The Battle Is in the Fine Print

Most of us are at least somewhat familiar with the battle between the Greeks and the city of Troy, but in case you aren't, here's the Cliff's Notes version: 

Once upon a time, there was a long drawn-out battle between the Greeks and the Trojans, and after a ten-year siege, the Greeks decided to try another tactic. They built an enormous hollow horse out of wood and hid their best soldiers inside. Then they made it very evident to the Trojans that they were "giving up," and they exited stage left.

The Trojans, watching the Greeks sail away, exulted in their victory, and they said to one another in good ancient Trojan-lingo, "Hey y'all, look at that amazing wooden horse. That would make one whiz-bang trophy." So they went out and got the horse and wheeled it within the walls of the city. Overnight, the mighty Greek warriors hidden inside the horse crawled out and destroyed the city of Troy from the inside-out. The Greek army returned and battered the city once more, cutting off any escape, and Troy was defeated.

Nowadays the term "Trojan Horse" is commonly understood to refer to anything which presents itself as friendly, but which deceptively damages its intended victim from the inside.

This morning, I read a Facebook post from a friend of a friend that spoke powerfully to me, and given that the settings are public, I will link it here. 

This is what stood out to me about this post, and I'll just lay it out, no holds barred. 

Church, we are fighting two battles, but many of us are focused on the wrong one. For months, I've read websites and blog posts, and I've listened to good, Godly people -- true followers of Jesus, adherents to the Word of God -- focus on one battle, and in so doing... lose track of the second battle, which is the more important one, the one that holds the biggest stakes ever.

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood..." I have read and reread this verse for years, but how often do I really take it to heart? 

We have got to stop telling ourselves that Democrats are the enemy or Republicans are the enemy. That our struggle is against President Trump or President-Elect Biden. That our war is with people of white skin or people of dark skin or people of any other color of skin there is. Or here's one: That our battle is against those who wear masks because of a virus or those who don't wear masks because of a virus. Hmm.

A very wise mother of mine once (or many times) told me: "Don't judge a book by its cover." Or, as the Scriptures put it more succinctly in 1 Samuel 16:7: "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 

No. Stop trying to fight a spiritual battle in the physical world.

Can spiritual battle affect physical reality? Yes and amen. Constantly. Here's a stellar example from Acts 12:5-17: Peter's in jail. He's not just in jail, he's manacled and chained to two guards, incredibly physical reminders of his lack of freedom. The night before his intended trial, he's sleeping between two guards, and an angel shows up. I think we all agree that angels are spiritual beings, yes?

Yes. With that established, just look at all the physical aspects affected by the spiritual world here:

"Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared (physical) and a light shone in the cell (physical). He struck Peter on the side (ouch! Physical) and woke him up (physical). 'Quick, get up!' he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists (physical).

"Then the angel said to him, 'Put on your clothes and sandals.' And Peter did so (physical). 'Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,' the angel told him (physical). Peter followed him out of the prison (physical), but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision (ah! Spiritual!). They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city (physical, physical, and physical). It opened for them by itself (physical and spiritual!), and they went through it (physical). When they had walked the length of the street, suddenly the angel left him (returning to spiritual, but Peter is free, physical!)."

Peter focused on the spiritual vision -- as he thought it was, but the spiritual vision affected his physical circumstances. Had he focused solely on the physical, he would have missed God's intervention into the battle being waged over him that very night, a battle that occurred as a result of intercessory prayer by a praying church... but that's a post for another day.

So, let's head back to Genesis 40 and Joseph's story, which I'm going to tie into this dichotomy of focus. Looking back on Joseph's story from our comfortable positions in our armchairs as we scan the book of Genesis, we can wink and nudge Joseph: It's okay, buddy, you'll get out soon, and look at your future! It's bright!

Joseph, unfortunately, has no idea in this chapter what the Lord has planned for him. All he can see are the locks that keep him a prisoner, his distance from his homeland and his family, and his utter lack of hope. 

Until one day, two new prisoners are admitted to his care. One is the Pharaoh's cupbearer, the guy who gets to take care of the king's wine cellar and as a bonus, often taste the king's wine to make sure it's not poisoned before he hands it to the highest power in the land. Coups and assassination plots are a less-than-fortunate side-effect of holding power.

The other prisoner is the Pharaoh's chief baker from the royal kitchens. 

The Scripture doesn't say what exactly ticked off the king that ended up with their imprisonment, but contextually, it seems that they were thrown into prison together, possibly as a result of their dual role in the same offense against the king.

While they are in prison, on the same night, they each have a prophetic dream. In this time, the Lord often speaks through dreams, even to those who do not acknowledge him (see Daniel 2 and Genesis 20, etc.). 

The cupbearer has dreamed about three branches that blossom on a vine, and when grapes have grown from the blossoms, he squeezes those grapes into the king's cup and puts it into his hand. 

The baker has dreamed about three baskets full of baked goods resting on his head, and birds land in the top basket and start pecking at the bread.

Both men are clueless as to what under the sun the dreams mean, and when morning comes, they're obviously depressed.

When Joseph comes in, ostensibly to bring them their breakfast or empty their chamberpot or whatever it is that Joseph does in the prison, he asks them what's wrong, so they tell him. "We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them."

So in Genesis 40:8, Joseph says: "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

I'd like to point out that Joseph, in presenting himself as an agent through whom the Lord could work, had precedent for this as the great-grandson of Abraham. In Genesis 18, the patriarch hosts three men at his tent, two angels and the Lord Himself. As the three men are leaving, Abraham walks with them, and the Lord says to His two angels: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?"

God reveals His plan to Abraham, and here in Genesis 40, God reveals His plan to Joseph through the interpretation of the dreams He's sent to the two men.

Joseph sees past the physical and correctly identifies the spiritual. He interprets the cupbearer's dream to mean that the cupbearer will be released in three days and returned to his previous position as head of the king's wine cellar. He interprets the baker's dream to mean that the king will lift the man's head from his shoulders (beheading), and he will be hung from a tree for the birds to pick at his flesh. 

Grisly... and true. 

God gives Joseph clear-sightedness to see past the evidence laid before him (the dreams) and identify the truth behind it (the meaning).

Joseph is in touch with God. He's had years in captivity to focus on the Lord, to increase his faith and his obedience. So when he, through the Lord's direction, looks beyond the physical, with practiced ease, he slides his sight to the spiritual.

I love looking at those 4-D pictures that hold hidden images. The only way to see the images is to stop focusing on the swirls or shapes or designs and refocus instead on some point behind them. 

The reveal is usually startling: I go from blurry confusion to startling clarity in the space of a second, and then it's like looking into a different world. I can see beyond the edges of the frame. The picture has depth and height, and it's almost like I can reach inside it if I try. It's my own personal Narnia.

I remember trying to explain the trick of it to a friend who had never figured out how to "see" the hidden world. He was absolutely convinced that I was pulling his leg, and I insisted over and over that I wasn't fooling him. It wasn't a conspiracy. It wasn't a deception. There was, for real, a picture hidden within the picture. He just had to focus correctly.

Y'all... find your spiritual eyes. There's a battle in the fine print. There are armies behind the blinds. And if we don't get with the spiritual program, we are going to miss the war actually happening in real time around us. 

This year has held a physical toll for all of us, but the battle behind the tangible is spiritual. There is a war happening, and it's a battle for our souls. Gear up! 

The enemy's greatest tool is fooling us into thinking that he is not real. His most brilliant deception is allowing us to believe that we've won the small battles, and while we're off-guard, relaxing in our ostensible victory, we are trapped like an unobservant frog that sits in cool water over a stove burner until the water scalds us. While we're allowing ourselves to be boiled alive, the enemy is waging the much larger, much more expansive, much more deadly war. 

Oh friends, we have got to wake up! The enemy is real, but here's the thing, the awesome promise, the key to victory, the decisive swing moment in battle:

Greater is He that is in me...
than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).