Airborne Threats to the Troops – True Weapons of Mass Destruction

Every war has them.

The voices on the radio.

Velvet vipers, serpent sirens worming their way into the minds of soldiers far from home, filling their thoughts with lies and enough half-truths to be truly dangerous.

Different names for different wars. Tokyo Rose. Hanoi Hannah. Axis Sally.

Luring soldiers to them with music from home, their silky voices breaking in with announcements:

How many of their ranks had been killed. The futility of their cause. How they were forgotten or hated at home. How their loved ones had moved on. How the war was already lost but no one had bothered to tell them. How they should surrender. Give up. Prepare to die.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Propaganda travels through the airwaves like a well-aimed arrow, a sniper’s bullet, a smart bomb.

It’s been a weapon in every war.

Our enemy has been using it since the Garden and is a master in the art of lies and half-truths. He is the prince of the air and is skilled at finding his target: our minds – pathway to our hearts.

It happened in ancient Israel, too.

When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, their own spies returned from recon with the propaganda of their own fears: “Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky.” Deuteronomy 1:28a

Jeremiah cautioned the people with these words, “Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, another the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.” Jeremiah 51:46

When Nehemiah led the people in rebuilding the wall, they faced an assault of ridicule, lies and threats – rumors on the wind. The people nearly lost heart but Nehemiah understood the danger of propaganda and took action.

He set some of the people to stand armed guard while others continued the work. “After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.” Nehemiah 4:14-15

This weapon of war has not changed. In fact in these times, it has become a weapon of mass destruction.

Modern Christians face a steady onslaught of lies and half-truths that now sail through the airwaves with the speed of a text, a tweet, a headline, a heartbeat.

Technology has advanced but the message is the same:

How many of our ranks have been lost. The futility of our cause. How we are forgotten or hated at home. How our loved ones have moved on. How the war is already lost but no one has bothered to tell us. How we should surrender. Give up. Prepare to die. No one is coming for us. No one is coming back.

Listen today and notice how many avenues there are in your life for the enemy to deliver this message. The media you face. The conversation of coworkers. The challenge of your teens. Lectures from professors. The music you hear. Statistics quoted by a friend or loved one. Even from a fellow soldier – a message not of encouragement but of despair. Even your own fear.

Compare that to the number of avenues for the truth to reach your ears, your mind, your heart. Does something need to change?

How about the words that come from your lips? Are they shields of faith for those who hear or do they weaken the walls so that those who hear are more vulnerable to incoming artillery?

Psalm 125, next in the Songs of Ascent, begins with a truth that does not change.

“Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” Psalm 125: 1-2

If you trust in the Lord (not in rumors or yourself or the media or the visible church) – if you trust in the Lord, you are like Mount Zion which cannot be shaken but endures forever!

In the moment, I feel shaken. In the moment, I do not feel like I will endure forever. But that is a rumor on the wind. That is a message from Earthbound Evelyn of the propaganda airwaves.

The truth is that the Lord surrounds me like a wall of mountains. He is my fortress. He is my stronghold.

The enemy can shout taunts at me from the other side. They can send messages on the air and do considerable damage to my spirit if I let them but the truth is that they cannot reach me – not really. Not in the long run.

Who I really am is safe with Jesus Christ and will return with Him. Colossians 3: 3-4 says “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” And He will return.

The voices of propaganda abound. The air is thick with their lies. We must train our ears, our minds, our hearts to the truth. As we climb higher to the heart of God, we must erect the truth around us like a barricade, like Nehemiah’s wall.

To whom are you listening today? What words fill the airwaves around you? Are you losing heart? Perhaps it’s time for a long steady assault of truth. Press in to God, loved ones.

“Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”