‘Unless you become aware of the spiritual realities, you can never profit from them’
– The Law of Cognizance
The year 1940 saw the Nazi German army at the height of its military superiority during World War II.
At the Battle of Dunkirk, the Allied armies, comprising mostly of British and French soldiers found themselves in a very precarious situation.
The German soldiers had ruthlessly taken advantage of an oversight in the French defensive line, while hitherto neutral nearby nations like the Netherlands and Belgium had also surrendered to the Germans.
This resulted in the Allied forces outmaneuvered and trapped by the German soldiers in all directions.
In addition, the Germans had planes that could fly over the trapped Allied armies and make short work of them with powerful bombs.
And to make matters worse for the Allied forces, retreat was impossible because they were bottled up in a water corridor that was about 97 kilometers deep and 24 kilometers long. There was no way the Allied armies were going to swim the long way home to escape their predicament.
Yet, over the course of 10 days, from May 26 – June 4, 1940, more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were able to escape from Dunkirk with the aid of boats and ships sent from England.
It turned out that for some eerie reasons, the German army momentarily halted its advance towards the trapped soldiers.
For three whole days!
That was more than enough time for the Allied forces to organize their evacuation efforts.
To this day, there is no consensus on why the German army decided to slow down their offensive at Dunkirk for three whole days, when the logical thing to do would have been to continue charging towards the trapped Allied armies and totally crushing them.
In my opinion, the actions of the German army at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940 will continue to be a cause of bewilderment to historians for one simple reason. Historians always analyze past events from a solely physical paradigm.
On the other hand, the accounts of war told in the Bible give a more complete picture of the variables that determine the results of different battles fought.
For instance, 1 Chronicles 14:10-17 gives an account of two battles fought between the Israeli army and that of the Philistines.
Before the first battle, King David of the Israeli army inquired from God to see whether he should go ahead and engage the enemy. God gave the king the green light and the result was a rout in favor of Israel.
Soon, another battle with the same enemy became imminent and David inquired of God again – refusing to take spiritual dynamics for granted.
This time, however, God’s instructions were slightly different.
‘…and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.’ – 1 Chronicles 14:14-15
God asked David to stand under the shade of mulberry trees and listen for the sounds of marching feet!
To the logical mind, that did not make any sense whatsoever.
For starters, you don’t stand idle when the threat of war is real. You gather your resources and prepare your army for battle.
In addition, it is impossible to march on branches and leaves still attached to the trunk of a tree. Besides, to the natural mind, merely standing under a tree to listen for a sound that others cannot hear is hardly a military strategy, especially when you know that the enemy is going to be better prepared because of their thirst for revenge.
But King David had an awareness of the spiritual realities available to him and the children of Israel that day.
He knew that the factors that determine victory in battle were more than the number of soldiers, horses, and chariots that an army had. David had an understanding that failure on his part to stay aware of the spiritual variables of war could cost him and his army severe losses.
David’s choice to stay consistently aware of the dynamics of the spiritual realm brought him and his army their desired results.
‘David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer. And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.’ – 1 Chronicles 14:10-17
Interestingly, there were spiritual dynamics at play during the Battle of Dunkirk that contemporary historians sometimes overlook during their analyses.
Just before the British military leaders embarked on sending boats and ships to evacuate the trapped Allied armies, the king of England at the time, King George VI called for a National Day of Prayer where he implored everyone under his jurisdiction to cry out to God for divine help. And his people responded, as there are eyewitness accounts, as well as photographs proving that the entire nation went on their knees, crying out to God for deliverance.
Just like King David centuries before him, King George VI understood that there were spiritual realities that were available to him and his nation.
As the nation took advantage of their connection to God’s Strength, Wisdom and Power in the spiritual realm, interesting events were unfolding in the physical realm.
As mentioned earlier, first, the German authorities decided not to press their advantage at Dunkirk for three whole days.
Then, the weather at the battlefield became very cloudy, such that it was not possible for the Germans to use their bomber planes in making life unbearable for the trapped Allied armies.
Even more remarkable, the water corridor was very calm, such that the evacuation efforts of the Allied armies via ships and boats were much easier than it would have been had the waters been turbulent.
Understand this: Talent, planning, and strategy will only take you so far. If you fail to take cognizance of the influence of the spiritual realm on events in the physical realm, you will always fall short in the long run.
