IRREGULAR WARFARE

Introduction to Bible Study by Pastora Cate Covert

Nearly four years ago, Holy Spirit inspired me to examine the relationship between earthly and heavenly warfare. As I began to dig into the subject, I found this title -- Irregular Warfare -- appropriate.

Because some of us are involved in the information war, we know something about irregular warfare.

Since this series is about war, generally, it is interesting to note some general facts about war as found in the Bible.

According to the e-Sword.net word search on the NKJV of the Bible, the word WAR occurs in 228 verses. KJV returns 220.

The first war mentioned in the Bible happened when Abram went to rescue Lot from the four kings! (Gen. 14) There are many lessons to learn here, not least of which is what can happen when a righteous man chooses to live among corrupt men. That's a story for another day.

The BIBLE, we must never forget, is CENTERED on God's People. Pre-Israelite Hebrews, such as Abram (later renamed Abraham), were part of God's plan to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 far in the future of humans.

It all started in the Garden of Eden. 

Genesis 3:9-15  Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"  (10)  So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."  (11)  And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"  (12)  Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."  (13)  And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."  (14)  So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.  (15)  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

The price of disobedience was going to be war in the future.

(Genesis 3:15)  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Let's look at the Hebrew word "seed."

H2233  זֶרַע zera‛  zeh'-rah

From H2232; seed; figuratively fruit, plant, sowing time, posterity: -  X carnally, child, fruitful, seed (-time), sowing-time.

Total KJV occurrences: 229

Please Note: There is a symmetrical physical side to this: because of the word "zera'," we see that both the serpent and the woman would have seed.

To even out the equation, we must note that the serpent is physical AND spiritual, though fallen. The woman is mortal, not yet spiritual, and fallen. How can this equation be corrected?

The answer, as hard as it is to fathom, is that the serpent would have physical seed, though he was a spiritual being. To illustrate this, we must look at a much-debated portion of scripture which gives us a clue as to how the serpent could have offspring:

(Genesis 6:1-8)  Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

A study on the origins of war would not be complete without mentioning Enoch.

The Gospel of Luke mentions Enoch in the genealogy of Jesus Christ:

Luke 3:37-38  the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan,  (38)  the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Hebrews 11:5 speaks of Enoch's faith:

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "AND WAS NOT FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TAKEN HIM"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Jude 1:14 speaks of Enoch's prophesy of the Lord's return in judgment:

(Jude 1:14-16) Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Why is Enoch important? He was a witness to the rebellion of humans and angels alike. He was a faithful scribe and intermediary who faithfully sought God almighty.

Concerning the reference to the book of Enoch and why it is accepted over other non-canonical books is the fact of biblical endorsement of Enoch's character in both the Old Testament and New.

Enoch's experiences with the Watchers (fallen angels who forsook their intended estate and went to earth to take human wives), and the offspring of the Watchers, called Nephilim, are evident in the matter of this incursion of evil "sons of God" against the "daughters of men."

People often do not wish to believe this, so they say the serpent in the Garden was a different kind of creature and not Satan himself. However, John the Revelator puts this argument to rest:

(Revelation 20:1-2) Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

THE EQUATION:

Woman's seed vs. Serpent's seed

Return to Genesis 3:14-15 to understand how this mysterious equation would work.

(Genesis 3:14-15)So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

Here is the first part of the EQUATION:

The Woman's seed can be expressed this way:

She is mortal, and so we will represent this with M.

Under normal circumstances, we would represent the serpent as S, and we could say that M=S.

But because the devil inhabited the serpent, using S is insufficient. Instead, we must express the Serpent this way: He is immortal, so we will represent this with S₂

M + x = S₂

x represents what is missing in order to solve for the missing component to make M = S₂.

The human woman's mortal side (M) must receive a process that makes M = S_2, or else this is not a valid EQUATION. As we will see, God intervened for His prophetic words to be fulfilled. God set up the parameters of this equation in advance! By doing so, He also set forth the terms of this war!

Woman – human and physical

Serpent – spiritual and physical

God's Prophecy says

Her "seed" will bruise the serpent's head.

His "seed" will bruise the heel of her seed.

Now our first problem appears. Human Women do not have seed; human Men do. How can this be right?

This question brings us to the recounting of Mary's visitation from the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:26-38  Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  (27)  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  (28)  And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"  (29)  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.  (30)  Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  (31)  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.  (32)  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  (33)  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."  (34)  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"  (35)  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  (36)  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  (37)  For with God nothing will be impossible."  (38)  Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

There was no human man involved in the conception of Jesus. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and she became pregnant with the child Jesus. No human male contributed his DNA to fertilize Mary's womb; therefore, there was no curse through Adam. Jesus had His FATHER'S DNA. He was Physical and Spiritual and Immortal!

The woman of Genesis would have normal human offspring, and her offspring, in turn, would have offspring in the usual human manner. Still, someday a virgin mortal woman would bear God's Son, Jesus Christ, who perfectly fulfills this equation – He is the First and Last, the Beginning and End, Spiritual and physical, able to lay down His life to conquer the serpent's plan, and to take up His life again!

The Son existed with the Father in Heaven before He came to earth to be born of the virgin. He was fully human and fully God, without sin, living among humans so that He might show the way back to the God that people had forgotten. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, prophesied, and taught the masses who were in bondage to sin that through Him, God would make way for them to be reconciled to Himself.

Our second problem is this: How can spiritual beings (such as the devil inhabiting the serpent in the Garden) have offspring with humans?

God clearly said that the Serpent (who was Satan) would have offspring in a war with the offspring of the woman.

Let's look at Genesis 6:1-4 again.

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.  

Now, back to our equation. Remember, in an equation, both sides must be equal. Our job is to find out how to fulfill that requirement.

As the generations of man went on, it would always look like there was a battle between flesh and blood only, and nobody would expect a spiritual component in this war except GOD, His Prophets, and a chosen few until the birth of Christ! It would often look impossible! But God would teach His people faith through the institution of something we will call Irregular Warfare.

Why? Why would God stack the odds this way and allow this war to happen?

Because God is JUST, He hates an unjust balance or scale and knew how He would save us with His MERCY!

Why go to all this trouble when God could have just forced us to follow?

Because He wanted us to seek a relationship with Him voluntarily, He didn't want robots. He created man a little lower than the angels, but He wanted to elevate us to a place where we would one day rule and reign with Him.

Psalms 8:1-9  To the Chief Musician. On the Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!  (2)  Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.  (3)  When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,  (4)  What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  (5)  For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.  (6)  You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,  (7)  All sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field,  (8)  The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.  (9)  O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

One more question needs to be answered:

Why would God give the human woman a spiritual/physical offspring?

He did this to ensure that Satan and his minions would not dominate and conquer humans in their fallen condition.

John 3:16-18  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (17)  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  (18)  "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

God knew it would LOOK like the enemy would win because he could lie and deceive people because he was immortal and could be invisible when necessary. PLUS, he had all that time since the Garden to study humanity and know their weakness. When Adam & Eve fell, they lost dominion over the world, of which Psalm 8 speaks.

That dominion then defaulted to Satan.

Satan/Lucifer/Baal etc., had his offspring by robbing the daughters of men! Satan's offspring were/are an abomination to our Creator.

Satan committed a terrible act of WAR by stirring up the religious rulers and teachers of the Law (of God, which came through Moses).

BUT although Satan knew Jesus was begotten of God, he LOST the war by stirring up the mob to crucify Jesus. That day, Jesus took away the keys of death, hell, and the grave from Satan. Then He rose again to complete the work before Ascending to His Father in Heaven.

God is very wise, and He knew there would be wild stories about Yeshua/Jesus in the future. So He spoke to us through His prophets in ancient days as a witness to all we would later read in the Gospel accounts of our Lord.

The prophet Isaiah told a heartbreaking story of the future Messiah:

Isaiah 53:1-12  Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  (2)  For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.  (3)  He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  (4)  Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.  (5)  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  (6)  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  (7)  He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.  (8)  He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.  (9)  And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.  (10)  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.  (11)  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.  (12)  Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

So, most unexpectedly, God won the war for all eternity.

Hint: Satan had his bastard children who inherited his tricks, but they were not spiritually alive – they are like the walking dead. Doubly dead.

BUT the only Son of God had no wife and no children. So HOW was this spiritual/immortal line to carry on?

Jesus has offspring and is called the Everlasting Father – we become His sons and daughters when we are born again.

Isaiah 9:6-7  For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  (7)  Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

The offspring of Satan cannot help but imitate their father – Jesus called him the father of lies. Satan has sent, and still does send, these poor souls to destruction and uses them to try to USURP God's Kingdom and kill God's children.

Jesus has a different plan.
Enter Irregular warfare.

There are many types of warfare. Before we look at them, let's have a look at the word WARFARE:

[1]Definitions

Warfare, noun

war·​fare | \ ˈwȯr-ˌfer

1 : military operations between enemies : hostilities, war also : an activity undertaken by a political unit (such as a nation) to weaken or destroy another economic warfare

2 : struggle between competing entities : conflict

You can undoubtedly tell Satan has been hard at work among humans ever since the Garden. Just look at all the types of warfare there are!

·       Unrestricted Warfare

·       Information Warfare

·       Guerrilla warfare

·       Irregular warfare

·       Ritual warfare

·       Hybrid warfare

·       Cyberwarfare

·       Conventional warfare

·       Asymmetric warfare

·       Armored warfare

·       Unconventional warfare

·       Electronic warfare

·       Biological warfare

·       Trench warfare

·       Political warfare

·       Economic warfare

·       Terrorism

·       Lawfare

·       Network warfare

There are more! But that's plenty to demonstrate our purpose.

[2]Irregular Warfare:

Irregular warfare (IW) is defined in United States joint doctrine as "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations." Concepts associated with irregular warfare are older than the term itself.^[1][2]

Irregular warfare favors indirect warfare and asymmetric warfare approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capabilities, in order to erode the adversary's power, influence, and will. It is inherently a protracted struggle that will test the resolve of a state and its strategic partners.^{[17][18][19][20][21]} The distinction between regular and irregular forces is unrelated to the term "irregular warfare." The term, irregular warfare, was settled upon in distinction from "traditional warfare" and "unconventional warfare" and to differentiate it as such.^[22]

In an entry to the electronic open access Handbook of Military Sciences[23] the Dutch military scholar Martijn Kitzen explores Operations in Irregular Warfare and the underlying body of knowledge which characterizes these conflicts as violent struggles involving non-state actors and states that seek to establish power, control, and legitimacy over relevant populations.[24]

We can include any warfare under the broad umbrella of Irregular Warfare. It may be violent, or it may be sneaky and insidious. It may be overt – out in the open for all to see, or covert – hidden from view.

Irregular warfare may disguise itself in well-meaning probes of the enemy's defenses. It may look like "education" or other types of indoctrination. It certainly includes propaganda (there has been propaganda ever since the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden) that is meant to distort facts for political gain.

Let's go back to our definition of irregular warfare:

"a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations."

Using this as our guide, we will define the State vs. Non-State.

STATE as

•       KINGDOM OF GOD

–        Father, Son & Holy Spirit

–        Angelic beings – holy & pure

–        Spirits of God (As in "Seven Spirits of God" in Revelation)

–        Humans who are forgiven, righteous by faith, servants of God who are washed in the blood of Jesus.

- Humans who are fallen, sinful enemies of God, who He uses for a specific purpose! (Such as Pharaoh and Judas)

versus

NON-STATE as

•       KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD

–        Satan/Lucifer/Baal, etc.

–        Angelic beings – fallen & impure

–        Demons, evil spirits

–        Humans – Fallen, sinful enemies of God

–        Humans who serve God but let down their guard or fall prey to Satan's trickery end up helping the enemy!!

The earthly State is currently held in bondage by Satan but will soon become free upon the return of Jesus Christ.

How do you fight a devil you cannot see? There is a spiritual, non-human entity who can manifest as an angel of light, an alien, a human, or a demon at the head of the enemy forces.

Under WHOSE authority would you dare to fight that kind of enemy?

As we continue this series, we will learn more about the biblical record of the clashes between our Creator God and His people versus the Enemy and his people through the ages leading to this present time.

As we highlight some of the most famous battles of Biblical history, we will attempt to sharpen our focus on these particulars:

1. The guaranteed outcome of God's victory does not ensure success in every battle. To understand this, we must understand how and why Jehovah God has waged war alongside humans.

2. Why was there a battle?

3. Who were the combatants?

4. What was at stake?

a. We must understand the spiritual & physical ramifications

b. What irregular warfare means within the context of a Physical vs. Spiritual war

5. What are Satan's weapons vs. God's weapons?

6. The legal stuff

a. The Just Judgment of God against man and serpent

b. The penalty due - the soul that sins must die

c. The Mercy of God through Jesus Christ

NEXT TIME WE WILL EXAMINE THE BATTLE OF DAVID & GOLIATH AS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES ON IRREGULAR WARFARE.

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[1] Derived from https://www.merriam-webster.com/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregular_warfare