During the Rhodesian bush war (1964-1979) known also as the Second Chimurenga, the Rhodesian Army had a special force called the Selous Scouts. This regiment used the tactic of pseudo-operations which involved the soldiers dressing up as the enemy (the guerrillas – ZIPRA & ZANLA forces). The Selous Scouts would pretend to be guerrillas in all ways they could to infiltrate into the enemy for purposes of gathering information, disrupting their operations and to set traps to kill them.
On 9 August 1976, the Selous Scouts went to Nyadzonya camp in Mozambique with trucks painted to look like those of FRELIMO, a liberation movement which was in solidarity with the guerrillas. It is reported that when the guerrillas saw these trucks they were very happy and sang freedom songs to welcome the foes whom they thought were their friends. Little did they know that it was the enemy in disguise, what later followed was a massacre, over a thousand people were killed by the Rhodesian forces as fire was opened at point-blank range. The Selous Scouts where an undercover enemy who pretended to be someone whom they were not.
(Southern Rhodesia is the present-day Republic of Zimbabwe)
This tactic of pseudo-operations is not only restricted to physical wars but it is also common in the spiritual war that we are in. There are enemies sent from the devil’s camp who infiltrate into God’s camp and pretend to be followers of Christ yet they have an agenda to mislead the children of God. Jesus says on Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
The false prophets are not coming to the believers while dressed with t-shirts inscribed with big letters “FALSE PROPHET”, no way, that would expose their true identity and jeopardise their mission. Rather they come in sheep’s clothing to appear harmless yet inside they are vicious wolves. Outward they appear to be sent by God but a deeper inspection of what they are inside will reveal that they are false ministers sent by the evil one. Their results show that they are an enemy who is bent on destroying the flock of Christ.
Apostles inspired comments on the undercover enemy
Apostle Paul as he gave his farewell address to the believers at Ephesus, he warned them about false prophets.
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears.” Acts 20:29-31
Paul is expanding on what Jesus had already warned about concerning the false prophets. He also adds that among the believers shall men arise with wrong doctrines which are aimed at drawing a following for themselves and not towards Christ. These false prophets are among the flock, it’s an enemy from within who is using pseudo-operations.
Apostle Peter also gives a similar warning in his Epistle.
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1
Peter speaks not only about false prophets but also about false teachers who secretly bring in destructive teachings. Take note, they are secretly bringing in destructive heresies, their works are undercover, they don’t publicize that they want to bring in lies but they do it secretly. Peter uses the two words: “among you” and Paul also used: “among yourselves”, the enemy will be among the children of God, they will be inside the Church, they are enemies from within.
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4
Jude in the preceding scripture writes about some people who have sneaked into the church unnoticed. The word crept shows that these men don’t want to be noticed that they are intruders, that’s why they are stealthily creeping in. These people are ungodly and have a dangerous agenda of perverting the grace of God and they even deny Jesus Christ.
Peter says these false ministers will even deny the Lord, Jude also says they will deny the Lord Jesus Christ. This denial doesn’t necessarily mean that they will stand on the pulpit in church and by their words deny Jesus. Yes, they can do that, but it goes beyond that. There is a type of denial which we read of on Titus 1:16, which says “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”
These people will say that they know God, so with regards to their words they claim to follow God, but in works, in their actions and their deeds, they deny him. In short, they live their lives in a way that contradicts the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Masters of Deception
Dear child of God, there is an enemy within the camp, not a few but many as Jesus foretold. The witch-doctors have taken off their traditional dressing and put on fancy suits and white garments, it’s no longer business as usual, they have started churches and ministries not because they have repented but because they have been sent by the devil to mislead the children of God. These deceivers have positioned themselves at every corner be it on the internet, on the TV, radio stations, newspapers, everywhere they can with a mission to deceive people.
It is not everyone who claims to be sent by God who is sent by Him. Some have been sent by the devil and won’t reveal their real master because once they do so you will stop following them. An enemy who comes dressed in as an enemy as easy to identify and you can take precautions to protect yourself. But an enemy who comes dressed like one of you is hard to detect and you can welcome him when you should not. The devil is in the business of using deception, mixing truth and lies and to make it more appealing he puts in a lot of truth and just a little bit of lies which are enough to lead you astray.
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” Revelation 13:11
The beast in the forgoing scripture had two horns like a lamb, the real lamb is Jesus Christ (John 1:29), but we see here this beast tried to present itself like the lamb (Jesus) obviously to deceive the people. The verse goes on to say that the beast spoke like a dragon, the dragon being Satan (Revelation 12:9). Though appearing as a lamb (Jesus), the speech was from the devil, that’s how the agents of Satan operate, they appear like they have been sent by Jesus but their speech (teachings, music, sermons and doctrines) is like that of the devil, they mislead the people.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 reads “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan, himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works”
False ministers are ‘The Transformers’, they transform themselves to appear like ministers of righteousness, they copy it from their father Satan who also pretends to be an angel of light, yet being a prince of darkness. He pretends to be a messenger of light when in fact he brings in darkness, the whole aim being to deceive people.
Deception is real and very prevalent among us today, but how can we detect that this soldier is not one of us but is an enemy undercover? The next chapter of this book focuses on how to separate a true minister of God from a false one.
