Reading: Video Transcript: The War Continues

Welcome back to this ongoing study on Spiritual Warfare.
Today’s subject is: “The War Continues.”

As we saw last time, the Garden of Eden shows us how the first two human beings—created in the image of God—made a choice. And as a result of that choice, all of creation became subjected to frustration.

So now we ask: How does the war continue today?

There’s a Christian humorist, a comedian named Dennis Swanberg, who loves to tell the story of the most unforgettable baptism he ever witnessed. It took place in a little West Texas church.

The church was building a new sanctuary. The sanctuary itself wasn’t finished yet, but the baptistry was ready to be used. So the pastor—excited to finally have the baptistry functioning—scheduled a baptism service even though the rest of the building wasn’t fully operational.

There were no pews yet, so the congregation gathered in folding chairs set up in the unfinished building. And although the baptistry worked, the changing rooms weren’t complete. So instead, they hung some sheets to serve as temporary barriers—one for the men’s changing area, one for the women’s.

Now, one of the individuals scheduled to be baptized was a woman who was terrified of water. The pastor reassured her that there was nothing to worry about. He carefully explained how the baptism would go, how he’d gently lower her into the water, and everything would be fine.

However, just as the pastor began to baptize her—saying, “I baptize you in the name of…”—she panicked. As she felt herself going under, she reached out frantically, grabbing for anything to keep from going down into the water.

Unfortunately, within her grasp was one of the sheets that formed the curtain between the baptistry and the men’s changing area.

She yanked it down.

And standing behind that curtain—having just stepped from the baptistry—was a man wearing nothing but his underwear.

Realizing something was very wrong, he turned to see the entire congregation staring at him.

He assessed the situation quickly and did the only thing he could think of:

He dove into the baptistry.

Of course, that only made things worse. The woman panicked even more. The whole scene descended into chaos.

And as Dennis Swanberg says, they simply dismissed the service right then and there.

Now, the point of this humorous story is this:
Sometimes the curtain gets pulled aside.

Maybe you’ve seen that moment in The Wizard of Oz—you know, the part where Dorothy and her companions finally meet the Wizard. He appears as this fearsome, mystical presence—smoke, thunderous voice, dramatic effects. But then little Toto the dog runs over and pulls back the curtain. And what do they find?

Just a little man pulling levers behind it all.

Well, in a sense, that’s what happens when we start to understand the ongoing spiritual battle. We pull back the curtain, and we begin to see the work of Satan—how he operates behind the scenes to deceive, tempt, divide, and destroy.

This is where we’ll pick up as we continue this study on Spiritual Warfare.

Now, you know, in the first session of this class, I talked about that phenomenon known as the frequency illusion. And frankly, if you start looking at Scripture from the lens of spiritual warfare, you'll begin to see that the battle is pictured over and over again. The curtain is pulled aside, and we get to see what’s really going on.

We saw it in Genesis chapter 3—that’s where the battle is first defined. The curtain is pulled back. But as you read through the rest of Scripture, you’ll see this repeated again and again. The Bible pictures life in terms of a battle.

Think for just a moment about the release of the captives from Egypt.

The people of Israel had become slaves in Egypt. They were used to build pyramids and marvelous structures that honored Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Then God sends Moses to deliver them. While Moses is there, God introduces ten plagues.

Now, if you’re sensitive to that curtain being pulled aside, you’ll notice that each of those plagues illustrates a spiritual battle—one god against another. For instance:

• The water turned to blood—the Nile was central to Egypt’s life and worship. The Egyptians had gods such as Khnum, guardian of the river’s source, Hapi, spirit of the Nile, and Osiris, for whom the Nile was considered the bloodstream. This was God showing His power over their river gods.

• Then came the frogs. Egypt had frog deities too—Heket and Hapi, both tied to fertility and depicted as frogs. Again, God was showing His supremacy.

• Then came the lice or gnats, representing a defeat of Geb, the earth god of Egypt.

• Then came the flies. And let me tell you, I’m recording this in early October—beautiful weather, yes, but we spent some time at our family cottage on Lake Michigan, and we had biting flies. I was trying to work on some steps down to the lake, and I was constantly getting bit. We tried to sit and talk, and flies kept bothering us. That’s a horrible kind of plague. Egypt had a fly god named Uatchit, and this plague challenged that false god.

• Next came disease on cattle—Egypt worshiped multiple gods represented by cattle and bulls.

• Then came boils, and these challenged the Egyptian gods of healing.

• After that came hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, the death of the firstborn—which challenged the most powerful Egyptian gods, including Ra, the sun god, and Pharaoh himself, who was considered a divine son.

Each of these plagues is not just a natural disaster—it’s God confronting the spiritual powers of Egypt, saying:
“I am more powerful than any other god or spirit that exists.”

Now, are we saying that every one of these Egyptian gods was a demon in disguise? We’re not exactly sure. But what’s clear is that God is intentionally showing that no other god or spiritual being can stand against Him.

This confronts the ancient mindset—what some call the “primitive mindset”—that everything is caused by the gods or demons. But Scripture uses that framework to show who the true God really is.

Now let’s move on to the crossing of the Jordan River in the book of Joshua.

There’s that marvelous moment when the Ark of the Covenant is carried by the priests, and they stand in the middle of the Jordan River. Then the waters stop flowing, and the people of Israel walk across on dry ground.

Here’s what Scripture says about that moment:

“This was done so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful.”
— Joshua 4:24

That last part is my paraphrase and commentary:
No other god could compare in power.

The gods of Israel’s enemies were just created things. They had no ability to move water or provide dry passage across a river.

Now the Canaanites worshiped a river god of the Jordan, especially because the river would flood and provide fertile soil. But God says, “Oh no, no, no. I’m more powerful than that.” And He proves it.

In the Book of Judges, you see this dynamic again and again. Other nations defeat Israel. Then God delivers them—and each time, He’s showing that He is more powerful than the gods of those nations.

Back then, the idea of one nation conquering another was always understood as a contest between gods. The question was: Who’s really in charge here? Is it some local deity? Or is it the Almighty God—Jehovah, the Creator, the God of the Covenant?

You see this clearly in 1 Samuel. Remember when the Philistines defeat the Israelites and capture the Ark of the Covenant? The Ark symbolized the very presence of God to the people of Israel. The Philistines take it into the temple of their god, Dagon.

The next morning, when they enter the temple, Dagon has fallen face down before the Ark. So they stand him back up. But the following day, he has fallen again—this time, his head and hands are broken off. It’s a clear picture: no god is more powerful than the God of Israel. Eventually, the Philistines are so terrified that they send the Ark back to the Israelites.

Then there's the famous battle between David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. When David approaches Goliath, he says:

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands,
and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army
to the birds and the wild animals—
and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”
— 1 Samuel 17:45–46 (selected)

And then this powerful line:

“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves;
for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
— 1 Samuel 17:47

This is the spiritual battle. It’s more than just armies clashing—it’s about which god is true, powerful, and worthy of worship.

Let’s now look at another Old Testament passage—we’ll spend more time on this later, but I want to highlight it briefly. It’s from Daniel 10.

At this point, Daniel has been taken captive to Babylon. He rises in the ranks and becomes one of the key administrators—one of three governors who helped rule that expansive Persian empire under King Cyrus.

Here's what Daniel writes:

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia,
a revelation was given to Daniel (also called Belteshazzar).
Its message was true and it concerned a great war.
The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.”
— Daniel 10:1

Now notice what Daniel says next:

“At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
I ate no choice food;
no meat or wine touched my lips;
and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”
— Daniel 10:2–3

So Daniel is fasting and mourning, trying to discern the meaning of this powerful vision that has something to do with his people.

Then:

“On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,
as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,
I looked up, and there before me was a man dressed in linen
with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
His body was like topaz,
his face like lightning,
his eyes like flaming torches,
his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,
and his voice like the sound of a multitude.”
— Daniel 10:4–6

This is clearly a heavenly being, possibly the angel Gabriel or another angelic messenger.

Daniel continues:

“I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision;
the men with me did not see it,
but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision;
I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale, and I was helpless.
Then I heard him speaking,
and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep,
my face to the ground.”
— Daniel 10:7–9

So Daniel is completely undone by this heavenly encounter. What we see again is the curtain being pulled aside, revealing the spiritual dimension behind earthly events.

“My face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, ‘Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.’ And when he said this to me, I stood up, trembling.”
— Daniel 10:10–11

Now that is powerful, right? Who is this being? Commentators differ—some say it's a great angel; others believe it may be Jesus Himself. That theory is supported when we compare it to the description in Revelation 1, where John sees a vision of Christ:

“Among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. The hair on His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters… In His right hand He held seven stars, and coming out of His mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
— Revelation 1:13–16

John, like Daniel, fell at His feet "as though dead." But then this heavenly being touches him and says:

“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
— Revelation 1:17–18

So, back in Daniel 10, this same majestic figure continues speaking:

“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”
— Daniel 10:12–13

This is fascinating. The "prince of Persia" is likely not a human ruler—it seems to be a demonic power, a regional spiritual authority. And Michael, the archangel, comes to help. Then the messenger says:

“Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come.”
— Daniel 10:20

This opens up the idea of regional demons—spiritual entities influencing entire nations or empires. If there's a prince of Persia and a prince of Greece, might there also be a prince influencing the United States today? Could this explain some of the resistance to the kingdom of God?

This is where spiritual warfare gets real.

You and I are called to build the kingdom of God. But we must realize: there are opposing forces at work. And God has given us weapons for this war—prayer and fasting among them.

Daniel’s breakthrough began when he had a burden. He wanted to understand the vision. He set his heart to seek God, and through three weeks of fasting and prayer, the response came. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a model.

When we engage spiritually with prayer and fasting, we engage with heaven.
And we also push back against hell.

Let me return to the phrase: “the curtain is pulled aside.” We now see not only what God is doing—like Elisha's servant in 2 Kings who saw the chariots of fire—but we also see what the enemy is doing. And if we are alert, we can discern his tactics, and begin to develop a plan for battle.

Now, I wish I could tie this all up with a neat conclusion like in a sermon. But because this is a class, we’re going to go much deeper in the coming sessions. We’ll talk about:

• Who is Satan, really?

• How does he operate?

• What strategies does he use?

• And how can we, as believers, fight back with God's weapons?

But before we close, let me point you to one more Old Testament passage that pulls aside the curtain in a dramatic way.

It’s found in the book of Job.

“One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’
Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.’”
— Job 1:6–7

Satan is roaming the earth. He's active. And the battle continues.

So, let’s close this session with prayer:

Lord, we understand that You are at work.
Help us to see it—give us eyes to see what You are doing, even as we begin to see the work of the enemy.
We know that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
But You have come to bring life, and life more abundantly.
Give us courage.
Give us discernment.
And help us remember that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus—our Lord, our Commander, our Savior.
Amen.

Thank you—and we’ll see you next time as we begin our study of Satan's identity, methods, and how to resist him.