Ancients are teaching us victorous living
This story has always been inspiring to me. It is not only just plain cool, but it also shows the spirit and the attitude of the Roman people. This story is also the most perfect illustration I have ever heard of standing before the devil against all odds. It is the story of Poplicola.
It was in a time when Rome had only but pacified the Italian pennisula and was really not that well known. They were just another upstart country flexing a bit of muscle and to the Hellenistic ruled world, no one really cared. The difference is, Rome cared. Rome cared about their future and were cocky enough to flex their upstart muscle to ensure their continued growth. It was essential that Egypt remained free of a conqueror because it is said that Egypt is the grain basket of the Mediteranean. If Egypt were to be taken over then Rome's grain supply would either suddenly decrease or the price or grain would rapidly increase. There is also the foresight of having a nation strong enough to conqueor the weak Egypt so close to Italy and that is never a good idea.
So it happened that Antiochus IV of the Antigonid kingdom was on his way to conquor Egypt. He came with an army of thousands, and if you have ever been in a concert, or professional atheletic game, picture the sea of people all around you. The strenth of the crowd, and if everyone was a soldier with a weapon....imagine that force.
Rome saw Antiocus coming and sent to stop him Poplicola, a representative of the Senate and the People of Rome. He was one man against the whole army of Antiochus, a king who had already shown his strength of command in various other parts of the world. But Poplicola was armed with more, for in Poplicola was Rome. All of Rome's authority, strength, all of who and what Rome was rested with this one man. Poplicola was Rome. So in the desert, before Antiochus could reach Egypt, these two men met. One backed by his thousands of men, the other alone but for the authority of an entire nation and the knowing of its power. The picture to be painted is stark.
Antiochus stares at this no-name man, standing out much too brightly in his very white toga, and commands him to move. On behalf of the Senate and People of Rome Poplicola refuses and in turn demands that Antiochus turn around and marches back to his country and leave Egypt alone. One can only imagine how hard Antiochus must have laughed while he decided if this man was serious or not. While he is laughing, Poplicola bends down and walks around the king, tracing a circle in the sand around him. He looks up from his task, and looking Antiochus in the eye, without a trace of a joke, again demands that Antiochus turn around. If he were to step outside of the circle which was drawn around him in attempt to bypass Poplicola, he would have to fight Rome, the Rome which was present only in Poplicola.
Antiochus, for whatever reason, maybe he saw something in Poplicola's eyes, or maybe, like so many who would come after him, really did see the might of Rome in one man, turned around and led his army of thousands back from where they had come, leaving Egypt alone, and Poplicola to wave at their fleeing back.
How many times have we, as Christians, faced Satan in such a way? He comes at us with so much adversity, thousands of his minions jeering at us standing alone in his way to ruin your life in whatever way. It looks as though it really is a thousand to one. When it says in the Bible, after having done all to stand in front of adversity, stand still. Why? Why, because in you is the authority and power of God Almighty, who unlike Rome, is the power and the strength, and Satan is defeated. When Satan comes against you in strength, you have to know who is behind you. Like Poplicola, draw that circle in the sand, and in your too white clothing, stare Satan in the eyes and tell him to turn around and leave you alone. Does it not also say that when you resist the devil, he will flee? Why? Why becuase he sees God in you, he sees more power behind you then he has. Suddenly, one man is too great a force to cross with an army.
This gets even more authoritative when you have the full armor of God on. Note how this is the armor OF God- which is possesive. That means God's armor- his own. And you are wearing it. It's like me giving my sweater to my friend to wear. It is my sweater but my friend is wearing it. Now if this sweater is reconizable to me, and you see my friend from a distance wearing it, your first reaction is going to assume that my friend is me because of the sweater. Happens all the time in the mall when you're a kid and you're looking for your parents. You see someone who has the same type-ish clothing and you reach out for them only to be mistaken. When you have the armor OF God on, Satan so easily can mistake you for God that he is going to tuck tail and run before he even gets close. Apply that to your life and see where it gets you.
It was in a time when Rome had only but pacified the Italian pennisula and was really not that well known. They were just another upstart country flexing a bit of muscle and to the Hellenistic ruled world, no one really cared. The difference is, Rome cared. Rome cared about their future and were cocky enough to flex their upstart muscle to ensure their continued growth. It was essential that Egypt remained free of a conqueror because it is said that Egypt is the grain basket of the Mediteranean. If Egypt were to be taken over then Rome's grain supply would either suddenly decrease or the price or grain would rapidly increase. There is also the foresight of having a nation strong enough to conqueor the weak Egypt so close to Italy and that is never a good idea.
So it happened that Antiochus IV of the Antigonid kingdom was on his way to conquor Egypt. He came with an army of thousands, and if you have ever been in a concert, or professional atheletic game, picture the sea of people all around you. The strenth of the crowd, and if everyone was a soldier with a weapon....imagine that force.
Rome saw Antiocus coming and sent to stop him Poplicola, a representative of the Senate and the People of Rome. He was one man against the whole army of Antiochus, a king who had already shown his strength of command in various other parts of the world. But Poplicola was armed with more, for in Poplicola was Rome. All of Rome's authority, strength, all of who and what Rome was rested with this one man. Poplicola was Rome. So in the desert, before Antiochus could reach Egypt, these two men met. One backed by his thousands of men, the other alone but for the authority of an entire nation and the knowing of its power. The picture to be painted is stark.
Antiochus stares at this no-name man, standing out much too brightly in his very white toga, and commands him to move. On behalf of the Senate and People of Rome Poplicola refuses and in turn demands that Antiochus turn around and marches back to his country and leave Egypt alone. One can only imagine how hard Antiochus must have laughed while he decided if this man was serious or not. While he is laughing, Poplicola bends down and walks around the king, tracing a circle in the sand around him. He looks up from his task, and looking Antiochus in the eye, without a trace of a joke, again demands that Antiochus turn around. If he were to step outside of the circle which was drawn around him in attempt to bypass Poplicola, he would have to fight Rome, the Rome which was present only in Poplicola.
Antiochus, for whatever reason, maybe he saw something in Poplicola's eyes, or maybe, like so many who would come after him, really did see the might of Rome in one man, turned around and led his army of thousands back from where they had come, leaving Egypt alone, and Poplicola to wave at their fleeing back.
How many times have we, as Christians, faced Satan in such a way? He comes at us with so much adversity, thousands of his minions jeering at us standing alone in his way to ruin your life in whatever way. It looks as though it really is a thousand to one. When it says in the Bible, after having done all to stand in front of adversity, stand still. Why? Why, because in you is the authority and power of God Almighty, who unlike Rome, is the power and the strength, and Satan is defeated. When Satan comes against you in strength, you have to know who is behind you. Like Poplicola, draw that circle in the sand, and in your too white clothing, stare Satan in the eyes and tell him to turn around and leave you alone. Does it not also say that when you resist the devil, he will flee? Why? Why becuase he sees God in you, he sees more power behind you then he has. Suddenly, one man is too great a force to cross with an army.
This gets even more authoritative when you have the full armor of God on. Note how this is the armor OF God- which is possesive. That means God's armor- his own. And you are wearing it. It's like me giving my sweater to my friend to wear. It is my sweater but my friend is wearing it. Now if this sweater is reconizable to me, and you see my friend from a distance wearing it, your first reaction is going to assume that my friend is me because of the sweater. Happens all the time in the mall when you're a kid and you're looking for your parents. You see someone who has the same type-ish clothing and you reach out for them only to be mistaken. When you have the armor OF God on, Satan so easily can mistake you for God that he is going to tuck tail and run before he even gets close. Apply that to your life and see where it gets you.