Old Testament Violence (2) Sub-optimal

God had to behave differently in the Old Testament age, because he was fighting against ruthless spiritual enemies with limited authority to act freely. In this constrained situation, he often had to use violence to keep the spiritual powers of evil from getting out of hand. The cross changed the nature of this battle. Once the powers of evil were defeated by Jesus, God no longer needed to use violence to deal with spiritual evil. His people could defeat the powers of evil by preaching the gospel in the power of the spirit and forces them to retreat in his name.

Until Jesus came and died on the cross and defeated the spiritual powers of evil, God was constrained in how he could deal with evil and restrain its harm. He often had to use violence to restrain evil from getting out of hand. He used his authority in the spiritual realms to release his angels to manipulate the struggles between the evil spiritual powers to accomplish his purposes. That sometimes resulted in violence. After Jesus, that violence was less necessary, because his people could defeat the spiritual powers of evil by the power of his blood and his word.

• Before the flood, humans had wrecked the earth, but they were not alone. The spiritual powers of evil were working through them to wreck it because they hated God’s creation. During their fall, Adam and Eve unwittingly surrendered the authority on earth that God had given them to the spiritual powers of evil. The evil powers had gone to work to lead humans astray and wreck God’s good earth.

• By the time of Noah, the spiritual powers of evil were so strong that the earth was in danger of being totally destroyed. The only way to prevent this from happening was to destroy life on earth. The flood limited the ability of the powers of evil to work evil on earth, and many were locked up where they could do no harm. (See Rainbow covenant.)

• Prior to the cross, the only way for people following God to deal with evil spirits was to keep separate from the people and things carrying them. People who chose to follow God did not have the blood of Jesus to protect them, so they were vulnerable to attack by the evil powers. The best form of protection was to remain separate from people carrying evil spirits. This is why God told the Israelites to drive the Canaanites out of the land. They would carry the evil spirits out with them. Allowing the Canaanites to remain in the land would leave the land full of evil spirits.

• During the time when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, a host of evil spirits flooded the land of Canaan, because they knew God had promised it to Abraham, and they wanted to get there first. God did not want to start a war with the Canaanites, but he had to drive the evil spirits out of the land. The only way to do this was to drive out the Canaanites possessed and controlled by them.

  God's plan was to send his angels to stir up natural events that would fill the Canaanites with fear and terror, collapsing city wall and massive hailstones from the sky, dangerous hornets (Joshua 6:20; 10:11; Deut 7:20). The people living in the land would be filled with such fear and terror, that they would flee the land, carrying their evil spirits with them.
  

  I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run (Ex 23:27).

  This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you (Deut 2:25).

  You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God (Deut 7:19-21).

  No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go (Deut 11:25).

  Unfortunately, Joshua did not understand God's plan and started a war against the Canaanite kings. This tight contact allowed the evil spirits to stay in the land by jumping across to the victorious invading armies (see Violence and the Old Testament).

• Prior to the cross, the people of Israel had to keep away from people with skin diseases. The disease was a sign that they might have been attacked by an evil spirit. Remaining separate reduced the risk that the evil spirit would attack them. Many of the instructions in Leviticus were designed to keep people separate.

• Jesus began his ministry by reaching out and embracing a person with skin disease. He told his followers to lay hands on them and pray for them. His ministry changed the method for dealing with evil spirits. (More at Clean/Unclean)

• God sometimes used wars to accomplish his purposes, but does not start wars. He manipulates the outcomes of the wars that have been started by evil spiritual powers to achieve his purposes. Political-spirits and government-spirits used military empires to control the world. The only way that God could constrain them was to stir up other military power against them.

  The powers of evil are not united. They often fight against each other to get better positions in the hierarchy of evil. The Prince of Persia and his followers fought against the Assyrian Spirit and his cohorts. God used his authority in the spiritual realms to release his angels to manipulate these struggles between the evil spiritual powers to accomplish his purposes.

  God mostly accomplished his purposes by sending his angels to fight against the political-spirits and government-spirits (principalities and powers) and not letting a different one win. He fought against the spiritual power of Babylon, which allowed the spiritual Prince of Persia to defeat it. This allowed the Persian armies to conquer and destroy Babylon.

  Since the ministry of Jesus, God does not want his people on earth using war to accomplish his purposes. He wants his followers on earth to be people of peace. Preaching the gospel in the Spirit is a more effective tool for defeating evil. More at God and War).

Old Testament Evil (1) God Stymied

Many serious Christians are concerned about the violence that permeates the Old Testament. They believe that it is inconsistent with the message of Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus suffered in the face of evil and violence. He did not fight against it. Engaging in violence seems to be inconsistent with his teaching and behaviour. This makes the violence of the Old Testament hard to explain.

I believe that the key understanding that is missing from most discussions on this topic is and understanding of spiritual warfare and the precariousness of the battle that God was fighting.

God Stymied

When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they handed authority over the earth to the spiritual forces of evil. The consequence of this authority shift was that God was shut out of the wonderful world he had created. He could not act on earth, unless a human called out and gave him authority to help.

When God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth, he meant what he said. He was not half-heartedly giving authority, thinking that he could take it back if things turned sour. That would have been dishonest, and God does not work like that.

God had a long-term strategy to restore his creation, but the first few thousand years were a hard struggle. He could not act on earth, unless humans asked for help. He can only act on earth, if humans give him authority, so he needed loyal people and a place to work. He needed humans to give him authority to act on earth. God had a plan to restore his influence, but it would take time.

For most of the Old Testament age, God was shut out of the world that he had created. During this long season, he only received rare opportunities to gain influence on earth. He used each of these very wisely, but could not make much progress. The spiritual powers of evil virtually had a free hand to work their evil on earth. God keeps his word, so when they lost it, he did not take back the authority over the earth that he had given to humans. He had to find other sub-optimal methods to accomplish his purposes. This sometimes made violence necessary.

In the Old Testament age, God had only a few people who walked in the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit could not be released in fullness until after the cross. However, there was a massive battle going on in the spiritual realms. Because humans had given the spiritual powers of evil authority over the earth, God had limited ability to fight against them. This was a serious struggle, and God had only limited authority to act to restrain them.

Reconciling SPEs (12) Abyss and Lake of Fire

The scriptures refer to two different places where bad spirits are sent.

• The Abyss is a spiritual holding pen where spirits are kept out of action for a period of time.

• The Lake of Fire is a place of final destruction where bad spirits lose their existence (Rev 20:14).

The order of their use is as follows.

• A number of bad angels were locked up in the abyss after the flood in Noah’s time (1 Pet 3:19-20;2 Pet 2:4). They were led by a spirit called Destroyer

• Destroyer and his followers are released from the Abyss during the Time of Distress at the end of the Times of the Gentiles. They cause the distress.

• At the end of the Time of Distress and after the Fulness of the Jews, spirits called Beast and False Prophet are placed in the Lake of Fire and cease to exist (Rev 19:20). The ends dominance through political power forever.

• At the same time, Satan the Accuser is locked up in the Abyss (Rev 20:2). He remains powerless during the Times of the Kingdom, because followers of Jesus claim the power his blood to cover their sin. This leaves the accuser powerless.

• At the end of the Kingdom age, Satan is released from the Abyss for a short season (Rev 20:7). He gathers some spiritual followers and encourages them to rebel against God again. This last attempt fails and he is quickly defeated.

• Following the last judgment, Death and Hades are destroyed in the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). They are active at the beginning the Times of Distress (Rev 6:8). They had killed millions of people with wars, famines and plagues.

• Leading a rebellion, despite being given a second chance, proves that Satan is incorrigible. He is placed in the lake of fire and his existence ceases.

It seems that the only bad spirits that have to be destroyed, because they not reconcilable are Beast, False Prophet, Death, Hades and Satan. I presume that the remainder were reconciled to God and serve him into eternity.

Reconciling SPEs (11) Final Defeat

Only a few really evil spiritual powers will persist with evil, but they will be so outnumbered that they become powerless and feeble. Incorrigible spirits like Beast, False Prophet, Wrath, Death, Destruction and Satan will refuse to be reconciled with God and will continue to oppose him. They will be captured and thrown into the lake of fire, which represents total destruction. It is the destination of the last few spirits that hold out against God.

The powerful ruling spirits are bound and lose their authority on earth. The ordinary spirits recognise that it is gone. They stop listening to them because they are created to only listen to a voice with authority. Once Beast and False Prophet, and other big spirits are defeated, the rebellion collapses, because the other spirits no longer have a voice of authority to obey. They become confused and do nothing because there is no voice of evil to obey.

The blood of Jesus took us from under the authority of the spiritual powers of evil and sets us free to serve God. The victory of the gospel restores authority on earth back to the people that God gave it to at the beginning. The confused spirits begin listening to the voice of God’s people. They obey followers of Jesus, because they recognise their genuine authority on earth.

As the numbers of people following Jesus increase, bad spirits will get less negative commands to act on. More and more will obey followers of Jesus. This switch of allegiance will bring massive transformation on earth. Evil will disappear and good will reign in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God will advance on earth and become a reality that is unimaginable today.

SPEs (10) Last Spiritual Battle

I have always seen last battle in Revelation 19 as a spiritual struggle, not a physical war, but I never realised that most of the spiritual powers of evil would shift allegiance and surrender to Jesus.

Revelation describes what happens after political power is destroyed. Jesus has crowns on his head. This means that all authority on earth will at last be fully surrendered to him.

Jesus was given authority on earth by the whose follow him. They were dressed in white linen, which is their righteous deeds (Rev 19:8). They had come to the place of victory through their love and suffering for Jesus.

Jesus rides out to meet the spiritual powers that have used kings, generals and mighty men to control the earth. They will be destroyed and surrender their power to him.

The name on Jesus' thigh is King of Kings and Lord of Lord. This reflects the fullness of the Kingdom of God and the demise of human political power. All authority and power on earth will be surrender to Jesus, as the principalities and powers that have controlled the earth are destroyed.

Jesus is wearing a blood-stained garment, which is a reminder of his mercy and love. His followers are riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen. White symbolises pure and persevering faith. The fine linen represents faith and trust.

The blood on his robe is a sign that the blood brings deliverance for the spiritual powers of evil too. Jesus establishes this victory in two steps.

Firstly, the collapse of political power on earth eliminates the authority of the principalities and powers in the spiritual realms. Beast and False Prophet are captured. They are spiritual powers that controlled the earth through a final powerful political empire, that eclipses all previous empires. Beast makes all political powers submit to a powerful empire. This significantly reduces their power. When Beast is destroyed, all other political power will disappear too. This collapse of political power will destroy the authority of the spiritual principalities and powers.

The spiritual beast and false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire. It symbolises destruction. These powerful spirits refuse to be reconciled with God, so they give themselves over to destruction.

Secondly, the rest of the spiritual powers of evil will be exposed by the truth and be reconciled to God. Jesus has a sword coming out of his mouth, which represents the truth. He speaks the truth to the spiritual power of evil. They are convicted by the truth and return to serving God.

The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh (Rev 19:21).

This sword is not physical, but spiritual. It is a word of truth which eliminates the rebellion from the rest of the spiritual powers of evil. They are not destroyed, because they are not thrown into the lake of fire. Rather they are totally defeated. The birds eating their flesh symbolises total and certain victory. They will be convicted by the truth and will submit to Jesus when they recognise the authority of his words. The massive army that they have been part of will cease to exist. All that will remain will be the damage that they have done on earth (represented by the discarded flesh).

SPEs (9) Our Choice

The powers of evil will ask, “Can we leave our evil life behind and return to following God.”

Jesus will say, “You can, but my followers will make the final decision. The Father said that those who follow me will judge the angels”.

Do you not know that we shall judge angels (1 Cor 6:3)?

Christians who know that verse and are looking forward to condemning evil angels to hell have not understood it. What God was saying is that we will decide their fate. We will decide whether they are allowed to come back onto his side. We will have to decide if we will trust them to work with us again, after all they have done to us.

We have authority to decide the fate of the spiritual powers of evil because they operated on earth and authority on earth has been given to humans. Once that authority has been restored by the advance of the gospel, we will have authority over all spiritual power operating on earth.

God’s plan to reconcile everything in heaven to him will fail if we refuse, because we do not trust those who have done evil. For his purposes to be fulfilled, we will have to forgive follower spirits and welcome them back to serving God.

The scriptures say that we will judge the angels. This is not a moral judgement, like the one we will face. Rather, when the spirits hear Jesus voice and decide to return to his Kingdom, humans will have to decide if they should be allowed back, given that they have done so much evil. Our natural inclination will be to say “no”, because we do not trust them.

If we are going to welcome them back, we will need to love them as God loves them. I suspect that we have prevented many spirits from returning to the fold because we are ungracious towards them. If we love them, we would have reconciled many of them already.

Love
If we are going to welcome follower spirits back, we will need to love them as God loves them. I suspect that we have prevented many of them from returning to the fold because we hate them. If we loved them, we would have reconciled many of them already.

God loves all the angels and spirits that he created, even though many opposed his plans. He understands that they have been tricked into hearing and obeying the wrong voice. He has a plan to rescue them and bring them back into his kingdom (Col 1:20).

We hate bad spirits because they do evil; We find it hard to imagine that they could be reconciled with God. We just assume that they will be evil forever. However, God has never stopped loving them. He created them and is sad to see them hearing and obeying a different voice. He wants to rescue them.

If we were as gracious as God, we would love them and want to see them reconciled with the Father. If we loved them instead of hating them, we would have more authority over them, because our voice would be clearer with more authority (hate obscures authority).
We should be praying for the time when the spirits in the spiritual realms will be reconciled with the Father. We have been forgiven much, so we must be willing to forgive those that have done great evil.

SPEs (8) Truth

As the gospel advances, Jesus will regain authority over areas of the earth (I explain this further in my book called Kingdom Authority). The spiritual powers at work earth will hear his voice again and begin to follow him. Many will switch allegiance, as they acknowledge the authority of his voice and obey him.

The spiritual powers of evil will be convicted by the truth when Jesus speaks to them about the suffering, perseverance and joy of his followers. It will be the reverse of the interview with Job. Jesus will say something like this to the spiritual powers of evil.

Have you seen my church? You have thrown every weapon you have got at my people and they are still rejoicing and trusting in me. You have destroyed their wealth and killed them, but they have not denied me. You have tried to destroy my body, but you have failed. The more intense your attacks, the stronger my body has become.

When you rebelled against my Father, way back in the time of Adam and Eve, Accuser lied to you. He promised that you would be victorious and have great fun. He promised that you would get to destroy God’s creation.

You have failed. The principalities and powers that control the nations have collapsed. Beast and False Prophet have been bound and thrown into the lake of fire. They have lost their power. You are being beaten by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, wherever you tried to operate. All you evil schemes are failing.

You are not having fun. Being defeated and divided is a miserable existence. Look at the joy of those who are following me and worshipping the father. You could have that joy if you repented and decided to serve God again.

Remember the purpose for which you were created. God made each of you for a special purpose. If you switched sides, you could serve him again.

When the gospel is successful, followers of Jesus will give him authority over their part of the earth. This will allow him to speak with authority and his voice to be heard. The spirits that have pursued evil will hear Jesus speak. They will recognise his authority and the authority of those following him, and obey Jesus' voice. They will switch sides and begin doing his will.

Prophecy is important because impure spirits will often act on it, if they recognise the authority of the prophet and obey his/her words. They do not realise that the judgement prophesied will often set back their plans of their leaders. When prophets speak with authority, impure spirits will often implement their prophetic words, because spirits are listeners and observers, not discerners of right and wrong.

As the Kingdom of God advances, and Jesus’ authority on earth expands, more and more impure spirits will begin following him again. The blood of Jesus releases us from their power and allows the Holy Spirit to fill us for victory. Our witness to the powers of evil shows them that they have chosen the wrong side. They will hear the voice of truth and obey.

SPEs (7) Jesus Victory

Jesus’ death on the cross opened the way for the spiritual powers of evil to be reconciled with God. That could not happen while they were holding humans to ransom. Once the people of God were redeemed by his blood, the spiritual powers of evil lost their power. They could be called to obedience and offered forgiveness.

The spiritual powers operating on earth had been deceived by the deceiver and led into opposing God. Their natural intent is to obey, so when one of their own called them, they followed, as they were created to do. Once humans are redeemed by the blood of Jesus and become the authoritative voice on earth by the advance of the gospel, the spiritual powers of evil will listen to them and be able to return to obeying God and carrying out their previous role on earth.

The reconciliation of the spiritual powers of evil was promised by Paul to the Ephesians.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms (Eph 3:10).

The spiritual powers of evil will be amazed by the witness of the church. They will see people rejoicing despite suffering and persecution. They will see people moving in the power of the Spirit and defeating evil. They will realise that they have chosen the wrong side. When they see the joy of the body of Jesus and their wondrous victory, the spiritual powers of evil will desert the powers of wrath, death and destruction and decide to serve God again. This massive switch of allegiance will change the power situation on earth.

Political Change
The Book of Revelation describes the collapse of political power and empire during a time of distress and persecution. These events destroy the hierarchy of power that has been used by the spiritual powers of evil to amplify their authority and maintain control of the earth. When kings and politicians disappear, the power of spiritual principalities and powers will evaporate. Their role will disappear and they will become ordinary impure spirits without control over places and regions on earth.

Once this hierarchy of power is gone from an area, followers of Jesus will be able to expand the territory that is under the authority of Jesus. This will lead to a massive defeat of the spiritual powers of evil, as they are picked off one at a time. When they are cast out of the person they have been harassing, there will be no other ruling authority to tell them what to do. They will recognise the genuine authority of the followers of Jesus and submit to the truth they are speaking. They will stop obeying the dethroned spiritual powers and give their allegiance to Jesus. This switch of allegiance will dramatically undermine the power of evil on earth.

SPEs (6) Nimrod

The principalities and powers learned about military power from humans. Nimrod was the first powerful man on earth (Gen10:8). He began as a strong hunter. When he had become skilled at trapping and killing strong animals, he started to threaten and control humans with his weapons. He eventually gained control of a large group of people. He used his physical strength to become a mighty ruler. His kingdom started in Babylon in the land of Shinar. He later went to Assyria and built Nineveh. Through Babylon and Nineveh he was the founder of all human empires.

The angels watched Nimrod and learned how political power could be used to control large numbers of people. They copied what they had learned from him and established spiritual-political control over every town, city and nation where people had gathered on earth.
They learned that they could amplify their power by using political authority. The beasts of the earth were born. They took what they learned from Nimrod and used it to control the people of the earth.

The principalities and powers are the most powerful of the spiritual powers of evil on earth. They learned about political power from humans. This is why the mark of the beast is a human number. The beast learned how to use political and military power from Nimrod, the first powerful man on earth.

Isaiah’s Prophecy
Isaiah describes the rebellion of a spirit that used political power to wreak havoc on earth. This was probably the spirit called Beast. He said in his heart:

I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High (Is 14:13-14).

This rebellious spirit gained power by controlling kings and nations through principalities and powers.

All the unseen rulers on earth, he raises their thrones from all the kings of the nations (Is 14:9).

Isaiah prophesied that a time would come when they would all be weak and helpless.

They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us” (Is 14:10).

Reconciling the SPEs (5) Political Power

Although they were defeated by the cross, the spiritual powers of evil maintained their authority on earth by using spiritual principalities and powers to control political power and empires on earth. Every town, city, nation and region on earth is controlled by a principality or power in the spiritual realms.

Their authority on earth is perpetuated by a hierarchy of authority.

• The principalities and powers in the spiritual realms control the political powers on earth, such as kings, emperors and other political leaders. The personalities may change over time, but the spiritual powers remain in control.

• These kings and political leaders have authority over large groups of people, so this gives them immense authority on earth.

• The people look to their political leaders to solve the problems that disturb their lives, so they mostly submit to them. They should be looking to the Kingdom of God for their salvation, and to the Jesus as their king.

• Political leaders and kings use military force and political coercion to control their people. This gives the principalities their power an point of entrance to control them.

This hierarchy of authority allows the spiritual powers of evil to exercise authority on earth, despite their defeat by the cross.

The principalities and powers have authority over all the spirits living in the nation or region they control. These follower spirits listen and obey their commands.

Reconciling the SPEs (4) Bad not Evil

Most English translations of the Bible refer to “evil spirits”. That translation is a bit misleading. The Hebrew expression is “raah ruach” (1 Sam 16:14), which means bad spirit, rather than evil spirit. They are spirits that have gone bad by listening to the wrong voice, rather than being inherently evil.

The New Testament expression is “akathartos pneuma”. The adjective coming from the Greek word “kathairo” means to be cleansed. The King James Version was closer to the truth when it translated this as “unclean spirits”. The best modern translation is probably “impure spirit”. These spirits have been lured over to the wrong side, so they are bad or impure. They are not inherently evil, but have become bad.

Learned Evil
Bad spirits have learned most of their evil from humans. Cain taught them how to kill and destroy by killing his brother. They learnt how to deceive and lie when Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit. Bad spirits learned how to do intimidate and control people by watching men use their physical strength, emotional force, and threats of rejection to control their wives. Others learned how to manipulate and control by watching women use their emotional understanding and skills with words to manipulate their husbands. Most evil was created first in human hearts. The bad spirits copied what humans did and became skilled at it.

They had worked with God to create the animals and plants of the earth. Once they had learned from Cain and other humans that living things could be destroyed, they used their knowledge to set about destroying God’s creation.

Reconciling the SPEs (3) Third Misled

About a third of the angels were operating on earth at the time of the rebellion. They were waiting for Adam and Eve to give them instructions to care for the earth. When the archangels who had rebelled began to give them instructions, they obeyed, because that is what they were created to do. They recognise authority, but they cannot distinguish between good and evil. The rebellious archangels had legitimate authority on earth, so they naturally obeyed them.

Only a third of the spirits fell. This was not because they were morally inferior. They just happened to be on the earth when Satan gained authority there. Once he had legitimate authority, they had no choice but to obey him. It was not a moral choice, deliberately made like the one made by Adam and Eve.

The other two-thirds of angels did not fall, because they were operating in the higher heaven close to the Father, so they continued to hear his voice. They were not superior or better, just closer to a true voice. Both groups did what they were created to do, they just listened and followed the voice that they heard. Unfortunately, one group heard the wrong voice and were led into evil.

Followers
The spiritual powers of evil were created to listen and obey, so they just do what they are told by the closest legitimate authority. They do not have the capability to evaluate plans, or make moral assessments, so they just implement any suggestion that is given to them. Unlike humans, they do not know the difference between good and evil. All they know is the difference between legitimate authority and illegitimate authority. They do whatever a voice of authority tells them to do. That is why they often implement actions suggested by God (eg 1 Kings 22:20).

Bad spirits are not very innovative. They were created to be doers, so they often do the same thing over and over again, until an authority tells them to do something different. Unlike humans, who are made in the image of God, and have inherited his creativity, they just do what they have always done.

Bad spirits find it hard to come up with new ways to do things. They are not creative because they were created to follow instructions and obey authority. If they are told to harass a person, and impure spirit just keeps on doing it until someone with authority tells them to do something different. For example, a spirit of fear is not different from other spirits, it is just a spirit that has been told to do fear, so it keeps on doing it.

The impure spirits recognised Jesus authority, so they naturally obeyed him. The same was true of Paul. The spirits recognised that he had authority, and obeyed him. They knew that the sons of Sceva did not have authority, so they did not obey them (Acts 19:13-15).

Reconciling the SPE (2) Listeners and Followers

To understand how the spiritual powers of evil will be reconciled to God, we need to understand their nature and how they fell. Most spirits, like the angels, are listeners and followers. They were created by God to hear, obey and do. The angels listen and obey the voice of God. They sometimes hear and obey the voice of his people.

Angels are not moral beings, like humans. They are listeners and doers. They listen to anyone with real authority that is near to them. They recognise authority, like the Roman soldier who talked with Jesus. When they hear a voice with authority, they obey.

When the angels were created, they all obeyed the voice of God. They did what the Holy Spirit commanded them to do.

A few angels are archangels (arche = ruling; angelos = messenger). They are ruling angels with the ability to instruct other angels. Michael is the name of one who serves God (Jude 1:9). I am not sure why God needed them, because the Holy Spirit can speak to an angel and tell it God’s will. I presume that he needed archangels to control large groups of angels working together on tasks needing concentrated power and structure.

The bad spirits that gained control when Satan led the angels on earth into a rebellion against God, were probably archangels, used to organising and controlling other angels. Only a few spirits revolted against God. They had special roles and knowledge of what was happening.

They said, “We did all the work creating the world, while God just sat and talked. Why should he control it, when we made it”? A few of them decided to take control of the earth they had helped create.

Only a few spirits rebelled against God. Once Satan had tricked Adam and Eve, he and a few of his powerful mates could claim legitimate authority over the earth. They took on new roles as Death, Wrath, Destruction, Beast, and False Prophet. They worked together but also struggled with each other for power.

The spirits that led the rebellion tricked Adam and Eve into giving them authority over the earth. The other spirits that stopped serving God must remain in contact with the earth to have a place to operate. They are listeners and followers, so they obey anyone with authority over the place where they are operating. They naturally obey the ruling spirits who seized authority over the earth.

Reconciling the Spiritual Powers of Evil (1)

Sometimes, if you ask a different question, it leads you down an amazing path. That happened a few weeks ago, when I was reading Colossians, I was struck by something that I had not noticed before. It really set me thinking. Paul wrote these words.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Col 1:19-20).

Paul explains that God has reconciled all things on earth and in heaven to himself through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. I have always known that Jesus blood reconciled people living on earth to God, but I began to wonder what things in the heavens or spiritual realms needed to be reconciled to him. Clearly, the angels do not need to be reconciled to God, because they have been his faithful servants. That leaves the spiritual powers of evil as the only beings in the spiritual realms that need to be reconciled with God.

I began to wonder how the spiritual powers of evil could be reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus. I had not thought about that before. I just assumed that they were irretrievably lost and would be destroyed at the end of the age. However, Paul seems to be suggesting that they could be reconciled with God. That possibility set me thinking.

I discovered that the spiritual powers of evil will shift their allegiance and go back to serving God, when they hear the truth proclaimed by Jesus. I will explain what I found in the next few posts.

Parallel Power (4) Revelation

The book of Revelation seems to describe wars and violence on earth, but this misses the point. The real story of the book is spiritual. John saw a series of events on earth that would lead to a massive defeat of the spiritual powers of evil in the spiritual realms.

We assume that the last battle described in the book of revelation is a battle between the nations of the world. It is commonly assume that the armies of the nations will gather to attack Israel. This is part of the story, but the real battle is the battle in the spiritual realms. This battle will be decisive in history.

The spiritual powers of evil will gather from all over the world, attracted by the violence and destruction of war. They will be defeated and destroyed by the power of God. Just as they were created by God’s word in the beginning, they will be destroyed by Jesus’ word on that day.

The result of this victory will be a massively reduced number of evil spirits left to work in the world. With a much weakened spiritual enemy, the Holy Spirit and his angels will be free to advance the Kingdom of God in a powerful way.

Many popular books explaining the Revelation of John focus on wars between nations. They attempt to identify the nations involved in these struggles. This is pointless, because Revelation describes a spiritual war. To understand Revelation, we must read the book as primarily a description of events in the spiritual realms.

Parallel Power (2) The Prophets

The prophets in the Old Testament often seemed to speaking against nation, but they were actually speaking to the spiritual powers that controlled them. So when Jeremiah warned of an evil nation coming against Jerusalem, he was actually warning of an invasion by a swarm of evil spirits.

Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say (Jer 5:15).

Moses had given a similar warning in his record of the covenant with God.

The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favour to the young (Deut 28:49).

The Hebrew word for nation is “goy”. It is comes from the word for “back”, in the sense of a body. It is often a translated as nation, but the same word is also used for a swarm of locusts or a herd of animals. It can also point to a swarm of evil spirits.

These attackers are ancient. They have been around forever. They speak to each other in a way that the Israelites cannot understand. The Babylonians had not been around forever. Their language is not totally different from Hebrew. However, the evil spirits that controlled the Babylonian army had been around since the fall. They spoke a spiritual language, which the Israelites did not understand. These spirits were extremely evil with no respect for the elderly or the young.

These evil spirits have a quiver full of arrows that is an open grave (Jer 5:16). This links to the flaming arrows of the evil one that the shield of faith can quench (Eph 6:16). Their evil arrows come from the grave of hell. These spirits would bring an invading army, but the real attack came from the spiritual invaders.

When Ezekiel says that Gog, Meshach, Persia, Put and Tubal will be gathering against Israel, he is referring to a spiritual army led by the spiritual kings associated with these nations (Ez 38:3-5). Armies of many nations will gather, but they only represent they real spiritual hordes, who are much more dangerous.

War is always a spiritual attack, so it is the spiritual invaders that must be defeated, not the military forces. The latter are just a vehicle that the spiritual forces are using to be carried into the territory. God’s people must wage war against the spiritual powers of evil, not the people that they are using to make their attack. The key to defence is keeping the spiritual powers of evil out of the territory.

Parallel Power (1) Spiritual Kings

The nations on earth have their parallels in the spiritual realms. A swarm of spirits controlled by a king spirit, with various principalities and power controlling cities and towns match their equivalents on earth. There are many examples in the scriptures.

Tyre was a kingdom on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Yet Ezekiel describes the King of Tyre as a spiritual king.

You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings (Ez 28:11-17).

This angel was in the Garden of Eden walking in the presence of God, but his heart became filled with pride, because of his beauty. His pride filled him with wickedness so he was driven from God’s presence. He was cast down upon the earth, where he became the spiritual power with control of the King of Tyre.

Isaiah described the King of Babylon as the “morning star of the dawn” who has fallen from heaven. When his pride rose up against God, he was cast down upon the earth (Is 14:9-20).

How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High” (Is 14:10-14).

Isaiah also recognized him as a real king.
These two kings were angels working with God at the creation. After they rebelled against God and fell from grace, they each became a spiritual king controlling a nation on earth.

The spiritual kings control a hierarchy of fallen angels that parallel the government and military structure under the earthly king. The principalities and power under them control cities and provinces controlled by the king. Other evil spirits under their control work through the military and religious leaders of the nation.

Nations come and go. Tyre no longer exists as a kingdom, but the spiritual king of Tyre still exists, and no doubt controls another nation. Likewise, Babylon no longer exists as a nation and empire, so the spiritual King of Babylon is now in control in another place.
The spiritual king of Israel is Jesus. But when the nation rejects God, it has a parallel evil spiritual government called Babylon the Great. This spiritual king was once the king of Babylon.

Rebel without a Cause (4)

Most young people want a cause they can live for. I can remember when I was young. I did not want to step into my father’s shoes and do the same ordinary work. I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted a cause to live my life for, so I went to university and studied economics and politics, because that seemed to be the best way to make a difference. But I soon found that it was an empty well. Secular philosophy could not produce a cause that would make a difference.

It was only when I discovered Jesus, and his message of the Kingdom of God that I found a cause to live for. I was not attracted by forgiveness of sin or a ticket to heaven. What attracted me was the promise of the Kingdom. The good news of the gospel and the kingdom was a cause to live for, and to die for if necessary. I still would not be content, if I did not have the cause of the kingdom of God and Jesus its king to serve.

When a young person in Pakistan, Syria or Iraq looks for a cause, where do they go? If they have a sense of justice, they will realise that their current political order is corrupt, inefficient and unjust. People connected to the powerful get rich, but everyone else remains poor. Those who work to succeed often have the fruit of their labour stolen by the security forces (think of the Tunisian fruit vendor). Those who are robbed cannot get justice, because justice works for those who pay for it.

Likewise, if a young Moslem is looking for a solution, he would not look to Western democracy and capitalism. He can see what they have achieved in Afghanistan and Iraq, and there is no appeal there: just more corruption and injustice.

Christianity would not have much appeal either. If the young man has heard the gospel, it is probably just a promise of a ticket to heaven, and he already has that through Islam. He looks at the Christian culture in America through the eyes of television and the movies. All he sees is immorality and blatant sexuality. He sees young people without a cause, compromised into complacency by materialism. If he wants to make a difference, he will not find a cause worth serving by watching Sex in the City or The Simpsons.

As a Moslem, he naturally looks to Islamic groups first. He does not look to the Moslem establishment, because it is compromised with political and economic power. Christians should not be surprised that young Moslems seek out the most radical groups. We don’t expect a young Christian looking for a cause to join a traditional church. We naturally expect them to look for the most radical church around. They look for the one that is hard out to make a difference. We should not expect a young Moslem, who wants a cause, to do anything different. They are not going to follow the old teachers who collude with the rich and powerful.

For young Moslems looking for a cause, the most appealing option is Islamic State. He see young people radically living out the requirements of Islam. He sees people trying to establish a new order of government, based on the principles of Islam. He sees a state that is trying to apply the Koran to every aspect of life.

Once he joins this movement, he has a cause that justifies the use of violence. The corrupt powers of the West are trying to destroy them so they need to defend their fledgling state with everything that they have.

We know their cause will fail, but we cannot blame them for joining, because it the best cause on offer.

What the young man from Pakistan, Syria, or Iraq needs is a real cause. The cause that he needs is the Kingdom of God that was brought near by Jesus. That is the only cause worth living for, and worth dying for. But if he has heard the Christian gospel, he probably has not heard about the Kingdom of God. He will have heard a truncated gospel of easy believism and a ticket to heaven.

If we are concerned about the jihads and the growth of Islam, we need to start proclaiming the gospel, not just a gospel of forgiveness or the trinity, but a gospel of the kingdom. And we need to start living the kingdom and demonstrate a justice that is real.

Evil for a Good Cause (3) ISIS

ISIS is labelled as evil, barbaric, primitive and medieval, but that does not help us to understand it. This is important, because you cannot deal with what you do not understand.

They are people who believe their cause is so good that they are justified in doing evil. To understand them, we need to understand the cause that they believe is so good that they are willing to do evil to support it.

Some commentators suggest that they are only interested in death and receiving 40 virgins when they go to heaven. This is an unhelpful caricature.

Their real cause is Islam. Islam is not just another religion, it is a cause. Islam means “submission” or “obedience”. Their goal is that everything in the world must submit to Allah. Every person and thing must come under his control. This cause is seen as so good that they are justified in using evil to achieve it.

War against those who refuse to submit to Allah is justified, if they can be forced to submit and obey. Creating chaos amongst those who refuse to submit to Allah is a good strategy, because it might allow those who submit to Allah to get control and brings things into submission (Islam).

In a way, Christians have a similar goal. We believe that everything will eventually be brought into submission to Jesus. This is what “Jesus is Lord” means. Every knee shall bow to him.

However, there is a big difference. Christians (mostly) believe that people must not be forced to submit to Jesus. Instead, by receiving good news, they should freely choose to submit to him. Jesus wants people to serve him because they love him. He does not want his people using military or police force to make others serve him.

Unfortunately, the church has not always understood this. In the middle ages, the church used military and police power to force people to accept the authority of Jesus (often in reality by forcing them to submit to the authority of the church).

Strangely, many Christians would still like to do that. They want to use military force against those who will not submit to their standards. They want to use political power to force people to honour Jesus and do his will.

I am wary about any group that believes that are justified in using military force to support their cause and make people submit to their Gold. ISIS is dangerous, because this is what it is trying to do.

Many Christians scare me nearly as much, because they want to use military force to accomplish God’s purposes on earth.

Evil for a Good Cause (1)

The media describe the violence of ISIS as evil, as if that explained everything, but it actually explains nothing The problem is that in the modern secular culture the word “evil” is meaningless. Secular culture has decided that evil spiritual power do not exist, but without actually getting rid of them. In that context, evil is just something that most people hate. Evil is label for things that repel the sensibilities of modern society.

Christians should have a different concept of evil, because they realise that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against evil spiritual power in the spiritual realm (Eph 6:12).

However, even for Christians, the problem is not just evil people. Really evil people are rare, and usually isolated and relatively harmless.

The most dangerous people in the world are not evil people, but ordinary people who believe their cause is so good that they are justified in doing evil to achieve it. It is not evil people that we should fear, but ordinary people doing evil to achieve what they perceive to be good.

Hitler is an example. He did not set in train a policy to annihilate the Jews, because the loved doing evil. He believed that getting rid of the Jews would be really good for the world, so he was willing to do evil things to accomplish it. He was dangerous, because he believed that if the ends are good enough, evil means are justified. If he had been pure evil, he would never have risen to power. It was because he appeared to be good, and was ruthless in seeking what he saw was good, that people supported him.

A different example is the bombing of Dresden at the end of World War 2. It is generally agreed now that this action achieved no military benefit, except that it punished the German people. Yet thousands of people were killed and maiming the violent firestorm that swept through the city. I suspect that future historians will see it as a barbarous act, but at the time it was accepted a necessary act of war. Winning the war against Nazism was such good goal that evil means were justified. The end justifies the means.

A modern example is the invasion of Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of civilians lost their lives. Millions lost their homes. Normally an event that killed so many people would be described as evil. However, because these deaths were a consequence of actions to support a good cause, they are seen differently. George Bush was a good person, whose cause was so good, that he was justified in doing evil.

I will explain Jesus approach in the next post.