The God of Angel Armies: Part Four

The “God of the Angel Armies” is referred to in Haggai 2: 7. The theme is given contemporary life in the popular song by Chris Tomlin in which are these lines: “The one who reigns forever He is a friend of mine, The God of angel armies Is always by my side.”

This God, the God of the Angel Armies, has engaged in many military conflicts. Secular history omits some of the most inspiring accounts of action in military conflicts. Following is an account of such a conflict in which He was the determinant of the outcome.

FEBRUARY 23, 1991, DATELINE, SAUDI ARABIA – IRAQ – KUWAIT,

The ground battle of Operation Desert Storm broke.

We, the people, prayed in our churches, homes, and, YES, even our schools.

The American press had virtually intimidated the public with reports of the superior battle-hardened Iraqi army, their Russian-made tanks, their impenetrable bunkers, their formidable Republican Guard, and their frightening chemical and biological warfare capabilities.

We, the people, prayed — no, we pleaded with God.

30,000 body bags were shipped to the region.

The mother of all battles was threatened. We, the people, prayed.

Unexplainably, Saddam Hussein acted out of character and released all hostages which he had threatened to use as human shields. Pressure was taken off our president. We, the people, prayed.

Before the battle, General Schwarzkopf described “the nightmare scenario” as getting hung up in the Iraqi trenches “and then having the enemy artillery rain chemical weapons down on troops.”

After the battle, large caches of chemical weapons were found unused. Why? Prevailing winds at this time of the year along the Persian Gulf are from the northeast and northwest.  Vice Admiral Stanley Arthur, Commander of the U.S. Naval forces in the Gulf, said, “Right after the land campaign kicked off, the wind started going a little squirrely. We started picking up some southerly winds which would have put it right back in his face. I’m fairly sure the poor [Iraqi] folks who were sitting in the field looked at the prospect of the stuff [chemical weapons] flowing right back on them” and decided against using them.

General Schwarzkopf commented, “I say thank God they didn’t” [use them]. (MDJ 3/1/91, p. 4A)  God confounded and perplexed the enemy.

When our pilots went in to do aerial reconnaissance for the 24th Infantry Division, they had to reconfirm their reports. They kept coming back saying there is nothing out there but sand. Mysteriously, the Iraqi army had left unprotected an ideal corridor for their swift advance deep into Iraq. They had been confounded.

Remember, the word “confound” means to confuse and cause disorder, to put to shame and ruin.

One young Son of America said it best, “I am thankful I know who my Commander-in-Chief is.”

It is this God who said, “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13: 5). Dare we cower in the face of our own needs with the God-of-the-Angel-Armies always by our side.