An Example of God's Purpose in Our Taking Spoils

While David and his army were away, the Amalekites raided his village of Ziklag. These marauding invaders took all the women and children and burned down the whole town. When David returned, he "was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him...but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God" (1 Samuel 30:6).

Talk about spiritual warfare! This wasn't just an attack against David. It was an all-out assault against God's eternal purpose. Once again, the devil was after God's seed.

This is the focus of all spiritual warfare: The enemy has always been determined to destroy the seed of Christ. And that fact hasn't changed even 2000 years after the Cross. Satan is still out to destroy God's seed, and he does this by attacking us, the seed of Christ. David felt threatened when he heard the grumbling of his men. But David knew his heart was right with God, and Scripture says he encouraged himself in the Lord. Immediately, this man of faith took off in pursuit of the Amalekites. And he quickly overtook them, rescuing every person and possession that had been taken (see 1 Samuel 30:19-20). David not only recovered what was taken from Ziklag but everything else the Amalekites had plundered.

What did David do with all these spoils of war? He used them to maintain the purposes of God. In addition, he sent gifts of the spoils to the elders of Judah and to the towns where he and his men had been hiding (see 1 Samuel 30:26 and 31). This is another example of God's purpose in our spiritual warfare. We're to take spoils from battle not just for ourselves, but for the body of Christ. The resources we gain are meant to bring blessing to others.

The Syrian army besieged the city of Samaria during a famine. The Syrians simply camped outside the city, waiting for the Samaritans to starve. Conditions got so bad within the city walls, a donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver. Things grew so desperate that women were offering their children to be boiled for food. It was sheer insanity (see 2 Kings 6).

Four lepers who lived outside the city walls finally said to themselves, "Why sit we here until we die?...Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die" (2 Kings 7:3-4). So they set out for the Syrian camp.

When they arrived, everything was deathly still. Not a soul was in sight. So they searched every tent, but everyone was gone. Scripture explains: "The Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses...even the camp as it was, and fled for their life" (7:6-7).

When the lepers realized this, they went throughout the camp eating and drinking and then they went back to the city and called out, "Come with us. You won't believe it, but the Syrians have fled their camp" (see 7:10). The Lord turned the whole situation around. He took the spoils of warfare and used them to restore and refresh his people, maintaining his cause on earth.

Are you getting the picture? Are you beginning to understand the reason for your present battle? Those who put their trust in the Lord are promised glorious victory over all power of the enemy. God wants you to know, "Yes, you'll come through victorious. But I am going to make you more than an overcomer. I'm working out an even greater purpose in you for my kingdom. You'll come out of this battle with more spoils than you can handle."