Seize the Moment – Day 1198
The Urgency of Spiritual Warfare!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, June 28.
Psalm 82 opens our eyes to the urgency of spiritual warfare. Dr. Michael Heiser explains about why today’s psalm opened his eyes to the supernatural worldview of the Bible:
Psalm 82 is perhaps the clearest – and perhaps the most startling. … it’s the passage that opened my own eyes. The psalm refers to Yahweh’s administration as a council. The first verse reads: “God (elohim) stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgment in the midst of the gods (elohim).” … A quick read of Psalm 82 informs us that God has called this council meeting to judge the elohim for corrupt rule of the nations. Verse 6 of the psalm declares that these elohim are sons of God. God says to them: “I have said, ‘You are gods [elohim], and sons of the Most High [beney elyon], all of you.’”[1]
Such a supernatural worldview is not new to you, even if you have never heard today’s psalm taught in this light. Jesus called Satan the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31, and Paul called him the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. Moreso, in Ephesians 6:11-12, Paul explained the urgency of spiritual warfare:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The ancient audiences of Jesus Christ understood that there were corrupt rulers of the nations, as Psalm 82 highlighted, which is why the early church understood the Great Commission to be more than a call to evangelism; it was a summons to spiritual warfare!
Seize the moment and pray Psalm 82, meditating upon the rightful rule of Jesus Christ over all the nations – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, First Edition. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 26-27. For further study, explore Deuteronomy 32:8-9, Job 1-2, and 1 Kings 22:19-23.