The New Testament part of the Christian Bible is not necessarily considered prophetic in nature, with the exception of Revelation. Granted, it’s not wrong to regard all of Scripture to be prophetic. Including the book of Lamentations, there are 17 specifically prophetic books in the O.T. In the New Testament, Christ’s own words were prophetic at times, especially concerning what would happen to Him, Jerusalem, and His disciples. (see Mt.24:1,2; Luke 19:41-44 and 21:24; John 15:20)
The bulk of Paul’s writings were focused on the doctrinal foundation for the emerging Chruch. This was especially the case with the Epistles. But he did have moments where he shined a light on what the body of believers would eventually face. Ephesians 6:12 is the best example.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Before getting into the details of this verse, here’s something to consider. 1960s radicals that went through college either stayed in academia, went into media, or managed to get elected or otherwise became involved in government at the bureaucratic level. It’s not hard to identify who these folks are simply by paying attention to their actions. However, where did the rest of that generation of “students” end up?
The phrase “all politics is local” is attributed to former Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill. Therefore, with this in mind, let’s look at the four main parts of Ephesians 6:12.
- “principalities”: refers to the state, an office of the state, or authority of the “prince” in power in ancient times; modern usage is any governmental territory; definitely starts at the local level
- “powers“: refers to the ability to act or produce an effect by use of authority and/or control; consider all forms of power you deal with and encounter — your superiors at work, an HOA, anyone who controls your finances, school boards, town councils, utility boards, etc. Basically, this is anyone at a local community level who can control you. (Remember COVID?)
- “rulers of the darkness of this world”: darkness often refers to the absence of light; also that which is done in secrecy and/or ignorance; Christ calls Himself “the Light of the world” in John 8:12 and again in verse 9:5. So, who counters Christ and controls the darkness in this world on the level we’re all familiar with? If you’re saying, “…well Satan, of course…” that’s correct, but by what means does he do this? Right now, in this world, that would include ALL media; everything available to us including social media and all digital content. Those of us who work with any form of media communication in order to get the Christian message out knows this empirically, firsthand. And yes, it does start at the local level when you see what’s going on in schools, public libraries and community holiday displays. Small-town Demshevik pettiness has fought against the truth harder recently than most of us have ever experienced before.
- “spiritual wickedness in high places” : wickedness refers to that which is often more morally depraved and vile rather than simply illegal; this behavior is often excused or diminished as inconsequential by the courts; left unchecked it causes harm and lasting distress. While it’s more prevalent on the national and even state levels of political corruption, we’re seeing a lot of spiritual wickedness on the local level with hometown politicians who openly flaunt the law, especially now that the border is being dealt with.
What we’re seeing by taking a closer look at Ephesians 6:12 is exactly what’s going on in our country. Remember those 60’s type Demshevik radicals mentioned earlier? They make up the local deep state-town councils, school boards, public health officials, HOA’s, even some local businesses. Unfortunately, some charitable organizations and even churches are part of it.
I’m going to continually hammer the idea that winning the election was winning a battle, not the war. President Trump has the House, the Senate, the majority of SCOTUS, and several state governorships to back him up. On our local level, it’s going to be up to us to do the leg work to keep from getting complacent and keep the fight active.
In closing…
Matt Vespa of Townhall.com said: “MAGA is at the peak of its cultural and political power.” (1/28/25) Let’s hope this is true and stays that way for at least the next four years.
In 1962 after Richard Nixon lost the California gubernatorial race, he told the press, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more.” Now with President Trump back and his agenda getting implemented, I think we can paraphrase that line and say to the world, and especially the Demsheviks, “You won’t have the U.S.A to kick around any more.”
