Title: 13
Author: JOEG
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© 2002 Joe Griffin		02-06-04.MD02-07/

Searching for a Winner: Heathen Free Will Demands Military Preparedness, Victory Depends on Divine Power, Gen 13:18; Patrick Henry’s Formula for Freedom
	18-	However wisdom is the result of taking in doctrine and allowing it to provide instruction and guidance regarding the basic decisions in life.
	19-	An important principle comes into view: Abram has become a star witness in the appeal trial.  The Old Testament documents the Formal Trial.  The events in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall constitute the opening argument for the Prosecution.  The time between the Fall and the Incarnation documents the argument for the Defense.
	20-	Consequently, when Abram is specifically identified as a star witness for the Prosecution he comes under severe scrutiny by Lucifer who is the attorney for the defense.  As a result, Lucifer is going to be allowed to test him, the results of which will challenge Abram to use doctrine and offer him opportunities to accelerate his spiritual growth.
	21-	Abram has just been promised the land between the Nile and the Euphrates.  He has seen both.  He was born in the Euphrates river valley and he had just returned from Egypt and the Nile delta.  He has been told that his base of operations is to be Canaan and has just completed a walking tour.
	22-	The establishment of his headquarters at Hebron was directed by the Lord and was a place of geological advantage both economically and militarily.
	23-	Wisdom led Abram to organize and train his servants into a rapid deployment force and to enter into a coalition with his neighbors in the area.
	24-	The validation of these decisions occurred when he and his allies were ready to take immediate action when the news came from Siddim that Lot had been captured by Chedorlaomer.
	25-	Abram’s G-2 operative was also able to provide information on the movement of troops: they were headed back to Mesopotamia, headed north on the King’s Highway.  Having cleared out the entire Jordan Valley they were in an emotional state following complete victory accomplished in a grueling year-long campaign. 
	26-	Assuming that they had eliminated all meaningful threats throughout the area, the army’s withdrawal from the valley was conducted without the usual safeguards it would have normally employed under different circumstances.
	27-	Abram’s wisdom is also reflected by the fourth Qal imperfect verb in the verse: built.  Abram built an altar to the Lord.
	28-	Although military preparedness is a necessity in the devil’s world, it is tragically flawed if it is not supported and backed by divine power.
	29-	Such involvement by the Lord will not be available to Abram’s army if he does not maintain a relationship with the Lord.  Wisdom is able to comprehend the correlation between the two.  Military preparedness plus divine protection equals victory over predator forces.
	30-	The context does not involve a client nation however the principles of maintaining freedom in the devil’s world are and they are later applied to client nation function.
	31-	For a client nation to survive it must have a strong military establishment.  Patrick Henry understood this principle and made mention of it in his resolutions before the Virginia House of Burgesses meeting in St. John’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, on March 23, 1775.  Presiding over the Convention as President was Peyton Randolph from Williamsburg.
Lecky, Robert, Jr.  The Proceedings of the Virginia Convention: In the Town of Richmond on the 23rd of March 1775.  (Richmond: St. John’s Church, 1927), 8, 10-13:
	President Randolph:	The gentleman from Hanover.
	Patrick Henry:	I beg to offer the following resolutions:
“Resolved, That a well-regulated militia is the natural strength and only security of a free government;
“That the establishment of such a militia is, at this time, peculiarly necessary for the protection and defense of the country, and that the known remissness of the government in calling us together in legislative capacity renders it too insecure in this time of danger and distress to rely that any provision will be made to secure our inestimable rights and liberties from those further violations with which they are threatened.
“Resolved, therefore, That this Colony be immediately put into a state of defense and that a committee be named by the Convention to prepare a plan for embodying, arming and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose.”  (p. 8)
Henry’s resolutions were immediately debated by the gentlemen in attendance, some in support, some in opposition.  One who spoke out against them was Edmund Pendleton of Caroline.
Mr. Pendleton:	I hope this Convention will proceed slowly before rushing the country into war.  Are we ready for war?  Where are our stores—where our arms—where our soldiers—where our money, the sinews of war?  They are nowhere to be found in sufficient force or abundance to give us reasonable hope of successful resistance.  In truth, we are poor and defenseless, and should strike when it becomes absolutely necessary—not before.  And yet the gentlemen in favor of this resolution talk of assuming the front of war, of assuming it, too, against a nation one of the most formidable in the world.  A nation ready and armed at all points; her navy riding in triumph in every sea; her armies never marching but to certain victory.  For God’s sake, Mr. President, let us be patient—let us allow all reasonable delay, and then if the worse comes to the worst, we will have no feelings of blame.   (p. 10)
After several speeches were given both in support and in opposition to his resolutions, President Randolph recognized Patrick Henry.  In his response to arguments expressed by Mr. Pendleton and others, Henry recognized the principles and the power that enable righteous men, who from the human viewpoint appear to be in a weakened position, to engage in combat with superior and more powerful enemies.  I refer to his oration as Patrick Henry’s Formula for Freedom:
Mr. Henry:	They tell us, sir, that we are weak—unable to cope with so formidable an adversary.  But when shall we be stronger?  Will it be next week, or next year?  Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard is stationed in every house?  Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?  Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of Hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?  Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.  Three millions of people [ the Pivot ], armed in the holy cause of liberty [ military preparedness ], and in such a country as that which we possess [ client nation ], are invincible [ wall of fire ] by any force [ armies, insurrectionist, or terrorists ] which our enemy [ predator nations or organizations ] can send against us.  Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.  There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations [ Jesus Christ controls history ], and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.  The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.  Besides, sir, we have no election.  If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest.  There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery!  Our chains are forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!  The war is inevitable—and let it come!  I repeat it, sir, let it come!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.  Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace—but there is no peace.  The war has actually begun.  The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!  Our brethren are already in the field!  Why stand we here idle?  What is it that gentlemen wish?  Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?  Forbid it, Almighty God!  I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  (pp. 12-13)
Having heard Henry’s stirring address and its unarguable logic, President Randolph recognized the gentleman from Fairfax:
George Washington:	Mr. President, I am a soldier and believe in being prepared.  For that and other reasons, I will give my vote for the resolutions of the gentleman from Hanover.  Rather than submit to the present condition of things, I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march at their head to the relief of Boston.  (p. 11)
	32-	It is the thought possessed by men like George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Andrew Lewis, and others that enabled the burgesses to pass Patrick Henry’s resolutions.  This thought on that day led to the most crucial decision in our nation’s history.  It allowed George Washington to organize an army for the Colony of Virginia which later put him in position to become the commanding general of the Continental Army that ultimately won the final victory at Yorktown over the British and Gen. Charles Cornwallis.
	33-	And what was the Formula for Freedom that Patrick Henry recognized?:
1-	“We are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power” is a conditional statement.  The “if” clause recognizes that the free will of man works in concert with the sovereignty of God.  Conditions must be met before weakness can be converted into strength.  “Proper use” emphasizes the wise use of divine logistics.  The “means” refer to the formula that Henry is about to recite.  “Placed in our power” emphasizes that these divine resources are at the disposal of those who are wise enough to make the proper use of them.
2-	“Three millions of people” identifies the first power at the disposal of the colonists.  It recognizes the strength of the Pivot that had emerged among the people and also among their future leaders who were about to become visible heroes.
3-	“Armed in the holy cause of liberty” makes reference to the requirement of a free people to be prepared militarily to defend their freedoms in the hostile environment of the devil’s world.
4-	“In such a country as that which we possess” speaks of client nation status: God’s enclave in cosmos diabolicus.
5-	“Are invincible” recognizes the condition that results when believers organize in a geographic location and exercise the duties required of a client nation.  Only believers have the wisdom and the motivation to take on the responsibility of defending the freedoms and rights which are imputed by God to all mankind.
6-	“There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations” is recognition of the power that makes the formula work and makes the people of a client nation “invincible”: Jesus Christ controls history on behalf of the Pivot.

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