Today Israel are attempting to get into the Promised Land but they need the cooperation of the local kings in order to cross their land. The kings refuse and the Israelites decide to make a detour to begin with but then fight the remaining two armies and defeat them. We have an interesting principle described here since the first King of Edom does not attack the Israelites but only threatens them if they refuse to leave his land whereas the other armies specifically attack and are then slaughtered by the Israelites. The principle concerns attack vs defence. Although we might talk of "attack", in many ways, I believe our Christian life is one of going where we are called to go and only engaging with 'forces' that attack us. For instance, when Jesus moved around, he didn't go and try and find demons or Romans or Pharisees and attack them but he did attack those who confronted Him and perhaps wanted to stop what he was doing. The King of Edom was possibly just as angry and determined as the other kings but the thing he did right was not to attack the Israelites.
People who talk about things like praying against strongholds and the like are possibly being too offensive and cause trouble for themselves. Go where God wants you and do what he wants you to do and deal with issues as they surface. This way you will not incur trouble all the time.
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