Decades ago, the late science-fiction author and mind-cult leader L. Ron Hubbard wrote a book titled Battlefield Earth. I have never read the book, but the reviews on the movie (circa 2000) starring fellow Scientologist John Travolta, were absolutely terrible. In fact, it only got a 3% on the Rotten Tomatoes website, which routinely reviews movies and shows. The premise of the book and movie of the same name is set in the year 3000AD, where humans fight their way back from extinction against a race of alien giants. This article is not about that book or movie.
This article is about a new series on the reality of warfare in the here and now. It is about a war that has been raging since the first I Will was ever uttered (Isaiah 14:13-14). It is about true, multi-domain battlefields, where warfare not only sheds blood, but also destroys souls forever. This war is not fought with bullets or bombs, but by influencers and ideologies that lead mankind to destroy and self-destruct with equal vigor.
Multi-Domain Operations
The Army (and the military at large) love their acronyms and jargon. They also love to recycle old concepts and repackage them with different terminology so they seem new. But as of late, the term’s unified land operations, mission command, full spectrum operations, A2/AD (anti-access/area denial), and multi-domain battle space are recent upgrades to our vernacular meant to focus in on the growing complexity we face here in the 21st-century. So for the non-militarily inclined, what has changed?
The key battle domains in the first half of the 20th-century, were primarily fought on land, sea, and air. However, by the end of World War II, the Manhattan Project had clandestinely married physics with warfare and initiated us into the atomic age with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world had something now that it never had before, weapons of mass destruction. Fast-forward two decades and we were eagerly putting men into orbit and on the moon. Shortly thereafter, again, we were diving headfirst into the fourth industrial revolution without giving much thought of how deep the pool was.
Turns out, the very systems (Internet Networks), we once enthusiastically linked all of our vital national and military infrastructure too, would one day become our greatest vulnerability. It is because of the Internet’s vulnerability and potential for abuse that we have had to add cyberspace as one of our battle domains. We are just now (as of the last few years) just discovering how vulnerable our energy, information, financial, and intelligence systems actually are. If you did not know, all of these systems around the world are continuously under attack from cyber criminals, cyber-terrorist groups, and even rival nation states. (See Norse Live Attack Map).
Hearkening back to the glory days of the Apollo 11 mission, President Trump recently announced a challenge for Congress and the US Department of Defense to create a “Space Force.” While that may seem laughable at first, he was not making this directive in a vacuum. He probably had many within the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommending that we do this, or risk falling behind our peers, rivals, as well as any potential extraterrestrial visitors. However, while thoughts of Battlestar Galactica, Independence Day, and Star Trek readily come to mind, what the Space Force probably entails (at least for now), are things like weaponized satellite systems, space-station based missiles and laser systems, and manned / unmanned aircraft that operate on the outer threshold of our atmosphere for military purposes.
The Last Domain
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. Ephesians 6:12
Systematically overlooked and seriously underestimated, is the final domain unregenerate man has yet to deal with, which is the unseen realm. The Bible speaks about a spiritual domain where battle between good and evil has been raging since the creation of the world. While unseen to the naked eye, the effects however, are just as real and just as deadly as any nuclear bomb or cyber-attack. The Bible speaks of an enemy, Satan, who operates with his own massive army, all around us, all the time, seeking only to destroy. Although he is a created being, Satan (formerly known as Lucifer) was the highest ranking of the angelic order before he rebelled, an anointed cherub who covers (Ezekiel 28:14). When he rebelled, he convinced a third of the angelic hosts to rebel with him (Rev. 12:4). Since the angelic hosts total number cannot be counted (Hebrews 12:22), we should presume that Satan has a vast army of fallen angels at his disposal.
While most of our current leadership largely dismiss the spiritual domain as a true “threat,” they only do so these days either out of fear of embarrassment, or because of political correctness. There is no denying that humans are more than just ‘flesh and bone;’ but rather, that we are spiritual beings created for eternity, who temporarily inhabit physical bodies (Ecclesiastes 3:11). So if humans have souls (we do), then it stands to reason, that we also have to compete and strive in the spiritual domain just as much as we do in the physical.
From a strategic perspective then means that our Bible is the only true source document we can use for obtaining intelligence and battle tactics for how we fight back against our adversaries. Were it not for the Bible, we would have never known that Satan even existed. The Bible exposes his true nature and origins, his ambitions, but more importantly, how we can defeat him. Satan is described as being a murderer and the father of lies. Unfortunately, he does not operate in the spiritual domains alone, but can take on a physical nature when he sees fit. He moves about in all the domains man currently lives in, and has the tactical advantage of having lived for millennia.
Satan has seen all of history, and has orchestrated countless deaths, revolutions, wars, and tragedies. He destroys everything good. He is the source of all corruption. He is the mastermind of every evil ideology. He has studied mankind and all of his weaknesses. He is a master-manipulator and shrouds his plans in the darkest pits of hell. Lastly, he has dominion over this earth at present (Luke 4:5-7), which means any system currently not plugged into God, has the ability to be used by Satan. Here are some examples from scripture to demonstrate this:
- Land
And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Job 1:7
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 1st Peter 5:8
- Sea
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Revelation 13:1
- Air
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3
Conclusion
The earth is the battlefield in which Satan is currently attempting to thwart God’s plans. We know of no other planet or beings upon which Satan is waging battle over, so it is likely that we (humans) are the only prize there is to fight over. Satan currently executes precise dominion in all the natural realms, and uses his demonic forces to unleash unceasing attacks against God’s plans and His people, which is why we’ve seen this being ramped up in the last century. Although we know he will be unsuccessful in the end, we currently suffer as cognizant victims of this particular kind of warfare as believers in Christ.
Born-again Christian’s do not possess the power to bind Satan, as many within the Charismatic movement would have you to believe. Rather, we are to model our resistance against our adversary as Christ did. When Jesus was being tempted in the desert, even He did not exude that sort of authority (in His humanity), but rather, began every rebuttal with as it is written… (Luke 4:1-14). You and I possess this same power and authority, that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us! (James 4:7) We in our flesh do not possess any power, but in the Word, and by the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, we can stand our ground.
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. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—Ephesians 6:10-18
Next week, we will look at Modern Warfare in the age of the apocalypse.