So what is Satan's fifth column? It was explained to me as follows...
In 1936, there was a civil war in Spain between the left wing and the right wing. Tragically, the Spaniards were fighting against one another. At one point a certain Spanish general was besieging a Spanish city. A second general came to him and said, "What is your plan to take this city?" The first general replied, "I have four columns advancing on the city, one from the north, one from the south, one from the east, and one from the west." Then he paused and said, "But it's my fifth column I'm expecting to take the city for me." The second general asked, "Where is your fifth column?" And he replied, "Inside the city." The fifth column is that which is inside, working against the people who are unaware of its presence. That is Satan's tactic to destroy the church. His power (especially in the many forms of witchcraft and idolatry) infiltrating the church, and manifesting at its heart as righteousness and as the light of truth.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:14,15)
So what exactly is witchcraft? In the days of king Saul the first king of Israel, the prophet Samuel had this to say concerning witchcraft and idolatry when the king rebelled against the Lord.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.(1 Samuel 15:23)
Rebellion and witchcraft are twins. Where there is one you can anticipate the other. From the various examples given in the Scriptures, rebellion appears to be a personal sin that pertains to the individual. Whereas witchcraft would seem to involve one or more persons coming under the influence or control of someone else in rebellion against God, often without knowledge of the manipulation. You see, rebellion and witchcraft produce illegitimate authority.
The means by which individuals are influenced or brought under illegitimate authority can be natural or supernatural... or both. Witchcraft has two aspects. Things like psychological manipulation,
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.(Galatians 5:19-21)
The Scriptures warn that the church will be infiltrated and in many, many instances we already see that this has happened. Here's a common example. We have a typical Pentecostal congregation of around one hundred people. The church receives a new pastor. This is this young man's first pastorate so he is a bit nervous and timid amongst all of the new faces. There are two sisters in this congregation. These sisters are not just spiritual, but super spiritual. They've been in this congregation longer than this young man has been a pastor and they know how this church should be run. Rather than sitting down prayerfully and talking it over with the pastor, one gets a tongue and the other comes up with the interpretation. Between them, they end up telling the pastor what to do through this method. Now what is that? Manipulation. The natural aspect of witchcraft has three trademarks: manipulation, intimidation, and domination.
The other aspect of witchcraft is the supernatural aspect under which fall things such as fortune telling, psychic advisors, channeling spirits, Ouija boards, séances, casting spells, placing curses, etc.
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. (Acts 16:16 -18)
The amazing yet dangerous thing about this account is that everything this young woman proclaimed was true. In today's mainstream church this woman more than likely would've been made a member of a congregation without question, and recognized as an upstanding example for others. However, Paul discerned that the source of her revelation was an illegitimate authority. This was not the Holy Spirit, but a spirit of divination, also known as the spirit of Python.
So how do you discern witchcraft and rebellion? Well for starters, you must remain ever vigilant in seeking the Lord. You must be willing to spend time alone with Him. Ask Him for eyes to see, ears to hear, and an understanding heart sensitive to His Spirit. You must also continually study the Scriptures. That being stated, here are a few examples of things that subtly become warped and subverted when rebellion and witchcraft are at work.
-- The Carnal Over The Spiritual --
Witchcraft promotes the carnal and suppresses the spiritual. In terms of Old Testament patterns, witchcraft puts Ishmael over Isaac. That is precisely what Islam has done. Islam teaches that Abraham did not go to sacrifice Isaac, but Ishmael. Muslims believe that Ishmael is the appointed heir. That is witchcraft putting Ishmael over Isaac. Of course, there are a lot more "Ishmaels" than this one example from Islam. Anything we do of our own initiative, which is not initiated by God through the Holy Spirit, will be an Ishmael. Jesus never did anything by His own initiative. He said...
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19)
The moment we try to start something that isn't initiated by God, we are going to produce an Ishmael. Abraham's experience should be a stern warning to us. Four thousand years ago Abraham produced Ishmael, and for all the ensuing years, the appointed seed of Abraham has had problems with Ishmael. These problems are coming to a climax in the Middle East right now.
-- Theology Over Revelation --
Witchcraft produces theology and sets it over revelation. This is one of the major problems of the church. I would have to say, frankly, that many seminaries today are putting out servants of Satan. That is a shocking, but true, statement. Most of the problems of the church result from exalting human thinking above divine revelation. This is certainly not true of all seminaries, but in my opinion, it is true of the many seminaries today.
-- Education Over Discipling --
Witchcraft in the church exalts education above discipling. If we were to go to a theological seminary or a Bible school and sit for three years in classes, we would get a lot of head knowledge. What does knowledge do? It puffs up. Jesus didn't do that. He made His disciples follow behind Him and serve Him. If we don't combine training with serving, we are going to produce the wrong results. The only safeguard against giving people knowledge is enabling them to serve.
-- Psychology Over Discernment --
Witchcraft exalts psychology above discernment. In other words, psychological treatment over a legitimate word of knowledge. When Jesus met the woman at the well, He didn't ask her about her childhood, when she was born, whether she had problems with her parents, or whether there was a social stigma in her life. He just said, "You've had five husbands." And that was all He needed to say. One word of knowledge eliminates a whole lot of psychology.
-- Programs Over Supernatural Direction --
Witchcraft exalts programs above supernatural direction. The apostles never came up with a program for evangelizing Judea. They were simply sent out by the Holy Spirit. There was no program for sending Philip to Samaria. He just ended up there. And the results followed.
-- Eloquence Over Supernatural Power --
Witchcraft exalts eloquence above supernatural power. Jesus never gave His disciples training in homiletics. Charles Finney once said, "All the homiletical training that I've ever seen has had one aim... to make people speak as if they really meant what they were saying." Paul was a very highly educated man, and yet he said...
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2)
In effect, he was saying, "I am not going to let witchcraft obscure Jesus and the cross." This is significant because Paul had just been to Athens before he went to Corinth. In Athens he had tried to meet the people on their own ground. He quoted Greek poets, and he met them on an intellectual basis, but the results were very disappointing. I suppose somewhere between Athens and Corinth, Paul said, "That's the end of that! From now on, all I'm going to do is present Jesus crucified." And the results in Corinth were tremendous: one of the largest churches in the early world took root and grew there.
But Paul had to make a decision: "I determined not to know anything... except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" Without question, witchcraft opposes the revelation of Jesus crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (1 Corinthians 2:3,4)
Those are the alternatives: human eloquence or supernatural demonstration.
-- Reasoning Over Faith --
Witchcraft exalts reasoning above the walk of faith. God doesn't lead us by reasoning; he leads us step-by-step in a walk of faith. As he dealt with Abraham, He deals with us. He doesn't tell us the whole plan of where we're going to go, or what's going to happen. He simply says, "This is the next move." As we walk in faith, we have the supernatural attestation of the Holy Spirit with us. When we rely on our own reasoning, all we receive is what reason can produce.
-- Legalism Over Love --
Finally, witchcraft exalts legalism above love. Doesn't it seem true that most legalistic, religious people are very unloving? Basically, we shy away from them. We don't want them wagging their finger at us telling us, "Don't do this," and "Don't do that." They are very critical of others. Anybody that doesn't keep their set of rules is wrong.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Galatians 5:6)
What really matters most is faith working through love. And notice what kind of faith. It is not a theological faith, nor a faith that majors on doctrinal hairsplitting. It is faith that operates through love.
Each of the above tactics is part of Satan's diabolic strategy to obscure Jesus crucified. Once the church loses sight of what was accomplished on the cross, the church can no longer administer Jesus' victory over Satan. Witchcraft has blinded the eyes of the church to miss this essential, fundamental truth. We must make a determined effort to throw off the veil of witchcraft and fix our gaze upon the
work of the cross.
May the Spirit of the Lord bless you and keep you.
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