"Shock and Awe"

Yesterday during our worship time at church I felt led to read from 1 Samuel, and it had to do with the account of David being at Ziklag.  This is during the time that King Saul  was hunting for him, and Ziklag is actually in Philistine territory, and David had been given the city to live in with his followers, so that King Saul wouldn't attack him anymore.  I am sure there is much that I could reflect on concerning his time in Ziklag, but today my focus is on the event that followed Ziklag's destruction, when David and His men were away, and had just returned.  While the story is a bit long, it is worth the read and reflection.  The story is  found in the following set of verses - 1 Samuel 30:1-20 NIV:

[1] David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, [2] and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

[3] When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. [4] So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. [5] David's two wives had been captured---Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. [6] David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

[7] Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod. ” Abiathar brought it to him, [8] and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”

“Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue. ”

[9] David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. [10] Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.

[11] They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat--- [12] part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

[13] David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. [14] We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

[15] David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

[16] He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. [17] David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. [18] David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. [19] Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. [20] He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David's plunder.”


My first sense in reading this was that God was about restoring things that the enemy has tried to steal from us, and from Him.  That theme alone is enough to get me excited, for there is much that enemy has attacked in our life, through disease, through greedy business practices that have negatively affected us, through delusion, deception, division and lies. I would love to see the Lord strike the enemy and take vengeance upon him and return everything that has been lost or affected, and add to all that great amounts of "plunder".

As I was thinking through this, I had the phrase "Shock and Awe" pop into my mind.  I was a bit familiar with this term that is normally used in military engagements, and thought I would look into it a bit more.  The basic definition is as follows: "Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a tactic based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight."

It is defined by four characteristics:

1) near total or absolute knowledge and understanding of self, adversary, and environment;
2) rapidity and timeliness in application;
3) operational brilliance in execution;
4) and(near) total control and signature management of the entire operational environment.

(See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_and_awe)

As I was reading this, and thinking back to the verses from 1 Sam 30, I thought that the two were related.  In fact, if we look at the defining characteristics of rapid dominance, those are all characteristics of God's intervention.  When He moves, He had total knowledge of the adversary, and the environment.  In this story above, He led David to find the Egyptian slave who could lead him directly to the camp of the Amalekites.  God provided them the strength and endurance to rapidly deploy their forces, and pursue the enemy before they were able to leave the vicinity.  God provided David the plan and the encouragement to pursue the enemy, and led him directly to them, when the enemy was not prepared for battle.  Other than the 400 men that escaped, David and his forces had complete control of the battlefield and exacted complete victory!  Amen!

Secondly, I believe this is also about, not only reclaiming that which has been stolen, but also about multiplication, so that what is restored is much more than what has been taken!  When they returned to Ziklag, they had so much plunder, they shared it with, at minimum, 14 other groups of people.  That is absolutely an abundance and multiplication.

Additionally, I believe this is in the process right now.  That the Lord is about moving and preparing to unleash a "Shock and Awe" campaign upon our enemy!  The enemy who has tried to defeat us, injure us, wound us, divide us, cause us to distrust one another, steal from us, confuse us, delude us, and any other other demonic or spiritual attack upon our own lives, the lives of our brothers and sisters, and even over the Body of Christ worldwide.  I feel like the Lord is going to give us victory in many of the battlefields, and that it will be quick and decisive.  I believe that it is not just about victory, but also about a recovery of much more than has been stolen in the first place! 

Finally, Ziklag was essentially a small victory for David and His 600 men, but it immediately preceded the final transfer of the Kingdom of Israel from Saul to David, and as such was a precursor victory.  God was once again proving to David that although the whole situation from his anointing to be King when he was a child, up until now, He had been with him (David), even during the rough stretches, and that He was with David still, working powerfully on his behalf.  In the same way, I feel like the "Shock and Awe" campaign that will be unleashed by the Lord, will just be a precursor to even greater things, to greater Glory!

So today, I am encouraged to remind the Lord of all the ways the enemy has stolen from me, has attacked me, and is at work in and around us.  I am encouraged to lift these to Him in prayer, and to seek His wisdom for those things I need to do.  I am encouraged that God is still on my side, even though it hasn't always worked out the way I thought it would!  I am encouraged that there are greater things to come, and that we will see the Lord Glorified as He releases His "Shock and Awe" Campaign on the enemy!

Amen and Amen!