Sleeper Cell Sins

On October 31, 2011, the FBI released documents, pictures, and videos of information in regards to a decades-long case—known as Operation Ghost Stories—against the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) operatives.

Operation Ghost Stories was the FBI investigating Russian “Sleeper Cells,” called “illegals,” who were deep cover operatives establishing themselves in American society with the intent to develop sources of information in U.S. policymaking circles.

These sleeper cell operatives would lead seemingly normal lives—getting married, buying homes, raising children, and assimilating into American society. They were willing to wait decades to obtain their objectives, waiting and working in the shadows, their true identity, and mission unknown to the common person.

Through Operation Ghost Stories, the FBI arrested 10 Russian sleeper cell operatives on June 27, 2010. These Russian sleeper cells were not successful, but if they would have been, the damage that they could have inflicted would have been catastrophic.

In Deuteronomy 7, God is commanding the Israelites to destroy spiritual “sleeper cells”—both physically and spiritually. He knows the destruction they have already caused to one another in the land of Canaan. If left undealt with, their influence would have a corrosive effect on the lives of His chosen people—His treasured possession.

In much the same way, there are “sleeper cells” within us that the Lord wants to eradicate from our lives because He knows the potential for destruction, they will cause. The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 13:14, “…make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” God desires to expose these spiritual “sleeper cells” in our lives and destroy them before they destroy us.