I used to think that the verse in Ephesians, (6:12) that says in part: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities…against spiritual wickedness in high places“, was referring largely to religion and heretical doctrine, especially because of the phrase “spiritual wickedness”. But read the rest of the verse and it’s clear that “spiritual wickedness” is a lot more than pervasive than just in a religious context. After seeing all the anti-American and even downright evil actions of the Democrats since President Trump’s inauguration, I believe the term “high places” also has a different meaning.
What’s interesting is to look at the concept of “high places” as going beyond religion, to include not only government but the so-called gatekeepers of our culture.
For some, this concept is known as the spirit of the age. That phrase is not found in any one verse of scripture, but is alluded to throughout the New Testament. According to collinsdictionary.com, the term “spirit of the age” (or even “spirit of the world”) is a “…set of ideas, beliefs and aims that is typical of people in a particular period of history.”
Before going any further, it’s significant to see how spiritual the world really is outside of a religious context, without being aware of it.
According to my copy of the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Edition), the word “spirit” comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath. The overall definition outside of religion is extremely comprehensive and includes ghostly and otherworldly uses of the word. However, two specific components point exactly to the spirit of the age concept: 1) temper or disposition of mind or outlook, and 2) an indication, impulse, or tendency of a special kind; mood.
So, the spirit of the age trends towards impulsiveness, ever-changing outlooks, moods, emotions, and basically whatever is PC enough to float your boat at the moment. (Consider also as “the course of this world”, as found in Eph. 2:2)
Scripture, on the other hand, admonishes us to always “test the spirits” (1 Jn. 4:1). The ability to understand what is of God and what is of the world is also a spiritual gift (1 Cor.12:19) This ability of discernment is witnessed throughout the Old and New Testaments (Another spirit, Num. 14:24; a haughty spirit, Prov. 16:18; a humble spirit, Isa. 57:15; a quiet spirit, 1 Peter 3:4…to mention only a few examples)
Earlier this year I wrote a series of four articles (appearing here in Clash Daily on 6/29, 7/20, 7/27, 8/17) concerning the Emerging Church and how deceptive this doctrinal trend has become. Without going into detail (you’ll have to read the articles…please) what I was discussing in this impromptu series was how easily Christians can get conned. This is the religious side of “spiritual wickedness in high places”.
What I’m talking about here, though, is the need to understand the total, complete evil that comes from our own government, from social media, from all forms of entertainment, and is starting to make us numb to things we would not have tolerated 10 years ago.
Spiritual wickedness now permits it to be common for liberal mobs to attack conservatives in public places; it’s now okay to help criminal Illegal Aliens but not American citizens; it’s now okay to ignore voting regulations and only cry foul when a Democrat loses; it’s now okay to claim that it’s “un-Christian” to want to stop abortions. So on and so forth… there’s almost no end to the list.
You cannot win a battle without understanding your enemy. We’re not the ones causing chaos, and yes, even evil, in our country. The Left will only continue with their spiritual wickedness until we fight back and fight back to win. We have to, or America as we know it is gone. That in itself is the desired result of spiritual wickedness in high places.
In closing, please consider 1 Cor. 15:33, 34
“Be not deceived: evil company corrupts good morals. Awake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God.“
