Learning Practical
Spiritual Warfare
2008 Edition
Part One
Page 3
3. Principalities and Powers
Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) “ 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. “
Ephesians 6:12 (AMP) “ For we are not wrestling with flesh
and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but
against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the
master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present
darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the
heavenly (supernatural) sphere.”
Ephesians 6:12 (Peshitta) “ For our conflict is not with
flesh and blood, but with principalities, and with those in
authority, and with the possessors of this dark world, and
with the evil spirits that are beneath heaven. “
Do not get enemy identification
problems, but understand that behind that situation
and behind that evil person and that evil situation are evil
spirits part of a world system of evil that Satan rules.
That is where we are to put our energies, and not in the
carnal fighting of carnal men and women.
We are in conflict for sure, but it is with both fallen
angelic and demonic powers. There is a difference between
fallen angels which is a higher order of being, and the
demonic or unclean spirits that possess human beings at
times, and we shall explore that at a latter point. But you
see the hierarchy of that structure and difference here in
this verse.
We are locked into combat with the forces of evil, and we as
born again children of God, are called to resist this enemy
steadfastly. This is combat, or a wrestling, and we are
locked into it. We need to understand who we are in God and
the strength that God has given to us. But we must also
understand our enemy and understand how to deal with his
attacks, and how to resist him.
This has been called the hierarchy of Hell, and shows the
power structure of evil under Satan.
GREEK OF EPHESIANS 6:12 “ BECAUSE NOT IT IS WRESTLING
AGAINST BLOOD AND FLESH; BUT AGAINST THE RULERS, AGAINST THE
AUTHORITIES; AGAINST THE WORLD’S RULERS OF THE DARKNESS AGE
OF THIS; AGAINST THE HOSTS OF EVIL SPIRITS [SPIRITUAL
(POWERS)] IN THE HEAVENLIES. “
This scripture represents what we
call a hierarchy. A
hierarchy is defines as this, a group of persons or things
arranged in order of rank or class. What you see here is
the top to the bottom.
Satan’s kingdom is organized much like
God’s. Satan’s wisdom has
been corrupted, and if you will notice, most of what he does is
a perversion of what God has created. There doesn’t seem to be
any true creative ability in him. He wants to be like God, so
he has mirrored his kingdom like God’s.
God has holy principalities and
powers. Michael is the
principality or prince or archangel of Israel.
The word speaks of the principalities and power of being holy
sometimes, of being fallen at others. Here are some examples of
holy principalities and powers.
Ephesians 3:9-10 “ 9 And to make all [men] see what [is] the
fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world
hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God, “
Colossians 1:16 “ For by him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
[they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:
all things were created by him, and for him: “
And in Titus 3:1, you see a
reference to human principalities and powers....
Titus 3:1 “ Put them in mind to be subject to principalities
and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good
work,“
We know our fight isn’t against flesh
and blood,
so these in Ephesians 6 and Colossians
2:15 aren’t human enemies.
Plus, we aren’t fighting against the holy angels of the Lord,
for they are our allies and not our enemies.
But we wrestle against those who have fallen with the Devil.
[1] PRINCIPALITIES
= arche
{ar‑khay'} = the person or thing that commences, the first
person or thing in a series, the leader; the first place,
principality, rule, magistracy of angels and demons.
It is literally a prince. The word
of God uses this for the angel Michael.
Jude 1:9 “ Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the
devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring
against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke
thee. “
The word for archangel is a
combination of this word, arche or archo and angelos, or
literally a prince angel.
Daniel 10:13 “ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood
me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of
Persia. “
The Hebrew here is sar which means
principality or prince or leader.
There is one Devil and many fallen
angels who followed him. Some
of them are very powerful and they
sit as kings.
Are there fallen angelic
principalities mentioned by name in scripture? Yes, there are.
Daniel 10:11-13 “ 11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man
greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee,
and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had
spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12 Then said he
unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou
didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself
before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy
words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me
one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
“
The angel of the Lord (probably
Gabriel as he had been sent before) came to bring the
revelation of what the vision Daniel had had really meant. He
had fallen out (slain in the Spirit) before the messenger of God
and the angel had set him up and starts this discourse.
Although Daniel had fasted and prayed
a pleasant food fast for 21 days, the prayer was heard in Heaven
the very first day. God had sent the angel the first day,
but there had been spiritual
resistance to Daniel receiving this revelation from the Lord.
Sometimes the answer is on its
way.... don’t give up before the answer comes. Don’t
give into the pressures and say, “well, God is not
listening to me anyway”. The angel had been sent the
first day, but had troubles literally getting down to the earth
for wrestling with a spiritual principality.
The prince of the kingdom of
Persia... which is interesting since that is the kingdom that
ruled the ancient world at that time. In fact, the Medo-Persians
were the ones who had Daniel captive at that time. They had
already taken the Babylonian Kingdom for themselves. It is
interesting that the dominating principality is the one who
withstood the angel of the Lord.
This was not the human prince of the
kingdom of Persia. I have never seen a man, king or not, that
could go into the air and keep an angel from getting to the
Earth. They fought for 21 days.
A CONCEPT FROM GOD’S WORD:
HOLY ANGELS FIGHT IN THE HEAVENLIES FOR US AGAINST FALLEN
ANGELS
SET TOWARD DESTROYING US AND SEPARATING US FROM GOD.
The word for prince here is once
again is sar. So, there are holy princes or principalities, and
there are evil, fallen principalities who under the rule of the
chief principality, Satan, is actively trying to destroy our
lives and hinder us. 1
Thessalonians 2:18 “ Wherefore we would have come unto you, even
I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us. “
On the 21st day, God sent Michael,
the principality of Israel to help Gabriel in this fight against
the principality of Persia. God knows when you have reached the
point where reinforcements are needed. Michael was big enough
to bind the prince of Persia while Gabriel brought the message.
There are in fact great spiritual
battles at times with the angels of Heaven although you might
not be aware of it. You might be aware that you are in a battle
and when you pray you sense things getting clearer.... many
times over your head there is a spiritual conflict occuring.
Daniel 10:20-21 “ 10 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come
unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of
Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall
come. 21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the
scripture of truth: and [there is] none that holdeth with me in
these things, but Michael your prince. “
It is interesting to note that the
Grecian Empire followed the Persian, and here the angel makes
the statement that the spiritual king of Grecia is on the way to
help the spiritual king of Persia and I’ve got to hurry and tell
you this so I can go and join Michael in the fight. You see it
clearer in the New American Standard translation of the Holy
Scriptures:
Daniel 10:20-21 (N.A.S.) “ 20 Then he said, "Do you understand
why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the
prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of
Greece is about to come.21 "However, I will tell you what is
inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who
stands firmly with me against these [forces] except Michael your
prince. “
I must go back to assist your prince.
Why is it Daniel’s prince? Because he belongs to the house of
Israel, and Michael is the principality of Israel.
I want you to see that the forces that are both of God and
the forces that we are opposing are very organized.
QUESTION:
Have you ever felt that a series of events that on the
surface Seemed to be unrelated, but happened Together
in what seemed to you to be a Well Planned Attack on
your life? Maybe your faith was shaken in a few areas. . .
and it seemed that all these unrelated things occured
together accoding to some plan.
WELL IT PROBABLY WAS
!
We are not only to pray against the unclean spirits that we deal
with daily that you see on the bottom of the list, but we are to
organize our prayers also against the rulers over our towns and
communities, and
up to the principalities over the regions where we live.
[2] POWERS
= Greek exousia
{es-oo-see’-ah} one who has authority, a magistrate or governor.
It is a ruler of a smaller order
than principalities.
It would
be like a grand duke.
A grand duke is the one just under the prince of the kingdom.
Many times he will rule his own duchy under the prince.
Many times these are bundled in
together under the principalities in scripture. We understand
that they rule many rulers
under themselves, under the commands of their own principality.
You
see, when you say the Devil is attacking you, in a sense you are
right but in a sense you are wrong.
It is a very organized attack carried out by different ranks of
fallen angels and unclean spirits,
but there is only one very finite and limited Devil at the top
of it. He doesn’t know everything and is not everywhere as God
is, but he does have a lot of help.
Both principalities and powers are
mentioned in the triumph scripture of Colossians:
Colossians 2:15 “ [And] having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in
it. “
Jesus has already triumphed over the
principalities and powers of the enemy in the cross. His blood
destroyed their authority.... and we as the body of Christ need
to take up that authority that Jesus has given unto us and put
the forces of Hell under our feet.
When you speak of principalities and
powers, you are speaking of rulers over quite a bit of land.
They have a rule or
dominion that encompasses more than just a local city or area.
These are the big fallen
angels. Now, God did not make
them evil. They were once good, but have fallen.
