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"For we wrestle not
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BUT WITH PRINCIPALITIES
| in heavenly
with flesh and blood
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. . . . . OF THIS WORLD
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places."
We do not wrestle with flesh and blood; neither do we wrestle in heavenly places.
We do wrestle with spiritual wickednesses who are the rulers of the darkness of this
world, not of that world at the right hand of God. The reader may appreciate a
confirmatory passage where a similar division of subject is necessary. As II Pet. 1: 19
stands in the A.V. it lends colour to the erroneous teaching that the Second Coming of
Christ is not to be understood as a literal future event, but as the `day star' arising `in our
hearts'. We get the truth by dividing the verse as we divided Eph. 6: 12:
"Whereunto ye do well
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as unto a light . . . . . and
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in your
that ye take heed
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the day star arises
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hearts."
What is `the evil day' of Eph. 6: 13? We know that there is yet to be war in heaven
between Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his angels (Rev. 12: 7). We know
that when Israel crossed the Jordan and entered their inheritance, Jericho was encircled
and its walls fell. So, too, there may be a day for which we are now preparing. For the
present, however, it is certain that no campaign or conquest is in view in Eph. 6: Our
orders are to `stand', to `stand against' and to `withstand'. To exceed our orders is as
much disobedience as to refuse to obey.
Stand and Withstand.
It is noteworthy that the actual word "fight" does not occur in Eph. 6: We are
instructed that our "wrestling" is not towards (pros) flesh and blood, but spiritual foes.
The word that is most prominent in the description of the conflict is the word "stand":--
"That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil-- . . . . . that ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. STAND THEREFORE"
(Eph. 6: 11-14).
There appears to be three phases of conflict suggested here:--
1. Standing against the wiles of the devil.
2. Withstanding in the evil day.
3. Having worked out all, to stand.
The wiles of the devil are in active operation at the present time; open warfare is not
yet the order of the day. Wiles, strategems, craft, cunning, snares, wolves in sheep's
clothing, ministers of satan like ministers of righteousness, these are some of the devil's
devices. Eph. 4: 14 uses the word methodeia, translated "lie in wait to deceive", which
has been rendered a "systematic deception". We find the system at work in II Cor. 4:
There Paul repudiates the "craftiness" and the "deceitful handling of the word of God" by
his opponent, and appears clad in the armour of righteousness as he battles for the truth
(II Cor. 4: 2-4; 6: 7). The days in which we live are evil (Eph. 5: 16), evil is to increase
(II Tim. 3: 13). We are at present training for the mighty battle that lies ahead. Some