C. S. Lewis once wrote,
"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."
After a couple weeks of talking about the archons of this world, with Satan as the spiritual super villain, and talking with some friends about experiences they have had lately where they have done battle with “principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places,” I thought it might be worth taking some time to talk more about the significance of this reality in the Christians life.
So let’s talk first about what the Bible unveils about spiritual realities in the unseen realm around us, and second about the ways the Bible shows Christians fighting this spiritual battle.
First, Christianity teaches a multi-dimensional universe. That is, we are dualists. We believe there are two parts to reality: the physical (or material) and the spiritual (or immaterial) – what I have been calling the seen and unseen. Some worldviews are monistic – that is, they think the ‘furniture of the universe’ is either all material or all immaterial, but the Judeo/Christian worldview rejects that notion. There are two dimensions that overlap, usually without our noticing but sometimes in a way that can be seen. This is the biblical nature of reality.
Just like the seen realm, the unseen realm is populated with beings. The Old Testament uses language of structure, organization, even courts and forms of government in this realm. Whether this is a down-the-line literal explanation of reality or God’s way of using language to help us understand how things work behind the scenes, it’s an inhabited and ordered world.
At the time the Bible was written, every culture took this for granted. You do not see the Bible taking the time to argue, for example, that God or “gods” or angels and demons existed. There was no need to convince anyone in the world of that outside of a few sporadic philosophers.[1]
For example, Homer (in The Iliad) illustrated another very common Greek belief: there was a class of lesser divinities, intermediate beings between the gods and humans called demons (daimon in Greek), which by the time of Jesus were acknowledged even by the Greeks to be bad news. Some philosophers had even begun to argue that they had gotten the Pantheon wrong: there was no way ‘gods’ would be as bad as the stories claimed, because gods should be good, so they must be worshipping demons mistakenly. More on what Paul has to say about that later….
The notion that there was a ‘divine council’ in the heavens was everywhere in Ancient Near East cultures, including Israel. That Yahweh was The Lord of lords, The King of kings and Most High suggested there was some kind of spiritual lord, or king, or beings lower than God but higher than us. The Old Testament is quite comfortable with this, and often uses the word “elohim”[2] to cover beings in all these categories.
“God [elohim] has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods [elohim] he holds judgment.” (Psalm 82:1)For all the gods [Elohim] of the peoples are worthless/vain, but the LORD made the heavens.” (Psalm 96:5)
“They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about.” (Deuteronomy 32:17)
The key distinction that drew a sharp line between God’s people and the surrounding cultures: there is only one truly Divine Being, one True God, One Creator, etc. Yahweh was in a category of his own. No one was like Him. However, a realm of angels both true and fallen, populated with other beings that went by various names was all part of the furniture of the biblical universe.
As you might expect, people were eager to be on the good side of these beings or recruit them to their side. TONS of literature has survived from the ancient world that references incantations, amulets, spells, wards…anything to use, control or tame this unseen realm. When God tells his people not to use sorcery or witchcraft to pursue magical powers through contact with or attempted control of these spirits (Deuteronomy 18:10–12)[3] he is probably talking about that kind of thing.
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.”[4]
Note that the writers of the Bible assumed a populated unseen realm, and warned against pursuing involvement with it .
Most of the origin story to these beings is missing from the Biblical text. However, we know a few things.
They must have been created, as only God is Uncreated.
God gives them tasks, assignments, and responsibilities.[5] Much like the first humans were given things to do as stewards of God’s physical world, these beings are apparently intended to be stewards of God’s spiritual world.[6]
Some chose to rebel against God and His plan and fell, and others stayed loyal.[7] So, they must have free will and agency. The good are the servants of God; the evil are hostile to his government and plan. [8]
The one behind those who fell is Revelation’s dragon: the Satan which is one of several different titles given to this being in the Bible.
A war has been and is being waged in the unseen realm that spills over into the seen realm. have been recruited into it, like it or not.
One of the main tools of those beings hostile to God’s government appears to be deception that leads people away from the true God and toward the lifestyle that followed. Worship of these false gods never ended well in the Old Testament.
"They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood." (Psalm 106:37-38)
“They build the shrines of the Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom(Gehenna), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it arise in my mind.” (Jeremiah 7:30-31)
This wasn’t just an issue of people thinking the wrong things. It was about people doing evil things as a result of believing the wrong things. I don’t think there is a story in the Old Testament of God dismantling cultural power structures just because they believed in other gods. God stepped in when things like what I mentioned above started to happen (think of God sending Johan to Ninevah because of their violence).
By the time Jesus arrived, Jewish tradition had a robust body of literature about demons (bad) and angels (good) and how they worked in the world. Think of it as constant commentary being written that filled in the biblical blanks. A lot of the way we think about the unseen realm can be traced back to this more than to simply Scripture.[9] It doesn’t mean those traditions are necessarily wrong, but they are commentary rather than Scripture.
The NT gospels contain fifty-three references to "daimon" (going back to Homer’s words in the Iliad). Think of our word “pandemonium.” It comes from that root word. Chaos is everywhere. Luke uses "pneuma ponera" (evil spirit) or "pneuma akatharta" (unclean spirit), which is pretty much the same thing. [10] Angels make 18 appearances in the NT.[11] I suspect there is less said because there was no need to warn about those
The human desire to worship these beings remained. Paul echoes the Old Testament:
Therefore, my beloved, stop the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread…
What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Corinthians 10: 14-22)
Once again, the primary tool seems to be deception, and concerted effort to pull people into a different kingdom with a different Lord. The churches in Revelation that wrestled with “Satan’s throne” and the synagogue of Satan? False teachers. It’s a pattern of concern in the New Testament.[12] More often than not, we fight by embracing truth: walking in the light ( 1 Jo 1:5-7 ), putting off of the old and joyful putting on the new ( Eph 4:22-29: Col 1:13 ), being transformed ( 2 Cor 5:17 ) as we grow into the full measure of the stature of Christ ( Eph 4:14-16 ).[13] Those are our primary weapons, as we will see when we finish with Ephesians 6.
The New Testament also talks about “demonization,” a catch-all term that covers the influence of demons on the lives of people. Over the centuries, the church has developed lots of language and categories to describe how this might play out differently depending on the level of demonization, but the NT word is much more basic. It just means demons are influencing or manipulating people to varying degrees.[14]
When Jesus is establishing his power and authority over everything, especially over things the people feared, he has what some have called “power encounters” with the demonic. You see this several different times in his ministry. We are not told how these people got demonized, or why. We are just told that they are, and then Jesus frees them.
The book of Acts only has three incidents involving evil spirits: the fortune-telling slave girl of Philippi (Acts 16:9-21), Simon of Samaria (Acts 8:5-24), and the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:11-17).
It’s recognized as part of reality, and the incidents recorded seem to serve the purpose of establish Jesus’ power and authority. The point wasn’t to go demon hunting or find one behind every tree; the point is that Jesus is stronger than anything you will encounter.[15]
As the early church unfolded, this kind of spiritual reality remained part of the ‘furniture’ of the church. This link[16] will give a ton of info from the first several centuries, as will the summary and the last few pages of your notes. It was just assumed by all to be a part of ongoing life in the Kingdom of God.
This kind of confrontation of spirits eventually worked its way into all kinds of ceremonies, beginning to border on the kind of superstition if not outright attempts at magic at times (especially in the Western church) warned about in the Old Testament.
Part of what the Reformation challenged was the sense that Catholic ceremonies and rites had become superstition and magic rather than a legitimate, Christ-centered exercise of God’s authority over the spiritual powers of darkness. Like other areas of the Catholic church, their desire was primarily to reform it, though for many it looked so ugly they rejected it all together.[17]
Over time, there has been an ebb and flow to how different church branches and denominations in different times and places have handled this supernatural element. Many maintained teaching and structure for ‘power encounters’ throughout their existence (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Anglican); many of the Reformers put it on a back burner. though there is record of ongoing acknowledgment that strange things from the unseen realm intersected with ours. The renewed interest in the 70s of ‘spiritual warfare’ in the U.S. felt new, but it really just connected us with the broader church experience historically and globally.
* * * *
So that brings us to three key passages looking at what the Bible has to say about doing battle in the unseen realm.
“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)
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
So what is spiritual warfare based on these passages of Scripture?
·the tensions, the conflicts, the ethical options, and the worldview choices which Christians must face
the spiritual conflict between those who inhabit and/or serve the heavenly and demonic kingdoms
the fight for truth
When it comes to how spiritual warfare looks (or how we think it ought to look), Hollywood can fill our heads with craziness; some Christian practices and teaching go beyond what Scripture in describing what must be happening in the unseen realm and how it must be influencing us and here’s the only wayto deal with it… It can become frightening, confusing and overwhelming, none of which should follow when reading Scripture on this issue.
Don’t ignore it. It’s real, and it’s happening. “There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” (C. S. Lewis).
Don’t be afraid. Nothing the Bible tells you about this realm is meant to make you scared. It’s meant to have you be sober-minded and on guard.
Pray a lot - “...without ceasing...” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ) and “...on all occasions...” (Ephesians 6:18)
Don’t learn more about evil than about good (“Whatever things are good...pure...of good report...think on these things.” Philippians 4:8)
Study the Bible. Jesus quoted Scripture when tempted by Satan - Matthew 4.
Don’t crave a glimpse into the unseen realm. People have told me they think it would be neat to see a deliverance because they want to see the demonic manifest. That’s a terrible reason. Don’t be fascinated by evil.
Keep the commandments of God and trust his testimony.
NOTES FROM CHURCH HISTORY ON THE UNSEEN REALM ( I got this wonderful list from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6699044/. “Book Review: Healing in the Early Church: The Church’s Ministry of Healing and Exorcism from the First to the Fifth Century.”
Justin Martyr (ca. 160 A.D.): “For we do continually beseech God by Jesus Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of God, and whom we of old time served… For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judæa, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering” (Dialogue, 30,3). “He (Christ) said, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents, and on scorpions… and on all the might of the enemy”. And now we, who believe on our Lord Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, when we exorcise all demons and evil spirits, have them subjected to us (Dialogue 76,6).
Theophilus of Antioch (ca. 180 A.D.) said the Greek poets were inspired by demons. “This is clearly evidenced by the fact that even today demons are exorcised from possessed in the name of the true God, and then the deceiving spirits confess themselves that they are the demons who once worked in the poets…” (Ad Autolycum II,8).
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (210-258), was the first to establish an order of exorcists.
In Hippolytus’ (170-235) conditions for admission for those who want to follow the baptismal instruction we read the following, “If anybody has a demon, then let him not hear the Word from the teacher before he has been cleansed (Apostolic Tradition 16,8). “From the day that they (who are to be baptized) are elected, let there be laying on of hands with exorcism every day. When the day of baptism approaches, let the bishop perform exorcism on each one of them, so that he may be certain that the baptizand is clean. But if there is anybody who is not clean, he should be set aside because he did not hear the instruction with faith. For the alien spirit remained with him.” (Apostolic Tradition, 20,3).
Tertullian (155-220) tells about a Christian woman who went to the theatre (where people slaughtered and maimed one another as entertainment for the masses) and came back possessed. “In the outcasting, accordingly, when the unclean creature was upbraided with having dared to attack a believer, he firmly replied, “And in truth I did it most righteously, for I found her in my domain””(De spectaculis, 26).
When Celsus (ca. 175 A.D.), “asserts that it is by the names of certain demons, and by the use of incantations, that the Christians appear to be possessed of power,” Origen (184-253), responded,“It is not by incantations that Christians seem to prevail (over evil spirits), but by the name of Jesus, accompanied by the announcement of the narratives which relate to him; for the repetition of these has frequently been the means of driving demons out of men, especially when those who repeated them did so in a sound and genuinely believing spirit. (Contra Celsum I,6). “If then the Pythian priestess is beside herself when she prophesies, what spirit must that be which fills her mind and clouds her judgment with darkness, unless it be of the same order with those demons which many Christians cast out of persons possessed with them? And this, we may observe, they do without the use of any curious magic, or incantations, but merely by prayer and simple adjurations which the plainest person can use. Because for the most part it is unlettered persons who perform this work: thus making manifest the grace which is in the word of Christ, and the despicable weakness of demons, which, in order to be overcome and driven out of the bodies and souls of men, do not require the power and wisdom of those who are mighty in argument, and most learned in matters of faith” (Contra Celsum, VII,4). (11)
Athanasius (292-373) “And how does it happen, if he is not risen, but is dead, that he expels the false gods who by the unbelievers are said to live, and the demons whom they worship, and persecute and destroy them? For where Christ is mentioned, and faith in him, all idolatry is eradicated, all demonic deceit is revealed, and no demon even tolerates that the name is mentioned, but hurries to flee, as it hears it mentioned. This is not the work of a dead man, but a living and first and foremost God” (Der incarnatione verbi, 32). “It is clear that if Christ were dead, then he would not expel the demons…, for the demons would not obey one who is dead. But when they obviously are chased away at the use of his name, then it should be clear that he is not dead, especially because the demons who see the things that are not visible for humans – should know it if Christ is dead. Then they would simply deny him obedience. But now the demons see exactly what the ungodly do not believe; that he is God, and therefore they flee and fall down for him and say that which they also said when he was in the body, “We know who you are, you the Holy One of God” (De incarnatione verbi, 32).
Lactantius’ (250-325) observed that demons fear Christ but not Jupiter, since Jupiter is “one of them.”
Eusebius of Caesarea, the “Father of Church History” (260-340) records exorcisms and healings of the time and exhorts against the use of amulets for these purposes.
Saint Ambrose (339-397) described his personal experience with laying on of hands to produce healings or exorcisms.
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[1] Christians were called atheists at one point because they didn’t believe in enough gods, but it was really unusual to find an atheist who didn’t believe in any gods.
[2] “The term "Elohim" means “supreme one” or “mighty one.” It is not only used of the one true God but is also used on occasion to refer to human rulers, judges, and even angels. If you saw one exhibiting supreme rule and expressed mighty power, the word you would use would be Elohim.” (biblestudytools.com, “What Does Elohim Mean and Why Is This Name of God So Important?”)
[3] https://www.olivetree.com/blog/demons-in-the-bible/
[4] Wikipedia, of all place, does a nice summary footnoted well. “‘The Old Testament description of the "divine assembly" all suggest that this metaphor for the organization of the divine world was consistent with that of Mesopotamia and Canaan. One difference, however, should be noted…Israelite writers sought to express both the uniqueness and the superiority of their God Yahweh.’ The Book of Psalms (Psalm 82:1), states "God (Elohim) stands in the divine assembly; He judges among the gods (elohim)." Later in this Psalm, the word "gods" is used (in the KJV): Psalm 82:6 – "I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High." Instead of "gods", another version has "godlike beings", but here again, the word is elohim/elohiym (Strong's H430).This passage is quoted in the New Testament in John 10:34. In the Books of Kings (1 Kings 22:19), the prophet Micaiah has a vision of Yahweh seated among "the whole host of heaven" standing on his right and on his left…The first two chapters of the Book of Job describe the "Sons of God" assembling in the presence of Yahweh.”
[5] For example, “When the Most High assigned lands to the nations, when he divided up the human race, he established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number in his heavenly court.” (NLT)
[6] What are we told in the Bible about angels when they appear to people? Virtually nothing. All that mattered was why God sent them to say or do what they said or did. There is also no physical description of demonic creatures.If the Bible didn’t find it necessary to give us details, we probably ought not worry about that kind of information too much.
[7] "And the angels that did not keep their own positions but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day. " Jude 6
[8] Old Testament Word Studies: Angels, etc. Demons. P. A. D. Nordell.
[9] Some of these books (Enoch, for example) are referenced by Peter and Jude.
[10] Why should a spirit be described as unclean? Because not all of them are, such as the Holy Spirit. (Baker Evangelical Dictionary Of Biblical Theology)
[11] https://jesusalive.cc/angels-in-new-testament/
[12] From Possession and Exorcism in the Literature of the Ancient Church and the New Testament. “Tertullian, in his Apologeticum (Defense, written 197 A.D.) notes that “We do not worship your gods, because we know that there are no such beings...” The saying “your gods do not exist” does not mean that the Greek-Roman gods are mere phantoms due only to human projection…They are not gods. They are demons. “And we affirm indeed the existence of certain spiritual essences; nor is their name unfamiliar. The philosophers acknowledge there are demons” (Apol. 22,1). The activity of the demons consists in deceiving human beings, tricking them into worshiping the demons as gods. In this way they lead people away from the true God... “Let a person be brought before your tribunals, who is plainly under demoniacal possession (daemone agi). The wicked spirit, bidden to speak by a follower of Christ, will as readily make the truthful confession that he is a demon, as elsewhere he has falsely asserted that he is a god. Or, if you will, let there be produced one of the god-possessed (de deo pati), as they are supposed, ….if they would not confess, in their fear of lying to a Christian, that they were demons, then and there shed the blood of the most impudent follower of Christ…. The truth is… that neither themselves nor any others have claims to deity, you may see at once who is really God, and whether that is He and He alone whom we Christians own; as also whether you are to believe in Him, and worship Him, after the manner of our Christian faith and discipline. But at once they (the demons) will say, Who is this Christ … is he not rather up in the heavens, thence about to come again… All the authority and power we have over them is from our naming the name of Christ, and recalling to their memory the woes with which God threatens them at the hands of Christ as Judge, and which they expect one day to overtake them. Fearing Christ in God, and God in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God and Christ. So at our touch and breathing, overwhelmed by the thought and realization of those judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies they have entered… It has not been an unusual thing, accordingly, for those testimonies of your deities to convert men to Christianity (Apol. 23,4-18) (6)
[13] Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary Of Biblical Theology
[14] “Someone once said, ‘Does it really matter whether the demon is tempting me from across the room, sitting on my shoulder, or inside my head?’ And the answer is no, it probably doesn’t matter. What matters is how you respond to it.” (Sam Storms)
[15] The exorcism is a sign event which with evidence for all demonstrates that the house of the strong one has been robbed by the one who is stronger; that Christ has conquered Satan and all his army. It is obvious that Christian exorcism made a deep impression on people in antiquity, both Christians and non-Christians… When Jesus expels demons from tormented people, it is visible evidence that the power of Satan is broken. Satan is bound by Jesus, and Jesus is plundering his house; that is, reconquering and reestablishing that which the Devil has destroyed.” (Possession and Exorcism in the Literature of the Ancient Church and the New Testament, Dr. Oscar Skarsaune)
[16] “Spiritual warfare in early church history.” https://www.trustworthyword.com/sw-church-history
[17] “Although some Protestants stopped exorcising in any way, others continued to do so, but ‘reformed’ their exorcisms. Protestants began to speak of ‘dispossession’ rather than ‘exorcism.’” (https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/a-history-of-anglican-exorcism-deliverance-and-demonology-in-church-ritual/introduction?from=search)
[18] "A strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God." (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)