EPHESIANS: Our Enemy

EPHESIANS Number 69

Ephesians 6:10–13 (KJV 1900)
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

With that overview in mind, let’s begin unpacking our Father’s armor.

You may be familiar with the record of a tiny shepherd boy named David defeating an enormous and fearsome giant named Goliath. As we read in 1 Samuel 17, David did not come to the fight in his own strength. He carried no usual weapons of war. Instead, he had the weapon of a boy. Just a slingshot against an enemy so great that the entire Hebrew army was afraid to fight him. Instead of a sword, spear, and shield, David came in the name of the Lord. He came with a confidence born of having seen God work in the past.

In Father’s power we, like David, are fully capable. We come to this confrontation in the name of the Lord.

Before we even see any of His armor, Father points out three very important things. First, our enemy is tricky. He’s wily. The word used here means scheming and crafty methods. The only other place in the New Testament where we see this word is in Ephesians 4:14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” (Ephesians 4:14, KJV 1900)

The second thing Father makes sure we realize is who we are not in conflict with. Verse 12 tells us that other people are not our enemies in this conflict. This is a spiritual conflict and that is another reason we must rely upon Father’s armor.

Finally, He tells us who our enemy is, and just like that giant enemy David faced, this enemy sounds very frightening. I’m not even sure I want to know what principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places are.

Let’s try to break this down a bit to figure out just who this enemy is.

“Principalities” translates a seemingly simple word in Greek, (arche’). In its simplest form, it means commencement or beginning. It is the word used in John 1:1 which says “In the beginning” or “in the (arche’). We find it in other places as well. One of these is Colossians 1:18 where it refers to the Lord Jesus as the beginning. This usage which speaks of one with whom a process begins is also used of Jesus in several places in The Revelation. That’s the sense it carries here (BDAG pg138 [2] *).

“Powers” translates a word that simply means authorities, officials, or government. Here, the sense is of transcendent rulers and functionaries, powers of the spirit world. These are the rulers of the darkness of this world. Spiritual forces in opposition to God. They constitute spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. Please understand that by heavenly, or high, places, the text does not at all mean the abode of God. Rather it means the spirit realm above, or beyond, our temporal understanding and sight. In Ephesians 2:2 (KJV 1900) we saw the leader of this group referred to as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

Trust me my friends, just like David’s strength was laughable against Goliath, our strength is nothing against this enemy.

* William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature, 2000, 1061.