. He is going to do whatever he can to keep you from fighting back. At first he'll try something civil, like keeping you busy so that you can't become the man you were created to be. When that fails he becomes more violent and will seek to take you out of commission and make you useless as a warrior. When we compromise and come to terms with the enemy, we allow ourselves to be blinded in our right eye.

Let us be men who refuse to make peace with the enemy. Let us accept nothing less than total victory over him. Let us die in battle before we give up our right eye and become useless in the fight.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor