“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 the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6.12)
NEW LEVELS OF CONFRONTATION
Today we will be looking at what the Word of God says about the topic of “spiritual warfare.” We will see that our confrontation with the dark forces does not only take place at the low level of possession or influence over individuals, but also involves nations and large areas of power. This subject has taken on special importance in our generation, but in throughout the ages believers have practiced and talked about confrontation with the kingdom of darkness.
The text of Ephesians 6:10-20 is perhaps the greatest source of biblical revelation on this subject. In it, Paul very deftly demonstrates the reality of war and the need for the Church to be deeply involved in it, but with knowledge of the cause and appropriate weapons. It is from this text that we will branch out to an enlightening study of what the Scriptures tell us on the subject.
A REALITY FROM WHICH WE CANNOT ESCAPE
Spiritual warfare is not a ministry of a few believers or a choice we can or cannot make. We’re in it and there’s no escaping it! Paul says, “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 the spiritual forces of evil…” (Ephesians 6:12a). He is stating that we have to confront the kingdom of darkness in all its manifestations. It’s not an option, it’s a necessity!
- A WAR THAT BEGAN IN HEAVEN
There was a time in eternity past when a rebellion took place in heaven, even before man was created. A cherub named Lucifer rebelled against God and seduced a third of the angels into the same sin. Although enshrouded in mystery, this truth is
revealed in biblical texts such as Ezequiel 28.11-19; Is 14.12-20 and Revelation 12.3-4, which need to be understood in their figurative and prophetic language. It is not our objective here to study deeply the fall of Lucifer (who became Satan) and his angels, but to demonstrate that the empire of darkness has opposed the Kingdom of God even before Adam was created, and that humans, one way or another, are involved in this war.
- THE CHURCH HAS THE MISSION TO GOVERN OVER THE EARTH
Since the Garden of Eden the Lord manifested the desire of establishing man as the legal representative of his authority on Earth.
Through sin, Adam allowed Satan to usurp that right from him, and since then, the devil has created chaos on the planet, generation after generation. However, Jesus, as a man, defeated Satan and all his subordinates on the cross
”And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.“
Colossians 2:15 NIV
There the authority of humans was re-established, specifically of those who identify with Christ in his death, the born-again believers.
Among the many reasons God established his church, is the mission to stand up against the empire of darkness and conquer the space that Satan has usurped, freeing people from his tyranny.
The church has a vocation given by the Lord to assert the victory of Christ in the face of the kingdom of darkness and, although there are believers who try to avoid this reality, as refugees without a cause to defend, our role is to assume the position of warriors of the Lord and fight.
As we advance in spiritual warfare, we can take up our place and reign with Christ, not only in eternity, but now, as the Scriptures indicate:
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Romans 5:17).
KNOWING THE NATURE OF WAR
The world is like a territory occupied by demons, who hold men hostage and slaves.
To free them (according to God’s purpose) we need to win the spiritual war, reconquering for the Kingdom of God the places that Satan has usurped. However, this is a complex task.
Paul speaks of the treachery of the enemy when he warns us of “the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11).
Hence the repetitive command of the Word: “Watch out”.
There are always minefields and traps set against us, as well as a lot of spirits with cunning weapons, to keep us from regaining dominion for our God.
- WARFARE IS SPIRITUAL AND NOT NATURAL – Paul says we have to fight “in the heavenly realms”
(Eph 6:12b). This expression may sound strange, but it brings us a great revelation. Heavenly places refer to a spiritual and not a material dimension. This means that in order to confront the empire of darkness, we must possess spiritual knowledge (revelation), spiritual discernment, and spiritual weapons. We will not achieve victory in this war through human resources (such as influence, intelligence, physical strength, politics, etc). While God can use these resources, it is not on them that our success in the war against Satan depends.
- WE ARE AT AN ADVANTAGE – The Church of the Lord is endowed with power and possesses unparalleled spiritual weapons. Our position is one of superiority over the kingdom of darkness. According to the Bible, after being resurrected, God had Christ
“seated at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:20-21).
This is his position of complete authority. But the Bible also says that God
“raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:6).
Therefore, we are also in a position of superiority over Satan and his empire. We have to learn to deal with him from the top down, as someone with an advantage.
Our weapons are mighty in God (2 Cor 10:4), we have angels at our service (Heb 1:13-14) double their number (only a third of angels rebelled with Lucifer), and a name loaded with authority which makes demons tremble: the name of Jesus.
- WAR IS A SERIES OF BATTLES AND STRATEGIES – Spiritual warfare takes place all the time and will cease on the final day, when Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Rev. 20:10). Until that happens, the war will continue. However, a war is made up of a series of battles. We will have periods where spiritual confrontation is more intense and other periods with less confrontation. Paul advises us:
“Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13)
We can understand “the day of evil” as a time of great spiritual confrontation, when we need double vigilance and a greater effort to make the Kingdom of God prevail.
There are times when the Church’s attitude should be one of vigilance to guard our conquered territory. This can happen at all levels (personal, family, congregational, the neighbourhood we’re in or even national). At other times, we are attacked by the enemy and have to defend ourselves with great effort. In other situations, we will be advancing as the Kingdom of God and we will have to start battles, attacking positions of power where demons hold control over.
- THE POWER OF RESISTANCE – The kingdom of darkness cannot attack or evade us indefinitely. Their ammo and strength are limited. That’s why Paul says that if under attack, we must resist until the “day of evil” passes (and it will). James assures us,
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7).
This should lead us to understand that one of the keys to victory is perseverance. Without it, we end up surrendering too soon or giving up on possible conquests.
THE LEVELS OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
There is an impressive hierarchical organisation in the enemy army. Paul says that we have to fight on several levels: “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
We could say that our mission is not just to defeat “low ranking soldiers” without much firepower, but to capture powerful evil commanders in the spirit world.
Once Jesus sent off his disciples and after some time away on their mission, they returned full of enthusiasm, saying,
“Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:17-19).
What Jesus is saying is that we have the power, not only to subdue creepy crawlies, or lesser demons, but to overcome any level of evil power, including getting to Satan, the greatest of demons.
Paul mentions four levels or hierarchies of evil powers. The Church must act not only at the lowest levels, with the liberation of individuals, but at the higher levels, which involve spiritual warfare for territories and nations. Let us try to understand each of the terms used by the apostle:
- PRINCIPALITIES – Paul lists out the demonic hierarchy in descending order of power in this biblical text. The highest level is that of principalities. They are evil spirits of great power, true rulers of darkness, responsible for commanding the forces of evil over nations or large geographic areas. The Greek term in the original (“arché”) brings the sense of beginning, origin, active cause, person or thing that starts something, that is, the principalities are commanders over the other demons in a certain nation or large area and are under direct command of Satan.
We have a clear view on the matter when we study Daniel chapter 10. The prophet had been praying and fasting for a cause for twenty-one days, when an angel of the Lord came to him with the answer. His words are revealing:
“Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (Dan 10:12-14).
Note that this “prince of the kingdom of Persia” could not have been a man, since he had the power to stop an angel of God for twenty-one days! He was, in fact, a spiritual governor, an evil spirit of great power who
was leading the satanic plan for Persia. From this, we can understand that there are principalities over different nations that need to be recognised and confronted by the Church. The same angel who spoke to Daniel referred to the “prince of Greece” (Dan 10.20), confirming this idea of territorial governors involving principalities.
- POWERS – Powers are spirits invested with great power to coordinate evil schemes in relation to a specific issue. While principalities dominate geographic or territorial areas, powers command certain types of behaviour. For example, a power of violence would command large numbers of evil spirits to foment violence in a place. Powers of sexual perversion would do the same with regard to immorality, and so on.
- RULERS OF THE DARKNESS– We imagine that these “rulers of the darkness” referred to by Paul are demons directly involved with missions among people, spirits that obey the commands of powers and have other evil subordinates under their command.
- SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF EVIL – The “spiritual hosts of evil” are the spirits that disturb and dominate the lives of many people. Jesus called them “unclean spirits” (Mt 12:43), perhaps because of their lowly character. It is probable most possessions we see are made by demons of this rank.