Gaza Massacre

The judgment of the International Court of Justice released today was shaped by both political expediency and by justice, which is not surprising given it is a human court formed on political lines.

I am more interested in the judgment of God.

The defenders of Israel say, "This justifies that?"
But they forget that the standard God requires of Israel is much higher because they claim to be his people, as is his standard for the United States because they claim to be a Christian nation.
God's calling gives responsibilities, not rights and privileges.
Those with the most power have the greatest responsibility.

The state of Israel is exposing its ugly heart to God before the face of the people of the world.

Indiscriminate bombing followed by a brutal invasion.
Twenty-six thousand people dead, the majority of them women and children.
Sixty-five thousand injured.
Thousands are missing, many of them dying a slow and painful death under rubble.
Hospitals and schools destroyed.
Civilian infrastructure demolished.
Half the houses in Gaza destroyed.
Property ownership records have been destroyed.
Pregnant women without care.
New-born babies dying due to lack of nutrition and medical care.
Children having limbs amputated without anaesthetics.
Deliveries of food, water and medical supplies cut off.
Millions starved and thirsty.
Sickness and disease spreading.
Thousands living in tents during winter.
Thirty thousand bombs and shells have been dropped on Gaza — eight times more bombs than the U.S. dropped on Iraq during six years of war.
Hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs have obliterated densely populated areas, including refugee camps.
Huge bombs dropped on the places where people were told to go for safety.
Vulgar and violent behaviour by IDF soldiers,
Shooting Israeli hostages,
Gassing three Israeli hostages.
Surrendering prisoners shot dead.
A man waving a white flag shot dead.

Israel is exposing the brutality, anger, hatred and fear in its heart before the entire world.
People with their eyes open are seeing through Israeli lies and justifying propaganda.

The ugly heart of the Israeli nation is being revealed.
Their defenders will continue to deny the truth,
but anyone with half-open eyes can see it.

Anyone who claims these actions are blessed by God has a very ugly god: not the one I serve.

I am not a lawyer, so I don’t know if the Israeli actions listed above meet the legal criteria to be called genocide, ethnic cleansing, or just massive war crimes. However, I have been reading the book of Jeremiah over the last month, and it is clear that modern Israel’s sins definitely meet Jeremiah’s standard for failure to obey God. As I read what the Israeli government and military have been doing, I have been shocked. Their sins seem to be far worse than those that got Jeremiah’s Judah exiled to Babylon.

The main sins of the people in Jehoiachin and Zechariah’s time were breaking the Sabbath, worshipping idols and trusting in military alliances with other nations for their security. They will demand a retrial, if God does not judge the far more serious sins of modern Israel more seriously.

Guilt Gospel (7) Preaching Guilt

The evangelical gospel that begins with guilt, continues with guilt. Over the holidays, I have listened to some sermons by one of our nation’s best preachers. The theme of his messages is interesting.

• We need to pray more, if we want to see revival.
• We need to read the Bible more.
• We need to worship better. If we do, revival will come.

These words are probably true and no doubt the preacher intended to encourage his listeners to do more of these things.

However, the problem with these messages is that they put a guilt trip on the people listening. The preacher’s message implies that they are not praying enough, not worshipping as seriously as they could, and not reading the bible sufficiently. They are guilty of missing the preacher’s standards. The listeners are probably some of the best Christians in his church. They are probably working hard for their families, occupations and their communities. Most are really committed to following Jesus, but the preacher’s message is that these busy people should be doing more. Although the cross has dealt with their guilt, they are still guilty of not doing enough.

As I reflected on all the sermons that I have heard over years of following Jesus, I realised that many of them have the same effect. The preachers probably intended to encourage their listeners to serve Jesus better, but the ultimate effect is to leave their listeners feeling guilty. Guilt is not a good motivator. It might make people strive harder, but that is not how we walk in the Spirit and grow in faith.

The western evangelical gospel begins with guilt, and it continues with guilt as those who accept this gospel attempt to walk in faith.

This full series can be read on Substack.

Guilt Gospel (6) Repentance

The modern evangelical church has confused remorse with repentance. Remorse is defined as a “deep sense of regret, sadness or shame about a past action.” Remorse is the natural response to guilt. Many Christians assume that repentance requires remorse.

Repentance has a different meaning. The Greek word usually translated as repent is “metanoeo”. It means “to think differently”. “meta” means “after or with”. “noieo” means “to exercise the mind, think or consider”. Consequently, repentance means a complete change in thinking about life and the world. It is not remorse for past actions.

Paul is a great example of real repentance. He was a hard-core Pharisee. He persecuted Christians and tried to kill them because he believed they were undermining God’s purposes for Israel. Given what he believed about the Jewish relationship with God, killing Christians was a logical thing to do. Other Jewish leaders were not doing the same, because they were not as serious in their faith as Paul.

On the Damascus Road, Paul had an encounter with Jesus. He realised that his understanding of God and his relationship with the Jews and the world were totally wrong. In an instant, he had to change his world view and his way of thinking about God and what he was doing.

Paul did not wallow in remorse for his treatment of Christians before his encounter with Jesus. He acknowledged that it was wrong, but he understood that it was his understanding of God and the world that was the real wrong. His killing of Christians was the logical consequence of his beliefs about the world. It showed that he was serious about serving God, as he knew him and his ways.

When writing to the Philippians and describing the bad thinking that he had to repent from, he spoke of his circumcision, membership of the tribe of Benjamin, being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, being zealous Pharisee and confidence in his righteousness based on the Law (Phil 3:4-6). His persecution of the church was the action that naturally responded from this thinking about God and the world. I am sure he felt remorse about the Christians he had killed, but that remorse would not be enough to change him into a new man. It was his repentance/change of thinking about God, the world and his role in it that enabled him to become a new man. Once he had changed his thinking about God and Jesus, it was logical to give up killing Christians.

When we preach the good news of Jesus, we should be explaining to people that they need to change their thinking about God and the world. Getting them to feel guilty/remorseful about the things they have done is the past is a poor substitute for true repentance. Wrong behaviour is the logical outcome of wrong thinking and the bondage to evil spiritual powers that it produces.

Guilt Gospel (5) Resurrection and Deliverance

I am intrigued by the way that Paul presented the gospel of Jesus in the book of Acts.

It is necessary for the Christos to suffer and to be raised up from among the dead ones (Acts 17:3 Second Testament).

Two things stand out to me.

• Jesus had to suffer.
• He has to be raised up from among people who had died.

Modern preachers tend to claim that Jesus died. They often say that he shed his blood. The emphasis is on dying and bleeding. Paul focuses on Jesus' suffering.

This way of presenting Jesus' achievement raises an important question. Why did Jesus have to suffer? I am sure that God did not need Jesus to suffer before he could forgive our failures, as that would make him an ugly father. I presume that it was the spiritual powers of evil who demanded Jesus’ suffering, because they love inflicting harm. They demanded his suffering as a ransom that had to be paid before they would let the people under their control free.

Modern preachers declare that Jesus rose again after being dead. Paul says that he rose up from amongst the people who were dead. That implies that part of his suffering was dying and finding himself in the same place as other people who had died. He suffered by going down with people in bondage to sin and death. When God raised him up, he delivered from the power of death.

Jesus allowed himself to be handed over to the Romans and then into the hands of the spiritual powers of evil. When God raised him up, he delivered him from their power. This was a massive victory over the spiritual powers of evil. This is why he is the anointed Messiah/Rescuer.

Irish Prophet

I have just listened to the statement by Irish lawyer Blinne Ní Ghrâlaigh on behalf of South Africa in its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. A link is here. Every person who cares about people should listen to it.

Her presentation was the most prophetic word that I have heard this year. Her incisive presentation of the truth makes the prophetic words on various prophetic bulletin boards that I read seem lame by comparison. I presume she is not a Christian, which makes the silence of the Christian prophets at this time even more sad.

(Please do not bother arguing or criticising if you have not listened to her speech in its entirety and some of the arguments by other South African lawyers).

Clearly, the Britain and the United States were extremely embarrassed by the South African presentation, as these two nations have provided many of the bombs and surveillance that has supported Israeli slaughter in Gaza. In a desperate effort to keep the South African case out of the evening news in America, they deliberately launched missile attacks against the Houthi in Yemen, allegedly as revenge for their attacks against Israeli shipping. However, the timing suggests that it is a cynical attempt to manipulate the news cycle.

The US and Britain had the temerity to call their efforts Operation Prosperity Guardian. This is really cynical, as a decade ago, Yemen was one of the poorest nations in the world. Over the last five years, Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen severely with the logistical and targeting assistance of the United States, killing at least 50,000 people, so the nation must be even poorer now. So clearly, Operation Prosperity Guardian is not guarding the prosperity of the poor people of Yemen.

The decision of the court will probably be driven by politics than the truth, so the greatest risk to Israel from the South African case is in the court of public opinion. If the best argument that the US and the UK have against the case is to attack on the poorest country in the world as a distraction, they must be really worried.

Guilt Gospel (4) Deliverance Gospel

The problem with the word “salvation” is that it has taken on a religious meaning. We tend to assume that we are saved from the guilt of sin. The forensic gospel that is preached by most evangelists, assumes that we are guilty of disobeying God and deserve to die as the penalty for our sin. In that context, “salvation” sounds like rescue from death or release from hell. The problem is that the Greek word “sozo”, translated as salvation has a broader meaning. It is not a religious word. It refers to deliverance/ rescue from troubles.

I have been reading Scot McKnight’s translation of the New Testament called the Second Testament. In his translation, he has deliberately eschewed the use of words that have a religious meaning. He does this to shock readers into thinking more deeply about the meaning of the gospels and the message of the New Testament. For example, McKnight uses the word “deliverance” for the “sozo” related Greek words instead of the usual religious translation “salvation”. He uses the word “released” for “aphiemi” related words instead of the religious term forgive”.

While reading through the Acts of the Apostles, I was amazed at how this simple change re-shapes the message of the gospel.

Everyone who trusts in him receives release from sins through his name (Acts 10:43).

We are delivered through the Lord Yesous Christos’s grace(Acts 15:11).

Release from sins is proclaimed to you (Acts 13:38).

The path of deliverance (Acts 16:17).

Believe in the Lord Yesous, and you and your house will be delivered (Acts 16:31).

The gospel preached by the Apostles promised release from bondage. This gospel promised deliverance from slavery to the spiritual powers of evil. Not surprisingly, this is the gospel that the modern world needs to hear, and probably wants to hear.

We must not confuse the work of the Holy Spirit with the work of Satan. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, who leads people into truth, and the truth sets them free (John 8:36). Satan is accuser (that is his name), who tries to convict people of sin and entrap them in guilt. ("Everyone doing sin is Sin's slave" - John 8:34).

Guilt Gospel (3) Not Relevant

The forensic presentation of Jesus’ gospel that is preached by the evangelical church is no longer effective in reaching people’s hearts. I presume the reason is that modern people are not riddled with guilt like Martin Luther. Luther preached during a time when the church had become legalistic. Most of the teachings of the church focussed on demands for people to behave better. People were constantly urged to live better. The consequence was that people constantly felt guilty. It seemed to be impossible to comply with the standards required by the church.

People like Martin Luther urgently needed a solution for the guilt that crippled them. For him, the good news that he was forgiven by God was a huge relief. The truth that the cross provided freedom from guilt was a very welcome message. Following the reformation, preachers continued to set high demands for the people of God. However, they were not so effective in teaching people how to walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Their failure to live according to Jesus’ standards left people feeling guilty. A gospel that absolved guilt continued to be well received.

Modern people are not wracked by guilt in the same way as previous generations. Instead, they see themselves as victims of circumstances that they can’t control. They have tried to live well, but life has not worked out as they expected. Many were let down by their parents. Others were let down by their teachers at school. Many have been hurt by people they trusted. They feel trapped in troubles that have been caused by other people. They don’t feel guilty, because they don’t believe that they are responsible for the situation they have found themselves in. They see them as victims.

I presume that the root of this feeling that they are harassed and victimised is spiritual, although people often don’t see it. However, if they are aware that their problems are spiritual, they feel like they have been entrapped in a bad spiritual place by events beyond their control and the actions of other people. They will acknowledge that they have made mistakes that harmed them, but they would also claim that they did not know what they were doing. This is probably true.

I am sure that many modern people would identify with Paul’s statement that he was in slavery to the elemental spiritual forces of the world. The people do not need a solution for guilt. A gospel that promises release from guilt does not stir their hearts. I sense that modern people need a gospel of deliverance/rescue from the forces of evil that have swamped them and transfer into the healing life of his body. In the gospels and Paul’s letters, this seems to be the good news that was proclaimed.

The book of Hebrews explains that the cross provides a solution for guilt and shame (Heb 9:16; 10:22). Some people feel guilty about their behaviour before they came to know Jesus. Some believe that they have offended God. The cross is the solution that these people need. Dealing with guilt is one aspect of what Jesus achieved, but we should be careful about making it the centre of the gospel. We don’t need to force people who don’t feel guilty to begin to feel guilty, as the first step to hearing the gospel. Jesus met people where they were. Our proclamation of the gospel should do the same.

Guilt Gospel (2) Bondage

When Jesus was preaching to the ordinary people, he did not accuse them of guilt. Rather, he described them as harassed and beaten.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36).

There is a big difference between being guilty and being “harassed and helpless”, and the remedy will be different. Preaching the good news of Jesus should be quite different when speaking to people who are harassed and helpless than what it would be if it was shared with people who are guilty.

Paul gave a similar message in his letters.

I am of the flesh, sold as a slave under sin (Rom 7:14).

Before he came to faith in Jesus, Paul was sold as a slave under sin. Given that he was in bondage to forces from which he could not escape, his real problem was not guilt, but bondage. He did not need a solution for guilt. He needed to be delivered from bondage.

We were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world (Gal 3:4).

Paul explained to the Galatians that before they came to faith in Jesus, they were slaves to the spiritual powers of evil.

Their problem was slavery, not guilt. They needed a way to escape from slavery, not a remedy for guilt. They needed a messiah who would deliver them from spiritual bondage.

Guilt Gospel (1)

Guilt is a central aspect of the modern evangelical gospel. The first stage of sharing the gospel is to persuade the hearers of their guilt before God. Some preachers are very good at doing this. They believe that repentance is not possible until the people listening to the gospel message feel guilty.

• Guilt is the feeling.
• Guilty is the verdict.

In the evangelical gospel, repentance is thinking about your sins and feeling guilty and remorseful. For repentance to be real, guilt must proceed to sorrow and regret and a choice to stop being bad.

The gospel message starts with guilt. Once the listeners to the gospel feel guilty, the consequences are reinforced by explaining that their guilt deserves death or punishment in hell. Once this is understood by the people listening, the preacher can introduce Jesus as the remedy for the problem of guilt and hell. He explains that Jesus died in the listeners’ place, taking the punishment they deserved. If the listeners accept the offer, they are freed from the threat of punishment, but their guilt remains. The evangelical gospel also ends with guilt.

Given that guilt is so central to the western evangelical gospel, I was surprised when I studied the New Testament and found that it is only rarely used in the New Testament. When I did a search for “guilt/guilty” in a bible tool, it threw up only five references in Mathew, one in Mark, and one in Luke and five in John. All the references in John and three of those in Matthew were incidents where Jesus was confronting the Jewish leaders. Jesus did not use the word guilt when challenging ordinary people.

Three of the five occurrences of the word guilt in the book of Acts were references to Paul not being guilty of breaking Roman law.

My search threw up five occurrences in Romans, but four of the references were to headings, and only one was in the actual text. This result shows the bias of the editors of the various English translations. They came to Romans expecting to find guilt, so they put guilt in the headings, even though the word guilt was not used in the text of their translation.

Most of the other half-dozen references in English versions of the epistles were translations of Greek words for debt or liability for making a payment, so “guilt” or “guilty” might not have been the best English word. Some translations used the word “liable”.

I was surprised by the results of my online search. Given that guilt plays such an important role in the western evangelical gospel, it is odd that the concept of guilt, as we understand it, is not mentioned much in the New Testament. The New Testament cannot be wrong, so the problem must be with our interpretation of Jesus’ gospel.

Jesus Wasn’t Born in a Stable

I found this article called Jesus Wasn't Born in a Stable by Ian Paul interesting, and seems his ideals seem to be very plausible. He says,

It would be unthinkable that Joseph, returning to his place of ancestral origins, would not have been received by family members, even if they were not close relatives.

Many, like Joseph and Mary, have travelled to Bethlehem, and the family guest room is already full, probably with other relatives who arrived earlier. So Joseph and Mary must stay with the family itself, in the main room of the house, and there Mary gives birth. The most natural place to lay the baby is in the hay-filled depressions at the lower end of the house where the animals are fed. The idea that they were in a stable, away from others, alone and outcast, is grammatically and culturally implausible.

Read the entire article to get the gist of what he is saying.

We cannot be certain about where Jesus was born, as there is no definitive documentary or archaeological evidence dating from that time. One thing is clear. The gospels do not mention a “stable”. Luke refers to a “manger” (phatne) which is a feeding trough for animals.

I presume that rich people would have had a separate room to keep their animals, but poorer people would not. Until recent times, it has always been common for people to keep their animals in the room where they lived for the warmth that they provided, and more important to ensure that they did not get stolen. Most would have only a few sheep, or a cow, or donkey, so they would fit in their home.

Luke 13:15 is interesting as Jesus said that it was normal for people to untie an ox or donkey on the Sabbath and take it out to water. He used the same word as in Luke 2:7. The common practice is to translate “phatne” as “stall” in Luke 13:15, but that is incorrect. Jesus was referring to a manger, which is a feeding trough.

Jesus said the animal was tied up. If an animal was in a separate room, it would not need to be tied up, but if it was in the family living room it would need to be tied up, so it did not tread on people who are sleeping on the floor. If it was in a separate room, it would be possible to provide a large water trough that did not need to be filled each day, so it could be left in the room on a cold Sabbath day. However, if the animal was tied up in the family living area, it would need to be taken out each day to get water, and to defecate. Thus, Jesus’ parable suggests that it was common for people to keep animals in their houses.

Not Rome

Christians often blandly use Romans 13:1 as a slogan for political power, assuming it settles the issue, without considering what Paul actually said in his letter.

A well-known theologian recently gave a slightly more sophisticated version of their argument,

Biblical political theology is predicated on the fact that the one God who made the world wants the world to be wisely ordered, and to be wisely ordered through human government. So even people who would be seen as a bad ruler would have a God-given job which must be honoured. Even a cruel, wicked, stupid government has a role that is God-given.

This type of political theology, which is very common, is used to interpret Romans 13 and claim that Paul was authenticating the authority of the Roman emperor. The evil man Nero was probably emperor at the time when Paul was writing, so if he was God's servant, we must submit to every political power. The implication is that God gave the Roman emperor authority so that he could bring order to the earth. Therefore, all Christians should submit to him, even if he often does evil things. The same principle is applied to all rulers. We are required to submit to rulers, even when they do evil, because they are carrying out a God-given rule.

This logic is flawed. Firstly, God never said that he was appointing rulers to ensure that his creation was wisely ordered. He gave responsibility for caring for the world to all humans. And he gave the law for the specific purpose of maintaining order on the earth (1 Tim 1:8-11). The idea that God appointed kings, presidents and other rulers to ensure that the world is wisely ordered is simply not true. In fact, they have been the main cause of disorder (1 Sam 8). Therefore, the claim that they have a God-given role that should be honoured is incorrect.

More important, even a cursory reading of the words that Paul wrote in Romans 13 shows that they are not a description of the Roman Empire. Rome did not do what Paul claimed that good judges would do.

The idea that Rome was interested in order and peace is a myth. The Caesars wanted control. They expanded the area under their area, so they could extract food and other resources and bring them back to Rome.

Roman soldiers were not scattered around the world to protect the people of the nations from trouble. They were there to keep people under control, and they were ruthless in putting down all opposition. Roman soldiers were cruel and heartless in dealing with ordinary people. They would defend countries against invading armies, not for their protection, but to ensure that another empire did not get control of their resources.

Paul was able to travel fairly freely around the Roman empire, but that was not the result of Roman efforts to spread peace. It was an accidental consequence of their attempts to expand the areas they controlled.

If Paul was claiming in Romans 13 that political power could bring peace and order in the world, he was certainly not talking about the Roman emperor.

Paul was not describing the Roman justice system when he wrote in Romans 13:3-5.

Worldly rulers (archon) cause no fear for the good way, but only for those choosing the bad option. So, if you don't want to be afraid of his authority, be doing good and you will be commended. For you who are into the good, it can be God's servant. But if you do bad, be afraid. A ruler does not carry the sword for no purpose; it is a servant of God making right in anger to the one committing evil. Out of necessity, order yourselves under it; not just to avoid its anger, but due to common awareness.

The Romans were not interested in providing justice for the ordinary people. Roman law provided some protections for the noble families who controlled Rome, but even that was quite capricious. A nobleman could be up one day, and down the next. Most ordinary people got no justice at all. Roman justice was used to enslave people and extract wealth for the benefit of the Empire. Beatings for trivial things were frequent and crucifixions were common for people who had done very little wrong. Even a Roman soldier would be lucky to get justice, if their commanding officer took a snitch against them.

Paul was not thinking about Rome when he said that people who do right have nothing to fear. Good people had very good reasons to fear the Roman authorities. Paul was able to appeal to Caesar because he was a Roman citizen. That put him into an elite group. Ordinary people could not make that appeal. And the appeal did not seem to work for Paul, because he died in Rome, despite a representative of Rome recognising that he was innocent. King Agrippa said,

They began talking to one another, saying, "This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment." And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar" (Acts 26:31-32).

This was not justice. True justice would have set Paul free once it was understood that he had not committed a crime. But Agrippa and Festus wanted to protect their own reputation, so they were scared to do the just thing and set him free.

Paul's statement about good people having nothing to fear does not fit with Jesus' treatment by Pilate. He agreed that Jesus was innocent, but he had him flogged and crucified anyway, because he was scared the Jewish power brokers would report him to Rome. Jesus was killed by Roman justice, like many others of his countrymen, so it could not be said that good people had nothing to fear from Roman justice. Paul knew what happened to Jesus and many other disciples, so he was clearly not writing about Roman justice in his letter to the Romans.

When Paul spoke about giving money to those we owe, he was not writing about Rome.

Pay back debts to everyone. If you owe a tax, pay the tax; if an excise duty is owed, then pay it. Respect those worthy of respect. Only honour those worthy of honour (Rom 13:7).

Paul was not saying that people should pay taxes to Rome in return for the services that Rome provided them. He did not see Rome as a service provider. Rome was not committed to providing services for ordinary people. Any benefits that fell to ordinary people were a mistake.

The Roman tax system was not set up to raise money to support ordinary people in the way that modern people think about taxes. It was an extraction system designed to seize as much wealth as possible from subservient peoples. Rome-appointed tax farmers would take as much as they could get, leaving their victims with almost nothing to live on. Roman soldiers would wreck the house of anyone thought to be hiding grain or gold. Romans 13:6-7 is not a description of the Roman tax system.

When Paul wrote Romans 13, he was clearly not thinking about the Roman Empire. He must have been thinking about something quite different, so this passage cannot be used to demand submission to all political power.

This is explained further in Understanding Romans 13.

Romans 13

I have just completed some corrections and added some new insights to my study of Romans 13

The full article can be read at Understanding Romans 13 on Substack

The same article is available on Kingdom Watcher at Understanding Romans 13.

For more on related passages that deal with submission, see Submission to Political Power.

I describe God’s alternative to human political power in my book called Government of God.

Flesh and Spirit

We live in a world that is both physical and spiritual. We tend to be most aware of the physical world because we can see and touch it with our five senses. We think with our brains, so our intellectual life is an aspect of the physical world. However, the spiritual world is equally important.

When God created Adam, he formed him physically, and then breathed on him (spiritised him) so he would be a “living being” (Gen 2:7). As a “living being”, he moved in both the physical and spiritual world. If we think of our ability to live in the physical world as being “in the flesh”, then he was living in the flesh and the spirit.

When Adam and Eve rejected God, they lost their ability to function in the spiritual world. They began to live “in their flesh” only, most aware of the physical world around them. Entities from the spiritual world could influence them, but they were often not aware of it. They were not fully aware of God’s presence around them and within them, sustaining their lives. They were stuck in the physical world. This is what Paul meant by being “in the flesh”.

Flesh refers to our physical bodies, including our brains, which are made of flesh and blood. This is why our intellectual life is “in the flesh”. Adam and Eve were living in a world that is both physical and spiritual, but as people “in the flesh,” they were not fully aware and responsive to the spiritual world, both good and bad.

We inherit our life from our parents, who were “in the flesh”, and going back far enough, they inherited “flesh” but not “Spirit” from Adam and Eve. We are born “in the flesh”, with the ability to function in the physical world, but with minimal ability to function in the spiritual world. That is why we are all dominated by Sin and Death (Rom 6,7) and the other spiritual powers of evil that attack us.

Our problem in life comes from the way that we are born. We inherit from Adam and Eve the status of being “in the flesh” and not attentive to the spiritual world. That is why we need to be born again of the Spirit. Just as God breathed on Adam and he became a living being, when we trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves on us to make us true “living beings” who can function in both the physical and spiritual worlds.

When we are born again of the Spirit, we change from being in the flesh only (operating in the spiritual world only) to being “in the flesh and the Spirit”. This ability to function in both the physical and spiritual world enables us to live to our full potential as true living beings. Jesus defeated the spiritual powers of evil on the cross, which equips those who walk in both “the flesh and the Spirit” to escape from their grip.

More at The Flesh.

Revelation

The Book of Revelation is not about signs of the second coming of Jesus; rather it describes the season when the fulness of the Jews come to faith in Jesus, the spiritual powers of evil are fully defeated, and the Kingdom of God emerges into victory. Prior to their defeat, the cosmos dominators fight with each other, while struggling to maintain their power in the world. They become so angry with each other that they will eventually destroy each other, allowing Jesus to achieve victory.

A key to understanding the book of Revelation is realising that many of the characters and events described by John do not represent nations and their activities, but are actually descriptions of various spiritual cosmos dominators jostling for control on earth.

The Seven Seals described in Revelation 5:1-8:1 outline Jesus’ plan for an important transitional season. Jesus controls the timing of their opening. During this season, human political powers increase their authority on earth, but human governments make terrible mistakes, which brings horrible disasters. They demand even greater power to put the situation right, but this makes the situation worse.

The other sequences in the book of Revelation describe the plans of the key cosmos dominators for the same season Many of their plans fail because they lack the wisdom of God.

• The plans of a cosmos dominator called Death are described in the sequence of Seven Trumpets in Revelation 8 and 9.

• The emergence of Destroyer as a powerful force on earth is described in Revelation 9:1-11.

• Monster is another powerful cosmos dominator active during this season. His plan for seizing control of the world is described in Revelation 13 and 17.

• Wrath's plans for coming out on top are described in Revelation 15 and 16.

From A short History of Cosmic Conflict.

Wrath

The coming of the law also released another cosmos dominator called Wrath into power. Sin, Death and Destruction had controlled the evil side in the spiritual realms up until the time of Moses, but Accuser and Wrath rose above them by using the law to accuse people of sin and demand their punishment for their failures. Accuser found it useful to work with Wrath because he and his followers would release plagues to accomplish Accuser’s purposes. Wrath is frequently associated with plagues (Num 16:46; Ezek 6:12; 14:19).

Wrath was always one of the more powerful spirits in the hierarchy of evil. Accuser often had Wrath with him when he attacked the earth.

The devil has come down to you having great Wrath (Rev 12:12).

The role of Wrath is confirmed in Psalm 78:49.

He unleashed against them his hot anger,
Wrath, indignation and hostility—
a band of destroying angels.

Wrath is the leader of a band of destroying angels. He is not a manifestation of God's character as is often assumed, but is an evil spiritual being.

Wrath is sometimes referred to as the “wrath of God” because although he rebelled against God at the beginning of human history, he had originally been created by God. His character was different when he was created, so he had probably been given a different name. God knew when he created the angels and gave them freedom that some would go wrong, but he decided to create them anyway. God does not disown his creation. He does not avoid responsibility for what he has done. The spiritual powers of evil are still his, although they have rebelled against him.

Despite their rebellion, God still uses the spiritual powers of evil, despite themselves, to accomplish his purposes. He has sometimes incited this spirit called Wrath to do things that he needs done, particularly when restraining political powers that are doing harm on the earth.

Paul explained to the Romans the relationship between wrath and law.

The law brings about Wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression (Rom 4:15).

Prior to the giving of the law through Moses, transgression was undefined. The law specified the behaviour that God required from the people that he had called. The law also spelt out in detail the curse that was the consequence of transgression. Once the law of the covenant was in place, the spiritual powers of evil demanded the right to enforce the curses of the law against the children of Israel whenever they transgressed it (I presume that they used it against other peoples as well). Accuser and Wrath were often the leaders of this activity. This is why Paul said that the law brings about Wrath. The giving of the law with curses specified for disobedience increased the power of Wrath and the destroying angels working with him.

The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his powerful Wrath is against all who forsake him (Ezra 8:22).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul explains that the political powers are "agents of Wrath" (Rom 13:4). This should change the way that we think about them. God might use them from time to time, but the political-spirits and government-spirits (principalities and powers) that control the political powers are intent on evil. This is why the proverb warns,

A king's Wrath is a messenger of death (Prov 16:14).

Daniel described an evil political leader who will emerge during a time of distress on earth. He will do terrible evil on earth, because he is controlled by Wrath. When he is disturbed,

He will go forth with great Wrath to destroy and annihilate many (Dan 11:44).

Paul warned that Wrath will often avenge people who suffer injustice.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to Wrath (Rom 12:19).

We should often wait for him to act, rather than seeking revenge ourselves.

From A Short History of Cosmic Spiritual Struggle.

Spiritual and Physical

We should never forget that everything in this world is both spiritual and physical. When the leaders of the nations (and their prophets) vehemently and angrily call for violence against their perceived enemies, it has a spiritual effect at home too. Violent spirits are empowered to wreak harm in their own nation.

Cosmic Spiritual Struggle

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they handed their authority over the earth that God had given them to the spiritual powers of evil. Their mistake allowed a massive shift in authority from humans to the powers of evil. God had taken a big risk when he created the earth and gave authority over it to humans. For them to give that authority up so quickly and easily to evil spiritual powers who hated him was a disaster.

Christians assume that the spiritual powers of evil are united in opposing God’s purposes, but that is not true. They are powerful, but they are not united. If Jesus cannot get unity in the church, we should not expect the leaders of the powers of evil would be united, given that they are divisive and rebellious. Various factions of the spiritual powers of evil are struggling with each other for control of the earth. They are angry and devious, so they often fight with each other in vicious struggles for dominance.

Each faction of the forces of evil is led/controlled by a powerful Cosmos Dominator. The powers of evil love power and control, so the strongest of them are continually jockeying with each other for overall power. Each contender has gathered a huge army of loyal spiritual powers and brought them under control. That is why the Bible refers to these spirits as Cosmos Dominators (Eph 6:12). They organise huge spiritual armies to fight against God, but they frequently get distracted into battles against other factions.

Unfortunately, the spiritual powers of evil are nasty and untrustworthy, so they are not dependable. If they see any weakness in their leader, they will betray him to gain a better position for themselves. Evil spirits have no loyalty, so they switch sides if they believe another cosmos dominator is doing better.

The struggles between various Cosmos Dominators are far more important than we realise because people on earth are often caught in their crossfire. Much of what happens on earth is the outcome of their wars with each other, so we need to understand what they are doing in our time. God was not willing to give them glory by fully describing their activities in the scriptures, but there are hints about what they are doing and who has risen to power and gained control during various seasons.

The spiritual powers of evil are organised in powerful hierarchies of evil spirits under the control of Cosmos Dominators, but they are not united. They do not like each other, so throughout history, different spirits have fought with each other for control of the hierarchies of power. During different seasons, different Cosmos Dominators have risen to ascendancy. Often, two of them have operated alongside each other in an uneasy but convenient unity.

Based on my study of the scriptures and examining these hints, I have developed a tentative outline of their history. I focus more on future activities than the struggles that occurred in the past. The full outline is available on Substack in an article called A Short History of Spiritual Cosmic Struggle.

Election

In Saturday’s general election, New Zealand voted for a change of human government, with great expectations.

Unfortunately, and more important, the spiritual government of New Zealand remains unchanged. The government-spirits (often called principalities and powers) that controlled the nation last week are still in control this week. So nothing will change.

The spiritual status of the nation is unchanged. We have not moved to a place of blessing.

Jesus Cup (4) Costly Mistake

Unfortunately for them, the spiritual powers of evil had made a huge mistake when they made Jesus drink the cup of their wrath. They assumed that if they destroyed him, they could squeeze God out of his earth forever, as no other human apart from him would be able to take their authority over the earth away from them. However, by killing Jesus, they gave up their hold over humans, because his blood was the ransom that they had demanded for their release. Once that ransom had been paid to them, they had to release humans from their control and could no longer keep humans in captivity. They decided to kill Jesus anyway because once he was dead, they believed they could entangle humans again, even if they had lost the authority over the earth that they had stolen from Adam and Eve.

The spiritual powers of evil thought they were being clever and checkmating God, but they did not reckon with his power. When they killed Jesus and shed his blood, their ransom demand against humans was met. God then raised Jesus from the dead. This was a massive defeat for the spiritual powers of evil because they had given up the right to demand a ransom from all humans in exchange for killing Jesus. However, they failed to get what they wanted because God raised Jesus back to life. Not only had they failed to kill Jesus, but because his blood paid the ransom on behalf of all humans, their hold over all humans who would trust in him was destroyed. Followers of Jesus were able to start pushing the spiritual powers of evil out of their empire and break their power.

Jesus Cup (3) Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper that we share today points back to the cup of suffering in the hands of the spiritual powers of evil that Jesus drank on our behalf.

Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a common life with the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16)?

The cup we drink is a blessing for us. For Jesus, it was a cup of sin/suffering. It was a cup of wrath prepared by the spiritual powers of evil that Jesus drank on our behalf. This cup is a reminder to us that Jesus took on our sins and, as a consequence, took the wrath of the spiritual powers of evil. Our common life (fellowship) with Jesus makes the cup that he drank into our cup. When he drank the cup, he suffered terribly because the spiritual powers of evil got to attack him, but his suffering released amazing blessings to us by delivering us from their power.

New Covenant
The gospels describe the cup offered at the Lord’s Supper with these words.

When he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many to release from sins” (Matt 26:27-28).

Jesus established a new covenant. He took on our sins and shed his blood to pay the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded for setting us free. This released us from their power to control us and opened the way for all the blessings of his covenant, including the fullness of his Holy Spirit.

Paul explained the meaning of the cup offered at the Last Supper in this way.

After supper, he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me... as often as you drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor 11:25-26).

Jesus drank a cup of suffering/pain prepared for him by taking the spiritual powers of evil when he took our sins upon himself. This generous and courageous action allowed the spiritual powers of evil to shed his blood on the cross. Paul explains that Jesus paid the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded in order to set his people free. Jesus’ ransom payment initiated a new covenant, which provides blessings through trust in Jesus.

The cup of blessing also points back to Moses, who initiated God’s covenant with Israel by sprinkling blood on the people. When we drink the cup of blessing during the Lord’s Supper, we are uniting with Jesus and accepting the covenant blessings that come to us because he took our sins on himself and allowed the spiritual powers of evil to kill him.