JACOB'S LADDER

WHAT WE’RE REALLY WRESTLING AGAINST
PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS… BRING IT!

Ephesians 6:12
For 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.

This above scripture has been used to suggest that there are spooky demonic forces OUTSIDE of us, battling for our very souls… Sounds scary right? Well of course it is, bad religion is all about instilling fear. Sort of the opposite of why people get sucked into bad religion to begin with. People want to find peace, and they believe to do this they must find God, and they believe that the only way to do this is to go to whatever church their upbringing deemed fit. Most people don’t know any better, and so when they go to their new churches they believe whatever those religious leaders say… And they love to tell you about the devil and his spooky demons. The problem is, none of what bad religion teaches is true. By the end of this paper you will “see” what we we are really wrestling against, find out what a demon really is, and find out why freedom is found within.

So first let me address this “demon” teaching, that there are evil beings that are trying to possess us and keep us from knowing God. We’ve all seen movies about this nonsense, and probably heard about priests, pastors, and others casting out demons in their services, once again I say, nonsense. Now if you want an in-depth teaching on Demons, I have an article that you can find to the left of the screen that will open your eyes to what they are.

Let me simply tell you, all a demon is, is a FALSE BELIEF, A LIE. We’ve all heard the expression, “They are battling with their demons”. And we understand those “demons” are the problems they have. Well that is much closer to the truth than what you see in the movies and hear from the pulpit today.

This is simple way of clearing things up for you. According to scripture a demon is a messenger of Satan. Satan is the FATHER OF ALL LIES, so any messenger birthed from Satan, would be….. a LIE. Satan is the Father of all LIES, hence his demons are LIES. (That is pretty simple, but I understand many need more explanation – my article will help that).

People will say, they are WICKED SPIRITS, and they are correct. But most people don’t know what a SPIRIT is to begin with. Scripture gives us a very clear answer.

John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Did you catch that, the SPIRIT QUICKENS (makes you aware of things/brings life to your understanding). He then explains that the Words he speaks are SPIRIT. And so they are, WORDS are SPOKEN THOUGHT. And that very simply put is what a SPIRIT is, a THOUGHT! There are thoughts of truth and thoughts of lies. There are Angels and there are Demons.

Jesus said “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life” – His words are SPIRITS (spoken thoughts) of TRUTH. When you have this understanding, you easily understand how it is that Jesus cast out demons.

People believed in LIES, these LIES ruled their thinking, Jesus revealed to them the TRUTH, and the TRUTH always trumps the Lie, and once the TRUTH is understood the LIE is cast out.

For example, there was a time people believed the world was flat, and the center of the universe. LIES! They believed it do deeply they thought it blasphemy to state differently. But now thanks to satellite imaging there are few on this planet that believe the world is flat, much less that it is the center of the universe. The TRUTH cast out that LIE.

If you can hear it, this is what it means when…

2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming

The wicked, are the wicked thoughts of LIES within us, that shall be consumed with the words of truth spoken to them, and these lies shall be destroyed with the enlightenment of the TRUTH.

Oh I know what some are thinking, the WICKED are evil people who do bad things. Well, that’s part right, when you believe a bunch of lies about yourself and others, you can do some pretty terrible things to yourself and others (Because you know no better). But believe me when I say, a PERSON ONLY BECOMES WICKED when they believe LIES. But don’t take my word for it.

Proverbs 29:12
If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked

So, that gives you some groundwork about what demons are. Demons=Lies period. They aren’t Intellectual beings outside of you entering you and making you do bad things.

Jesus said. Mark 7:15 There is nothing from OUTSIDE a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

No everything wrong with man, is already within the heart of man. Because of all the lies mankind has believed about themselves, about the world, and mainly about God.

So now to the heart of the paper. What are we really wrestling against? You’ve heard it said that it is a spooky battle taking place outside of us all around us, these principles and powers that we wrestles against, many religious teachers say are demonic forces… well if they mean the lies of religious leaders they would be right. But trust me when I say, there is no literal spiritual battle taking place outside of us for our souls. In fact, it is pretty simple to find out what we wrestle against, by simply looking us what scripture tells us principalities and powers are.

Okay, so for those that believe there is some spiritual war waging above our heads in the “invisible realm” get ready to get over it! Those are nothing more than fairy tales, false beliefs of men and women dead set on scaring people into submission. And doing a good job I may add… As I child I was horrified there were demons outside my window, trying to possess me.

Now try to catch this “Church” — God does NOT give us the SPIRIT (THOUGHTS) OF FEAR! But religion is all about Fear tactics, they say do this, or do that, OR ELSE! They get you to fear everything from invisible creatures outside of you, people of others faiths, terrorists, an imaginary place of infinite torture, and more. But GOD doesn’t give us these THOUGHTS, so why is everyone so scared? The answer is, these principalities and powers!

We must remember there is a war is WITHIN. Two nations at war in your womb/soul (Carnal Man and Spirit Man) – (Flesh and Spirit) (Adam and Christ) (Dead and Life) (Ignorance and Truth)

Now granted, this demon stuff makes for great scary movies. With all the scary monsters and screams and stuff, but all of those images are coming from the HEART OF MAN, which is on evil (ignorance and lies) pretty much twenty-four seven.

You see, everything INSIDE OF US already possesses us and the only way out of these LIES in our head is CHRIST (the TRUTH) – Christ (The TRUTH reveals the Lie for what it is, and destroys the LIE with the BRIGHTNESS (Enlightenment) of its coming (revealing).

As I stated earlier it didn’t matter how many people agreed it the world was flat, the TRUTH was and is, IT ISN’T… And once the TRUTH reveals this LIE, the LIE is destroyed, and now we know THE EARTH is NOT FLAT but is actually resting on the back of a GIGANTIC TURTLE 🙂 … GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD! 🙂

So let’s move onto this passage in Ephesians and let me show you what it REALLY MEANS, (or what I pray and hope it means, as you all know I could be completely off my rocker and this is why you MUST take everything to GOD) – But I’ll back up these statements with many biblical witnesses that will make it hard for you to disagree… And if you do, well it’s always your right to believe what you will.

Ephesians 6:12
For 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.

Okay, so let’s start at the beginning of Ephesians 6 to get an idea of where Paul was coming from.

He starts by explaining, 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

First of all, he isn’t speaking of literal children here. Paul is saying to those NEW TO THE FAITH, listen to those who are instructing you into the truth. Then he goes on to say many other things very similar to this. Honor mother and father, do good to all men, as if doing it to the Lord and not men. (Good advice)

Ephesians 6:8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Another great and IMPORTANT LESSON – REAPING AND SOWING. You always get what you put out… But let’s continue.

Ephesians 6:9And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. 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.

The whole of this chapter up till this point is how we are to act toward OTHERS in and out of the faith. Up till this point there is nothing spooooky about what Paul is teaching here. It is simply a lesson in how to deal with PEOPLE period.

But it is the next line that every go bananas over! And in some cases I do mean that literally.

Ephesians 6:12
For 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.

Now if we were to take this to mean demonic forces like the movies depict it would be out-of-place in relation to the rest of this epistle. Let’s put in simple terms as to what Paul is basically saying up to that point.

Pretend for a moment, I am Paul writing this letter.

“Hey everyone, remember to listen to those who are instructing you. Honor those who have Fathered and Mothered you in the faith. And you Fathers of the Faith don’t provoke those you teach, don’t mess with their heads or treat them in poor fashion, otherwise they may grow in the Lord and start to despise you. But nurture them and be gentle with them. Those who serve others, do it as if you are doing it to God, don’t be fake, be real, genuine, show them love and let the light of Christ show in all things you do. Knowing that whatever you sow you will reap, so do good and you’ll get good. And you bosses, don’t threaten, be kind, knowing God is no respecter of persons and you are no better than the one serving you. So give your employees a big fat raise, don’t be cheap! 🙂 … Finally brothers and sisters, be strong in God who is Love, and in the power of his might, be quick to forgive and encourage. Put on the whole thinking of God dwell in the complete truth so you won’t fall victim to the lies of your carnal mind, which are LIES spoken against us, and the lies we may fall victim to if we listen to our carnal mind.”

This letter, that I loosely translated is clear, Paul is instructing people how to act and how not to act.

So what does the next line mean? Does Paul all of a sudden dive off the deep end and start talking about scary monsters and evil spirits… Is he one moment is giving good advice and then says, but BEWARE there are EVILLLLLLL SPIRITS CIRCLING YOUR HEAD, they want to EAT YOUR HEART AND BRAINS… So WRESTLE THEM?… OR, is PAUL speaking about the literal RULERS OF DARKNESS of his day (The Pharisees and Religious of the land) those who were seeking to have them all killed for the liberty they all found, in the great mystery of CHRIST WITHIN.

Would it not make more sense that Paul is speaking of SOME OF the RELIGIOUS LEADERS, who were liars and deceivers of Paul’s day, that his students should be weary off.

Ephesians 6:12
For 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.

Well everyone that is EXACTLY what this verse means. It has NOTHING to do with monsters that go bump in the night, but it has everything to do with the MONSTERS of the day who would KILL THE TRUTH OF GOD rather than allow it to be spread.

Don’t believe me? Well let’s just take a look at who these RULERS are?

Luke 24:20
And how the chief priests and our RULERS delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

The RULERS of this DARKNESS (Ignorance/lies/idolatry/false beliefs/tradition) are the RELIGIOUS RULERS of the land. Who scour the earth to make one proselyte twice the SON OF HELL THEY ARE! These RULERS we indeed wrestle against… They don’t like our type.

Think about it, how hard was it to let go of all the false beliefs you once to come to where you are today. We are all wrestling to break free from our ignorance, our idolatry, we are all wrestling against all those religious, political, matriarchal, and patriarchal rules and beliefs we have been force-fed since birth.

John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved DARKNESS rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Darkness has no LIGHT (TRUTH) – The Darkness is IGNORANCE. And the RULERS of this DARKNESS are those spouting the lies and error from the altar, pulpit, public office, and our own homes, who are convincing the world to worship the lies they believe and spread instead of God within.

Now Ephesians 6:12 also mentions “principalities” and yes again mankind has taken a cue from Dante’s inferno and assumed that these also represent DEMONIC GHOULS, MONSTERS as opposed to the badddddd RELIGIOUS/POLITICAL MEN AND WOMEN who are in a position of authority, who are out to smother the TRUTH of GOD, for what they believe to be true.

Titus 3:1
Put them in mind to be subject to PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

Principalities and Powers are PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY and CONTROL. Religious and/or Political leaders that did not like a gospel going around that promised salvation WITHIN and WITHOUT Religion. A Gospel that says to love your enemies, to do good to those that hurt you, to love everyone, especially those in need. These principalities and powers don’t like that. Which is why we have war, famine, poverty, racism, prejudice, condemnation, hate crimes, and worse.

Now these RULER of DARKNESS were OF THIS WORLD. They were CARNAL and is it not true that even today these are who we wrestle with? Maybe not literally wrestling with them but do we not wrestle with what religion and politics is saying is right and wrong. Don’t we wrestle with the beliefs, traditions, and lies, bad religion, or those who claim to be the end all be all when it comes to knowing God, spout?

Aren’t some of you reading this right now wrestling to hear (comprehend) some of the new things God is revealing in even this essay? And aren’t those who have had these great truths revealed, aren’t some even scared to speak these TRUTHS openly for fear of what might happen? Aren’t MANY worried what will happen if anyone finds out THAT THEY believe in a GOD THAT IS IN CONTROL, a GOD that WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED?

Are these not the “principalities AND powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Paul is speaking of?

And let’s take it a bit farther. What are the HIGH PLACES where all this spiritual wickedness is taking place?

Leviticus 26:30
And I will destroy your HIGH PLACES, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

These HIGH PLACES are the sanctuaries, temples, churches, and altars made to false gods(Beliefs).

1 Kings 3:2
Only the people sacrificed in HIGH PLACES, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

2 Chronicles 14:3
For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the HIGH PLACES, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

Psalm 78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their HIGH PLACES, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

Starting to put it all together now everyone? Can we now throw out the Harry Potter magic nonsense, put away the scary teaching of spooky monsters out to get us all, and know our enemy for what it is…. LIES/FALSE BELIEFS spoken by people in positions of authority.

These HIGH PLACES are the very places where the RULERS OF DARKNESS (Ignorant religious/political teachers) say YOU MUST GO TO OR ELSE! – Sound familiar?

I can name a bunch of religions that say if you don’t go to their HIGH PLACE you can’t inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. But we, who are waking up to this great gospel understand that the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is WITHIN. And the HOPE OF GLORY is CHRIST, who is OUR LIFE. And we don’t need to go anywhere but WITHIN! For that is where our hope lies!

Ephesians 6:12
For 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.

Okay, so now we know Paul was NOT talking about ghouls and monsters but about Religious, Political, Mean Men and Women who stand in the way of the GOSPEL being spread.

Luke 21:12
But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and RULERS for my name’s sake.

If you STILL have a problem believing that this verse in Ephesians has nothing to do with monsters, ghosts, ghouls then READ ON, YE OF LITTLE FAITH!

Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore 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. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

This is Paul’s advice, he is telling us when we go out to preach the TRUTH we need to keep the whole truth in our heart and mind. So we will be able to stand with the TRUTH in the face of adversity… He teaches above all else to have PEACE and to make peace with all, even the wicked (ignorant)

But truly it is verse 16 that should give most of you that smack on your head, like you forgot to have your V8 today.

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And what are the FIERY DARTS of the WICKED? They are the words, accusations, and condemnations of those who say you are decieved. This is why we need the SHIELD OF FAITH. Without Faith it is impossible to please God. Without Faith you will never be able to walk in this Truth. Your FAITH makes you whole and keeps you from be ruined, hurt, or even believing that somehow you have made a mistake. Your Faith should always be that GOD IS IN CONTROL, NOT MAN!

This morning early, this scripture came (revealed) to me. And now I put it to all of you. So you also can have liberty from this ancient lie. And the only thing that could keep you from this liberty are the PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, AND RULES OF DARKNESS OF THE WORLD. (Who are simply ignorant men and women who want to be in control, instead of admitting God is ALL IN ALL)

But don’t take this LIBERTY lightly, even though it has…

Colossians 2:14 Blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled PRINCIPALITIES and POWERS, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

SOOOOOOOO,

17 LET NO MAN therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.

I pray one day we will no longer need to wrestle against these vain beliefs, traditions, and errors of the day. But that we will walk in newness of life knowing that WE AND CHRIST are ONE! In the meantime, spread the GOOD WORD. 🙂

Peace to you all,
Jacob
http://www.JacobIsrael.org
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