US Military Occupation Of Germany
In 1945, Germany surrendered to the American and Russian invasions of the country and the destruction of the Nazi regime. Thereafter, the militaries of both Allied nations occupied the country for many years. After years of combat, WW2 veterans eagerly awaited their chance to return home to the US or USSR. Their commanders enlisted and trained new recruits to replace them. They wanted their men to focus on not a count down but an occupation.
First Century Parallel
In the first century AD, the King of Heaven sent His Son into a world that was in rebellion against Him to live as one of us. Jesus “fought the good fight” against the Enemy’s regime and overcame the enemy’s forces, “triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).” He took back from the Enemy Humanity’s authority over “the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (Genesis 1:28)” Human though He is, Jesus returned to the Father’s throne to rule from Heaven.
However, He left behind an occupation force…those who trust and obey Him, His ecclesia (Matthew 16:18-19). Our job as believers, as soldiers in His army, is to enforce His rule on Earth, to bring His Kingdom fully into society around us.
So many Christians have been conned into a countdown mindset. They are like the settlers in the old Western movies in which the Indians attack the fort or wagon train. The settlers simply need to hold out until the cavalry comes to drive off their enemies. In the same way, many Christians believe they are supposed to hold out against the overwhelming forces of evil, trying to get people saved, until the King calls each one home to Heaven. They believe that one day, the King will return to whisk the whole army back to remuster and to reinvade the conquered territory again.
That Is Not the Story of the Bible
We soldiers in the King’s army are supposed to
- occupy the land,
- enforce the King’s rule in the seven pillars of society,
- bring Heaven’s culture into Earth’s neighborhoods,
- recruit more soldiers for the army,
- and only withdraw to Paradise (Greek for Hebrew “Eden”) when each tour of duty is finished.
While on duty, we soldiers must work at other vocations, creating wealth the King’s way, enjoy some of it, and pass the rest on to the conquered people. Like the Green Berets in Vietnam, we must provide healing and healthy lifestyles to the conquered neighborhoods.
Our duty is to train new recruits how to
- live under the King’s rule,
- find individual purpose for existing and create wealth ourselves,
- work at self control and character improvement,
- band together in spiritual warfare against Enemy forces that still plague people’s lives,
- go into the Seven Mountains of society to bring the King’s rule into each of those mountains.
Only when His ecclesia worldwide has wrested control of those Mountains from the Enemy’s clutches will the King return to take up His Earthly throne in Jerusalem. Then He will dissolve these heavens and Earth and bring in the new Heaven and the new Earth (Isaiah 65:16-25, Revelation 21:1-5).
Questions
Are you huddling in fear of the evils of our time, waiting for the King to rescue you from the Tribulation?
Or are you standing in trust and obedience against the evil in society and working to bring the Kingdom into the Earth now?