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Winning the Spiritual War Part 02: The Practical Side

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places – Ephesians 6:12 (ESV).

In Part 01 we were introduced to the topic of spiritual warfare. We learned from Scripture that the Christian life is a walk of faith. It also is a constant fight. It is not a battle we have chosen but it is one we must fight to win. 

The forces of darkness do not rest and neither should we. Souls and nations are at stake. So the sooner we understand the problem and take up our spiritual equipment, the better off we will be. 

The changes, challenges, conflicts and chaos we see on Earth are merely the proxy war of what is happening in the heavens. Deal with the heavenly adversaries and it will bring a breakthrough here below.

If you want to read Part 01, click this link:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/winning-spiritual-war-kameel-majdali-fk6be

OR http://majdali.blogspot.com/2024/05/winning-spiritual-war.html

In Part 02, we will look at the practical side of how to fight in spiritual warfare and win.

Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ—2 Timothy 2:3 (KJV)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses — 1 Timothy 6:12 (ESV)

A good starting place is the Book of Ephesians, Chapter Six. This is a wonderful, inspiring, exceeding blessed epistle. It tells of our great inheritance in Christ (chapter one), that we are seated in heavenly places (chapter two), that we may measure the immeasurable love of God (chapter 3), equip the saints to serve through the five-fold ministry (chapter four), be filled with the Spirit (chapter five). No criticism, no correction, and no condemnation – all good. Then you come to the final chapter, Ephesians 6 – and we are commanded to be strong in the Lord and put on the whole armour of God. There are various reasons for this but the main one is when you dwell in the heavenly places, you are more likely to have spiritual conflict than down on planet Earth. 

Hannah Whitall Smith, author of the best-selling Christian classic The Christians Secret to a Happy Life, wrote these words in 1870:

… the Christian life is to be throughout a warfare; and that it is to be especially so when we are “seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6, and are called to wrestle against spiritual enemies whose power and skill to tempt us must doubtless be far superior to any we have ever heretofore encountered. As a fact, temptations generally increase in strength tenfold after we have entered into the interior life, rather than decrease.

The Whole Armour of God – Ephesians 6:10-18

The stakes are high. Though we may have an interpersonal conflict on earth – something we need to minimise or avoid – all of this is child’s play compared to the true conflict in the heavens. Our real battle is against principalities powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (v. 12). This list may sound like a formidable array of enemies but remember that ‘… greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). We are well equipped to fight and win through the whole armour of God. 

Note that the exhortation to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might is more than a polite suggestion; it is a divine command and we must do it now.

The Armour of God: Piece-by-Piece

  • Belt of truth: Truth is our most potent weapon. Its powerful light dispels the darkness of lying and deception. 
  • Breastplate of righteousness: Christ’s righteousness is downloaded to our hearts by faith (Philippians 3:9). The breastplate protects our inner being.
  • Gospel of peace on your feet: Keeping our feet on the gospel road is a key weapon against the kingdom of darkness.
  • Shield of faith: Hold up high this shield because it will extinguish all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
  • Helmet of salvation: This protects the battlefield of our minds.
  • Sword of the Spirit: This is the Word of God – a weapon used to great effect by Jesus when tempted in the wilderness. Reciting the phrase, ‘it is written,’ followed by a Scripture quote, was enough to drive the devil away.

It is a healthy exercise to memorise and invoke each weapon when entering into a deep time of prayer. In intercession, remember to praise, thank, and worship God for who He is and for what He has done, as well as what He will do in answer to your prayer.

To Be continued.

 

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

Middle East At War? Insights from Zechariah 12

We have been exploring the topic of today’s Middle East war and how it compares with end-time prophecy. One of the prophetic signs Jesus predicted in the days before His second coming was ‘wars and rumours of wars’ (Matthew 24:6). Tragic as it may be, on the positive side it is part of the birth pangs of the coming kingdom.

One of the key prophets regarding the last days and Armageddon is Zechariah, He gave some great prophecies of the first coming of Jesus (like the triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey and His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver). Here is a key prophecy about the events leading to the second coming of Christ:

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it — Zechariah 12:2-3 (KJV).

When Zechariah prophesied these words twenty-five hundred years ago, Jerusalem was a humble walled village at the fringe of the Persian Empire. 

In 1867 Mark Twain, the American novelist, visited Ottoman Palestine. His visit inspired the runaway bestselling travel book Innocents Abroad. His description of Jerusalem was anything but flattering:

Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and is become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone ….

If you told Twain that one day in the future, this ‘pauper village’ would modernise, grow and become the epicentre of international controversy and conflict, he would have laughed you out of the room! Yet, this is precisely what the prophetic word declared: Jerusalem will increase in stature, and size and become a global obsession.

Cup of Trembling: Zechariah 12:2

Here is God’s declaration regarding the nations and Jerusalem. He will make the Holy City a ‘cup of trembling.’ The Hebrew word for ‘trembling’ is ra’al, which means to ‘shake, reel, quiver, and/or tremble.’ This is more than mere intoxication. It is as if those who drink from the cup will become senseless and lose control. It is dangerous to be unhinged and helpless. 

Who is going to drink from this poisonous cup? The text says ‘all the people round about.’ This could mean the immediate Arab neighbours of Israel (and we addressed this issue in our article on Psalm 83). Yet there is an even more devastating invasion and it does not involve the next-door neighbours – Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39. To answer the question of who is drinking this cup, remember they will be besieging Judah and Jerusalem when the cup is offered. So in theory, the invaders could be near or far, neighbours or regional nations. They will wage a massive invasion and get stunned with senselessness.

The Burdensome Stone – Zechariah 12:3

At the Western Wall Tunnel in Jerusalem is an amazing sight: a larger-than-life single-cut stone called the ‘Western stone.’ It is 13.6 metres (45 feet) in length, 3 metres (10 feet) in height, and approximately 3.5 metres (11 feet) in width. The estimated weight is 570 short tons! How would you lift such a stone into its place? We would be scratching our heads today, let alone two millennia ago in the days of Herod the King. 

Jerusalem is like that immovable stone  Now we come to the heart of the whole matter, God declares that, ‘in that day’ — the day that the nations besiege Judah and Jerusalem, He will make Jerusalem an even ma’amasah, meaning a heavy, un-moveable, and burdensome stone. Humanly speaking, it is an unsolvable problem. Not only will the stone not budge, but those who try to make it do so will be injured. In this verse, it says that those who burden themselves with this stone ‘shall be cut into pieces.’ This is despite the fact that ‘all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.’ The nations are coming to Jerusalem – first for war (12:30), then for peace (14:16).

This is an incredible picture. As we learned earlier, there is nothing about Jerusalem that should make it the object of global attention and armed conflict, at least in the natural. It is neither large, strategic, nor well endowed with natural resources. It does not make sense (and a sip from the cup of trembling will lead to madness).

Jerusalem has key powerful stakeholders beyond just the Israelis and Palestinians, including the US, UN, EU, the Vatican, the Arab and Muslim world, Russia, and others. It is the subject of no less than sixty United Nations resolutions. It is a hot topic in any Middle East peace conference. It continues to evoke emotions and strong rhetoric on all sides. The push for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine has embedded in it a two-Jerusalem solution as well. Will the holy city be partitioned again, like it was from 1948 to 1967? The world community is demanding this outcome, more than ever. If they don’t get what they want by peaceful means, will armed conflict be next? Watch and pray (Mark 13:33, 35, 37).

When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory – Psalm 102:16.

The growth and modernisation of Jerusalem, plus the international controversy and conflict over it, were prophesied long ago. They are a milepost along the road telling us that the footsteps of Messiah are at the door.

Parts of this article are drawn from the book The Burdensome Stone: Jerusalem in the Last Days by K. Majdali, Melbourne: Teach All Nations, 2019. 

 

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

Israel @ War: Prophecy Fulfilled? Gog & Magog – Ezekiel 38-39 Part 03

The fire and fury of the war in the Middle East and unprecedented global attention provoked many to wonder: Is this the prelude to Ezekiel 38-39? Apart from Armageddon (Zechariah 14; Revelation 16:16), the Ezekiel prophecy is the best-known of the major end-time events. 

Ezekiel ProphecyGog & Magog

Summary: The Gog and Magog campaign is a massive, spontaneous, latter-day invasion of Israel by a coalition of nations led by a great power from the north. Israel will be at peace, unsuspecting, and unprepared. This unexpected invasion is so overwhelming that, humanly speaking, the Jewish state cannot survive. Yet, at the eleventh hour, God Himself intervenes, annihilates Gog and its allies, and Israel is saved.

If you want to access Part One, Click Here

http://majdali.blogspot.com/2024/02/israel-at-war-prophecy-fulfilled-gog.html

If you want to access Part One, Click Here

http://majdali.blogspot.com/2024/03/israel-at-war-prophecy-fulfilled.html

We continue to build upon what we learned in the first two parts

  • This confrontation with Gog will be on the mountains of Israel:  ‘And I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel’ (39:2 NKJV). What does this phrase mean? Which mountains? Maybe the Central Hill Country, also known as the ‘West Bank’ and/or ‘Judea and Samaria.’ There are also the mountains of Galilee, Golan, the Carmel Range, and/or the Transjordanian Highlands of Gilead Ammon, Moab, or Edom, And the big prize is Jerusalem. 
  • Nations beyond the Middle East are involved:  ‘And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD’ (39:6 KJV). ‘Isles’ could mean those of the Aegean Islands of Greece and areas west of Israel, like Europe. International linkIsres to Israel/Palestine are nothing new, but today this region dominates world attention like no other. Many a US secretary of state or Western foreign minister has been kept awake at night worrying about what to do about the status and ownership of Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:3 says Jerusalem will be the unmovable rock for ‘all nations’ and all those who try to move it will injure themselves. The international chaos following a Gog-like invasion is completely plausible.
  • This force will be divinely destroyed: 38:18 ‘And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face.19 “For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 22 “And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 39:3 “Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 39:4 “You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured’ — Ezekiel 38:18, 19, 22; 39:3, 4 (NKJV). God directly intervenes to defeat the invasion force. So overwhelming is this divine counterattack that it takes Israel seven months to bury the dead (39:12) and seven years worth of fuel will be provided from Gog’s arsenal (39:10). Why seven months? Could it be an earthquake, like what the rabbis and some Christians teach? The problem is that plagues could break out. Bodies cannot be touched but a marker will be set up and then another squad will bury the dead in one of the valleys, perhaps near Amman. Once complete, the valley will be forever sealed and a new city named Hamonah will be set up as a memorial. Some have suggested nuclear, but a group of nuclear scientists have suggested chemical and bacteriological destruction instead.
  • After this invasion there will be a final re-gathering of the Jews to Israel: ‘When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 28Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there’ — Ezekiel 39:27-28 (KJV). Anti-semitism is rising again in Europe, and after the Gog scenario there will be an influx of Jews to Israel greater than anything that has ever been seen before.
  • The Holy Spirit will be poured out on the Jewish people: ‘And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God’  Ezekiel 39:29 (NKJV); also see 37:14 and Joel 2:28-29. Psalm 118:5 says that when you call upon God in your distress, He will answer and set you in a broad place. This seems to be what happens to Israel, spiritually speaking: re-gathered and Spirit-filled. It is the fulfilment of what the prophets spake. Like travail before the joy of birth and tribulation before a Millennium, Gog and Magog usher in some of Israel’s major prophetic fulfillments.
  • Possible hindrance to immediate fulfilment: ‘And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’ Ezekiel 38:11 (KJV). Some say that Israel is not living in peace and hence is a fortress, with barbed-wire fences and minefields along the border. A look at its northernmost city of Metullah will reinforce this idea. If this is the correct interpretation, then the invasion cannot happen at this time while there is the threat of military attack. Perhaps a short and savage war with Israel’s immediate neighbours, like the one described in Psalm 83, may result in the neutralising of Israel’s enemies and thus allow it to relax its military preparedness: dismantling the fortified war borders and erecting peaceful ones. Of interest is that not one of Israel’s immediate Arab neighbours is mentioned as a participant in the Gog invasion. With the first circle of enemies out of the picture (Psalm 83), the second bigger and stronger circle, namely Gog and Magog, come to the stage. Then the warning of I Thessalonians 5:3 regarding the announcement of ‘peace and safety’ preceding sudden destruction will be fulfilled, like Gog and Magog. 
  • Arnold Fruchtenbaum takes a different view when he says that ‘unwalled villages’ is a good description of modern Israeli kibbutzim (agricultural communities) and adds:

‘Nowhere in the entire text does it speak of Israel as living in peace. Rather, Israel is merely living in security which means ‘confidence,’ regardless of whether it is during a state of war or peace.’ 

When you understand the grand sweep of this prophecy and see that its details have only been fulfilled in our day – and miraculously so – then this should make even the most casual observer sit up and take notice. 

We have a more sure word of prophecy! (2 Peter 1:19).

This article is from the book, At the Door, Melbourne: Teach All Nations Inc., 2015.

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

Winning the Spiritual War

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places – Ephesians 6:12 (ESV).

It is as if we are living in a tumble clothes dryer that is in its final spin mode. Universities across the Western world have been battlefields with pro-Hamas protestors challenging their schools or, in some cases, taking over them. At Columbia University in New York City, there was a police pushback. The impression is that the upheaval has less to do with the Middle East conflict and more to do with a leftist revolution. 

In addition, there is inflation, runaway government spending, serious wars in Ukraine and Israel, and a decided change in the world order. In other words, we are in a time of shaking and somehow God is involved in it.

The Scripture teaches us that there will be a shaking in the last days. Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:25-29 speak about it. The main purpose is to rearrange the world order to accommodate God’s kingdom: to shake the old world order out of business to usher in the divine. A secondary purpose is to wake up and sober up those who are spiritually sleeping or drunken. Some look at it either as a judgment for unrighteousness or a chastening to the wayward righteous.

The turmoil on Earth is merely the proxy war for the conflict in the heavens. The shaking on earth shows that all the events listed above are spiritual – and the solution is equally spiritual. The Biblical Christian life is a blessed, abundant, adventurous life but it is also a fight. We are called to be good soldiers of Christ as we fight the good fight of faith. Since the solution to the problems is spiritual, we need to understand and exercise spiritual warfare.

How Did We End Up In This Conflict?

When God created the world, it was good. Everything He makes is good, indeed, very good. As one preacher put it, ‘God doesn’t make junk.’ 

So what went wrong? We know what went wrong on earth: the first couple sinned by eating the forbidden fruit in violation of God’s clear command. But what happened in the heavens? To gain insight, we go to the Word of God.

In Isaiah 14:12-20, the prophet starts addressing the King of Babylon but then changes gears and speaks to Lucifer, son of the morning. He had lofty ideas of himself. He said he would ascend into heaven, exalt his throne above God’s stars, and ascend above the heights of the clouds. Then, waxing more brazen, he declares he will ascend above the heights of the clouds and be like the most High God. Then came the slap down: Lucifer will be brought down to hell.

A similar thing happened in Ezekiel 28:11-19, where a prophecy to the King of Tyre ended up describing Satan’s fall. He started off being ‘full of wisdom’ and the ‘perfection of beauty’ indeed he had been to Eden the garden of God. He was the anointed cherub who covered and walked upon God’s holy mountain. He was perfect in his ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in Him. The result: He will be cast out of the holy mountain and destroyed.

In other words, sin in the heavens became sin on the earth. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

In his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, the reformer Martin Luther wrote these words:

For still our ancient foe,

Doth seek to work us woe,

His craft and power are great,

And armed with cruel hate,’

On earth is not his equal,’

Is the Day of the Lord Approaching?

The ‘Day of the Lord’ is a prominent theme in Scripture, particularly Joel’s prophetic Book. In short, after humanity has governed the earth, God will have His day and His kingdom. We are called to be ‘watchful’ of what is happening in the world, line it up to Scripture, and ‘pray without ceasing.’

A prominent passage on this, with some choice specifics, is 2 Thessalonians 2:1ff-5 (ESV): 

We ask you, brothers 2. not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4. who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.5. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things.

What are some takeaways from this passage?

  1. The much anticipated Day of the Lord has yet to happen.
  2. Before it comes, there will be a ‘rebellion’ or ‘falling away’ (v. 3).
  3. The man of sin/lawlessness must be revealed. He is the ‘fake Christ’ who precedes the coming of the true Christ? (v. 3)
  4. He will go to God’s temple, declare himself to be God, demand worship … or else. This is called the abomination of desolation, spoken of in Daniel 9 and 12. This is a clear and unique sign of the transition from the earthly kingdom to the heavenly. According to the Book of Revelation, the wrath of God follows.
  5. Verse 7 says the mystery of lawlessness is already present, but the Restrainer hinders his full manifestation. Who is this restrainer? The best answer I heard is ‘the Holy Spirit in the Church.’ As long as there are Bible-based, Spirit-filled Christians on earth, praying, evangelising, and Christian discipleship, evil cannot have full sway.

With the war against truth raging, lying – which is the devil’s language – leads to lawlessness, which leads to rebellion, which culminates in violence.

Only the Church is equipped to face, fight, and win this spiritual battle. In our next article, we will learn how.