2018-08-19T11:00:00-05:00
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Perhaps you’ve seen this E-trade commercial? The camera bounces back and forth between a stoic, thoughtful person silently watching an admirable, wealthy person who is captivating a large group, while a smooth, baritone voice reveals the inner envious dialogue. The voice reveals how successful this second person is and how, in fact, the stoic first person even, despite his envy, begrudgingly likes him. Then the commercial finishes, “but you’d like him a whole lot more if you made more money than him. Don’t get mad. Get e-Trade.”
Unfortunately, that’s not how envy gets cured. If you like her more if you are better than her, you’ve never truly liked her. The problem isn’t a readjustment of circumstances. The problem is an envious heart.
But the commercial is fascinating to me because it eloquently describes the war, but it goes to fight the wrong battle. And that’s Ephesians 6. Paul tells us that our struggle is not actually against flesh and blood, but against demonic systems set up by the forces of darkness, the powers of evil, and our enemies in the spiritual realm. For us enlightened, western, individual materialists, that’s not the battle we are accustomed to fighting. Spiritual warfare seems like something from the forgotten realm of superstition, vampires, and blaming Zeus for impregnating my cow with a demi-god. But Paul tells us the real battle between good and evil, isn’t against other human beings, but against, as we say at baptisms, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The real battle happens first at the spiritual level.
Paul is not implying some gnostic nonsense like only the spiritual matters. Rather, Paul is illuminating this point: Christ wasn’t battling the Roman Empire on the cross. He was shaking down the powers of the spiritual world. He was crushing the very head of Satan. In His death and resurrection, He was forming a new eternal Kingdom of heaven and of earth. He waged war not against flesh and blood, but against the devil himself. He won. And as a matter of fact, in time, the Roman Empire shook and disappeared and God’s people and God’s Kingdom picked up the pieces and marched on.
That is the battle we still wage on His behest and through His power. The flesh and blood that we so want to dismiss, defeat, or better are not our enemies, but our potential allies in God’s Kingdom. The circumstances are second to the spiritual forces that tell us money will make us happy, power will make us secure, and sex will satisfy. The real battle is fought on the spiritual plane everyday. Which is why Paul tells us to have already put on God’s armor, but to always be praying. Prayer is the putting on. Prayer is aligning our hearts for the real battle. Prayer is asking the crowned King for strength and His will. So be praying, at all times, in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.