One of my favorite scenes in the movie The Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy discovers, with the help of Toto, the man behind the curtain. The first time I saw that I was so surprised and delighted because it explained so much. This scene is such a classic that people use the term “pulling back the curtain” to describe behind the scenes glimpses of how things are done.

There are seven times in the Bible when God pulls back the curtain to give us a glimpse of the invisible spiritual warfare that is going on around us. These are all things we would know nothing about, if God hadn’t revealed them to us.

7 glimpses into the invisible war

1. In Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7 we see a scene in heaven in which a host of angels are gathered. One of the angelic beings is Satan. He accuses Job of not really trusting in God which results in Job’s trials.
2. Jude 9 describes a fascinating event that happened after Moses died. For some reason Satan wanted Moses’ body and disputed with Michael the Archangel about it until Michael rebuked him in the name of the Lord.
3. In 2 Kings 6:16-18 Elisha and his servant were surrounded by an army intent on harming them. In response to his servant’s fear Elisha prayed and God opened the eyes of the servant to see a spiritual army filling the sky there to defend them.
4. In Daniel 10:12-13; 20 an angel appeared to Daniel to answer his prayer. He told Daniel he was delayed because an evil angel, the prince of Persia, prevented him from coming for three weeks until Michael helped him.
5. In Zechariah 3:1 Satan is described as standing beside the High Priest Joshua to accuse him.
6. In Luke 22:31 shortly before Jesus was arrested he told Peter Satan demanded to sift the disciples like wheat.
7. Jude 6 tells us there are angels who’ve been imprisoned because they left their positions as angels and are being held for the final judgment.

7 lessons from these glimpses of the invisible war

1. There really is a battle going on in the spiritual realm.
2. Satan and his forces try to hinder the work of good angels.
3. Satan has to ask for permission to attack God’s followers.
4. God allows satanic attacks to happen.
5. God limits what Satan can do.
6. There are a host of angels fighting on our behalf.
7. There are struggles between good and bad angels.

The most important lesson we can take away from this is the good guys win! Job, though brutally attacked stood firm. Good angels struggled with bad angels but still accomplished God’s will. Even Jesus’ disciples who ran and hid when he was arrested were restored and went on to change the world.

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