ZECHARIAH 14:13

“And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be raised against the hand of another.”

Name the worst place you have ever seen in-fighting. I can – Congress. Why do those who are on the same side of “the aisle,” in the same party, fight against each other? We are experiencing that right now in the House of Representatives among the Republicans. They can’t get together and agree on a new Speaker because of all the in-fighting. That will kill a group so fast.

We see in-fighting of a literal kind here in today’s verse. The LORD, on that day, will actually cause the enemies of Jerusalem to panic, and they will start fighting each other. That sounded familiar to me. In 2 Chronicles 20:23 we read, “For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, completely destroying them; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.” The in-fighting in today’s verse wasn’t a new tactic of the LORD.

APPLICATION

Now, in-fighting is not a good thing. It is certainly something we want to avoid in the body of Christ. In fact, we are told to do just the opposite. Look at Ephesians 4:1-3. “1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Did you see verse 3? It’s “the unity of the Spirit” that is the key to peace. It’s not us. We cannot do it. We will start arguing and fighting just because we can. Our flesh wants to fight. The Spirit does not. We believers must be one to show the world how to come to peace, to come to Jesus.

Will you stop your in-fighting? Will you seek to preserve that peace? We can each do our part and prevent it. As the world watches us, they need to see us united for Jesus. They need to see us walking worthy. Unfortunately, there is much division in the Body of Christ. Let us pray to see that dissolved.

Father of peace, let the Spirit in me drive me to do all I can to preserve the peace.