The Bible Nerd

I have never been the uber Puritan type to throw away all my tv’s, movies, and “secular” stuff to remove all “worldly” influence from my life.  For sure, some NWA and Easy E tape cassettes had to be burned in the fire (ok, I got rid of my Beastie Boys too).  However, there is no denying that what Paul calls the “world” in Ephesians 2 is one of the most powerful tools that Satan uses against us.  Direct demonic confrontation would probably cause more people to actually believe in God, whereas no one thinks twice before watching Jerry Springer every afternoon (or insert your tv show here that you watch and feel guilty every time).

The “world” as discussed by Paul in this context has nothing to do with the physical realm that we live in.  It is the anti-God culture and worldview that is all pervasive around us.  Neo might call it the Matrix, but unfortunately there is no Morpheus for most people, urging them to take the other pill.  John the apostle also speaks of this often in his letters, for example 1 John 2:15 -17 gives us our best definition. “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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

What is our ultimate weapon in fighting “the world”?  The Bible.  Only through a thorough knowledge of the Bible can we recognize the parts of our culture and worldview that don’t line up with God’s truth and law.  Because most of us are taught the “world” by our parents, schools, tv, magazines, movies, friends, and society around us, we come to think of it as “normal” or just the way things are done.  When we read the Bible, it is like King Josiah in 2 Kings 22:11, who rips his clothes in grief when he realizes how far he and his culture are from God’s truth and law.  In Josiah’s time, the Bible (book of the law) had been lost for so long that they didn’t realize how bad they had become.  2 Kings 23 includes a horrendous list of sin and idolatry that had become commonplace due to the ignorance of the people.  There were even male prostitutes in the temple itself!

Revelation 17 – 18 gives us a more graphic representation of the “world” in the whore of Babylon.  Babylon is a power hungry prostitute riding the beast of evil government.  She is the evil city of the world drunk on the blood of the saints.  I believe Jesus was revealing to John how ugly man’s society and culture can be.  In chapter 18, God judges Babylon, and the greed and materialism are shown for what they are.  Our media makes places like Las Vegas and Bangkok look like vacation destinations of pleasure with pictures of pretty women, big buildings and temples, and even families going there for fun.  You won’t see too many travel brochures with pictures of disgusting, blood thirsty prostitutes riding on hideous, demonic beasts, but Revelation exposes our world for what it really is.  If what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, then whoever dives wholeheartedly into the culture of this world shouldn’t be surprised how far from God they are.

Again, I am not saying that I hope evil cities fall into the sea, nor am I telling you to go join a monastery or covenant.  What I am telling you is that a huge part of spiritual warfare isn’t just demons, it is a whole culture and worldview that creeps into our lives and distorts our view of God and morality.  The main weapon we have is the Word of God as in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  We need to keep reading and teaching the Bible to fight this plan of Satan.  Let’s rock this “world”!

I have no patience at all for websites that don’t have fresh content.  If I check CNN and they don’t have new articles every hour, I get annoyed.  Don’t they know I am trying to avoid doing my real work and need a newsflash to justify wasting more time.  That is why I know it is death on a stick that I haven’t had a new post in 3 days.  I could give you a good excuse, like spending all day flying back home and having jetlag, but if you are as microwave society as I am, I won’t waste any more time.  Let’s talk about Spiritual Warfare.

Oh yea, we are tackling that fun topic known as spiritual warfare.  If you ask 10 people what they think of spiritual warfare, you will end up with 17 different answers.  You have the extremes from people who believe that there is a demon under every rock, to those who believe we have “advanced” beyond believing in such “ancient nonsense” like people being possessed.  Hollywood sure has realized that people are still fascinated with this stuff.  A huge part of the market is dominated by horror and psuedo horror films about the supernatural.  The Exorcist was just the beginning of a long line of kids’ heads spinning around and spewing what looks like green pea soup.

To me, Ephesians 2:1-3 lays the foundation of spiritual warfare in a 3 front battle.  ” And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly 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. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”  Paul knew that the Ephesians were new believers in the midst of a heavily charged spiritual atmosphere in Ephesus.  Acts 19 records how deeply they were into magic before becoming Christians.  In one day, they burned their magic scrolls whose value would have amounted to one person working for 50,000 days!

Paul lists out three main areas of spiritual warfare that the Ephesians need to be aware of.  1) “The course of this world”:  this refers to the anti-God worldview and culture.  It is the oppressive system of this “evil age” that seeks to enslave and ensnare (and a whole bunch of other things that start with “ens”).  2) prince of the power of the air: not only is this referring to Satan, but to all demons looking to “steal, kill, and destroy”.  3) lusts of our flesh:  the sinful nature that was passed on to us by Adam, constantly fighting against the Spirit.  If we want to have success and victory in spiritual warfare, we must think through how to wage war in each of these areas.  In the next few posts, we will not only discuss each of these, but will address some of the difficult questions.

Can Christians be possessed by a demon?  are there “territorial spirits”, and if so, what are they and what do they do?  is there a Biblical basis for spiritual mapping?  are generational curses real?  how can they be broken?  how do you cast out a demon?  when did Satan fall and where is he now?  why does Satan have a pitchfork and a weird, pointy beard?  In all of this, our goal will not be to give any glory to Satan or demons.  We have to remember that it is Ephesians 1:19-21  itself that reminds us, “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  Jesus rules!