From Ephesians 6:12
The majority of us are familiar with the verse above and have an idea of what it means, but I want to go in-depth with this today. To begin with, let us break down the verse into an easy-to-understand sentence then we’ll proceed from there.
The King James Version (KJV) says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
To make it simple we can rephrase: We do not struggle or fight in life with challenges and painful circumstances that are initiated by human beings. There are evil spirits orchestrating, scheming and manifesting those consistent battles we face as believers.
Next let us analyze the key words in the verse and identify what they mean or to whom they make reference:
Flesh And Blood: This is phrase is used several times in the Bible to describe the physical aspect of human beings. Therefore, in this context it simply means people.
Principalities: The organized (according to rank) “kingdoms” or spiritual realms of governance.
Rulers Of The Darkness Of This Age: The manifest evil that is implemented by people (guided by Satan and his host) in places of power and influence in the world.
Heavenly Places: Territories far beyond what we call the sky or space. These evil spirits move back and forth to such places.
We now have a good idea of what Paul was writing about to the Ephesians, but context is important.
At this time, he was in bound in prison. The early Christian church experienced severe persecution which included scourging, imprisonment, torture, crucifixion, public stoning, family disownment, and execution. They suffered a great deal and Paul inspired by the Spirit was encouraging them. It is in the same Chapter that he talks about the armor of God and how the believer should fight.
But first, I would like us to visit the Old Testament to give you a clear understanding not only of spiritual warfare, but also how it manifests on earth. Here we shall see what happens both in the seen and unseen realms. Let us go to the book of Job (From Chapters 1 and 2).
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
The above passage gives us a clear picture of the life of Job. He was a man who loved God and stayed away from evil to the best that he could. He had a family and the Lord had blessed him immensely with abundant livestock, land and high crop yields. He was considered the greatest among his people owing to his wisdom, wealth and character.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
This describes the dwelling place of God in an unseen realm of the Spirit. The sons of God are the angels who report to Him according to their assignments on earth. Although He could do all this on His own (and the reports are already known to Him) God allows the angels to take part just as he allows us to minister on His behalf.
A surprising part of the passage comes towards the end: And Satan also came among them.
He likely did not appear in the manifestation of his true nature. 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
The Lord turned to him whom he had allowed access and asked:
“From where do you come?”
Jesus said there is no truth in the Devil and his answer to God confirms it:
“From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
Notice there is no mention of stealing, killing and destroying. This is what he had been doing, and one of his targets was Job. He had schemed and schemed but failed, and God knew it.
The Lord therefore said,
“Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
And the answer came quickly,
“Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
Ever heard words like this from anyone? A person trying to belittle the good you’ve done? Well, that was Satan speaking through that person. He drops a thought in their mind and immediately they say what they’ve thought. And if you want Biblical evidence of this, just consider the time Peter asserted that Jesus should never suffer and die on the cross but he responded, “Get behind me Satan”– not get behind me Peter (Matthew 16:22-23).
God then gives Satan permission to try Job’s integrity and clearly adds, “do not lay a hand on his person”. The Devil could touch everything that he had but not Job himself.
Now let’s see how the spiritual manifests to the natural:
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Satan (and his host) are spirit beings, they therefore usually attack indirectly through human beings. Being former angels with significant power, they can also attack directly but only to the extent that God permits as is shown in this chapter of Job.
So, what schemes did Satan use? Probably the ones he had already prepared and tried on Job previously. The Sabeans lived close enough already, they just needed the right prompting to go and raid his livestock. Satan most likely put the thought in the mind of one of the Sabean leaders. Why hadn’t this worked before? Because God had countered it and made it fail several times. That’s good news isn’t it? God fights for us even when we don’t know it.
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
The Devil always spared one servant to relay the bad news to Job. The fire of God was lightning that struck Job’s other livestock. As mentioned before Satan was once an angel and this time, he guided lightning to the earth and it wiped out the sheep and men save for one. Just to make it clear this was not “fire of God” as the servant reported, it was from Satan. I would add that we should think twice before attributing any natural disaster to God. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they [people of the world] may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” Jesus said (John 10:10).
The Chaldeans also raided Job’s camels. There’s a good chance they gathered courage from the knowledge that the Sabeans successfully took the cattle and donkeys.
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Again, Satan used his supernatural guile to get the winds blowing on key parts of the house (yes he understands concepts of physics) so it could fall, and it did.
Job was distraught, he mourned his children, servants and the all the loss he experienced, but Satan had failed yet again: the man did not curse God, rather, Job remained steadfast in his faith.
So, in typical fashion Satan vanished until another day. He returned with the sons of God and claimed it was because Job was unharmed physically that he remained loyal. God allowed him to do as he pleased but not take the man’s life.
Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
How did he put the boils on Job? He could have done it physically, guiding Job (through a person) to visit an area that had the bacteria that would be sure to cause the boils, or he could have also used his supernatural power.
Let’s move ahead to a key conversation, the one between Job and his wife. Satan had surprisingly spared her life but even in this there was an evil motive. And this was it:
“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Now who does that sound like? You guessed right, these were not his wife’s words, they came from the Enemy who was trying to send Job to eternal damnation. He knew that in immense pain and grief from the loss of her children the woman would be troubled and angry at God, so she was perfect for his scheme. But yet again, Satan failed: Job refused to curse God and held on to his faith.
We all know what happened in the end: the Lord restored Job’s health, gave him more children and twice as much wealth as before. God also prolonged his life and greatly honored his loyalty.
How To Fight Spiritually (Learning From Job)
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Most believers respond to the challenges they face by trying to fight back in the flesh. That is what the Enemy wants because we cannot defeat him in that realm. Let’s look at how Job fought his spiritual battle.
Buckle The Belt Of Truth Around Your Waist
What is truth? Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life (John 14:6). Since He is one with his Word, the truth is what the Bible says is truth –or what God says it true. In Job’s case it was what he had learned about God from his own experience, and what the Lord had said to him directly during his devotions.
He knew that He is always good, he knew God is merciful, he knew the Lord’s will can be contrary to ours yet the motives remain good.
He asked his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” He later stated, “With God are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding”. He further said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Although he complained about his suffering, Job never let the truth of God leave him, he “buckled” it as a belt tightly round him. Indeed even if God took his breath he would not let go of that truth.
Place The Breastplate Of Righteousness On Your Chest
Righteousness in this context can be understood as simply walking the path that God recommends in His Word. The words of Christ in the New Testament give us a clear idea of how we should live. Obviously we cannot follow these guidelines perfectly but we should be going in that direction.
If the Lord says be truthful, and we tell lots of lies, we shall find trouble. If he says live a life of good moral standard and we do not, we shall find trouble. When he says, do not be jealous, love the world, hate one another or take revenge, and we do, we shall find trouble. These guidelines are meant to protect us from the schemes of Satan and save us a lot of pain. That said, there’s always forgiveness and redemption from the Lord when we repent.
For Your Feet, Put On The Peace That Comes From The Good News
We just spoke of the path that God recommends, and life is indeed a journey. As we live every day, we make our way to our eternal destination. It’s a journey filled with challenges and when we don’t have peace, we feel like giving up. We need peace to move forward, It is therefore no wonder the Enemy is continually trying to take away that peace.
God can give His peace which is not dependent on circumstances. And it comes from spending time with Him through the Word. Spend time reading the Bible because it reminds us of the truth and comforts us with reliable hope.
Hold Up The Shield Of Faith To Stop The Fiery Arrows Of The Devil
Holding up the shield of faith is trusting God irrespective of what the circumstances or even your eyes are telling you. This is what Job did through the months of his suffering which was great. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). With faith, the Enemies’ lies and constant attacks are quenched. When he says, the situation is impossible, faith says with God all things are possible.
Take The Helmet Of Salvation And Use The Word Of God As Your Sword
The helmet of salvation is the knowledge that we have a Savior both in this life and beyond. When Job thought he might not make it, he was confident in saying even if I lose my life, I will not denounce God. Job knew there’s a much better life for the believer awaiting. The Enemy can therefore not threaten us as he would a non-believer.
God asks us to store His Word in our hearts because the Word is a weapon and you do not know where or when you’ll need it. Job used what was stored in his heart as they did not have Bibles in his time. This is what got him through, reiterating the truth from God that he had learned or received.
A perfect example of how this “sword” can be used is in Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness where he was tempted for forty days.
Satan: “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”Satan: “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
Jesus: “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Notice how Satan fails the first time and craftily changes strategy. He actually quotes an existing piece of Scripture. Jesus not only knew a portion of the Word, he knew it all. And using his “sword” he fought until he defeated triumphed over Satan.
In conclusion, as believers we face spiritual battles quite often because we belong to Christ. The way to overcome them is to first recognize who we are fighting. Do not fight people or struggle with what you feel is going against you. Instead, walk the right path (turn away from evil), get into the spiritual realm through prayer, read the Bible and exercise faith, then watch God cause you to triumph every single time.