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Introduction to Spiritual
Warfare
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Today a walled city is mostly outdated, modern
warfare has made the walls useless. Airplanes have taken away
any advantage the walls can provide. However, even before
aircraft, the development of the cannon demonstrated the days
of walled cities were limited. Cannons allowed attackers to
pulverize walls with artillery, causing the walls to crumble.
Artillery also shocked the inhabitants inside the walls, who
never faced anything like it before. The smashing artillery
caused a quick surrender of its inhabitants; therefore, the
cannon caused the walled stronghold to cease.
In history strongholds played a vital role, no
army could successfully defeat an opponent and let their
stronghold stand within conquered territory. One of the main
objectives of armies were to remove strongholds within conquered
territory. We as the Lord’s army need to take notice, of the
objective to remove strongholds. Like conquerors of old, we need
to target the spiritual strongholds of our enemy, Satan.
Mehmett II demonstrated this point in 1453, with
the fall of Constantinople. He hired the famous Hungarian
gunsmith Urban to construct cannons whose size was unheard of
before. With these cannons, he was able to pound the walls of
Constantinople, also known as ancient Byzantium. Over a
thousand years before Mehmett II, Constantine created
Constantinople (Byzantium) as the capital city, of the Eastern
Roman Empire in 330.
Constantinople was a stronghold, the seat of Byzantine
Christianity for more than 1100 years, now it became the seat of
Islamic power. The Muslim ruler changed the name from
Constantinople to Istanbul. From this city, Mehmett II planned
to advance his kingdom throughout Europe and the Middle East,
establishing world empire, he died before he could succeed.
The history of Constantinople allows us to
illustrate the meaning of the term “strongholds”, which Paul
refers to both directly and indirectly.
What is a
stronghold?
Strongholds are an ancient part of human history,
as populations of earth multiplied they formed communities
called cities. People soon realized living in the open allowed
you to become a victim to the fallen nature. Invading or
marauding people would attack unsuspecting or defenseless
cities, taking goods and people.
Putting walls around your settlement, with a
gate, gave the inhabitants a source of protection and control,
since the walls needed to breached, before contact made. The
better the defense, the more secure the inhabitants. Soon
builders of walled cities realized, walls also make good
offense, because it allowed an army a secure base of
operations. An army could rest and relax between offensive
campaigns. The more secure the location, the more effective and
powerful the force within.
A city with strong walls and secure location,
usually a hilltop or mountain would be able grow in stature and
power enriching its inhabitants. As the city prospered, it
could then begin to exert control on the surrounding cities and
villages, which were less secure. Soon the city would become
known as a city-states, examples of these city-states are
Babylon, Nineveh, Damascus, Rome, Carthage and others too
numerous to list. Eventually some of these city-states became
nations; some would become empires, like Rome and Assyria. This
was a common occurrence throughout the earth, as humanity spread
following the days of Noah. The importance of the walled city
would diminish as technology became more pervasive.
Nonetheless, the picture of the walled city or fortress was
known as a stronghold.
Strongholds were points, which were hard to
defeat, because of their design, walls, located on a hilltop,
along with the offensive capabilities of an army within. The
army could launch attacks, and then retreat to the safety of its
walled city. Thus, their point of operation became a “strong
hold”. This picture of the physical stronghold is used to also
represent the spiritual stronghold. Spiritual strongholds are
represented in scripture, in the same way as physical ones.
They are points of operation, where attacks are waged on
outlying areas. The become points of offensive operations,
which are hard to remove, unless concerted effort is made to
remove them.
Spiritually speaking, Paul defines strongholds as
an “argument or high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God”. A stronghold is a point of operation
from where Satan can keep the unbeliever captive or the believer
incapacitated. See 2nd Corinthians below.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to
the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 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,
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Israel
an example of war
Waging war in the spiritual realms illustrates
events in the physical. Israel entering the Promised Land is an
illustration of the faithful entering the land of promise and
rest. We see from Israel’s example, a nation, who because of
unbelief was not able to receive the promises of God, because
they lacked faith. Only when they believed, could they enter,
but the faithless generation was kept out. In the same way
today, many “born-again saints” fail to receive the blessings
promised because of disbelief. We do not believe God is strong
enough, to overcome the strongholds in our life.
Before Israel was to enter the Promised Land,
Moses had the nation of Israel send out 12 spies, into the land
to see what the cities were like, including if there were any
stronghold in the land (Numbers 13:19).
17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and
said to them, "Go up this way into the South, and go up to the
mountains, 18 "and see what the land is like: whether the people
who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 "whether the
land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they
inhabit are like camps or strongholds;
Numbers 13:17-19
The twelve spies returned and reported what they
saw; we get two different perspectives from the spies. Ten spies
reported the land was too strong to take, cites were fortified
(Strongholds) and large, the inhabitants were giants, according
to the 10-spies.
27 Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where
you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its
fruit. 28 "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are
strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw
the descendants of Anak there. 29 "The Amalekites dwell in the
land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites
dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and
along the banks of the Jordan."
Numbers 13:27-29
Caleb and Joshua rejected the view of the
10-spies; they saw God as capable of giving them victory over
the giants and strongholds of the land. The ten spies rejected
Caleb plea, restating the hopeless situation of the nation found
itself. All hope was lost; the nation would need to find a
leader to take them back to Egypt.
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let
us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to
overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We
are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger
than we." Numbers 13:30-31
You could almost see the struggle, the
faithful minority versus the faithless majority. The
people were so defeated and faithless in God’s ability they
would have stoned Moses, Joshua and Caleb if the Lord did not
intervene (Numbers 14). They were planning to go back to Egypt
after they selected a leader. The Lord would have destroyed the
faithless generation, but Moses interceded. God instead allowed
the generation of faithless Israel to wander the deserts of
Sinai and die there. We must remember, this rebellion follows
the miracles of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and their
seeing God’s presence leading them in a cloud by day and
a pillar of fire at night.
Israel’s plight illustrates a point, when we
reject God’s promises because of unbelief; we end up wandering
in a wilderness, because we refuse to take God at His word. This
is the reason we need to put on the whole armor of the
God. Joshua and Caleb were able to see victory despite the
strongholds in the Promised Land. Joshua and Caleb were wearing
God’s armor, as opposed to the 10-spies. They were willing to
wage war on the Canaanite cities, because they new it was not
them, but the Lord who would give them victory.
Wearing the
Armor of God
Israel sets the example for the faithful; within
the nation were two groups, those who believed the
 Lord
and those who did not. Because of the unbelief of the majority,
the nation was forced to wander in the dusty and rocky Sinai
desert for 40-years. We (the saved), grafted into the covenant
of Israel, should take notice, why did Israel fail to enter the
land? Was it because God was unfaithful? No, it was because the
people would not trust Him. Why did Israel tremble in fear at
Goliath, and David boldly want to fight? In both cases, the
faithful trusted the Lord, Joshua and Caleb saw God open the Red
Sea, they saw Him in the cloud and fire, they knew their God.
David too, knew his God; He was more then capable of giving
David victory (I Samuel 17).
Before the battle took place in the field, it was
in the mind. The minds of the 10-spies were controlled by
fear. The army of Israel before the Philistine Goliath, a
giant, was defeated in the mind, before on arrow flew. The
battle began in the mind, just as it does for us.
The armor of God gives us the ability to be
victors in the battle of the mind. Putting on the full
armor of God, allows us to stand against the schemes of Satan,
whose goal is to pin the faithful to the ground.
Here we stand, God’s warriors about to enter
battle, how are we to wage war? First, we must remember Paul’s
instructions, we need to put on the full armor God,
having done that, we need to make the conscious decision to
stand. We need to choose to stand, as opposed to being
taken down by our opponent Satan.
We must prepare for battle, in the spiritual war;
our objective should always be victory through the
 Lord’s
strength, not our own power. Look in verse 10 and 11 of
Ephesians, what is the key to success?
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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 6:10-12
The key to Joshua, Caleb and David was their reliance on the
Lord’s ability, His power and might. They were strong in the
Lord. In verses 10 and 11, our part is to make a conscious
effort. Verse 10 tells us,
be strong, verse 11, says put on. Are you willing to move
forward in battle trusting the Lord?
Preparing to
assault strongholds: Spying out the land
Using Israel as our example, what was their first
action before they entered the promise land?Moses told them to
spy out the land, to survey it, locate the stronghold. We need
to do the same; we need to locate places where the enemy has
strongholds in our life. Remember our battle is not physical
but spiritual. In Ephesians
6:10-18, only two pieces of the armor are
offensive in nature, what are they? They are the
sword (vs. 17) and prayer. In describing the armor,
many times people stop at verse 17, but verse 18 is just as much
a part of the armor.
18 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 6:18
 The
sword of the Lord, the word of God and Prayer are offensive
weapons against the strongholds, which allows Satan to keep
people captive. With these two weapons, we can take the
offensive, rather then being defensive. We can pursue our
strongholds, to pull them down. We need to enter the battle
wearing our armor, prepared to assault the stronghold with our
sword and prayer.
Looking back at
Israel, the first generation of the Exodus failed to enter the
land of promise, however the next generation, now led by Joshua
did not fail. Because they believed, they prepared for battle
against the stronghold of Jericho. The Lord Himself led the
battle as the commander of Lord’s hosts; Joshua was merely to
follow orders (Joshua 5). They succeeded; Jericho fell because
the nation obeyed the Lord (Joshua 6). However, the next battle
was not so successful, because the nation disobeyed; the
stronghold of Ai was able to defeat the armies of Israel
(Joshua 7). Why could a little stronghold defeat Israel? The
nation sinned, when Achan of Judah took garments from Jericho,
he violated God’s command and the whole nation suffered, falling
to the stronghold of Ai.
Take a personal inventory of your life. What
areas of your life cause you to fail? Like faithful Joshua and
Caleb, we need to spy out the land. We need to determine where
Satan’s strongholds are. Our goal is to enter the “Promised
Land” of God’s promises. The issue here is not salvation,
but victorious Christian living (See chart at the bottom). In
the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-28), the
seed is sowed on different types of soil, in the end, the
abundant crop comes from good ground. Why did the
good soil produce a fruitful crop? Good ground was clear of
those things, which prevented growth. In the parable, the
weeds, stones and thistles, choked off the seed (word) planted
by the sower (Jesus). Jesus describes the weeds as the cares
of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.
"But he who received seed on the good ground is
he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit
and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Matthew 13:23
Jesus tells us the key to bearing an abundant crop in this
life requires we
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Hear the
word
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Understand
the word
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Bear fruit
Satan does not want us to bear fruit, his goal is to
defeat us, and prevent us from having fruit. The strongholds
are points of operation, allowing Satan to maintain power over
us.
Only through the Lord’s power will we be able to be
break free from Satan’s control. We have no power from within
or without, except for the Lord. God’s word reveals the control
of Satan in our lives, through strongholds. Satan uses these
strongholds to launch attacks on us. Therefore, we need to
identify where these stronghold are, and remove them. Just like
an ancient army first had to remove strongholds, to hold the
land, we need to do the same.
Identifying your strongholds
Wearing the armor of God, prepares us for battle, we need
to identify just where our strongholds are located. Paul in
several portions of scripture identifies specific areas, where
the flesh is opposed to the spirit. The scripture below lists
areas or strongholds where Satan can wage war. Therefore, we
need to identify these strongholds in our own life. How does
Satan continue to cause us to fall? What area of our life gives
him the ability to wage war with us? Read the scriptures
below, can you identify your strongholds?
1.____________________________________________________________
2.____________________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________________
4.____________________________________________________________
5.____________________________________________________________
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,20 idolatry,
sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath,
selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you
beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you
should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the
futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19
who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Ephesians 4:17-19
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth:
fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the
wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which
you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you
yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to
one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who created him,
Colossians
3:5-10
20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as
I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not
wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath,
selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;
21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and
I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not
repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which
they have practiced.
2 Corinthians 12:20-21
Once we begin to identify the strongholds, we
need to wage war against them. Paul describes the type of
warfare the Spiritual warrior is to engage in.
For example, Satan had a stronghold in my life
(the author); he made me think money was the only way to have
friends, power or value. Therefore, from the age of 15, I
remember making a concerted promise to gain wealth, so I could
master the world around me. My whole life from that point was
focused on money and power; I made it my god and idol. Only
after my idol was crushed in my early twenties did I out of
desperation, seek to find truth. Satan ruled over my life from
his stronghold, from there, he was able to keep his hold on me;
I was a bitter and angry person, who did not want to live. I
found Christ and my life changed. The strongholds of life still
existed however, Satan was able to wage war with my thinking,
causing me defeat and fear. Through scripture, I was able to
make these thoughts captive to Christ.
I learned from scripture the riches of this world
were very temporary, that even if I was able to gain the whole
world, I would be broke when I died. Scripture revealed to me,
true treasure was what you could keep forever. The words of
Jesus became instrument of spiritual warfare, Jesus said in Mark 8,
35 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save
it. 36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole
world, and loses his own soul? 37 "Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? Mark
8:35-36
Therefore, every time Satan would whisper to my mind, the
importance of great wealth and fame, I learned to quote this
verse back. Soon I was able to wage war against this stronghold
in my life, and claim victory, no longer trusting in earthly
riches as my hope. I soon learned to move on to other
strongholds and areas where Satan would launch attacks. Like the
armies of old, my goal was to claim territory from the enemy, I
needed to assault his strongholds, and free the “Promised Land”
from his control. Once free from strongholds, I learned to
rest in His promises.
Waging war on
your stronghold
In 2nd Corinthians 10 verses
3 to 5, we are instructed on how to war
against strongholds, where Satan launches his attacks. What can
we learn from this portion of scripture about spiritual
warfare?
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to
the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 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,
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
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The battle
is not physical
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Our weapons
are not physical
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Our weapons
are able to pull down strongholds, arguments and high things
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The war is
that which exalts against the knowledge of God (The Word)
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Victory is
achieved by bringing every thought into captivity of
obedience of Christ.
We have two offensive weapons in this battle, one
the sword of the Lord (God’s word) and two, prayer. These are
two mighty weapons, which allow us to pull down strongholds.
Our warfare is against that which is opposed to the knowledge of
God. The revelation of God’s word exposes these strongholds,
for that reason it is important to combine God’s word, the sword
with prayer to overcome these points of satanic power.
Satan knows if we are able to remove these
strongholds, a mighty warrior will emerge. His goal is to
prevent the victorious spiritual warrior from taking the field.
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