What have these in common: hornet, pattern, the Holy Spirit? The watchman asks the Lord for the meaning of the vision he saw on the previous day during a 24 hours fast. In the vision he saw granular compartments in hexagon shape joined together. The word he receives today is “hornet”. Then he realizes that what he saw looks like a hornet nest.
There are two things to note about the hornets. Hornets (like bees) make hexagon cells, incredibly efficient mathematically optimal to divide a surface into compartments of equal area with the least total perimeter. The structure best economizes labor and materials. Hornet stings are very painful to humans because hornet venom contains a large amount (5%) of acetylcholine.
Why and where are hornets important in the Bible? Let us read the following three passages which all give one message from God. In the first two passages the Lord has given assurance to His people, especially the leaders and warriors, that He will send hornets before them to drive out and dispossess the enemies from the land that the Lord has given to His people. In the last passage the Lord recounted to His people the fact that He had actually done it, just as He promised.
What will God’s hornets do?
God’s hornets will cause fear and confusion among all the enemies, so that they will run away in defeat.
Exodus 23:27-28 27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.
God’s hornets will cause the enemies to fear and hide themselves from God’s people, and they will be destroyed.
Deuteronomy 7:17-21 17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’— 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. 21 You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.
God’s hornets have driven out and destroyed the enemies before the people of God, delivered the promised land to God’s people.
Joshua 24:11-13 11 Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
Incidents of God’s helping the Israelites in their conquest of the land east of the Jordan and Canaan (from the watchman’s notes) It is obvious that the word “hornets” is a “secret weapon” of God for His people in battles to assure victories for them. Not the usual military weapons (sword and bow). During the Moses’ exodus from Egypt, and victories over two Amorite kings (Deuteronomy 2:31, 3:1-2) and later Joshua’s victorious conquest of the Canaan land, God’s presence is with them. The pillar of glory cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night which signified the Holy Spirit enabled the Israelites to escape safely from Egypt. God sent His Angel before them to drive out the Canaanite (Exodus 32:43, 33:2). God sent a Commander (Jesus) of the Lord’s army whom Joshua met outside the town of Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15). God’s presence with Joshua (in the battles), defeated the enemies and achieved great military success (Joshua 11:6). The presence of the trinity God is invincible. According to Joshua’s testimony below, one man of Joshua’s army (on earth) shall chase a thousand of the enemy’s army. The spiritual military power is a thousand times that of military strength of earth man in terms of warfare.
Joshua’s last words to the Israelites’ new generation of warriors: Joshua 23:9-11
For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you. 11 Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. 14 “Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
Joshua 24:14 14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.
What do I mean by the word “pattern” in this blog’s heading? God uses pattern to guide us. He gave a pattern of the tabernacles and all the related details to Moses. He gave a pattern of the temple to David. And He gives a pattern in the Bible about warfare. Why do I say this confidently? Our position in Christ has enabled every believer to confidently declare that we have the trinity God in us, the Father (God), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. This is a pattern for victory.
On the power of pattern created and inbuilt by the Creator: “The honeybee’s honeycomb fits neatly into the atlas of mathematically optimal forms found in nature.” “That there could be a way primitive tiny-brained insects could possess the technology and skill to build incredibly efficient combs is simply astonishing.”
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