If I’m a Soldier, Where’s the War?—Part 6

Battles and Skirmishes

If spiritual warfare is real, what does it look like?  When does it happen?  How will we know it?  Let’s begin by looking at the different categories of battles that take place in the spiritual realm.

To get an idea of what this combat is like, we will examine specific cases from the past. From this we will learn how the combat takes place, what kind of warfare we can expect and what degree of power we face. To understand this better, I like to categorize the various episodes in one of the following groups: Spiritual Skirmishes, Spiritual Battles, Pivotal Battles, and Personal Battles.

“Spiritual Skirmish” I use to describe a small encounter—one that has little more than a personal effect.  That is, the result of this match will have a very small or limited range of repercussions.

The “Spiritual Battles” are larger conflicts that can affect great numbers of people and destinies. The outcome of this match-up will determine the future course of a tribe, a city, a nation, or an entire generation. These are exceedingly important.

“Pivotal Battles” are of such extreme gravity and consequence that the future of the entire cosmos and creation rests with the victor of this battle. These battles are of incredible import and I have found only two listed in Scripture.

The “Personal Battles” are those that each person wars with individually—those that are often very “secret”, those that cause us the most personal shame. I have separated this battle from the others because it must be dealt with as a separate issue. The other battles mentioned, we must know about and understand, but this one, we must personally participate in and we need to win. This will be discussed in a future issue.

The Skirmishes
As you recall, these are the battles of narrow consequence and are mostly personal. You might remember with me such instances as Noah’s episode of drunkenness (Gen. 9:20-21), Lot’s living in the gates of Sodom (Gen. 19), David being tempted to commit adultery (2 Sam. 11), Saul’s continuing occasions of disobedience (e.g., 1 Sam. 28), Peter’s denial of Christ (Luke 22:54-62), the possessed approaching Jesus and the disciples (Matt. 8:28-31, et al.), and Demas’ abandoning of Paul (2 Tim. 4:10).

Each of these individuals had a struggle with what they desired to do and God’s ideal for them. The results of their inclination to sin and the sin itself were certainly a battle for each, but they were ones of limited consequence and range of repercussions. In many of these episodes the spiritual war is within ourselves, that is, we deal with temptation and the personal desires of our flesh.

The Battles
The Spiritual Battles, on the other hand, often had long-ranging effects. For instance, remember the occasions of Moses in a match with the magicians (Ex. 7:8-13), Aaron and Hur needing to lift Moses’ hands to sustain the battle in the valley below so it would be in their favor (Ex. 17:11-13), Elijah withstanding the prophets of Baal and calling fire from heaven (1 Kings 18), the killing of the Jewish babies in Egypt at Moses’ birth (Ex. 1:22), the killing of the Jewish babies after Jesus’ birth (Matt. 2:16-18).

Each of these events held long-ranging effects for the people of Israel and were not mere “moments in history.” That each of these occurrences, and more, were links in the chain of history can be seen in the following scenario.

We saw that at some point in the early history of the cosmos, Lucifer led a rebellion in heaven against God.  His desire was to “be like the Most High.” Until that time, he was known as the “anointed cherub that covers” (Ezek. 28:14). Apparently, he had great authority and dominion, but he was not satisfied with that—he wanted more.

God, upon creating Adam and Eve, gave His new creation the dominion and authority over the earth. Satan, wanting to pervert and detour God’s plan through this new creature, enticed them to sin. However, in this attack and counter-attack in the spiritual realms, God sustains a hope that His plan will not be subverted. He promises to this sinful couple that He will send a seed of the woman to redeem them from the curse of their sin (Gen. 3:15).

Satan counters this plan of the Most High’s by enticing the descendants of the garden couple into continual rebellion. And, in fact, that did happen. Genesis 6 opens with God looking at the heart of these descendants and finding “only evil continually.” Even though He repented that He even made man, His grace and mercy persevere and He chooses to save one man and his family (Noah) and then destroys all others.

As the world begins to replenish, God sets His sights on another man, Abram. He chooses this man out of all others and builds the future, not on his shoulders, but in his loins. God promised this man sons so numerous that it would be like counting the stars in the heavens or the grains of sand in the sea (Gen. 15). Satan sets a new plan in motion, now that he knows of God’s plan. He counter-attacks and entices the man and his wife (since she was barren), with an alternative—a son through a handmaid. But this son, Ishmael, is not the son God promised. But God honors His pledge and gives Isaac through Sarah (Gen. 16).

Time passes. Isaac has two sons, and again, Satan set to work by enticing the oldest son to become more concerned about other aspects of life, than his relationship with God. It works—Esau finds the birthright of no more value than a bowl of soup and sells it to his younger brother, Jacob (Gen. 25-28).

Jacob’s life is characterized by deception and subterfuge. He appears void of spiritual concern until he wrestles with an angel and receives the blessing of God. God’s plan is still at work (Gen. 32). Jacob then had 12 sons. Satan recognizes one of these as the favorite and sets a plan in the minds of the brothers to kill him—at least to get rid of him. Joseph is sold into slavery, presumed to be dead by his father, spends years in slavery and prison, but God has allowed this plan in order to preserve him and the entire family. “God meant it for good” (Gen. 45).

Attack and Counter-Attack! Plans and Counter-plans!

Later, we find the Jews progressing quite well in Egypt. If Satan is going to win, he must do something to suppress these people of whom God has said He will work His new plan. So, Satan works in the minds of the Egyptians to put the Jews into slavery. But even in slavery, God blesses them and they multiply. Satan, seeing that the more children there are, the better the chances of the deliverer being found, then devises another detour—a plan to kill an entire generation of Hebrew baby boys. One escapes, and through God’s unique sense of humor, He places this one baby in the very household of the one who ordered his death (Ex. 1-2).

As God’s plan begins to bear fruit through Moses, Satan brings rebellion in some of Moses’ own people. He offers them citizenship in a Promised Land; they only see citizenship in Egypt. He offers manna, quail and freedom, but they only see the stewpots they had in slavery (Ex. 15-18). The confrontation becomes so great that God intervenes and opens the earth to swallow the rebellion and the rebellious.

God takes Moses to worship in the mountain. Satan takes the people to worship a golden calf (Ex. 32). God is giving Moses commandments while the people below are breaking them. Moses’ face shines with light, while the masses are wallowing in darkness (Ex. 34). Moses dies, but the battle involving him is still not over. Even then, the warfare carries on as Satan and Michael (the archangel) contend for the body of Moses (Jude 9).

Joshua is chosen as successor and God shows that He will live and work through this new man whose strong heart is so stable that after a lifetime of battles, he swears that “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  Satan can’t get to this man, so he plans still another detour, accordingly. He chooses a man, mostly unknown, who secretly places some forbidden treasures within his home. But with this small treasure, Satan has planted a giant problem. Sin in the camp affected everyone. Men were dying in the battlefield because of what was hidden in a tent. If this keeps up, the Jews will perish in the eternal for a trinket of the temporal! But God fends off the attack and the detour with a word of wisdom to Joshua, who discovers the sin. The sin is then surgically removed from the body of God’s people in order to return them to health (Josh. 7).

After Joshua’s day, the people are found to be, not only settling in the land, but settled in their ways, and those ways did not recognize God. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 21:25). All the while, they failed to see what God saw, because their own eyes were stained with sin. If Satan could keep them in such a condition, God could not use them.  Howbeit, God used their times of blindness to encourage them to call out to Him for light. And just when it was needed most, He would send that light in the form of one of the judges.

God gave them kings. Satan blinded, frustrated and hampered them. God gave them prophets. Satan had them killed. God gave them over to other nations. Satan was pleased. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans all had their days ruling over these people of promise.

Then, quietly and without any prior announcement, God does something unexpected.  When all was quiet, when all was ready, God sent forth His own Son! The original promise is being fulfilled, unless Satan can counter-attack and detour with an effective plan. Lucifer springs quickly into action. He plants an old idea into a new leader’s head: kill the Jewish babies! But God sends an angel with a warning so that the Savior is spared.

Jesus is raised in obscurity, but when the time is right, God prepares a way through John the Baptist. John begins stirring the hearts and minds of the Jewish people for the One who can calm them with a peace that passes all understanding. Now that John has the attention of the populace, he also has the attention of the spirits as they look on. Jesus comes to John and is baptized; the Father gives His voice of approval and the Spirit sets His seal upon Him. And now the attention of all those in the spiritual and physical worlds are focused on Jesus!

Jesus is then led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God for the purpose of doing battle, to sharpen and hone the skills for the bigger battle to come. This battle is not to the death, but a test of strength, skill, allegiance, and obedience. If Satan can persuade Jesus to sin, the plan of God would be finished. But, Jesus parries each attack with a blow from His own Sword, the Word of God (Matt. 4). Satan could not win; Jesus would not lose.

Other skirmishes take place over the next three years. Demons, in direct frontal confrontation, are no match for the Host of Heaven. Lucifer plans to stir up the people and incite them to kill God’s Promised before the right time, are all to no avail. Finally, after a few short years, the time looks right. Satan has the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem; he has the Roman leaders; he has the general populace at a time when they can all be fooled by religious fervor; and Jesus is within their grasp!

Satan has already been at work planting seeds of doubt in Thomas, failed vision in Peter, and self-righteousness in Judas. He uses these as he sends Judas to the Jewish leaders, Peter to a young girl and Thomas, with the others, running away. The soldiers come, the servant of the High Priest is there, and so is Jesus! But something seems wrong; where are the legions of angels that one would expect to be standing guard over this “Seed of Woman”? Where is the resistance we would expect the Father to offer?  Where is the Power of Heaven?

Jesus is taken. He is disrobed, mocked, beaten, spat upon, jeered at and finally crucified.  A short time later, He is DEAD. Is that all there was to this great battle that had been looked forward to by so many for so long? Could it be that simple? NO!!!!!

We have a beautiful hymn that describes the occurrences of the third day:

“Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes!
He arose a Victor, from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign!           
He Arose! He Arose!
Hallelujah, Christ Arose!”

These are the battles, not the skirmishes! These are the battles of long-lasting effect! These are the battles of import! But the story continues, with insight as to what was happening in hell when all was quiet on earth, during those three important days.

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison” (1 Pet. 3:18-19).

“This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:23-24).

Obviously, things were happening that were invisible to the earthly eye. From that view, a man had merely died. But within the bowels of the earth a spirit was stirring, overcoming, and refusing to be held. He took captivity captive! He overwhelmed the spirits that were there and made an open show of them! The Bible says that “it was impossible” for the grave to hold Him. After all, this is the Lord of Life!

These are the major spiritual battles; direct confrontation of the Holy and the unholy—light and darkness vying for dominion. Yet, as substantial as these battles appear, these are not the pivotal battles!

The pivotal battles took place even before the crucifixion and resurrection. These were mere “after results” of the greater battle that took place just a little earlier.

Gerald Robison is co-founder of UnveilinGlory, a seminar and resource ministry dedicated to unveiling the glory of God in all areas of life and taking it to all peoples of the world. UnveilinGlory is best known for the book and seminar Cat and Dog Theology. Gerald has pastored churches in the U.S., Australia, and the Netherlands, and he continues to lead national seminars for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries.