A Mercenary Spirit (akin to bribery)
Isa 1:23 Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Eze 22:12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof [are] like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. Zep 3:3 Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. The name of this spirit comes not from scripture but from the secular world. While there are examples from scriptures of princes and their armies shedding blood “for hire,” the word “mercenary” itself is not used to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness (cf. Jer. 46:21; 2 Sam 10:6).
What I am about to share is not directly from scripture, but is a dream I had before the Gulf War, which I believe is a dream of the Lord. However, because of its origin, I leave you to judge its validity by prayer and by the Word of God:
A year before the Gulf War I had a dream about a spiritual principality coming to take over the United States. In this dream, I saw a long hallway, as in the hallway of a castle which is used as the place of audience before the king. As in movies, the sides of the hallway were lined with Men at Arms. However, these Men at Arms were figures which resembled skeletons and puppets; for their arms and joints, shields and swords, clanked together and knocked like wooden puppets. They seemed to be distracted, everyone looking in different directions, disjointed, and chaotic. They were not overly loud, but they seemed to be confused; like separate instruments each tuning up before a conductor of an orchestra walks on stage. Suddenly, all snapped to attention with one motion all in unison sharply turned their heads to the waiting chair. Muffled shouts of exclamation were heard, as if saying to each other and for everyone’s benefit. All were saying the same thing: “He’s HERE! He’s HERE! The MERCENARY! He’s COME!”After I awoke, the pressing nature of the dream, and its vividness was so great that I immediately sought the Lord to explain it. The interpretation of the dream was that a spirit of a Mercenary has come to rule the United States. Because of his power and authority, he is able to bring order and unity to the chaotic and sometimes disjointed forces of satan, to make them an effective weapon for battle. Because of this unity, they become a powerful instrument of control over the country.
It was not long after the dream that I began to see the effects of a mercenary spirit in the use of our Armies. We demanded pay from Europe and Japan for the use of our Armies in the Gulf War, and we got it. Our Armies are now more often subject to the United Nations. And we have become the de facto police force for the UN. We are, as it were, a hired gun for international business and international government. We are an army for hire. We will fight for pay. And we can support our military, not through taxes, but through our Army’s use on behalf of other countries.
Implications and cautions: In war, decoys are often used to confuse an adversary. Inflatable tanks and wooden cannons are often left exposed in fields so that air reconnaissance will think that a build-up and threat to their army is greater in that area than it really is. Even small excursions will be used as a feint to draw the enemy’s strength to that area. If successful, that decoy maneuver will draw the enemy’s attention to the wrong area, leaving them exposed for the real thrust of battle.
In the US, we are all well aware of the spirit of Jezebel and Ahab that appears to rule the land. All Christian attention is being drawn to the obvious unholiness and wickedness and immorality of bad leadership. However, like a decoy, the Christian community may be marching headlong into a trap, playing right along with the spirit of the Mercenary. Conservatives, Christians, and Patriots may be willing to bless unwittingly a move of great deception, as our sovereignty is slipping away through greater ties to the world community. Not that cooperation is bad among nations, but subjecting our Armies to the control of the UN for the sake of international business interests is very dangerous.
The reason for that danger is that WE WILL SERVE NOT FOR THE CAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT FOR MONEY. And in those cases, true justice, God’s real justice among nations, will be perverted for the unholy cause of Mammon. In all the rejoicing over apparent conservative political victory, Jezebel and Ahab may be a decoy spirit we were meant to defeat. We rejoice at the strength of our victory over the weaker power but play into the hands of our REAL adversary.