Two Opposing Kingdoms

I’ve meditated so often and so long on that verse, Ephesians 6:12, in the original Greek that I’ve come up with my own sort of paraphrase. You might call this the Prince version. And I’m going to give this to you now.

“For our wrestling match is not against flesh and blood,”

but I like the Living Bible there where it says, “not against persons with bodies,” but against rulers with various areas and descending orders of authority. Against the world dominators of this present darkness. Against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.

Let me explain why I choose some of those words. I say, “rulers with various areas and descending orders of authority,” because the picture is of a very, very highly structured and well-organized kingdom with descending orders of authority and different rulers and sub-rulers responsible for different areas of their territory.

And then I use the word “dominators,” the world dominators of this present darkness, because I believe “dominate” so vividly describes the way Satan treats the human race. And then note that all the translations, except the Living Bible that we’ve followed, emphasize that the headquarters of this highly organized kingdom is in the heavenlies. This is very clear.

Let me bring out some points that emerge from this verse that we’ve been discussing. First of all, the conflict involves all Christians. It’s not some special group of persons, like missionaries, or pastors, or evangelists, but it’s all of us. It’s absolutely general in its application to all Christians.

Many Christians haven’t seen it that way. I didn’t quote the King James Version of verse 12, but it says,

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.”

I once heard someone comment on this that most Christians punctuate that verse wrong. They read it this way: “We wrestle not.” Period. In other words, after that, we sit in the church pew and sing hymns. But Paul says we’re in a wrestling match, but it’s not against flesh and blood.

Then consider the import of the word “wrestling match.” Wrestling is the most intense of all forms of conflict between two persons. Every part of the body, every kind of skill, every kind of trick has to be used for success. It’s total conflict.

The fact that Satan heads a highly organized kingdom astonishes some people. Yet there are many clear indications of this in the Scriptures. I want to read you some words of Jesus about this in Matthew chapter 12, verses 22 through 28. This is an incident in the ministry of Jesus. He had brought healing to a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. He brought healing by driving out the demon, the evil spirit. This is how it goes on:

“All the people were astonished and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.’”

Beelzebub means literally, “lord of flies.” It’s the title of Satan, particularly as the ruler over demons, because the demons are compared to flies or to the whole insect domain.

Now, let’s read the comment of Jesus.

“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?’”

There’s certain clear implications of that. First of all, Satan *has* a kingdom. Secondly, it’s not divided, it’s highly organized. And thirdly, it stands. It has not yet been overthrown.

Then Jesus goes on,

“‘And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.’”

You see that Jesus there mentions another kingdom, the kingdom of God. First, he speaks of Satan’s kingdom, then he speaks of the kingdom of God. And he describes one particular point where the conflict between these two kingdoms is brought right out into the open. He says,

“‘When I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then you know the kingdom of God has come.’”

I think the implication is that this particular ministry of driving out demons brings out the forces of Satan’s kingdom into the open and also demonstrates the superiority of the kingdom of God, because the demons are driven out under the authority of that kingdom.

So there are two kingdoms in opposition: the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Satan. Let’s also look in Colossians 1, verses 12 through 14. Paul says,

“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Notice again, there are two domains or kingdoms. There’s the kingdom of light, in which our inheritance lies, but there’s also the dominion of darkness. The word translated “dominion” there in Greek is *exousia*, which means “authority.” In other words, whether we like it or not, Satan *has* authority. He *is* the ruler of a kingdom which the Bible recognizes. So these two kingdoms are engaged in mortal warfare, and the war is coming to its climax as this age comes to a close.