Warfare Part 2

Dear beloved: Paul talks about the structure or heirarchy of the demonic realm in Ephesians 6:12. Let's take a closer look at these rebel entities. First we have principalities, (greek archas), these are the chief rulers or beings of the highest rank and order in satan's kingdom. These spirits have authority over territories or nations, or individual cities. We see an example of this in Daniel 10:13 where Daniel says the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for one and twenty days: but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes (of God's angelic realm), came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. So the principalities are assigned to territories and cites to guard the demonic strongholds of that area. A more graphic picture of satan himself is given in Ezekiel 28:2-19, which is a lament against the prince of Tyrus, and later he is called the king of Tyrus. It is a description of the beauty and motivation of an earthly prince or king who is taken over by the devil; he actually called himself God in the flesh. Secondly we have powers, or authorities (greek authorities), those who derive their power and execute the will of the chief rulers or principalities. These powers are given authority over territories also and maintain their standing by agreement with nations or cities. These agreements are invited in and kept in place by occult practices, witchcraft, Freemasonry and secret society pledges, false religions, idol worship, or any one of a multitude of other ways. There are always powers and authorities that must be moved out, or bound, before spiritual breakthrough can come into a region or city. Jesus declared in Luke 10:19, Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemey, and nothing shall by any means harm you. The third step in the heirarchy are rulers of darkness, (greek kosmokratopas), the spirit world rulers. This could be translated Lords of this world, or of this age. Satan's desire is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), and he will always try to take over control of an individual, a city, a church, or a nation through its leaders. In Matthew 4:9 Again the devil taketh him(Jesus) up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if You will fall down and worship me. So you see, even Jesus was tempted by the devil to bow down to his kingdom, so its not too surprising that he would also come and tempt us to worship him; the devil knows his job and he is always on it! And last we have the spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies, or the high places (greek pneumatika ponerias). Satan is all about wickedness and we also know that in some instances, or maybe even often, he has access to the heavenlies. Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And also in Job 2:1 there is a reference to satan presenting himself before God in heaven. Satan is a mocker and a mimicker, he will try to duplicate everything in the kingdom of God, but he has no creative power of his own; as a created being himself he is subject to the will of God. Tomorrow we will take a look at the believers power and authority in Christ Jesus as it relates to the enemy and how we can take authority over him. May God bless you and keep you under the shelter of His wings as you watch and pray this day, In Christ, Jim