| Cross Words: A Self Destructing Structure |
Richard Prow ~ rpcrosswords@gmail.com
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The wrecking ball was the common tool of building demolition in the 50’s and 60’s. It was a large steel orb weighing anywhere from 1/2 to 6 tons, attached by steel cable to a large crane. The crane would move back and forth causing the device to crash into the exterior of the building, destroying as much as possible with each rotation.
While wrecking balls can still be found on some demolition sites, the common practice now is the use of plastic explosives. Engineers select key structural points throughout the interior of the building and then a demolition team goes to work rigging explosives to those sensitive areas. Once detonation of the explosives takes place the building implodes from within. In essence, with a little manipulation in just the right spots, the structure destroys itself. Think the World Trade Centers.
One of Satan’s names in the Bible is Apollyon, which means destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Jesus said that Satan’s goal is only to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10;10). His target for destruction? The church.
As a master of destruction Satan knows the best way to attempt to take down a “structure” is to attack it from within, using it’s own members to destroy one another. Through gossip, backbiting and unforgivingness Satan destroys the local congregations. Through false teaching, jealousy, and denominational discontentment he destroys the church on a broader basis. He is essentially using the weight of the body of Christ to destroy itself.
When Gideon was directed to go into battle against the Midianites he did so with just 300 men armed with trumpets and empty jars (Judges 7:16). With those utensils they caused such a ruckus within the enemy camp that their foes turned on each other. The massive Midianite army wound up defeating themselves.
So the church will as well if we do not wake up to the strategic attacks of our enemy. “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:11-12).
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