I remember that some time ago in the UK there was some controversy about the merits, or otherwise, of radio and telephone masts.
One mobile telephone company wanted to install new aerial transmitters in every region of the country over the following two years in order to give the emergency services a comprehensive new digital communications network. But, it seemed that there were growing fears about the health risks of the new transmitters, which some experts regarded as more dangerous than conventional mobile telephone masts.
Some studies had suggested that radio waves around this frequency could cause calcium to leak from the brain and other tissue. This in turn could trigger damage to the nervous and immune systems. One biophysicist said that the electromagnetic radiation could also cause mood swings, headaches, sleep disruption and short-term memory loss. It could even retard the academic development of children.
Of course, for every argument, there is always a counter argument. But the point was that there were those who were concerned and worried about the damage that could be caused by such broadcasting devices.
But there is a spiritual parallel and this is what came to my mind. Worrying about the damage that can be caused by such broadcasting devices is a legitimate concern but worrying about the spiritual application should be an even greater concern. Broadcasting devices may well cause damage; Satan’s broadcasting, certainly and irrefutably, can, and does cause massive damage!
In his book “Mystery of the Ages” on pages 143/144, Mr Herbert W Armstrong makes these insightful comments under the heading “Satan -the Master Broadcaster”:
“In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, working in-inside the minds of-people. I could never have understood this until: 1) I had understood how radio and television sounds and pictures are transmitted through the air; and 2) I had learned the truth about the human spirit in the human brain. If your radio is set on the proper radio wavelength, or television set is tuned to the proper channel, the broadcaster’s message comes through clearly. Satan as prince of the power of the air broadcasts-not in words, sounds or pictures, but in attitudes, moods, impulses.
“For example, we read in Ezra 1:1, when King Cyrus of Persia issued a proclamation to send a colony of Jews back to Jerusalem to build the second Temple, he was moved to do so because God stirred up his human spirit-in other words, put the suggestion and impulse in his mind, and the king acted on it. In the same manner Satan moves on the human spirit within people to move them in attitudes of envy, jealousy, resentment, impatience, anger, bitterness and strife. People have no realization of the tremendous power of Satan. The human spirit within each human is automatically tuned to Satan’s wavelength. It seems as if Satan has surcharged the air over the entire earth with his attitude of self-centeredness and vanity.”
The broadcasting systems of men require masts and poles and other equipment because they are all physical. These are necessary items for their equipment to function effectively. Without them, reception would be fuzzy, difficult and, in some cases, non-existent.
Not so with Satan. Our adversary requires no such paraphernalia! His broadcasting is without any physical props whatsoever. He broadcasts, as Mr Armstrong wrote, in terms of attitudes, moods and impulses and is crystal clear at all times. He makes sure that there is no interference in his broadcasting except when it comes to the people of God who can use the gift of the Holy Spirit to thwart his broadcasting and purposes. However, some of the programmes that are broadcast on radio and television today have Satan as their author, anyway! While the transmissions of men may be for the good of mankind at times, the broadcasting of Satan is always to the detriment of its recipients.
In his editorial last week, Robb Harris made these insightful comments: “When we listen to the news, we are bombarded with a never-ending amount of ‘facts’—all aimed at telling a story from a certain perspective. And the select details that are brought to light are often based on the opinions of the speaker. The truth of a situation in today’s political and social environment is designed to push people into a specific mindset. The tendency of man is to build a narrative based more on ego and vanity than on verity.”
The opinions of these “newscasters”, as Mr Harris mentions, are rarely from a godly perspective and so often “worldly” and we know who the god of this world is (see 2 Corinthians 4:4 for confirmation of this!).
God tells us through the apostle Peter to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We know from many other Scriptures that Satan is the father of lies and so any broadcasting that is done by him will not be truthful. He is the accuser of the brethren, and he seeks to destroy, and if his broadcasting system can achieve that end, then he will use it to the maximum.
And so we have quite a comparison: a good analogy between the concerns that people in the world have about the problems that may be caused by broadcasting equipment and the concerns that we—you and I as the people of God—should have, and must have, about the broadcasting that Satan the Devil is involved in.
However, there is one big difference—in fact a huge, massive, life and death difference. Physical concerns, while real and difficult to deal with, are in the here and now. Spiritual concerns—as in Satan’s Broadcasting System—have the potential of causing us not physical problems and death, but, most importantly of all, spiritual death.
Now, that is something that we must campaign against on an individual level and something that we must truly be on our guard against.
