In ancient Israel, a city wasn’t a city without a wall. The wall served as the primary means of protection from an enemy. Without a wall, you were a sitting duck.
In times of war, an enemy would surround a city wall and lay siege to it. This method purposed to starve the inhabitants of food and water—forcing surrender. Often a siege took months or even years. But it was very effective. All it took was time.
The sieges of ancient Israel serve as a fitting metaphor for what God often does in our lives when we erect walls to keep Him out. But there’s a key difference.
God lays siege to your life not to destroy you, but to restore you.
Daniel’s prophecy to “restore and rebuild Jerusalem” referred to rebuilding its wall (Daniel 9:25). In fact, not until Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in 444 BC was Jerusalem considered rebuilt. Without a wall, a community was simply an “unwalled village” (Ezek. 38:11).
Erika Bleibtreu describes at least “Five Ways to Conquer a City” (see BAR 16:03, May/Jun 1990) as follows:
Usually, an enemy employed more than one method at a time.
When a city’s fortifications proved too formidable, the enemy would surround the city and lay siege to it. Laying siege to a walled city was standard operation for an invading army. If terms of peace went ignored, the siege would bring terrible results.
God warned His people that for disobedience to Him, He would bring a siege from an invading army upon their walled cities (Deut. 28:49–57). Ezekiel even built a miniature city of Jerusalem and laid siege to it to symbolize God’s intentions (Ezekiel 4).
When a person endured a siege, you were trapped, and it was just a matter of time before you died by the sword or by starvation. This time of waiting on the inevitable would have caused some serious introspective thinking about your spiritual life.
The goal? To motivate repentance. God used the threat of siege to urge faithfulness.
Isaiah looked toward a day when the Messiah would reign over Jerusalem, and the walls would represent His security:
Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. —Isaiah 60:18
God’s sieges are different today, but they force the same introspection. When the Lord lays siege to our lives, He surrounds us and removes what it necessary to cause some serious thinking.
Here are some examples:
Of course, losing any of these doesn’t necessarily mean God is laying siege to your life. But when He is, He often employs these effective means.
Are you suffering the battering ram of God? Are you lacking in some area because God is laying siege to your life? Is He calling you back to a faithful walk with Him?
If so, open the gate and let Him in (Rev. 3:20).
If not, do all you can to fortify the wall with God inside—not outside.
Tell me what you think: Has God laid siege to your life before? What happened? To leave a comment, just click here.