“The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name (Exodus 15:3).”

To the modern day milquetoast, feminized, peace-at-all-cost boys in America this is a rather strange depiction of the Lord. The reason is less complicated than one might imagine. For several decades, the church in America has been content to abandon the warrior, masculine aspects of the God of the Bible and replace Him instead with an adaptation that suits America’s “nicer than Jesus” mentality. Many pulpits throughout America have consistently preached a feminized version of the Gospel. It is no small wonder why people would cringe at this aggressive portrayal of God Almighty in Scripture.

Regrettably, many churchmen ignore our Lord’s admonishment, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12, NKJ). Granted, the initial violence commences inwardly. It is the force of God’s truth, which attacks the deception enslaving the minds of men to sinful bondages. God’s Word has no mercy upon the den of thieves who ransack our hearts and steal our minds from the Lord our God. He is indeed a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). From there, however, the violence spreads as Christians endure persecution by spreading truth and standing for righteousness in a world addicted to wicked lies.

Remove the violent nature of the Kingdom and one can easily surmise why women would find the Lord more appealing than men. The results of a kinder, gentler Gospel are telling. Authentic manhood is suspect, fatherhood is superfluous, and men who act like men are anathema to the modern, metro sexual factions of society.

Once the church shied away from the revelation “The Lord is a man of war,” Biblical manhood became archaic. In its stead, America opted for a sexual hybrid society. This sexual rebellion led to a colossal quandary. Our sexual dilemma is part and parcel of America’s cultural corruption, which demands the removal of all distinctions between men and women. The confusion this unisex mindset has wrought upon our young is deplorable.

The gender blender movement has produced startling results. We stand in awkward amazement as we raise “men” who biologically can have children (women) and males that crave to be females. And what is our collective response? We bow before the idol of tolerance while it rots our culture like a spiritual and moral cancer.

The church inadvertently has participated in this befuddled cultural experiment. This too has come with a towering price tag. Many men have turned away from their duties toward God, family, church, and the culture. This distressing condition reveals why churches mainly comprise women and children today. Men, for the most part, are spiritually AWOL and morally missing in action. They would rather stay at home on Sunday watching sporting events and vicariously live their manhood through action figures in Hollywood movies, then to be bored to tears sitting in a church. May I suggest that these things ought not to be.

The source of the problem is not primarily gender related as much as it is a theological issue. Where there is orthodoxy (right teaching and sound doctrine) orthopraxy (good behavior and right action) should follow. The church, however, to avoid conflict, confrontation, and conquest has relinquished these bedrock realities.

The church has no qualms highlighting the mercy (motherly) side of Christ, while she barely mentions the prophetic, justice (fatherly) aspects of God. She touts from the rooftops the love of God, but whisper in soft tones the justice of God. She emphasize the nurturing attributes of the Lord, but shies away from the disciplinary actions of our King. She shouts the forgiveness of God, but rarely a word of His wrath. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to discover why women and children would find this lopsided depiction of Jesus more attractive than men. Especially, men who may still have some pockets of testosterone left in our feminized nation.

Rev. William Einwechter commenting on the Lord as a “man of war” stated:

First, God, through the inspired words of Scripture, depicts Himself as a “man of war” engaged in a battle against His enemies (Exodus. 15:3-9; Isaiah. 42:13). The Lord reveals that He is “mighty in battle” (i.e. warfare; Psalm 24:8). He describes Himself using weapons of war (e.g., the sword and arrows; Deuteronomy 32:41-42) to take vengeance on His enemies.
If warfare is always evil and the warrior is always acting sinfully when wielding his weapons, then God could not depict His nature and ways by reference to war. The fact that God so extensively associates Himself with war and the warrior indicates that war can be just. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus, is also depicted as a warrior engaged in battle in both the Old and New Testaments (Psalm 110; Revelation 19:11-21).

Second, God commanded Israel to engage in war and went forth with His people to give them victory in battle. This included the charge to destroy the Canaanites and the commands related to the defense of the land of Palestine against invaders and oppressors (e.g., Judges 4:6, 7; 6:11-17; 1 Chronicles 14:8-17). God cannot command His people to do that which is intrinsically evil.

Third, the Lord gave specific instructions on the conduct of war in His revealed law (Deut. 20:1-20). All of the laws of God are just. Therefore, it follows that war itself is just if the laws of God concerning it are followed.

Fourth, men of God, such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and David, engaged in warfare with God’s approval and help. Furthermore, the New Testament specifically endorses the warfare of these men as examples of faith in God and what faith can accomplish (Hebrews 11:33, 34).

Fifth, the New Testament does not repeal the Old Testament law in regard to war, and specifically upholds, in principle, the civil magistrates’ authority to go to war. The sword that is given by the Lord to the civil ruler, which he does not wield in vain as God’s minister, is a weapon of war and symbol of warfare (Romans 13:1-4). Additionally, Jesus, John the Baptist, and Peter did not call soldiers who believed in God to leave their profession of arms (Luke 7:9; 3:14; Acts 10).

God’s word commands, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13, King James Version).” God presupposes strength to men. He desires men to act like men with no apology necessary. He wired men to be aggressive, adventurous, achievers, overcomers, explorers, conquerors, protectors, and providers in his name. Tragically, this expression in men has been suppressed by feminism, corrupted by machismo, and perverted by homosexuality.

Taylor Caldwell, in her 1970 article in American Opinion, “They’re Spoiling Eve’s Great Con Game,” stated, “Remember this: The strongest sign of the decay of a nation is the feminization of men and the masculinization of women.” Both of these manifestations are happening under our watch. As a result, we are out of order in our homes, churches, society, and our children suffer the dreadful consequences.

What can be done to reverse this awful trend? First, we must understand that men are at their best laying down their lives for God, country, home and hearth. C. S. Lewis wrote, “The disparate strands of manhood– fierceness and gentleness–can find healthy synthesis in the person of the knight and in the code of chivalry. Here these competing impulses–normally found in different individuals–find their union.”

The Lord is a man of war and yet he is the epitome of love. God exercises great wrath on rare occasions and yet is gentle, kind, and considerate towards his creatures. All His justice, wrath, anger, coupled with his mercy, love, and grace met at the cross and kissed each other. Psalm 85:10 states, “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.” The divine tension at the cross appeased God’s justice and released God’s forgiveness in our poor fallen world.

It therefore behooves men to recapture the tension between fierceness and gentleness in order to courageously lead with God’s Word once again. Men must be strong enough to lead and gentle enough to care. C S Lewis suggested that it was the chivalrous model of knighthood that can help in this process. In my first book The Kingdom Leadership Manual in the Appendix section I list the actual nine principles associated with Knighthood. I updated the language for a modern audience, but the Biblical principles remain the same.

I state:

The Knightly Code of Honor is a tremendous model to train young men in the concept of chivalry. It will help them become poets, warriors, and statesmen, for the glory of God and the benefit of women and children. It will aid every young man in making wise decisions for his life. If a young man embraces it and lives it out, it will forge the manly character that is necessary for leadership—a leadership times like this demands.

1. Believe in the Lord and obey his teachings.

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

2. Obey lawful authorities, so long as your obedience does not bring you in conflict with the duties owed to God.

“We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

3. Respect and pity the weak, and be steadfast in defending them.

“Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psalms 82:3–4).

4. Love your country.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18–20).

5. Refuse to retreat before the enemy.

“A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring” (Proverbs 25:26).

6. Be courteous to women.

“[Entreat] the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity” (1 Timothy 5:2).

7. Be loyal to the truth and your pledged word.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

8. Be generous in giving.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

9. Champion the right and the good, in every place and at every time, against the forces of evil.

“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalms 94:16).