Spiritual warfare: Attempted assassination of Christian presidential candidate in Brazil

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at night Credit: Rafael Defavari/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

[UPDATED] According to the Brazilian newspaper, O Globo, there was an assassination attempt on a Conservative politician in Brazil.

Senator Jair Bolsonaro is campaigning to become the next president of Brazil in an election scheduled for October. With 22% of the support, Bolsonaro is the front-runner.

Bolsonaro has taken a very pro family and pro Christian position during the campaign and has openly solicited Christian support. He is also taken a strong stand against the corruption that has rocked the previous Brazilian administration and as well vehemently opposed the violent elements in the communist and left-wing movement in Brazil.

Some have referred to Bolsonaro as the Trump of South America because of his strait talk on issues facing Braizil

While being carried along by a large crowd during a campaign stop in Mina Gerais earlier this week, a person in the crowd attacked Bolsonaro with a knife. He was quickly carried off by his security detail and police arrested the attacker.

Fortunately, Bolsonaro was wearing a bullet proof vest and the knife cut was superficial and he is expected to return to the campaign in a few days. His son, Flavio, who is also running for a Senate seat asked people to pray for his father’s recovery and safety.

[UPDATE: It now being reported that attack was much more serious than originally reported. The assailant knifed Bolsonaro in the gut causing serious internal damage to the liver, intestines and lungs. Doctors expect the presidential candidate to be in the hospital for at least ten days and are uncertain at this point if there will be permanent damage.

According to The Daily Caller, the alleged assailant has now been identified as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, a hard core left extremist who has not only been a member of Brazil’s socialist party but openly supports Veneuzela’s radical socialist president Nicholas Maduro.]

Bolsonaro has been leading the presidential campaign for months after his main opponent, Luiz Iancio Lula da Silva, the previous president of Brazil and strong leftist was sentenced to 10 years in jail for accepting a bribe of property valued at one million dollars. He was leader of the Workers’ Party.

Bolsonaro’s willingness to take a stand against the violent left rising up in Brazil and even in North America through Antifa has resulted in criticism from extreme leftist groups around the world, who seem to have some influence in Brazil.

With Facebook and other social media sites starting to restrict Conservative voices in America, Bolsonaro has also accused Facebook of limiting his ability to reach Brazilians. Facebook shutdown fan pages that two supporters had set up for Bolsonaro. The two pages had a joint reach of nearly one million followers.

The Book of Daniel provides some insight of God’s involvement in politics. In the lead up to the events that would take place later in the book, we read that God is sovereign over the nations and will set up leaders and depose them at His choosing (Daniel 2:21; 4:17).

However, this must be balanced with the fact, that Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4). Though God is sovereign, His decision to intervene is based entirely on people praying.

In chapters 10 through 11 of Daniel, we read how the prayers of Daniel (Daniel 9:1-9), who was captive in Babylon, resulted in Godly angels being dispatched to fight demonic forces, also called territorial spirits, who controlled Persia for Satan (Luke 4:5-6).

We gain insight into what was happening in the spiritual realm through a conversation that a Godly angel had with Daniel about what was happening:

²⁰Then he [Godly angel] said, “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia [demonic territorial spirit]; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece [demonic territorial spirit] is about to come. ²¹However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince. (Daniel 10: 20-21 NASV)

First we read that the Godly angel, with the help of the Michael the archangel, was dispatched to fight the demonic territorial spirit controlling Persia. When God sends angels to fight, they win.

As we watch the battle unfolding in the spiritual realm, there was equally massive changes taking place in the political realm.

As a result of the defeat of the Persian territorial spirit, it was no longer able to politically control Persia. As a result, Cyrus would become King of Persia and then conquered Babylon where Daniel was in captivity.

Many consider Cyrus one of the greatest, most-benevolent kings in the ancient world. It was Cyrus who allowed the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.

But we see why this all happened:

11 “In the first year of Darius the Mede, I [the Godly angel] arose to be an encouragement and a protection for him. (Daniel 10: 20 to 11:1 NASV)

We read after the defeat of the territorial spirit over Persia, the Godly angel stood beside the new king of Persia to encourage and protect him. I believe the encouragement resulted in good government policy that not only allowed the Jews to return to their homeland but benefited all the people in the realm. The Godly angel also protected the Persian leader from such things as assassination attempts and even spiritual attacks.

So pray for your country and your government leaders.

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