Spiritual Warfare 6 (Spirits Influencing Nations)

 

The Bible speaks of spirit beings who have influence of  specific nations.   Are we supposed to battle these spirits?

~~ Watch the Video ~~

Outline:

• Introduction
• Traits of Wholeness
• Review of Spiritual Warfare
• Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare
• The Goal of Warfare
• Demolishing Strongholds
• The Great Commision
• Territorial Spirits
• Prince of this World
• Jesus is Above All Spirits
• Battle Against the Stronghold / Culture
• Winning Back the Nations
• We Aren’t Instructed to Fight the Territorial Spirits
• God Is Not Standing by Waiting For Us
• The Kingdom of God

Scriptures:

• Mark 16:15
• Genesis 12:3
• Proverbs 26:2
• Numbers 23:8
• Galatians 3:13-14
• Psalms 109:17-18^
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
• Matthew 28:18-20
• 1 Kings 11:33
• Deuteronomy 29:26-27
• Daniel 10:12-13A
• Daniel 12:1
• John 14:29-31
• Ephesians 2:1-2
• John 12:28-32
• Ephesians 1:19-23
• Deuteronomy 4:5-8
• Proverbs 21:1
• 1 Kings 22:19-23
• Exodus 9:8-12
• Job 4:17- 19
• Psalms 82:6-7
• Luke 11:33-35

Introduction

Mark 16:15

1 5 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

This is what is referred to as The Great Commision

The Spiritual Realm

As Christians, with a biblical worldview, we believe in a Spiritual Realm

There is a spirit realm that influences our physical realm

unseen enemy

It influences our:

• thoughts
• values
• culture

It changes how we look at reality

What is spiritual warfare?

Many Christians have began to think of spiritual warfare is:

• Deliverance ministries
• Exorcisms
• Intercession
• Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare

These ministries focus on power encounters with evil spirits.  

—-

Others have a hard time believing that the devil and demons exist

We Need to Filter Through the Bible

Bible stories are more than historical records of God intervening with human problems.  

The bible is a filter that we use to

• See our own condition
• To validate our doctrine
• Create our world view

Traits of Wholeness

We are in our series called Seeking Wholeness

How can we be:

• Spiritually healthy
• Emotionally healthy
• Mentally healthy

Free from oppression of

• Your past
• Yourself
• Bad thinking
• Strongholds
• The enemy

Sozo

• Saved
• Healed
• Delivered from demons

Dealing with life’s current stresses and also being healed from experiences/wounds of the past

We’re not just supposed to have eternal life

• We’re supposed to have: joy, peace, patience, and self control here on earth

Traits of Wholeness

• Authenticity
• Honesty
• Kindness
• Not seeking external approval / validation
• Living by values and principles
• Setting Boundaries
• Taking ownership of your responsibilities
• Living with purpose and passion
• Optimism
• Confidence
• Healthy relationships with others
• Not losing control of your emotions
• Free from addictions
• Addressing Conflict with truth and love
• Vulnerability
• Not critical or Judgemental
• Not jealous
• Genuinely applaud the success of others
• Forgive those who have wronged you in the past
• Know that you’re worthy of receiving love
• Not afraid to fail
• Able to manage irrational fear, worry, and anxiety
• Selfless encounters with others
• Not manipulating others trying to control their actions/reactions
• You care about how others feel
• Patient
• Don’t give into peer/social pressure
• Can communicate directly
• Don’t take responsibility for other people's emotions
• Take responsibility for your own emotions
• Slow to anger
• Ability to maturely express your wants, needs and desires
• Being led by the Spirit

We want to become

• aware of our issues
• empowered to manage/fix them

Review of Spiritual Warfare

• Some problems that happen are spiritual
• And need a spiritual solution
• Some problems can have a natural solution
• Life’s problems aren’t always a result of unrighteousness/sin
• Life’s problems aren’t always God punishing us

We have an unseen enemy…the devil

Satan’s methods

1. Tempt us by offering us material things
2. Taking our material things and power
3. Attacking our health

There are other spirit beings

God’s warns us not to ___  them

• Worship
• Consult
• Petition

Armor of God

This is the primary way we fight spiritual warfare

Ephesians 6: 10 - 18

We defeat him with

• Living a life of “truthfulness”
• Moral righteousness
• Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ
• Having faith in God
• Having the hope of salvation
• Reading the bible
• Hearing and obeying the Holy Spirit
• Led by the Spirit

Curses

Update since previous lessons

Genesis 12:3

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses [bind under a curse] you I will curse [reviles]; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

• God can curse people

What is a Curse?

a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something

–Oxford dictionary

A curse is a spiritual force

To put someone under a curse is to authorize a condition. This condition allows certain things to happen and certain things not to happen.  

• Blessings attract positive
• Curses attract negative
• Favor is a condition where you attract the help of men

Example: pig pen

think of the character on Charlie Brown who has a dust cloud always around him

https://youtu.be/JLJQXiIlj8w

You can be cursed by:

• God
• Other people / demons

A Curse Has to be Deserved

Proverbs 26:2

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.

Who/what decides if the cures “had a cause” or was “deserved”?

• God
• God’s laws (Genesis 3:17 - ground is cursed)
• Covenants / rules put in place
• If you’ve entered into a covenant that contains blessings and curses
• Blood oath/rituals

Example: Old Covenant contained blessings and curses

You Can’t  Curse What God Blessed

Balaam was hired to curse the Israelites

Numbers 23:8 

“How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse? And how am I to curse him whom the LORD has not cursed?

• God told Balaam he couldn’t curse them because they were blessed
• We are blessed as Christians

Christ Redeemed Us From Curses

Galatians 3:13-14

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”-- 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Christians Can’t Be Cursed Because of Sin

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of any past or future sin

God won’t curse  you for

• Your sin
• Ancestor’s sin (no generational curses)
• Ezekiel 18 already said not done

Your sin does not authorize you to be cursed (you won’t “deserve” a curse)

• You aren’t cursed because of any Old Covenant violations

Spiritual Attack

A Christian can be the victim of a Spiritual attack

Example road runner

https://youtu.be/6KDgDYdug6M

• He’s not cursed
• He’s under constant attack

I refer to a spiritual attack as when some being is actively out to harm you using supernatural means.  There has not been a condition set up around you.   You have an antagonist who has made a decision to cause you harm.

Example of attacks:

• Your jealous coworker can target you for an attack
• Your spouse's ex can have a vendetta against you
• A witch can target you for an attack
• Satan or A demon can target you

Self Initiated Attacks

You can bring on a spiritual attack

You can put yourself in a situation where you’re under constant attack

• Trying to curse others
• Occult / demonic activity

Psalms 109:17-18

17He also loved cursing, so it came to him;

And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

18But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,

And it entered his body like water,

And like oil into his bones.

If you pray for evil things to happen to others… Bad things will happen to you

The Evil Day

Undeserved attack from Satan

There can be a season in your life when Satan or demons target you for attack.

This is what we see in the book of Job.

Ephesians 6 refers to this as “the evil day”.

Defense:

• Armor of God
• Inheriting the Kingdom of God (Jesus’ moral/living teachings)

Cycles

There is no “spiritual curse” from God over your family that can affect you as a Christian

Demons do strategize against families

• They will tempt you with what worked for your parents
• You decide for yourself whether or not to fall to the temptation

Following Parents Example

People can repeat the habits, problems, patterns and cycles of their parents because of traits passed down in your genetics (e.g. DNA) or because you learned your parents:

• Coping mechanisms
• Conflict/argument styles
• Parenting techniques
• Relationship roles
• Gender roles
• Relationship expectations
• Mindset / view of life
• Victim vs Growth
• Orphan vs Abundance
• Thankfulness
• Entitlement

Breaking Cycles / Strongholds

You can be in  cycle of repeating the same decision and therefore getting the same results

Breaking Cycles

https://youtu.be/XEFyTkWpNV8

Your Routine is the problem

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRbsWRdD/

Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW)

Territorial Warfare

Who has heard of Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare (SLSW)?

The term was coined by Peter Wagner

This is a method of Spiritual Warfare that has gained popularity since the 1990s mainly in the charismatic and prophetic churches

• Deliverance ministries
• Sozo ministries

Three levels of activity

Ground level

• Casting demons out of individual people

Occult level

• Dealing with demonic forces within Satanism, witchcraft, and other forms of structured occultism

Strategic level

• Direct confrontation with territorial spirits over cities, nations, neighborhoods, spiritual alliances, and industries

Spiritual Mapping

This is the belief the demons exist in a hierarchical structure.  Different principalities and demons are assigned to different geographical locations.  Specific territorial spirits of an area are discerned and named.  

This involves focus directed prayer against the territorial spirits themselves.

Methods

There is a territory that belongs to Satan.  In order to fight back the powers of Satan we have to

• Utter specific Christian mantras
• Bind and rebuke Satan
• Plead the blood of Jesus over it
• Plead the power of Christ over an area
• Get the demon out of
• This room
• This person
• This area
• Exercise people
• Push back the powers of darkness
• Pray hedges of thorns of protection around things and people

Issues

• Methods not from the Bible
• Not instructed to do this (strategic level warfare)  in the New Testament
• Who says territorial spirits are all fallen angels?
• Michael is “Prince” over Israel
• God assigned the territorial spirits
• Some nations chose their own spirits
• Sources of the information
• Ex-satanists
• Interviewing demons
• Special revelation
• Can lead to bondage and fear of demons
• Always worrying about and focusing on demons versus God

Today we will only address the Strategic Level.  Next lesson we will discuss the others.

The Goal of Warfare

What is the goal of our Spiritual Warfare?

Goals

• To move towards sanctification
• Armor of God
• Walk in the Spirit
• Resist the devil
• Avoid temptation
• Read the Bible
• To know and believe the truth
• Not to believe the enemy’s lies
• Avoiding deception
• Break strongholds
• Read the Bible
• Spread the gospel to the Nations
• Make disciples
• Take back a nation for God
• Fulfill your specific purpose
• Usher in the Kingdom of God

Demolishing Strongholds

Knowing and believing the truth

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

Knowing and believing the truth

https://youtu.be/CPvWPr8L8XA

The Great Commision

Matthew 28:18-20

 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19[g]Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to [h]follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you [i]always, to the end of the age.”

• All authority has been given to Jesus

It is interesting that, in the original Greek, the only direct command in Matthew 28:19–20 is “make disciples.” The Great Commission instructs us to make disciples while we are going throughout the world. The instructions to “go,” “baptize,” and “teach” are indirect commands—participles in the original. How are we to make disciples? By baptizing them and teaching them all that Jesus commanded. “Make disciples” is the primary command of the Great Commission. “Going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” are the means by which we fulfill the command to “make disciples.”

The command is make disciples

To aid in making disciples the apostles

• Taught
• Baptized
• Performed miracles
• Cast out demons

Now we’ll look at the spiritual war behind this command

Of all nations …

Territorial Spirits

Does the bible teach about spirits “over” territories / nations?

1 Kings 11:33

33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess [elohim] of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god[elohim] of Moab, and Milcom the god [elohim]of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.

• Notice that each of these gods and goddesses was each over a different nation
• Each nation had a local god/deity whom they worshiped
• People from other nations would worship the foreign gods of other nations as well

Only “fallen angels” allow themselves to be worshiped

These are the “elohim” the “Sons of God”

Nations Were Assigned to Specific gods

Deuteronomy 29:26-27

26 ‘And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they have not known and whom He had not assigned to them. 27 ‘Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book;

• They were assigned by God
• These are the “Sons of God”, the elohim

Princes and Chiefs

National spirits are also referred to as “Princes”

Prince of Persia

Daniel 10:12-13

12“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.

• The nation you’re in could cause resistance to your prayers
• There is a spiritual being over each nation

Michael is Prince Over Israel

Daniel 12:1

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

• God chose Abraham to set apart a group of people to worship Him alone

These are the demons in idols.  I’m not sure if these are the demons in people.

Michael is the angel in charge of Israel (and thus us)

All “Princes” haven’t necessarily fallen

Prince of this World

What geographical area was satan given?

John 14:29-31

29 “And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler {prince} of the world is coming, and he has nothing in regard to Me, 31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let’s go from here.

• Jesus speaking
• “The air” means the material world
• Power over this world “system”

This is why Satan could offer Jesus the kingdoms of the world when he tempted Him

Ephesians 2:1-2

1 And you were dead in your offenses and sins, 2 in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

• The air is the material world
• The lower heaven

Jesus is Above All Spirits

John 12:28-32

28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!” 30 Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. 31 “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”

• Jesus’ plan was to unseat Satan and then begin drawing people to Him
• This is where we come in…

Ephesians 1:19-23

19 and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Jesus is the ruler of every realm

• We, His church, share in that authority

Battle Against the Stronghold / Culture

2 Corinthians 10:3-4

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

The demon influences the culture of an area

Battling principalities means you are fighting against the culture of that country that conflicts with the Word of God

There are specific strongholds in every country

• Mindset same beliefs that go against the knowledge of God

The American Spirit

Independence / Freedom / Liberty

What is the stronghold of America?

Demonic activity will vary from country to county

We say America has an “independent spirit”

Could that be a reference to the spirit administering America?

We honor her with

• Statue of Liberty (statue of a Roman goddess)
• Statue of Freedom (goddess) in the capitol building

*Note: I’m not condoning this; just pointing it out.

Winning Back the Nations

The jurisdictional authority given to the Sons of God has been nullified by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  That is why we have The Great Commission.

God Chose Israel

Israel was under God’s law

• The Gentiles were not
• If they were in Israel they were under the law

When God revealed himself to Abraham, the Hebrews were worshiping other gods. God made a covenant with Abraham. The other Hebrews had covenants with the other gods.

Israel Was Supposed to Win Back the Other Nations to God

Deuteronomy 4:5-8

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

• Proselytizing

We Aren’t Instructed to Fight the National Spirits

In Ephesians 6 Paul gives us our marching orders on how to fight rulers and  principalities. It does not include direct attacks against them.

Paul’s methods of batting principalities is at the level of the individual Christian.

Therefore we battle principalities by not being influenced by the culture we live in.  The specific strongholds of a region are also a barrier to evangelism.

God Is Not Standing by Waiting For Us

God Influences Nations (Kings)

Proverbs 21:1

1 The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD;

He turns it wherever He pleases.

God can intervene with the free will of a King if necessary to accomplish His divine plan

1 Kings 22:19-23

19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 “ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ 23 “So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”

• National rulers can have their free will overridden by God
• God won’t interfere with your free will, but other spirits will

Note:  There are other cases where God uses deception to enact judgment on evil doers.  It is up to God to decide how evil is punished. By definition, punishment of evil is just.

• E.g. The death penalty

God Hardened Pharaoh's Heart

Exodus 9:8-12

8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and Moses shall toss it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 Then it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will turn into boils breaking out with sores on every person and animal through all the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took soot from a kiln, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses tossed it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on every person and animal. 11 The soothsayer priests could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the soothsayer priests as well as on all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

<in the video we discuss why God would do this and why it's "fair">

God Will Punish the Demons/Angels

Job 4:17- 19

17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? 18 If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, 19 how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!

God will punish the territorial spirits when time comes

Psalms 82:6-7

6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 “Nevertheless you will die like men, And fall like one of the princes.”

The Kingdom of God

Jesus occasionally uses the term “Kingdom of God” to refer to a future state where God’s dominion is upon all the earth…Heaven.   He more often uses it to refer to an internal state of living your life and Paul speaks of it as a lifestyle being led by the Holy Spirit.

God’s initial goal for creating the earth was to have a place where He could commune and co-rule with man having the entire world under His dominion.  The book of Revelation tells us of a New Eden… Heaven on Earth.  

The great commission is the plan to win back the world to this state.  We are to go nation by nation, person by person, winning them back to the rule of God.  We are effectively winning souls over from under the territorial spirits into the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is also, though, an internal state of each Christian.   Being filled with the Holy Spirit enables us to house God inside of us and live a godly life submitted to the Holy Spirit.  

The enemy tries to keep of from attaining this internal state through:

• Temptation
• False teaching
• Sinful life patterns

Jesus said that we have a choice of how we choose to prioritize our life.  We can either choose:

• God
• Mammon / The World

One of the names of Satan is the Prince of Darkness.   Darkness is another area of authority he has been given.  He has been given authority over the children of the darkness.  If you choose to live in darkness you are choosing to live in Satan’s territory.

Jesus is the light of the world.

Every day we get to choose which Kingdom we wish to live in:

• The Kingdom of Darkness
• Be a child of the light

Which master will you choose?

When you choose the light, you will attract others to that same light.

Luke 11:33-35

33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 “Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 “So watch out that the light in you is not darkness.

Instructor: Michael Leadon

References

Demons

Michael Heiser

Angels

Michael Heiser

Spiritual warfare 101

Bill Johnson’s teaching

What is the spiritual warfare | Justin Peterson and Jim Osmond

S04J TV | shows 1 - 5

Hidden in plain sight 9

Ron carpenter

Extra

Curses

Numbers 22:18 (NASB20) But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.

• Balaam was a follower of God

It is a Sin to Attempt to Curse Someone

Deuteronomy 18: 10 - 11^

10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead.

Hebrews 2:14-17

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

The Goal of Warfare

The Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

1Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, 2by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to [a]the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3For I handed down to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that He appeared to [c]Cephas, then to the twelve.

Ruling With Christ

1 Corinthians 6:2-3

2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

• Who are the saints?

• We are saints

• We will judge or govern angels

Revelations 2:25-27

25‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. 26‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; 27AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;

• Jesus inherits the earth
• We share in His inheritance
• Jesus is King of Kings

• He is the King over some kings
• Who are the kings over which he is king?
• Us
• We will rule under the authority of Jesus

Territorial Gods

The Nations Divided Among the Sons of God

Deuteronomy 32:8 (ESV) 

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

• Dead Sea Scroll, ESV, NLT,
• Israel didn’t exist yet

Sons of Israel MT; DSS sons of God; LXX angels of God

Some texts of the Greek version have "according to the number of the Angels of God;" following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Genesis 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17).

Law of the Land

When in a geographic area you are subject to the authority over that area

Deuteronomy 17:2-5

2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky, 4and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.

Prince of This World

Jesus Above All Elohim

Colossians  1:15-18

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Jesus is over everything

God created everything with a plan

sin has a purpose

If you go to church… One week we are fighting the devil, and the next week the devil is defeated

Jesus thoroughly defeated Satan and the powers of darkness

• But there’s some type of struggle that we are locked in

The American Spirit

What is “friendship with the world?”

So, friendship with the world means going along with, living in, agreeing with and loving the lusts of the flesh and the driving spirit behind them – self, self, self! You can’t do that and be a friend of God! The only way to be God’s friend is to turn away from sin, to turn to Jesus and give Him your whole heart and follow Him. It is to hate the lusts of the flesh – all egotism, pride and evil – and to love what God loves – all that is good, pure, noble and lovely.

The verses in 1 John 2:15-17 make this crystal clear: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

https://activechristianity.org/what-it-means-that-friendship-with-the-world-is-enmity-with-god

Winning Back the Nations

Deuteronomy 14:1-2

1“You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth

Ephesians 6 prove this. Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

No where does Paul recommend the believers confront or admonish supernatural powers.  His list of weapons does not include exorcism against the spiritual force of evil in heavenly places.  

Instead he suggested

1. Truth
2. Righteousness
3. The gospel
4. Faith
5. Salvation
6. The word of God
7. Prayer
8. Perseverance

Therefore spiritual warfare isn’t about power encounters, instead it is about having faith in the gospel and the Word of God and living a holy prayerful life as a follower of Jesus.

Paul’s description of how he fights evil spirits includes neither exorcism nor ejection of territorial spirits.  There is no confrontation with supernatural powers among his strategies.  

Successful warfare here destroys arguments and any opinion raised against the knowledge of God and it takes every thought captive to obey Christ.