Pastor General Gerald Flurry has said that “we must get more war thinking into our minds.” He wasn’t referring to physical war-making, but rather our own personal war against sin and our push to finish God’s Work. But what does war thinking look like practically? How can a youth apply this war thinking in his or her life—in the little responsibilities as well as the big ones?
Mr. Flurry has admonished us to learn from great figures of history to better wage our spiritual war. When it comes to the history of physical warfare, there are few better examples than Napoleon Bonaparte. Many military history researchers consider him the greatest general to have ever lived.
Bible prophecy places Napoleon as head of the fifth head of the Holy Roman Empire (read The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecyfor more information). In How to Be an Overcomer, Mr. Flurry calls Napoleon “a ruthless dictator.” “But,” Mr. Flurry continues, “he was also one of the most phenomenally successful military leaders in history. Many great military men have studied him in detail, including Winston Churchill. His life contains principles and examples we can emulate in order to better fight our spiritual war.”
Napoleon became emperor of France, Europe’s superpower at the time, in 1804. But he didn’t start his life off destined to rule France. He wasn’t even born French. Napoleon had a lot of obstacles to overcome in his life’s journey—but he did overcome them! He applied war thinking not only on the battlefields of Europe, but as a child in school without a war to fight. His example as a youth shows us how to set ourselves up for victories in life.
Learn New Skills
Napoleon was born in 1869 on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Corsica had only recently been annexed as a part of France, and most Corsicans were of Italian heritage, including Napoleon’s family. Because his father was a nobleman, Napoleon received an excellent education. At age 9, Napoleon’s father sent him to Autun, a city in central France, to learn the French language. He learned quickly. Historian Andrew Roberts writes in Napoleon the Great: “It took Chardon [the school headmaster] only three months to teach this intelligent and determined lad, with a will to learn, to speak and read French, and even to write short passages.”
But if little Napoleon hadn’t pushed himself to learn French, there was no way he could have become France’s leader. His determination to learn new skills opened up opportunities for him later in life.
Anciently, when King Saul was looking for a musician, one of his courtiers suggested he hire a boy named David: “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).
“This was a teenager he was talking about,” Mr. Flurry writes in The Former Prophets. “What a reputation David had built! … This young man just kept working and making a strong name for himself. God is choosing His nobility, His royalty, today. He wants you to develop your talents. Do you develop your talents the best you can? Are you preparing to lead the world in that way? This is important to God.”
Talent often isn’t born; it is made. The earlier we work on those talents, the more we can use them in the future to serve others.
Get a Well-Rounded Education
Napoleon didn’t settle for mastery in one skill. He worked hard to be a success in almost everything he was exposed to.
In 1779, Napoleon gained entry to the Royal Military School of Brienne-le-Château. “Although Brienne was not considered one of the most socially desirable of the 12 royal military schools founded by Louis XVI in 1776,” Roberts writes, “it provided Napoleon with a fine education. His eight hours of study a day included mathematics, Latin, history, French, German, geography, physics, fortifications, weaponry, fencing, dancing and music.”
Not all of this may seem helpful for a developing military man, but Napoleon’s well-rounded education helped set him up for future success. He later credited his math studies for preparing his thinking to keep track of all the different circumstances on the battlefield. Familiarity with geography would serve him well in traversing the varied landscapes of Europe. He continued with dance as he grew older; Roberts speculates that Napoleon realized how important it would be for him, as a military officer, to be socially presentable.
At God’s college, while the curriculum naturally focuses on biblical subjects, the administration strives to provide as many learning opportunities in as many subjects as possible, offering a well-rounded education. “God is balanced,” Stephen Flurry writes in Education With Vision. “He expected Adam and Eve to use their minds to discover and create new things—to acquire much more knowledge—as long as it was based on His revelation. A godly education must reflect God’s balance. That is why Herbert W. Armstrong College is a liberal arts college based on God’s revelation. In addition to theology, its curriculum includes history, classic literature, language, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, physical education and the arts.”
After I graduated from Armstrong College, I was given a job in the editorial department. I had spent three years writing for Editorial as part of AC’s work-study program. The college program also gave me an education in everything from gardening and archaeological work to event organizing and customer service. Armstrong Club helped polish my speaking, which has proved to be an essential skill for my current job when I am required to speak on the Trumpet’s world news podcast. Weekly hymn sings gave me opportunities to practice leading hymns. And what I learned at the college’s beginner Hebrew class helps me get more depth from my Bible study when looking up words in the original Hebrew. Every AC student could say the same thing: This school educates the whole man.
Read Up On History
Of all the subjects that Napoleon studied at school, arguably the most influential was history.
“What does God think about history? History is actually one of our best teachers. It is not a subject that should be skipped over, ignored or viewed negatively.” (Trumpet, April 2018). Young Napoleon agreed with this assessment.
When he was a child, he filled his mind with the history of Greece and Rome. Roberts writes, “A contemporary recalled Napoleon withdrawing to the school library to read Polybus, Plutarch, Arrian (‘with great delight’) and Quintus Curtius Rufus.” These histories included the wars of great generals like Hannibal and Alexander the Great. Napoleon continued his reading habits even after he graduated school and became an officer in the military—at age 16. “The list of books from which Napoleon made detailed notes from 1786 to 1791 is long and includes histories of the Arabs, Venice, the Indies, England, Turkey, Switzerland and the Sorbonne [a prestigious university in Paris]” (ibid).
Why study history? “History is actually one of the most effective ways to learn about the present and the future,” Stephen Flurry wrote. “As Herbert W. Armstrong said, history provides the vital background that we need to understand the present. Without proper context, we can never truly understand the significance of events in the world around us!” (Trumpet, op cit).
Follow the Paths of Great Leaders
There is an even more important reason to study history.
What motivated Napoleon to become a great warrior? At its peak, his empire spanned from Spain to Russia. But the seeds of that empire were planted and tended to in his study of history as a youth.
“For Napoleon,” Roberts writes, “the desire to emulate Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar was not strange. His schooling opened to him the possibility that he might one day stand alongside the giants of the past.”
France’s educational system at the time prioritized great men of history. The purpose was to prepare the great leaders of the future. France invested in its future by focusing on its past. “Napoleon was taught to appreciate France’s greatest moments under Charlemagne and Louis xiv, but he also learned about her recent defeats in the Seven Years War at the battles of Quebec, Plassey, Minden and Quiberon Bay and the prodigious conquests of the English in India. The intention was to create a generation of young officers who believed implicitly in French greatness, but who were also determined to humiliate Britain, which was at war with France in America for most of Napoleon’s time at Brienne” (ibid).
Satan used men like Charlemagne and Napoleon to lead the Holy Roman Empire, which Gerald Flurry has called “Satan’s number one tool.” Both Napoleon and the conquerors he studied participated in and perpetuated great atrocities, and that side of history shouldn’t be whitewashed or justified.
However, there is definitely something to be said for letting past achievements motivate future success. That’s part of why God had the Bible recorded! (1 Corinthians 10:11). God wants us to learn from the lives of spiritual giants like Abraham, David, the apostles and, of course, Jesus Christ and follow in their steps (1 Peter 2:21). Christ wants us to learn from this history so we can do great things for God as He did! (Revelation 3:21).
“Napoleon Bonaparte said that if you want to be a great general, you must study the great generals of the past,” Mr. Flurry writes in The Former Prophets. “That is good advice for us spiritually as well. Bible history is the greatest history of all because it’s God’s history. We have to learn about these spiritual warriors of the past. We need to learn about Joshua and Samuel, and about David—who has the greatest, longest biography in the Bible. We should understand why Saul failed even though he had such a great opportunity. We need to know about Elijah and Elisha.” If you follow in the footsteps of great men, God can make you great like them.
How to Become Emperor
This is all fine and good when we’re talking about Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most influential men of history, born to be emperor—but what can you or I do with this?
Napoleon wasn’t born to be an emperor. He was born on a small, recently conquered island. He wasn’t even French. Yet because he was inspired by the greats of the past and pushed himself to excel at whatever was at hand—even as a 9-year-old in school—he became a giant.
God is making each and every one of His people a king-priest in the World Tomorrow (Revelation 1:6). He wants you to become greater royalty than Napoleon ever was. He wants you to have power over more nations than France ever ruled (Revelation 2:26-27). He wants you to sit on a throne more glorious than any throne of man (Revelation 3:21).
Preparing for kingship doesn’t start at the coronation. For those called into God’s Church as a youth it can start now (1 Corinthians 7:14).
“God is not impressed by the person who says, ‘Well, what can I do? I’m just one person,” Mr. Flurry writes in The New Throne of David. “If you have a strong prayer life and you follow Mr. Armstrong’s formula, you can do amazing things! You can change the world! That is what God wants all of us to learn. We are here to teach all mankind about how to build a relationship with God!”
Joel Hilliker writes in Biblical Manhood: “Challenge your mental smallness. Train yourself to expand your plans like God does. Don’t just wonder what the world holds for you. Think about what you hold for it.”
Napoleon learned these lessons in his youth, and it led him to become the most powerful man of his era. But his success, like his empire, was temporary. For us, learning these lessons today sets us on the path to be royalty forever.