Battle FrontsWhen fighting spiritual battles, we can learn lots from military history, especially its more bizarre tactics.

Starting with those of Hannibal, a north African general who lived about 200 years before Jesus. Best known for riding through the Alps on elephants, Hannibal also went to war against King Eumenes in ancient Turkey. But not before he ordered his men to gather as many poisonous snakes as possible and put them in earthen pots.

In a naval battle during which he was heavily outnumbered, Hannibal's ships got

close enough for his soldiers to throw the pots into the opposing ships. Reports say half the enemy sailors jumped overboard while the others tried vainly to fight while fending off a second front of deadly serpents.

But an ancient Iranian nobleman named Zopyrus took even more extreme

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measures. According to legend, the general was so committed to helping King Darius reconquer Babylon, he had his nose and ears cut off then submitted to a brutal whipping, all to make it look like Darius had punished and exiled him. Zopyrus then convinced his Babylonian enemies he wanted revenge, so they gave him an army.

Every time Zopyrus led that army into battle, Darius' men ran away — just as Zopyrus had told them to. Then, when he had the full trust of those he hated, the Persian threw open the gates of Babylon and allowed the army of Darius to retake the city.

Close to the same time, two warlords in China were locked in a deadly rivalry. When P'ang Chuan successfully exiled his challenger, Sun Pin, Pin led a neighbouring state against his enemy, even though his new army had a reputation for cowardice. Exploiting that, Pin ordered his men to run away the first time Chuan's army approached. That night, he ordered 100,000 cooking fires lit.

The next night, he commanded the lighting of only 50,000 fires and, on the third night, a mere 20,000, making it seem his soldiers were deserting in droves. Deceived, Chuan took only a fraction of his army in pursuit of Pin who set up an ambush in a narrow pass where archers mowed down the unsuspecting.

Also in China, Tang Dynasty general Zhang Xun and 2,000 men were surrounded in a castle by an overwhelming force of 40,000. The defenders ran out of ammo. So Zhang ordered the making of straw men dressed as soldiers, and lowered them over the wall at night. When the enemy saw the “soldiers”, they unleashed a prolonged attack. Zhang's men simply pulled up the dummies and got the arrows.

These stories teach us four huge lessons. From Hannibal, we learn we'll never be victorious spiritually if we let our opponents get so close they can attack us on more than one front. We must keep at a safe distance those who seek to harm us, and face one challenge at a time. Too often, spiritual battles

seem insurmountable because we're distracted and our energies are divided. Take one thing at a time.

Like Jesus, Zopyrus reminds us that loyalty to our King will mean painful personal sacrifice. It may be the release of approval, prestige or possessions, the surrender of power, or the loss of friends and family who walk away from us because of our faith. But the only time our loyalty to Jesus costs us nothing is when we don't stand for anything. What have you lost? What are you prepared to lose?

As we see in the tale of Sun Pin, some will brand us cowards , unable or unwilling to face life without the “crutch” of belief. But God, “has made his light shine in our hearts” and given us “great power” for living (2 Cor. 4:6,7). There's ample evidence everywhere. Only a fool would dismiss help from God's himself.

And the lesson from Zhang Xun is that we can use the very ammunition of our opponents against them. When they claim Christianity is anti-intellectual and unnecessary, it's legit to point out that science and faith are not incompatible; that one explains the how, and the other the Who and why; and that science and reason can't make us content, give us purpose, or change our hearts. Few of our harshest critics are happy. Postmodern youth know all this and want something rational and experiential. Faith is both.

In reality, we're not weak or cowardly or outnumbered. We only seem so until our strength in God is revealed at just the right time, allowing us to point to Him as the One who brings ultimate triumph and transformation. Fight the good fight. And don't let anyone tell you it's a losing battle.

By Rick Gamble. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. Originallypublished in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of Followers of Christ, anindependent, nondenominational church in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

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