One of the most significant contributions the apostle John’s apocalyptic writing has given us is a window into the unseen world. The visions John saw in the Isle of Patmos was filled with animals, mystical and Biblical creatures, woven into a narrative that was full of symbolic meaning. Christians throughout the centuries have treated it with a whole wide spectrum between taking the book to be overly literal, to parking it in the too hard basket and deciding to get to it one day. Some choose to use it as a crystal ball and predict dates and events that lead to Christ’s second coming. Others find it as a useful tool to scare folks into the Kingdom.
The recent pandemic has stirred up renewed interest in the book as folk seek to bring parallels between the book of Revelation and current global events. My focus however is a practical one. I’m going to a passage in Revelation to use it as a spring board for us to understand an important theme throughout the Bible – the existence of an invisible war.
Revelation 12:7-9 (NLT) Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
The idea of an invisible war is not intellectually appealing to our western worldview. We have glorified the sciences to the point anything that is not based on scientific evidence is seen as either untrue, superstitious or insignificant to modern man. Any conversation around angels and demons or supernatural powers and principalities are usually avoided. The Western Church is not spared from such embarrassment. We gloss over passages in the Bible that refer to the supernatural and reassure ourselves that our focus should be on good living rather than engaging in thoughts and beliefs that are so heavenly minded but of no earthly use.
The Bible however has no reservation about acknowledging the presence of evil forces. Jesus himself engaged with demonic forces and spoke openly about the devil’s sole purpose to kill, steal and destroy. The New Testament authors recognised that the church and it’s activities were in direct opposition to unseen evil forces. What is clear in Scriptures is the fact that we are in an invisible war.
The attacks of the enemy however are not blatant, frontal assaults. They are layered, methodically organised schemes, with a long term strategic plan to deceive even the elect. If we were to see it coming, none of us would ever align ourselves with the devil. As children of God, we are hard wired to recognise the enemy of our soul. That is why his strategy is to use a combination layer of demonic power displays and men and women deceived by evil and fleshly ambitions. In Revelation 13 John saw a three layered smoke screen created by the devil to deceive the world into worshiping him – the dragon who is the mastermind of this strategic scheme, beasts empowered to do “astounding miracles” and beasts empowered to speak words against God and deceiving “all the people who belong to this world”. The strategy taken at face value seems to indicate that the devil deceives by creating optical illusions and ideological blinkers.
The apostle Paul put it this way:
Ephesians 6:10-12 (NKJV) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Paul is making it really clear that whatever opposition we are experiencing as christians are not merely occurring in the physical realm. We are battling forces we cannot see. The word “wiles” in the NKJV is translated as “strategies” in the NLT, and “schemes” in the NIV, NASB and ESV. It is the greek word methodeia which means travelling over (a picture of being taken on a journey). It speaks of a deceptive scheme that is present, lying in wait to carry us away on a journey of deception with the purpose of eroding and eventually eradicating Christ’s influence in a believer’s life. These supernatural demonic forces are organised in such a way that they are deceptively tucked behind “flesh and blood” individuals and corporate entities.
Biblical scholar Walter Wink’s ground breaking trilogy on Powers and Principalities released in the eighties is as relevant as it was when he first wrote them. In his book “Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament”, Wink speaks of two poles, the invisible and the visible that are co-dependant in their existence:
“I will argue that the “principalities and powers” are the inner and outer aspects of any given manifestation of power. As the inner aspect they are the spirituality of institutions, the “within” of corporate structures and systems, the inner essence of outer organizations of power. As the outer aspect they are political systems, appointed officials, the “chair” of an organization, laws-in short, all the tangible manifestations which power takes. Every Power tends to have a visible pole, an outer form-be it a church, a nation, or an economy-and an invisible pole, an inner spirit or driving force that animates, legitimates, and regulates its physical manifestation in the world. Neither pole is the cause of the other. Both come into existence together and cease to exist together. When a particular Power becomes idolatrous, placing itself above God’s purposes for the good of the whole, then that Power becomes demonic. The church’s task is to unmask this idolatry and recall the Powers to their created purposes in the world – so that the Sovereignties and Powers should learn only now, through the Church, how comprehensive God’s wisdom really is (Eph. 3:10, JB).”
For those of us who have lived in the either/or world of spiritual warfare on one hand or social action on the other, Wink brings another perspective of how the physical (visible) and the spiritual (invisible) worlds cannot be seen separately. If we truly want to see transformation occur, if we are serious about seeing our prayer for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we need to engage in both the invisible and the visible world.
The first step towards engaging in this invisible war is to be aware that what we see in the visible has invisible structures that hold them together. Whether it is something christians may perceive as “good” (eg the church) or something somemay perceive as intrinsically evil (eg communism), it is in the idolatrous practices that make it susceptible to demonic influence. A christian organisation, with Kingdom values and Kingdom vision can very easily be influenced and manipulated by demonic powers, when leadership begin to idolise certain agendas, ideologies or belief systems at the expense of their testimony. You see it clearly manifested in unChristlike behaviour in the Board room or careless engagement with the outside world irrespective of the harm it is causing to their relationship with God or those they are engaging with.
The invisible war is as real as the visible struggles we experience on a day to day basis. Unless we begin to engage both dimensions simultaneously, we are not going to see the transformation we are longing for in our lives, our families, our cities and our nations. There are three players in this two dimensional war. Divine influence and demonic manipulation both operate in the invisible, while worldly systems and human interactions are visible and tangible. If we are to affect both the physical and the spiritual, the invisible and the invisible, we must see spiritual warfare as both intercessory prayer to dislodge spiritual strongholds in the invisible realm and active engagement with individuals and organised structures if we want to impact the visible.
We need to recognise that the battle begins with thinking patterns. It is always first and foremost a battle of the mind. Words become seeds that form patterns of thought. The first three chapters of Genesis is our clue. The perfect world that was good and very good (Genesis 1-2) began with these three words – “And God said”. The carnage that followed from chapter 3 onwards began with three words – “did God say?” Words carry ideas and thought patterns. That is why it is critical that christians know where their thoughts are dwelling in.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Every idea begins with a thought. Then a pattern of thoughts (mediations) create ideologies and systems of thinking. These systems of thinking become habitual thoughts and dominate our worldview and influence the way we talk and act. If the thought originates from God then the end result will be creative and redemptive. If the thought is not from God then it has a potential to be corrupted and manipulated by human or demonic influence. Here then is our starting point if we truly want to engage in the invisible war.
Invisible warfare requires supernatural weapons
If we are to engage in dismantling the powers and principalities that dominate our environment, we need to accept the fact that an invisible war cannot be fought through physical means. Invisible forces require us to engage with divine weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ
Paul makes it clear where the focus of our warfare is – every ideology, religious belief, cultural worldview, societal norm that sets itself above God. In other words the moment anything that becomes more important than what’s important to God (loving God and loving neighbour as self), that thought process is idolatrous and should be taken down. How? Moment by moment monitoring of every thought ensuring it is subdued to the obedience of Christ. Our words and our actions as we interact with each other and with the world will reveal to us how effective we are. For a start I suggest these practical habits:
Believe in the supernatural
Whether you believe it or not invisible forces are present and are influencing your environment around you. Burying your head in the sand is not going to make it go away. The sooner you embrace the fact that the supernatural is real, you can then lean on the Holy Spirit and engage in this invisible war.
Fill your mind with Scriptures
Understand that the strategy of the enemy is focused around thoughts and habitual thinking patterns. To encounter these “traveling thoughts”, be aware of what you are filling your mind with. Stop filling your mind with the junk in the internet. It will only reinforce carnal thinking and make you susceptible to human and demonic influence. Fill your mind daily with the Word of God.
Be obedient to the conviction of the Holy Spirit
Make a conscious decision to submit to God knowledge instead of human ideas that have exalted itself over God. The Holy Spirit will put a check in your spirit when ideas have exalted themselves above God. Usually in the form of a lack of inner peace or a heaviness. When experiencing it, take captive of the thought pattern that is dominating you and submit it to Christ.