A Call to the Modern Sons of Issachar
Americans are undergoing a significant period of spiritual testing right now. We are faced with much confusion. Morality faces daily attacks under the guise of "neo-tolerance." Mental health complications are on the rise, and medical confusion seems to have been deliberately foisted upon the world conscience. Various media sources bombard us with advice to do one thing while the very next day contradictory words are shared.
This has resulted in a disillusioned populace that asks who they should believe, who they should trust, and what course of action is the safest path. Many forms of attack on the American culture are occurring, and they are coming from multiple fronts. Cultural Marxism has taught many to categorize our enemies into various silos and excoriate them until they are either irrelevant, silenced, or converted to the latest beliefs held by pop-culture. However, the mob is not where mankind can find guidance. Authentic and accurate guidance can only be found in the Word of God.
So, what does God's Word inform us in such a trying time? Since no one knows the future and the present lasts but a millisecond, we have no other alternative than to turn to history for guidance. If we consider the book of I Chronicles, we discover that Israelite King David was in a similar predicament that Americans too now face. David's kingdom was under assault, and God was generous enough to provide him "men of renown." These "men of renown" were men who demonstrated uncommon courage, extraordinary loyalty, and most importantly, were men of great physical strength and military skill. America too has been granted such types of people.
We need to look no further than our elite military special forces to find such a unique array of our own "men of renown." However, God also recognized that while David had an incredible army, he was lacking the "brains" behind the "brawn." Men of knowledge are detrimental to winning wars, and our current culture war is no different. This is why I Chronicles 12:32 records God sending "...the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do..." God sent these men from the family of Issachar because he knew David would never succeed without their wisdom.
Reflecting on America's history, we can see that God has provided our nation with both "men of renown" and "men of knowledge." If we consider the birth of our nation, we see God delivered men of renown such as George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, Charles, Lee, and Horatio Gates. These men stood tall during the battles with Great Britain, but God's providence did not stop there. God also put forth prescient men such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams to lead the intellectual front of the war.
If we consider the Civil War era, God brought forth Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joshua Chamberlain as just a few of the many "men of renown" that helped keep our nation together. Interestingly, the seriousness of this cultural challenge required vast amounts of "men of knowledge" to lead through refined illumination. Men such as Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and William Lloyd Garrison undoubtedly gave vision amidst the murky shadows of secession.
The latest great cultural challenge currently facing America also requires men and women who understand the times so that they too can impart knowledge concerning what needs to be done for this nation to survive. However, as history has shown, we cannot win this current assault solely with the use of brawn. Valor and courage implemented without skilled planning tends to result in disaster. Look no further than Confederate General George Pickett for evidence supporting this claim.
What can we learn from scripture to help us today? In Acts chapter 18, we discover an "eloquent" man named Apollos who was "fervent in spirit" and "began speaking boldly in the synagogue" during the early days of the Church. However, we also find that this bold man was lacking in complete understanding despite his strong efforts to persuade others, and he needed some pointers on how to improve his message.
God sent a prominent couple who had learned under the tutelage of the Apostle Paul to accomplish this "guiding." We read in Acts 18:25-26 that Apollos "taught with great fervor," but "he only knew the baptism of John." Due to an abridged understanding of the Gospel, Pricilla and Aquila were sent to "take Apollos aside and explain to him the way of God more accurately."
Apollos demonstrated incredible valor standing up to his countrymen and the politically correct pagan beliefs of his time, and he did so revealing great courage. What he knew was true, but what he knew was also incomplete. Had he continued without a complete understanding of truth, he too might have faced disaster. This is why the Holy Spirit sent Pricilla and Aquila to help refine the boldness and courage with enlightenment.
America indeed has many courageous and strong people willing to forge forward to combat the cultural attacks we now face. We certainly should do so, but we need to do so with precision and accuracy. We have been told for two years that the sickness sweeping across both our world and our nation is a virus that originated in China.
While that may contain some truth, the more important sickness we face, and one that MUST be identified accurately is the fact that mankind comes from a fallen race. Despite the many "men of renown" and "men of knowledge" willing to take up arms to defeat this very real spiritual sickness, none of us can gain victory due to the very sin-nature that plagues us specifically because we come from that fallen race.
Only one man - the God-man, Jesus - was able to defeat sin, and he did so around 2,000 years ago on a Roman cross outside the walls of Jerusalem. Mankind has tried to fight this battle for millennia with brawn. Mankind has even attempted to add what he deems as erudite knowledge to these attempts of power and action.
Yet, every time he has failed because he has not added veritable Godly wisdom to his efforts. God has laid out the plan of victory over all crises - even the current cultural assaults on our nation - in his Word. If we seek to avoid disaster...if we seek to avoid being the generation that watches the fall of a nation that was once a light shining on a hill, we need to act, and we need to act with wisdom.
This is not a time for the faint of heart. This is a time where bold men of courage backed up by the Godly wisdom found in the Word of God will take their stand. This is a time when men and women of knowledge must come forth and publicly share that knowledge. The enemy is censoring good people trying to communicate good information. Those who wish to destroy America from within have the available press willingly helping to broadcast their lies and obfuscation.
If you represent a "son of Issachar," I implore you to make your voice heard. Use that knowledge you have to teach others the way of truth. We cannot be intimidated. We cannot act timidly, thinking that the counter-culture movement is the majority opinion. It is not, but there are those who are attempting to make you believe that. We therefore need people willing to step out on faith that God's Word is true and contains the answers to this "sickness" invading our land. This sickness was not concocted in a lab; it was formulated in the mind of Satan and is presently spreading via the fallen nature of mankind. The voices of many bombard us, but what they believe to be "progress" is nothing short of the doctrine of demons. Their spreading of false-knowledge is not simple ignorance; it is a wide road to destruction.
We must understand that a working knowledge of the Bible is our only defense, and a lack of it will result in disaster. Because we live in a time of deception, we need men and women who understand the times and can impart knowledge unto their communities about proper direction. This is a call to the modern "sons of Issachar" to stand up and let your biblical knowledge be heard! Accurate biblical knowledge is lacking in our nation, and we need our "men of knowledge" to become "men of renown."
May the Lord bless your efforts.
