Spiritual Weapons

The Battle of Stalingrad, where the Nazis attacked the Russians, resulted in the bloodiest battle in history. Over 2 million died in this one battle. The Germans anticipated taking the city in a few weeks, but it turned out to be six months, and they never took it. An entire German army was surrounded by the Russians and killed and taken as prisoners.  

The ravages of war were never more brutal than in the battle for Stalingrad. The atrocities of war, where men died every few seconds. The Germans had three enemies, the Russians, the Winter, and Hitler, who refused to allow this army of 330,000 elite soldiers to retreat. Only 91,000 survived to surrender to the Russians and only 6% of those survived.

We, too, are in a long battle with an enemy that does not give up. Spiritual battles are being fought every day. Unlike the Germans, who had a madman as their leader, we have a commander who empowers us to win. The Apostle Paul introduces us to his perspective on spiritual warfare. He tells us that we do not battle "against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" Ephesians 6:12).

Paul illustrated the believer's spiritual armor by highlighting the Roman Soldier's armor. He began by mentioning the belt and the breastplate. "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place" (Eph 6:14).

When a soldier tightened his belt, he was ready for combat. He cinched his belt and tightened his tunic so it could not impede him as he charged into battle. The belt also firmly held his sword in place. With it, he would be prepared to fight.

The belt calls us to truth—objective truth of scripture. This is what equips us to do spiritual warfare. We are often sloppy with giving details, so our carelessness results in falsehoods. God wants men and women of truth. We are to study God's Word and live it out.

The second weapon is the breastplate of righteousness, God's righteousness freely given to those who believe in Jesus Christ. Isaiah describes what our righteousness looks like to God: Isaiah "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;" (Isaiah 64:6). The Apostle Paul eloquently described the righteousness of God to the Corinthians: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" 2 Cor 5:21).

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, was informed that a vast army was coming against him. They were in a desperate situation and in no condition to fight such a powerful army. The first thing that Jehoshaphat did was to pray and inquire of the Lord. He proclaimed a fast for the people to come together and seek help from the Lord. The people came and sought the Lord (2 Chronicles 20:1-3).

Jehoshaphat prayed and asked God for help. He admitted that he did not know what to do. Their army was inadequate to fight, but their eyes were on the Lord (2 Chron 20:12). The Lord responded that they should go out and meet the enemy, but they would not have to fight. The Lord would fight for them (2 Chron 20:17).

King Jehoshaphat and all the people worshiped the Lord in gratitude. Then, the Levites and singers stood and praised the Lord in song. As they sang, the Lord set ambushes against the enemy so that they began to kill each other.

Spiritual warfare recognizes, like Jehoshaphat, that we cannot defeat the enemy and that our eyes are on the Lord. We need God to fight this battle; he will do so if we depend on him.

A Spiritual War

There are two extremes: The first is to disbelieve in the existence of the Devil and his demons. The second is to believe excessively that the Devil is everywhere. It is possible to move from practical disbelief in the Devil and his minions to a preoccupation with them. Believing that the Devil is a demon in your car’s transmission or in your boss at work is taking it too far.

Apostle Paul warns us about spiritual warfare: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

We know from Paul that this is a supernatural struggle in which human weapons and human power are futile. These powers and angels are organized into a formidable force. An example of these mighty angels is the angel prince of Persia and Greece, who hindered the archangel Gabriel in his divine errand in the Book of Daniel. When the angel finally got to Daniel, he explained, 

Daniel 10:12-13 “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

After he explained the meaning of a vision that Daniel had received, he said this to Daniel:

Daniel 10:20-21 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince. Daniel was given an explanation of the future that was far beyond his own lifetime. But Gabriel pulls the curtain back and allows us to see this spiritual warfare around Daniel.

There is a great demonic enemy with a defined chain of command. The evil described here is not the trivialized little red Devil with a pitchfork.

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” Our enemy is subtle and powerful.

• He hates Jesus.
• He hates everyone who loves Jesus.
• He hates the Church.
• He hates God’s Word.
• He hates our dependence on the Holy Spirit.
• He hates the people who love God and obey his word!

I hate snakes, but I love what happened when Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh to ask for God’s people to be released. At God’s command, Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh, and it became a snake, demonstrating that God’s power was with Moses and Aaron (Exodus 7:8-12). Pharaoh’s magicians did the same, and their staff became snakes, too. What a scene! However, this is what happened! “Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs” (Exodus 7:12).

 Aaron’s snake swallowed all the rest. This was a scary but decisive moment as Aaron’s snake eradicated each snake one by one. That demonstration said, “God has power over Satan, and it is far greater!” Think how Aaron felt when he reached down and picked up his huge snake, and it again became his staff. The message is that God has no equal!