I began this blog several years ago because of a deep concern that the traditional teachings of the denominations of Christianity and institutional churches had embedded false dogma, false belief systems into God’s word, twisting how to read and study God’s word, and was causing many to misunderstand God’s prophesies in the Bible. 

My posts have mostly been directed toward the twisted teachings of “end times” and “end of days” or “end of the world” doctrines that are not found in the Scriptures. These false doctrines were founded upon pre-conceived ideas, misapplied scripture, and biases picked up from incorrectly attributing false ideas and pagan theology onto God’s word. It is critical to know how to read the scriptures from the first audience perspective so that God’s word can be correctly divided and understood.

During this process I discovered some other ideas that I had been taught in church which were also not according to the word of God.  I had heard them taught by preachers while sitting in church pews over many years, and they were scripted, traditional teachings that many churches still teach every Sunday.

The problem with these preconceived and learned biases is that they blind us to God’s true meanings so that when we read His words we do not really see them. We assume His words mean what preachers or pastors or other trained teachers of men have told us for years.  We relied upon trained, schooled, doctored theologians to tell us what to think.

We have to learn how to look up the original words in the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries, concordances, and lexicons in order to unlearn the false ideas planted in our minds.  We have to compare the different versions of the translations to see the best meanings. We have to keep the scriptures in the proper context, and in their contemporary historical setting.

We have to learn to think for ourselves and question everything we have been taught from the pulpits to see which are true, and which are false.  (Testing the spirits) Some of the traditional church teachings of God’s word are true, but some are not.

Many of the commentaries have the same false indoctrinated teachings and must also be weeded out.  So we cannot rely completely on the commentaries either as they are teaching the same indoctrinated dogmas learned through the last 2,000 years from the institutions of men.  That is not to say they are all wrong, but when it comes to the prophetic scriptures many miss the mark.  They miss the mark in other areas as well.

One of the problems that cause us to misunderstand God’s word is that we in the western world are taught to be very literal minded and we were taught to read a document of eastern world origin, written in ancient times for an eastern pictographic mindset as if every word was supposed to be understood as literal. Many of us are learning to understand that God’s prophesies and much of His word contain many pictures of metaphors, similes, and much hyperbole.  We have looked at some at this blog, but there is more to unlearn.

I want to take a hard look at a section of scripture that is causing many people to miss the spiritual metaphors that God used.  Please bear with me as this takes some time.

Ephesians 6:10-20,

“¹⁰ As to the rest, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; ¹¹ put on the whole armour of God, for your being able to stand against the wiles of the devil,

¹² because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;

¹³ because of this take ye up the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to resist in the day of the evil, and all things having done — to stand. ¹⁴ Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about in truth, and having put on the breastplate of the righteousness,

¹⁵ and having the feet shod in the preparation of the good-news of the peace; ¹⁶ above all, having taken up the shield of the faith, in which ye shall be able all the fiery darts of the evil one to quench,

¹⁷ and the helmet of the salvation receive, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the saying of God, ¹⁸ through all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and in regard to this same, watching in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints —

¹⁹ and in behalf of me, that to me may be given a word in the opening of my mouth, in freedom, to make known the secret of the good news, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in a chain, that in it I may speak freely — as it behoveth me to speak.”  (YLT)

What was Paul telling us to use as our weapons in this battle that he said is not against flesh and blood?  Was Paul telling the Ephesians to pick up a knife, or a bow and arrow, or swords and clubs to fight an unseen spiritual demonic being? What is our weapon in this battle but the truth of God’s word, the words of the Holy Spirit, the saying of God, the two-edged sword of the gospel of Christ, which Paul said was our armor and shield.

So, their (and our) weapons are the words of God, the breath (pneuma) of God, the Spirit of truth (1 John 4:6).  And what did John tell us to do?  We are to test or prove the spirits (1 John 4:1).   I went over this in the first part I of Testing the Spirits and showed how these spirits are not some demonic non-physical entity, but are the words of false prophets, the words of men, the words they speak, their breath that goes out into the world.  If they do not speak the truth of God’s breath, then they are false spirits, false accusers, evil spirits or liars (devils and demons).

So, what does Paul say our battle is against? We battle the words or spirits of principalities, authorities, and world-rulers.  These are men who speak falsely, who tyrannize people with their laws and regulations and rules and ordinances that they speak into the air and use enforcers to strip the people of their wealth, their property, and their lives just as pirates and robbers do.  Especially, these are men who speak false doctrines, false religion, breathing their lies out into the air of the world to deceive the weak minded and turn them away from God.

This is a spiritual battle we are told to fight with the Holy Spirit’s words of truth.  What did Paul ask them to do for him? Vs. 19. pray, “..that to me may be given a word in the opening of my mouth…”

The word translated as “world-rulers” in vs. 12 is Strong’s Gr. 2888, “kosmokrator”, and it means a ruler of this earthly world.  (Biblehub) Thayer’s says that it refers to the devil and demons, and refer to the verses at John 12:31 (the ruler of this world), and 2 2 Cor. 4:4 (the god of this age).  They say that this word is used in ecclesiastical writings of Satan, and in rabbinical writings for both human rulers and of the angel of death. Are the traditional writings of men scripture?

The Expositor’s Greek explains the use of “kosmokrator” as “The noun κοσμοκράτωρ is found in the Orphic Hymns (iii., 3, of Satan), in inscriptions (C. I., 5892, with ref. to the emperor), in Gnostic writings (of the devil), and in the Rabbinical literature in transliterated Hebrew form (of the angel of death, and of kings like the four pursued by Abraham, and Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, Belshazzar; cf. Wetstein, in loc.; Fischer’s Buxtorf, Lex., p. 996, etc.). According to usage as well as formation, therefore, it means not merely rulers (Eth., Goth.), but world-rulers, powers dominating the world as such and working everywhere.”  (Biblehub)

May we ask ourselves please to consider the sources of these writings?  Orphic Hymns were written by men, as were the Gnostic writings, and the Rabbinical literature. Does that make them scripture given by the Holy Spirit?  Did this meaning come from another bible verse or scripture source?  This is the only time this word was used in scripture, so the context has to be our guide.

Each of the commentaries Eph. 6:12 at Biblehub.com (Biblehub) attribute these world-rulers to the same misunderstanding of “spiritual hosts of evil” (Ellicott’s); or “the mighty princes of all the infernal legions” (Benson); or “devil” and “Satan” (Matthew Henry’s); or “invisible spirits of wickedness” (Barnes’ Notes); or “Satan” and “demons” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown); or “malicious spirits” (Gill’s Exposition); or “evil angels” (Geneva Study Bible); or “superhuman and superterrestrial enemies” (Meyer’s NT Commentary); or “demonic authorities” (Expositor’s Greek); or “personal evil spirits as members and leaders of an organized spirit-world” (Cambridge Bible); or “evil spirits that lurk behind men” (Bengel’s Gnomen); and “invisible foes” (Pulpit Commentary).

Friends, does consensus mean truth?  If they all agree because they have all been influenced by a false idea does that mean their agreement is infallible? 

The antithesis (opposite) of “flesh and blood” in Eph. 6:12 is not some unseen invisible spirit entity, but is instead the words of the false prophets, false teachers, false accusers (diabolos / devil), and liars.  We are not fighting this battle against their physical bodies, but we are fighting their false words, their false spirits with the armor of God’s word, and God’s Spirit.

The meaning and use of “heavenly places” depends upon the context.  In prophesy, God used the “heavens” for the kingdoms of men when He sent a prophet to warn a nation or king of coming judgment (Isa. 13:5, 13).  That king’s dominion was his piece of God’s earth, and that king’s rule over that nation or territory was a small type of “heaven”, a small part of God’s rule over all the earth from God’s heavenly throne above.

So, heavenly places of world-rulers and principalities are their dominion on this earth over which they rule.  The world-rulers have power over their nations, and rule from a high palace position – their heavenly places.  The world rulers do not sit in God’s heaven above.

Strong’s Gr. 2032 is “epouranios”, and means heavenly, celestial, in the heavenly sphere, in the sphere of spiritual activities; metaphor – divine, spiritual. Thayer’s definition for Eph. 6:12 is at 1.b, the lower heavens, or the heavens of the clouds. (Biblehub)  The lower heavens?  Aren’t the palaces of kings a lower heaven?

Many insist that this usage in Eph. 6:12 must be the same as used in Eph. 1:20, but that is not consistent with proper application of hermeneutic principles.  Context is always key.  Eph. 1:20 speaks of where Jesus sits and rules at the right hand of our Father.  Eph. 6:12 speaks of where world-rulers sit and rule from their thrones on this earth.  Both are called “heavenly places” as they are positions of power and rule.  But one of them is in our Father’s heaven above, and the other are those smaller dominions ruled by men here on earth. Specifically, and in context at the time the book of Ephesians was written it referred to those rulers of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem and the Roman emperors and magistrates of “that” world before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

All of this confusion comes from the influence that the Jews picked up from their association during the Babylonian captivity with the Babylonian and Persian pagan beliefs of a two-god religion with a good god and a bad god of the underworld, idol gods, demi-gods, and demons.  It is not from scripture; it is not from God’s word.  This belief was picked up and has been laid over God’s word and has distorted the teachings of God’s word to cause great fear that is completely unnecessary.

The Adversary (Hebrew ha satan) is anyone who opposes God or God’s people, and it is men who oppose God.  The Jewish mysticism has caused all of this pagan nonsense and it was picked up by early Christians in the 1^st and 2^nd centuries AD during pagan Roman and Greek cultures. 

Please note, the Adversary of Job is not the “devil” or “serpent” of Genesis 3.  Job’s adversary works for God, is an agent of God, and must ask God’s permission before he acts against any of us (Job 1:12, 2:6; Luke 22:31).  That adversary is under God’s control, and part of the heavenly host.

The evil we witness in this world is caused by selfish, greedy men, by human actions which have consequences.  They need to be held fully accountable for their actions, which God will do at their judgment day when they pass from this earthly realm. Blaming a disembodied evil spirit named “Satan” or the “Devil” for their actions is shifting sin away from the sinner.  It is mankind that fell into sin, not the heavenly messengers.

This has been an extra-long discussion, but I feel it is necessary so that people may re-consider what they have always believed.  Please read my posts on “Testing the Spirits – Part VI (a), (b), (c): Demons, Devils, & Idols” from August 2022 as well as Part IV (a) and (b): “Slandering Angels.”  Please also read my post from July 9, 2016, “The God of This Age…” as it referred to the “god” that ruled their world in the first century AD, either Caesar Nero who claimed to be a god, or the High Priest in Jerusalem.  Always remember the first audience perspective.

There is much to discover and relearn; much to discard and correct to get rid of all of the pagan doctrines that have been applied to God’s word for centuries. 

The Jews began with a better understanding of “the devil” as a personification of man’s inclination to sin.  The Jewish “yetzer hara” is the traditional belief that is the human inclination toward self gratification which drives the impulse to do evil.  It is based upon God’s statement in Gen.6:5 that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually evil.  It is the internal will of our minds that causes us to rebel against God’s divine will, and to become disobedient children.

“¹³ Let no one say, being tempted — `From God I am tempted,’ for God is not tempted of evil, and Himself doth tempt no one, ¹⁴ and each one is tempted, by his own desires being led away and enticed, ¹⁵ afterward the desire having conceived, doth give birth to sin, and the sin having been perfected, doth bring forth death.”  James 1:13-15, YLT)

The “yetzer hara” – our own desires and inclinations to sin.

After some time the rabbis took off into flights of fancy and pure imagination to go beyond God’s word and invented much mystic, secret tales. It is the Jewish Kabbalistic sources that expanded the view of Satan and the devil in portraying a demonic realm, with forces of evil in the world, a ruler of the underworld, and how to ward off these evil beings with various forms of magic and amulets. (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/satan-the-adversary/)

Jesus defeated that old serpent, the Adversary and devil when He conquered our sins through His sacrifice, and tore down that old “heaven and earth” temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. He provided the way out of the sin we caused through our own actions so that we may have eternal life, and thereby defeated death.

It is my hope that this post will be examined with a true and sincere heart.  Blessings to all.

Edited Feb. 28, 2024. Updated the title as I find that I must make this into a two part series.

More on the Jewish beliefs of their Kabbalah can be found at these links: (informational only, none of which I endorse)

The Origins of Kabbalah, an excerpt from Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer’s book – https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/books/the-origins-of-kabbalah-hevgsk50

Jewish mysticism, secret teachings, invented tales that are not scripture, not taught in the Bible, but are said to be “hints” that can be deduced.  These are said to be ancient, but some appear to date from the 2^nd century AD.  Generally, the Kabbala, or “Tradition” is an oral tradition dated to the 12^th century AD, and is recognized as esoteric Jewish mysticism.  Said to be “secret knowledge of unwritten Torah from divine revelation that was communicated by God to Moses and Adam…. providing a means of approaching God directly.”  (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kabbala)  The earliest forms may have been from the Merkava mysticism dating back to the 1^st century AD in Palestine.

There is a youtube video on the BimBam channel that provides a brief history the beginnings of Kabbalah teachings and Jewish mysticism here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOmDIoHD3yw

This is a similar tale of how the Qur’an was written from secret revelations from “Allah,” and also how Joseph Smith relayed the book of Mormon from secret revelations.

The Birth of the Good Inclination by Jeffrey Spitzer – https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-birth-of-the-good-inclination/

“The rabbinic duality of yetzer hara, the so-called “evil inclination,” and yetzer hatov, the “good inclination,” is more subtle than the names connote. Yetzer hara is not a demonic force that pushes a person to do evil, but rather a drive toward pleasure or property or security, which if left unlimited, can lead to evil (cf. Genesis Rabbah 9:7). “

The Jewish midrash teaches that the good inclination, the yetzer hatov only enters a person at 13 years of age, and so begins a battle in the person to control his physical urges. As the inclination to do evil, the yetzer hara was present at birth (or conception) it is believed to be 13 years older than the yetzer hatov and therefore is stronger.