The novel Gates of Fire is one of my all time favorites. It’s unreasonably good. I could (and have) written at length of how much and exactly why I love this novel so much. But for our purposes today I will try to keep my love of it brief and to the point.
The book is a novelization of the battle of Thermopylae, covering that epic last stand that’s captured awe and imagination in the time since. Ancient Spartan, known for its intense warrior ethic, was also home to people with some pretty witty battle quips. Everyone these days has heard the phrase “Molon Labe” and some more keen historians still get chills over the one word reply “if” (you can look that one up later and be impressed).
But author Steven Pressfielf delivers a quip worthy of Spartan culture that hit me in a whole new way on my most recent reread.
Wearied and wounded, the Spartans are rallying for one last desperate push before the day is done and their leader encourages them that this bout will be the most dustless of all, using the word akoniti.
This is not a throwaway imaginative word. Pressfield did his research well and the word akoniti has very real roots in ancient Spartan sporting events.
Some scholars translate this as referring to wrestling bouts won so quickly they didn’t even stir up the dust of the fighting ring. Others take it a step farther and believe it referred to an immediate forfeit to a victor of extreme skill, so there was never even any dust raised because the fight didn’t even take place. Either way, akoniti signaled a victor so formidable that the opposition’s efforts weren’t even worth noting.
Akoniti. Dustless.
What better imagery do we need for our God?
When the troubles of our world pack in around us, it can be so easy to question the control God has over the situation. The problem with living between the victory of the cross and the victory of eternity is we can hear our enemy’s shouts loud enough that we lose sight of God’s authority over those same enemies.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible showcases God’s power over the enemy in short, simple terms: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
This verse always reminds me of God’s akoniti kind of power. It doesn’t say “and the darkness put up a pretty good fight” or even “it was close there for a minute but the darkness is handled now.” No. The darkness has not overcome it. Full stop. The darkness can’t even get an edge on Him. God’s battle to defeat darkness once and for all is a foregone conclusion. It’s not a matter of if but when. Darkness can’t even exist without his permission. God’s delay in making the world whole and beautiful and new isn’t because of a struggle to gain the upper hand. It’s to allow as many people to join him as will come before he delivers the decisive blow. His enemy, our enemy, doesn’t have him on the ropes. God has him by the throat. God is winning akoniti.
The fight against our own struggles? Dustless. The fight against the twisted schemes of the enemy? Dustless. The fight against death itself? Dustless. Any fight surrendered completely and totally to God is a fight that can be won dustless.
So take heart, Christian. By living in him, you are already living in the promise of victory and no enemy can stand against what your God is doing.
Our God isn’t just victorious. He is victorious and dustless. He is God Akoniti
Let’s find some joy,
A
Avalon Robinson Author 