Spiritual Conflict
There is tremendous suffering in the world. The eyes of the world have been on the Middle East, but many areas are suffering. This has been the history of human civilization since Adam and Eve. Wars, famine, disease, abuse of all kinds, even murder have been the plagues of humankind. It is because of rebellion against God down through the ages. The innocent people suffer, even babies. Some people reject God because of what they see. Their reasoning is if God created us, he sure made a mess of things. Why doesn’t he do something?!!!
We do not see the spiritual world. There is conflict going on all the time in the invisible world around us. Consider the war between the state of Israel and the state of Iran. God could have saved all lives and prevented suffering. If he saved the Iranians, they would give glory to Allah. God will not share His glory with Allah. The Koran says Allah has no sons, so Allah is not our God. If God saved the Israelis, they would not give glory to the Son of God. They follow a spirit called Antichrist. “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23. God does not want the Antichrist spirit to get the glory.
There are spiritual entities involved in every sin in our national life. The evil spirits are older than humanity. The spirit Molech is behind the abortion industry and the ritual abuse and sacrifice of children. The spirit Ashtoreth is behind the pornography industry and a whole range of sexual sins. Jesus spoke of Mammon, connected with wealth and covetousness. Why did he not just say money? I believe Mammon is another evil spirit. Communism claims to worship no gods, but I believe they worship a god of power, strength, domination and force, called the god of forces in Daniel 11:38.
The book of Daniel gives us a glimpse of the kind of conflict that occurs in the spiritual realm. The Lord spoke to Daniel. “Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” Daniel 10:20. The princes of Persia and Greece were mighty evil angels. The mighty archangel called Michael helped the Lord in his fight against the prince of Persia. I believe Michael and other holy angels will fight for the U.S.A., the U.K., Canada, Australia, etc., the countries of the lost tribes of Israel. They will fight for us if we call on the name of Jesus. Satan has a plan for the world. God interferes with Satan’s plan and has his own plan.
I believe God is almost ready to bind Satan and all the evil spirits and send them to the pit of hell for a thousand years. Then we will see what good leadership can do as Jesus Christ becomes King of Israel and Emperor of the world. There is a greater day coming. We are not to look at the chaos in the world and become distressed. We are to look up to our Father in heaven and give Him thanks for our wonderful inheritance in the coming kingdom. Jesus Christ is coming to destroy evil and send the powerful angels that rule this world to the pit of hell where they will be bound for a thousand years. He will then rule as King and appoint his brothers and sisters as rulers of the world. That is us. We are the children of God the Father. We are the royal priesthood that will rule in his kingdom. “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:3. When the evil angels are released from hell, they will cause chaos and destruction again for a brief period. (Revelation 20:7-9). Then we will judge them and send them to the lake of fire for eternity.
Every day the evil angel rulers send out lesser spirits to tempt Christians and make them sin. We must resist, and obey God’s commandments with our behavior, speech, and thoughts, asking God’s forgiveness when we fail. That is our training in spiritual warfare in this mortal life.
