REVIEW AND INTRODUCTION
I want to examine this theme by considering three topics. The
first one is the experiences and background of the Ephesians,
because their culture was steeped in an acknowledgement of the
spiritual forces at work in the world. The second topic I want
to look at is Paul's warning about not becoming enslaved to the
elements of the world. And, finally, I want to discuss Paul's
description of Satan being the prince of the power of the air.
What do these terms mean?
THE SPIRITUAL CLIMATE OF EPHESUS
At Ephesus, Paul and the city's early converts were confronted
by the agitated followers of Artemis, one of the major goddesses
of the Ephesians. The Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders
of the world. The goddess was considered to be unsurpassed in
cosmic power, and thus capable of helping her worshippers to escape
from the misfortunes of fate. She was called Saviour, Lord and
Queen of the Cosmos, and her character could only be described
in superlatives. So in Acts 19:27 we read:
WHAT HAS POWER OVER MY LIFE?
I noted earlier how many people of Ephesus believed that "fate"
influenced their lives, but that Artemis had power to intercede
and rescue them from unpleasant twists of fate. Does the same
belief in unknowable and unpredictable forces of the world cause
people today to seek comfort and reassurance in a blind positive
thinking that things will work our for them? "She'll be right
,mate". "No worries". "Just be positive, and
it will work out". Consider the words of one of the great
spokesmen to those of my generation which went out to the nation
every Sunday night for many years. Jimny Cricket used to sing:
WHO RULES?
To summarise, Paul says of these 'stoicheia' that they:
THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR
Why does God use the wind as a parable for the spirit (Jn 3:8)?
For in the Bible, we find that the wind is an amazing parable
of the world of the spirit. Indeed, the Bible uses the symbolism
of the wind to describe quite graphically the powerful (unseen
and unrecognised?) forces arrayed against man, and in particular,
against God's people. We are very mindful of the effects of physical
winds and of the threatening storm clouds they can gather about
them as they approach us. But do we recognise the spiritual winds
that come upon us, that are currently blowing over the world,
the approaching storms from which we should be seeking shelter?
We must become strengthened to resist every wind of doctrine:
MAN IS WITHERED BY THE WIND
The east wind that divided the Red Sea (Ex 14:21) is often mentioned
as an agent of destruction.
THE FICKLENESS AND DANGER OF THE ENEMY
Other scriptures depict the sweeping away of the
wicked. Job describes their fate:
The last trumpet in Revelation has 7 bowls of wrath. The first
is poured out on the earth, the second into the sea, the third
into the rivers, the forth on the sun, the fifth on the throne
of the Beast, the sixth on the river Euphrates, and the last-into
the air:
ALLUSIONS TO THE CREATURES OF THE AIR: THE BIRDS
In my last message I started to address the theme of power. I
discussed the topic of how we try to magnify our personal power
and then considered what it means to have access to the power
of God. Today, I would like to develop these ideas further by
considering the dilemma of a little man in a big world.
We gaze on a wide ocean, a huge mountain range, a vast, seemingly
endless desert or an approaching storm, and we can feel rather
insignificant. Or we can feel insignificant and powerless in the
face of a complex society of millions of people. What are some
of the powers that govern the world and how do men try to cope
with the vastness of the world and the forces that confront them?
Ephesus was renowned as a centre for magical practices, and therefore
for the belief that the world was controlled by spiritual forces
that had to be called upon for help.
Acts 19:11-20 Now God
worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even
handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick,
and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves
to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits,
saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest,
who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus
I know, and Paul I know; but who are you (note the divided
nature of Satan's household)?" 16 Then the man in whom
the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed
against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus
(so here we have a very public exposure of the spiritual powers
in the world, and to whom they are answerable);
and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was
magnified (this is a major purpose of miracles and prayer).
18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their
deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought
their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And
they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand
pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and
prevailed.
Now the appeal of magic is power. In our materialistic, scientific
world, the belief in the effect of a spirit world on mankind is
scorned, or at least not openly admitted to. But where people
believe in unseen, spiritual forces controlling events in their
lives, they must inevitably seek ways to direct, control or win
the favour of those forces. A recent short magazine interview
with a witch described the basic purposes of witchcraft:
".. most witches have eight tools. The most important is
a double-edged knife used in rituals. It is the most potent method
of directing your will," he says.
Notice that the purpose of witchcraft is to produce an empowered
sense of self-will (i.e. their personal power). This equates with
the biblical definition of witchcraft as being rebellion against
God, i.e. self will:
While Pamina refuses to divulge specific spells, she explains
they are used to create positive changes and to help save the
environment.
"We use magic for a range of things. These may include spells
to save the planet from further global warming, make people better
themselves by creating positive forces in their lives, help them
come by more money and heal the sick and injured," she says.
"Magic is basically channelling your own will and energy
into the universe towards a particular purpose."
1Sa 15:23 "For rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also
has rejected you from being king."
The New Age movement likewise uses meditation, word affirmation
(it believes that the spoken word has an intrinsic power to create)
and visualisation to direct the powers of the universe towards
one's own ends, goals and desires.
Acts 19:27,35 "So
not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute,
but also the temple of the great goddess Diana (Artemis) may be
despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the
world worship."
So Ephesus was a major centre for pagan religions and spiritual
forces.
35 And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd,
he said: "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not
know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the
great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus
(It was believed that Artemis came directly from heaven)?"
What do people today acknowledge as having significant power over
the major events and direction of their life? God? Chance? Guardian
angels/patron saints? The Stars? Men (wealth, force, knowledge)?
Nature? Me? Not me? The power of the mind to control their destiny?
Wherever I believe power over things important to me lies, there
I must seek power or influence to bring about my good. So what
or who do people believe controls their world? And how many of
these wrong ideas are still with us in the Church? Just by burning
their magic books, the Ephesians would not have destroyed all
the wrong ideas they had adopted. In whose hands do people believe
that their experiences, health, life and death, prosperity, and
the like, lie?
When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,
Some believe in fate, others in blind luck, or in cause and effect.
Some believe in some Impersonal Universal Mind, and others embrace
the law of Karma, or the spirit realm that exercises power over
their lives. However, God condemns feeding on such beliefs:
Anything your heart desires will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme,
When you wish upon a star, as dreamers do.
Fate is kind, She brings to those who love,
The sweet fulfilment of their secret longings.
Like a bolt out of the blue, Fate steps in and sees you through,
When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.
Isa 65:11-12 (RSV) But
you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain,
Whatever we believe controls the world and our relationship to
it will affect our sense of well-being and our ability to act
in a meaningful and purposeful way in it, and is where we will
seek power to influence it. This is part of the dilemma each
person faces in the world.
who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny;
12 I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow
down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer,
when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in
my eyes, and chose what I did not delight in."
In speaking to the Ephesians, raised in a culture mindful of spiritual
powers, Paul acknowledged that there are spirit beings who rule
the world, and he used certain descriptive terms to label them:
Eph 1:21 [Christ is]
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that
which is to come.
The very terms assigned to these spirit beings and to the positions
they occupy strongly convey the idea of influence and power: principality,
power, might, rule, dominion. Now all these spiritual powers
are subject to the purposes of God.
Eph 3:10 to the intent
that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the
church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:12 For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ro 8:38 For I am persuaded
that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come….
1Pe 3:22 who has gone
into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities
and powers having been made subject to Him.
1Co 15:24 Then comes
the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when
He puts an end to (destroys) all rule and all authority and power
(These are the same terms as used in Eph 1:21).
But in our day and age, in which these powers are not even acknowledged,
we need to be mindful of their reality and of the influence they
exercise:
1Jn 5:19 We know that
we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the
wicked one.
ELEMENTAL SPIRITS
2Th 2:9 The coming of
the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all
power, signs, and lying wonders.
Although it is not used in Ephesians, Paul uses an interesting
word elsewhere to refer to the spiritual powers of the world.
That word is "stoicheia".
Gal 4:3,8-10 (RSV) So with us; when
we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits (stoicheia;
NIV: "basic principles"; NKJ: "elements")
of the universe.
Those who are of the world must live according to and in subjection
to the elements of the world. What are these elements
of the world? The Illustrated Bible Dictionary says
of "elements":
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to
beings that by nature are no gods; 9 but now that you have come
to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back
again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits (stoicheia),
whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 (a fruit of such
turning back is) You observe days, and months, and seasons,
and years!
Col 2:8,18,20 (RSV) See to it that no one makes a prey
of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits (stoicheia)of the universe,
and not according to Christ.
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and
worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without
reason by his sensuous mind.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits (stoicheia)
of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the
world? Why do you submit to regulations?
Stoicheia:
Stoicheia is also used by Peter:
1. Is used for the letters of the alphabet when written out in series. From this use comes the meaning 'first principles', 'the ABC' of any subject, as in Heb 5:12, where it describes the first principles of God's Word.
2. It may also mean the component parts of physical bodies. In particular the Stoics used the term for the four elements: earth, water, air, fire.
3. There is evidence in Christian writers from the middle of the 2nd century AD for the use of stoicheia in an astronomical sense for the heavenly bodies.
4. Evidence from the Orphic hymns and the Hermetica, coupled with modern Gk usage shows that stoicheia later came to mean 'angels', 'spirits' ('elemental spirits') (vol. 2 pg. 438).
2Pe 3:10-12 But the day
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
will pass away with a great noise, and the elements (stoicheia)
will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that
are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things
will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming
of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved,
being on fire, and the elements (stoicheia) will melt with
fervent heat?
The Tyndale Commentary on 2Peter by Michael Green
says of 2Pe 3:10,12:
The 'stoicheia' could mean the physical elements
of earth, air, fire and water, out of which all things were thought
to be composed. It might also mean the heavenly bodies, sun, moon,
stars (so Justin, Apol. ii.5 and most of the Greek Fathers). For
a partial parallel, cf. Mark xiii.24-26. The view of Spitta that
Peter means the spirits in charge of the powers of nature, though
this was indeed a Jewish and probably Pauline belief (Enoch 1x.12,
Jubilees ii.2, Gal iv.3,9, Col ii.8,20), does not fit the present
passage (pg. 138).
It seems to me that this term 'stoicheia' can therefore refer
to both the natural elements and forces of nature and the 'elemental
spirits' who maintain and control them, and who inspire ways of
life based on them. Paul in Romans tells us that man has been
deceived into worshipping the creation which reveals the Godhead
(Ro 1:19-25).
From the people of Central America devastated by storms to our
farmers depending upon rain for their crops, to us city dwellers
dependant upon our bodies for good health, "Nature",
an aspect of the basic elements of the world, exercises a significant
degree of power over our lives. And so it is not surprising that
men have sought and do seek access to control, influence or appease
such powers.
1Ti 4:1-3 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter
times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created
to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know
the truth.
Vegetarianism is therefore sometimes called a doctrine of demons
(1Ti 4:1-3). Indeed, any seemingly wise teaching that creates
a philosophy or way of life based on 'natural living', that prompts
us to govern our lives according to dictates based on the elements
of the natural world, actually causes us to worship and become
enslaved to angels/demons (Col 2:18; 2Kg 23:4-5; 17:16; 21:3-5;
Jer 19:13; Zep 1:4-5). Satan's great deception is in providing
alternative ways in which man can become like God (Ge 3:5). The
Holistic movement of today presents various means such as natural
therapies, natural living, yoga, mind powers and the like, through
which man can become whole, fulfilled, complete in body and mind.
But notice what Paul says:
Col 2:8-10 Beware lest
anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according
to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles (stoicheia)
of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete
in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Satan's deception is directed towards how we may be made whole
and complete. We become whole and complete through Jesus Christ,
not through diet, natural living, living in harmony with the natural
world, or any other philosophy, psychology or self-help program.
Man was created to have dominion over the earth, not vice-versa
(Ge 1:28). But those who are of the world must submit to the rules,
regulations, the powers, the luck, the teachings, the elements
of the world. Yet we are not to be of the world.
The devil's realm is one of death (Eph 2:1), wrath (2:3) and darkness
(5:8). His domain has "authority of the air":
Eph 2:2 in which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air (authority of the air), the
spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
What is the power of the air, but the wind? The wind
has a fascinating place in both the natural sciences and the mythologies
of many cultures. A number of languages reflect a close affinity
between wind and spirit. Arabic-ruh, Hebrew-ruach, Greek-pneuma,
Latin-anima (animate, animosity). In his book "Heaven's
Breath - A Natural History of the Wind", Lyall Watson makes
the points that without wind, most of the earth would be uninhabitable,
the tropics would grow so unbearably hot that nothing could live
there, the rest of the planet would freeze, and the major cities
would suffocate in their own wastes. But with the wind, Earth
comes alive. The winds are the circulatory and nervous systems
of the planet, and clouds are the footprints or, if you like,
the garments, of the winds, because the winds gather the moisture
together to form them.
Eph 4:14 that we should
no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting.
And not to be blown about by doubt (the opposite of faith):
Jas 1:6 But let him ask
in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of
the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
Lets consider some of the scriptures about the wind, as a parable
of the forces that act against man, and especially against the
people of God.
Ps 103:15-16 As for man,
his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place
remembers it no more.
The wind blows over man and dries him up. Are we aware of what
shrivels our spirit?
Speaking of Israel's rebelliousness, God says:
Eze 17:9-10 "Say,
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Will it thrive? Will he not pull
up its roots, Cut off its fruit, and leave it to wither? All of
its spring leaves will wither, and no great power or many people
will be needed to pluck it up by its roots. 10 Behold, it is planted,
will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind
touches it? It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew."'
Here the east wind seems to be referring to Nebuchadnezzar (Eze
27:26; Isa 27:8). Man's spirit is dried and withered by such winds.
Who are the Nebuchadnezzars of our world?
Eze 19:10-12 'Your mother
was like a vine in your bloodline, planted by the waters, fruitful
and full of branches because of many waters. 11 She had strong
branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above
the thick branches, and was seen in her height amid the dense
foliage. 12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down
to the ground, and the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches
were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
The wind also represents fickleness and futility (Ecc 1:14; 2:17,26;
4:4,6; 6:9; Pr 11:29):
Ecc 2:17 Therefore I
hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing
to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Ephraim herded and pursued the wind (Hos 12:1), like his lovers
(2:7):
Ecc 4:4 Again, I saw
that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his
neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Hos 12:1 "Ephraim feeds on (herds)
the wind, and pursues the east wind (it seems here symbolic
of Assyria); he daily increases lies and desolation. Also
they make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried to
Egypt."
This wind was equated with foreign powers whom Ephraim
courted but who eventually turned on her with fury:
Hos 8:7 "They sow
the wind, and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud;
Israel so often did not understand or appreciate
the forces that it naively courted or entertained. I dare say
we are also often like this, frolicking in a playful breeze only
to be blown away by a tempest.
it shall never produce meal. If it should produce, aliens (Assyrians
- Hos 8:9) would swallow it up.
This east wind eventually stripped her dry, parched and destroyed
her:
Hos 13:15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
Israel was dried up, like our tender plants are dried up in the
days of the hot, dry, northerly summer winds. Her devastation
was pictured as coming like a wind:
Jer 4:11-13 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, 12 even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
We have all felt the after-draft of a semi-trailer
thundering by us and the dust and turbulence that follows in its
wake. Here besiegers from a foreign land are described similarly
by the turmoil their coming creates.
Job 27:20-23 Terrors
overtake him like a flood; a tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him
out of his place. 22 It hurls against him and does not spare;
he flees desperately from its power.
Trials and storms come against us all. We all need
protection to be able to withstand the evil day (Eph 6:13), a
sound foundation to be able to stand in the storms to come (Mt
7:24-27; 1Co 3:10-15).
Ps 83:13-15 O my God,
make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains
on fire, 15 so pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them
with Your storm.
So the wind represents devastating power, and the
power to scatter and to sift (Jer 13:24; 17:17; Jn 16:32).
Lk 22:31 And the Lord
said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you,
The wind is symbolic of forces that can devastate us or purge
us. Job's trial started and ended with mighty winds. One from
Satan (Job 1:19), and the other from the Lord, who came to Job
in a whirlwind (Job 38:1). What sort of wind has blown over the
Church in the last few years?
that he may sift you as wheat."
Job 21:17-18 "How
often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their
destruction come upon them, the sorrows God distributes in His
anger? 18 They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff
that a storm carries away."
Rev 16:17 Then the seventh
angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It
is done!"
The air, over whose power Satan is prince, receives its judgement.
These are forces that batter man. And men must naturally seek
ways to resist, appease or escape from them. How do we do so?
With such graphic descriptions of the effect of the wind, it is
interesting to consider what the Bible says about the creatures
of the air, the birds.
Ps 102:6-7 I am like
a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert. 7
I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
Hos 11:11 "They
shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from
the land of Assyria., and I will let them dwell in their houses,"
says the LORD.
Lam 3:52 My enemies without
cause hunted me down like a bird.
Pr 7:23 Till an arrow
struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know
it would cost his life.
Ecc 10:20 Do not curse
the king, even in your thought; co not curse the rich, even in
your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and
a bird in flight may tell the matter.
Mt 13:3,19 Then He spoke
many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower
went out to sow.
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and
does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches
away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed
by the wayside."
Jer 48:40 For thus says
the LORD: "Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, and spread
his wings over Moab."
THE WINGS OF PROTECTION
Jer 49:22 Behold, he
shall come up and fly like the eagle, and spread His wings over
Bozrah; the heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall
be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.
Dt 28:49-50 "The
LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of
the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language
you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which
does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young."
Jer 12:9 My heritage
is to Me like a speckled vulture (a splendid bird); the
vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts
of the field, bring them to devour!
Let's conclude with some encouraging scriptures.
Ps 57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For
my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will
make my refuge, until these storms have passed by.
Isa 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall
run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (picturing
strength and power in their spirits).
Rev 12:14 But the woman
was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into
the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time
and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
May God grant us all the ability to endure and escape
the attacks of Satan!