Spiritual Warfare

Warfare

All numbers in brackets [ ] and the quotes with them are from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Webster’s New Explorer Dictionary defines "warfare" as: "1. military operations between enemies: WAR; also: an activity undertaken by one country to weaken or destroy another...

2. STRUGGLE, CONFLICT

Spiritual warfare would be war between the Body of Christ and principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12) Spiritual warfare is not wrestling with people (even if they are evil).

In the Bible, we see at least three different types of conflicts with the enemy:

1. Standing (defense)

Eph. 6:10 -17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

While the term "standing" can have a passive meaning in our culture (like "just standing around,") the context of these the verses here in Ephesians shows that to "stand" is an active thing, requiring the participants to be alert, cognizant of the enemy, prepared for the confrontation, equipped for the (spiritual) battle– keeping their (spiritual) ground.

To whom is this letter addressed? Although the letter is addressed to the Ephesian church, it is intended for all believers who read it. Against whom are we to stand? It’s quite a list.

principalities [ # 746 ] "... chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank)"

powers [ # 1849 ] "... force, capacity, competency... mastery (concr. Magistrate, superhuman, potentate...) power... strength."

rulers [ # 2888 ] "a world ruler, an epithet of Satan:– ruler]"

of the darkness of this world [# 165] "...an age... by impl. the world..."

spiritual wickedness in high places [# 2032 ] "... above the sky: celestial... high"

Regardless of your rank in the army of the Lord, you’ve been told to put on your armor and to be prepared to stand against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Each of us has spiritual "ground" God has given us (our walk, our families, our "sphere of influence.") He expects us to STAND against the enemy and to hold our ground. We are given defensive armor AND a weapon!

2. Helping other saints "stand" their ground

At times other believers, for one reason or another, can’t seem to "stand" on their own. They are in danger of losing ground to the enemy. This is when God will send others to help.

The church at Corinth was a real heartache to the Apostle Paul at times. The new converts were in a city of great iniquity and were continually stumbling over questions of sin. In addition to this, "the judaizers" showed up and confused the situation even more! They told the people in Corinth Paul was a real (spiritual) light-weight, that although he was bold in letters, in person he was a weakling. (We invite you to read the whole passage of 2 Cor. 10 so that you better understand the verses below in context). The church was wavering and in real danger of losing ground. This was what Paul said to them:

2 Cor. 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

"weapons" [#3696] "an implement, utensil, or tool (lit. or fig.) especially offensive for war; armour, instrument, weapon."

"warfare" [#4752] "military service i.e. the apostolic career (as one of hardship and danger), warfare"

"pulling down" [2506] "demolition, fig. extinction, destruction, pulling down"

"casting down" [#2507] "to lower (or with violence) demolish; cast (pull, put, take) down, destroy"

"strongholds" [3794] "to fortify (through the idea of holding safely), a castle (fig.) argument"

In addition to giving this definition for "strongholds" we would like to share quotes from the following Greek scholars:

Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., who states the definition for the word in this verse is "to fortify, to hold fast, fortification, fortress (any strong points or arguments in which one trusts)"

Dr. Clarence Walker says "a stronghold is a forceful, stubborn argument, rationale, opinion or philosophy that is formed and resistant to the knowledge of Jesus Christ."

Strongholds (being mind sets) can be worked in both believers and unbelievers. Strongholds cannot be talked away or negotiated with– it takes mighty (not carnal) weapons– they must be pulled down. When a person or a group is bound by a stronghold, they find protection and security in that stronghold. They stay in strongholds because they have certain feelings of safety and familiarity in them. We can look at Josh. 6 and see the city of Jericho as an example of a physical stronghold. The very fortress (walls) that they hid behind, that they thought was a place of safety was actually part of their downfall. Josh. 6:1 says "...none went out, and none came in." In some respects they were their own prisoners. The person or group behind a spiritual stronghold has lost the ability to "rightly divide," reason, or be at liberty.

When read in context, the "we" in this passage refers to Paul and Timothy (see 2 Cor. 1:1), not the Corinthians. The church at Corinth wasn’t "standing," and Paul was coming with others to fight for them. He wasn’t going to fight with men, but against strongholds, imaginations, and high things that exalted themselves against the knowledge of Christ.

In 1 Sam. 11, there is a "type" of this principle. The people of Jabeshgilead were surrounded by a strong enemy they were certain would defeat them. They were so scared, they offered to surrender. The enemy offered a deal: The people would be allowed to peacefully surrender if the men of city would come out and have their right eyes knocked out! (An interesting side note is that the right eye would be the one which looked around a hand-held shield as a right-handed man fought. With that eye knocked out, in the future, he would have to expose his whole head to see what he was fighting against. In the future, he would be far more vulnerable than he had been in the past.) The people of Jabeshgilead realized that perhaps this was a bad thing, so they bargained for time and sent for Saul to come with armies to help. At the direction of God, Saul rallied all the able-bodied men of Israel and came to the defense of the people of Jabeshgilead. They were saved from their enemies.

3. Going to take what is lost (offensive warfare)

Do we have the right to go "on the offense?" Do we have the right to make war against demons or principalities or authorities that are "over" or possess a geographic location? Let’s look!

Revelation 2:12...13...17 And to the church at Pergamos write... I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is; and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth... He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, to him that overcometh I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone...

(Underline added)

"...where Satan dwelleth" [2730] to house permanently, to reside, to dwell (er), inhabitant (ter)" NOTE: we are not saying that Satan lives permanently in Pergamos, but, when John wrote the letter to the church in that city, the Lord considered it to be Satan’s dwelling place.

"to him that overcometh..." [3528] to subdue, (lit. or fig.): conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory.

NOTE: each of the churches in the book of Revelation received a promise if they "overcame" (subdued, conquered, prevailed, got the victory)!

Moses

God would lead Moses and Aaron to perform a series of prophetic acts which would be a direct challenge to Pharaoh, his magicians, and their gods. This is not just our own personal "theory" but a widely accepted interpretation of the narrative of the plagues and exodus. The intent of these plagues was to demonstrate that not only was Jehovah the God of Israel, but over all the earth. (Ex. 9:14-16).

Beginning in Ex. 3, we see that Moses is called by God to be the deliverer of the children of Israel. In Chapter 4, Aaron is given to Moses to be his "mouth."

Exodus 7:1-2 "And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land."

(Emphasis added)

So, by God’s own definition, Moses was going to be as God to (IN AUTHORITY OVER) Pharaoh (who was worshipped as a god in Egypt), and Aaron was going to be Moses’ prophet.

Ex. 7:8-13 Moses instructs Aaron to throw down his rod (so that it becomes a snake) – a direct challenge to the worship of snakes (note there is a cobra on the headpiece of many Egyptian kings) and a challenge to the magicians of Pharaoh. The magicians turn their rods into snakes as well, but Aaron’s rod EATS theirs.

Ex. 7: 17-25 Moses instructs Aaron to strike the Nile with his rod. The Nile turned to blood– a challenge to Pharaoh’s magicians and to Hapi, the Nile god.

Ex. 8:1-15 Moses instructs Aaron to stretch out his staff over the waters. A plague of frogs results– a challenge to Heka, a female deity with a frog’s head

Ex. 8:16-19 Moses instructs Aaron to stretch out his staff over the dust. The plague of gnats (or lice) begins– a challenge to Seb, the father of the gods. The magicians cannot reproduce this (even on a small scale) and confess that it must be "the finger of God."

Ex. 8:20-32 Moses (through Aaron) prophesies there will be a plague of flies– a challenge to Shu, the son of Ra the sun god.

Ex. 9:1-7 Moses prophesies a plague on cattle– a challenge of cattle worship

Ex. 9:8-12 Moses and Aaron are told to take ashes from a kiln and Moses, in the sight of Pharaoh, is to throw them in the air. The result is a plague of boils on man and beast– against Neit, "the great mother queen of highest heaven," and against the scattering of victim’s (human sacrifices) ashes to which had been done in Egypt to honor Sutech or Typhon.

Ex. 9:13-35 Moses goes to Pharaoh and prophesies a plague of hail– against all the provision of Egypt. (After this plague Pharaoh acknowledges Jehovah is God for the first time.)

Ex. 10:1-20 Moses brings on a plague of locusts that take what the hail left.

Ex. 10:21-29 The Lord tells Moses to stretch out his hand toward the sky. There is plague of darkness (that can be FELT) for 3 days– a challenge to Ra, the sun god, himself.

Ex. 11 & 12 The plague of the loss of the first-born which strikes even Pharaoh himself.

IN CONCLUSION

We believe that we have demonstrated that ALL believers are called to some level of spiritual warfare. We believe that God’s word also says that He is our Strength and our Fortress, and that as long as we make war according to His will and in His way, the enemy cannot retaliate against us.