Thoughts About
Spiritual Warfare
Area Indoctrination Briefing
Part 5 of 34

Rockey Jackson, September 27, 2003

Preface

This briefing package is an intelligence primer for soldiers in the army of God. It is the cumulative result of many years of research into the subject of spiritual warfare and fifty years of experience as a disciple of Jesus Christ. (I started out in the church nursery.) It is meant to provide a brief overview of the enemy we face in spiritual warfare (the briefing), then become a reference manual for further study (the appendices), and finally be used as a baseline for deeper research (the addenda). This briefing should be considered a living document. It may be revised and expanded as I continue to learn more on this subject.

Here’s how I came to compile this briefing. It seems that in every church the Lord has ever placed me, I discerned the spirit of Jezebel along with her two consorts Religion and Control. Then a few years ago a friend shared an open vision the Lord gave her of the Philistine champion Goliath. The sense she had was that he was at rest as he ruled over the church in our area. I pondered what this meant, but really didn’t know what to do with it. Eventually as I considered this spirit of Goliath, I began to wonder if I shouldn’t look for a fifth strongman to go along with the four I’d already identified because Goliath had four brothers (or sons). I shared these thoughts with some friends over dinner while on a ministry trip and a gentleman acquaintance immediately responded that he knew who the fifth strongman was. He said it was the Spirit of Competition between the pastors. Another lady quickly added that they would be associated with the five kings that opposed Joshua. I then thought of several other lists of five entities that opposed the purposes of God and within a couple of weeks the illustration of the enemy’s organization chart was born. (It has been revised many times since then as I’ve sorted things out.) After that, the real work began. First I began by compiling lists of scriptures on the names of Satan. That led me to the reptiles that metaphorically represent him, and they in turn led me to find a biblical personification for each of them. Next I had to index all of the scripture lists and analyze the data that they provided. Then finally I was able to organize the document and write the text.

It says in the book of Isaiah that God reveals his truth in a progressive manner. He gives us a little at a time and repeats it over and over again until we learn our lessons.

Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

That is how this research has progressed. It was like an investigation. I couldn’t go to just one grand passage of scripture and expound upon it. I had to search the Scriptures, finding a fact here and a detail there. Then like a mosaic or a picture puzzle, I had to fit the details together, piece by piece, to form a meaningful picture.

Solomon told us in the book of Proverbs that God takes glory in concealing things, but that it is our honor to discover the truth.

Prov 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Remember, when we came to Christ, He made us priests and kings:

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Moses told us in the book of Deuteronomy that God owns all of the secret things. But the truths that are sought out and revealed belong to us and to our posterity for all time.

Deut 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

So whatever truth I’ve managed to bring to light in this briefing belongs to us now. It is part of our heritage and we can add it to our arsenal of weapons to help defeat the enemy of our souls.

The subject of spiritual warfare along with my background as an Air Force intelligence analyst suggested the format of an Area Indoctrination Briefing. (We used Area Indoctrination Briefings to introduce newly arrived personnel to the enemy forces we faced in our area of operations.) For those who don’t have a military background, I should explain that military intelligence focuses only on the enemy, his resources, location, and intentions. Our own forces along with the plans, strategies, and tactics necessary to effectively engage our enemy fall under the domain of military operations. The information provided in the briefing and its supporting material provides a good introduction to the enemy, his forces, and their intentions. It is not exhaustive, however, and it remains for our Lord Jesus Christ’s commanding generals to use this information to improve their strategies, tactics, and plans for defeating the enemies they are assigned by our Lord.

I kept the body of the briefing very short and concise, hitting only the high points in a bulleted fashion. The appendices provide the underlying rationale and expanded information for further study. Finally, the addenda supply the basic definitions and scriptures used as reference material. All together, this briefing is both a short teaching on spiritual warfare and the compilation of my research notes on the subject. I keep a copy of the briefing in my Bible and a copy of the entire work on a shelf above my desk for ready reference. I hope that you find the material contained herein as useful as I do.

God Bless,

Rockey Jackson

Mountain Goats

These mountain goats are part of a herd that ranges along the Continental Divide in Colorado. They were used for the banner of the "Area Indoctrination Briefing" because of the obvious association of Satan with goats.