A War in High Places

There are a few things we need to settle before we can begin to understand spiritual war. First, we must believe what God gave us in the Bible is true. If you have questions regarding the validity of the Scriptures, my prayer as you continue to read this book is that God would open your understanding, increase your faith in him, and build up your confidence in the truth of his Word. I accept God’s Word as truth. I have been a student of the Bible for over 40 years. I have read it through many times. I have also engaged the works of various scholars and experts in biblical commentary, history, and culture. Through these studies, I am better equipped to understand some of its complexities and to embrace the validity of the Scriptures. I believe what it speaks about is true; I want you to believe it as well. The Scriptures unveil this spiritual warfare to us a little at a time throughout the entire text. I believe it is because of the nature of this warfare. It is more real than we can understand in our humanity, so our exposure to its existence must come about slowly if we are going to wrap our minds around it. Next, we need to pray. Prayer is a key element in accepting God’s Word, God’s will, and God’s direction for our lives. Even though you may not have settled these areas in your beliefs about God and about your life, I ask that you please read this book anyway. As I write, my prayer is that God would remove any hindrances from your spirit and help you begin to comprehend the unseen war that is raging—this war in high places that is waged against you. Spiritual Warfare is Real During World War II, my father fought in the South Pacific. He spent his 18th birthday in one of the bloodiest battles fought to take and secure the Gilbert Islands. He would tell me stories of the devastation he witnessed. After the Battle of Tarawa, in a letter home to his parents (my grandparents), Daddy wrote of how brutal the fight had been and how he hoped he would never be in such a battle again. He had no questions or doubts about the realities of war. He saw it firsthand, and he desired never to experience it again. As humans bound by time and space, we begin to think that reality lies only in what we experience with our senses. Like the disciple in John 20:24-29 called Thomas, who doubted Jesus resurrected from the grave, we believe only what we can see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. But there is so much more that we can never experience within our terrestrial lives. Even scientific studies in psychophysics and neurosciences have proven there are sounds our ears cannot hear, colors our eyes cannot see, aromas beyond our sense of smell, sensations beyond our sense of touch, and limits to the flavors our tongues can taste. During the Civil War, disease spread like wildfire. Gangrene took over the wounds and devoured the limbs of the wounded. It was years after this devastation that medical science had a breakthrough. Thanks to the work of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister, we learned about pathogens and developed antiseptic and sterilization techniques to reduce the spread of disease. No one could see those creepy little germs, but they waged war on bodies. And that war was real. Like the invention of the microscope, maybe one day scientists will develop a lens—a kind of atmospheric X-ray-vision lens—that will provide a view of the spiritual realm and reveal those unseen entities at work. I do not think that will really happen. I believe God has plans to be the one who opens that veil for every eye to see. The spiritual realm exists. We just cannot perceive it without the help of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual warfare is occurring around us every moment. Like those creepy germs, the war is hidden from our natural eyes yet has the power to devastate our lives. This warfare is real and ongoing. It is not a one-time event. It is not a one-time attack. It is not a one-time battle. It exists all the time. It is taking place around you right now. We are simply more aware of its existence when it takes place in our experience in personal ways at particular times. In Ephesians, we get a glimpse into the characteristics of this real war, while the passage provides us with a brief yet precise description. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) Through this one verse, we can uncover truths that help us understand and equip us for the battle.