What does it mean that we wrestle against Spiritual Wickedness in heavenly places?

Paul the Apostle is describing what happens when one engages in spiritual warfare. The verses that discuss this matter is Ephesians 6:12-18. The key word here wrestle comes from the Greek word pale. Pale (pronounced pal-lay) comes from another word Palaestra which was a Greek school to train wrestlers. The objective of the wrestler was to subdue his opponent by pinning his shoulders to the ground.  So now we see why Paul used the illustration of wrestling when dealing with evil spirits - it was so his audience, the Ephesians could relate to his message.

How are we to wrestle?

The answer is we are to wrestle in the Spirit through prayer. Once we put on all the armor of God, the Bible says, "Pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding on behalf of all the saints" (Eph 6:18) - Amplified Version. 

The McCabe part about our spiritual conflict is that we are battling enemies we cannot see. Unless the Lord allowed us to see into the spiritual world where the heavenly hosts and wicked spirits reside, we are fighting in an invisible war from the human side, by faith or trust in God that what we are doing is indeed effective. 

This is what it says regarding our struggle in 2 Corinthians 10:4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (or of the flesh) but are mighty through God for the overthrow of strongholds."

Thank God we have help!

Fortunately, we are not alone in this warfare. The Holy Spirit assists as well as Jesus Christ. Let me prove it. 

Romans 8:26-27 declares, "So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weaknesses; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance." 

"And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God on behalf of the saints according to the will of God."

In verse thirty-four we read that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

Holy Spirit led prayer will always result in victory - we absolutely cannot lose!! Why?

When we are praying according to the will of God, the Holy Trinity is involved. In verses 26 and 27 it says that the Spirit is praying, yearning and groaning to God the Father with an utterance to great for words. We can never know what it is, but you can rest assured it is perfect Holy communication to the Father who knows the mind of the Holy Spirit and will do what needs to be done according to His perfect will.

As an added loving benefit, the Lord Jesus also who sits at the place of authority and honor, the Father's right hand also is interceding on our behalf. 

All of these elements are engaged when we are in spiritual warfare. How do we battle? Through prayer in the Spirit. 

God has promised us eternal peace, but to obtain it we have to go to war for now, in the earth realm against spiritual wickedness in high and heavenly places.

To get a perfect illustration of spiritual warfare in action please read the entire ninth chapter of Daniel.

When God Repents

It is admittedly strange to think of using the word repent when relating to God. For us, repenting has to do with changing one's mind regarding sin - forsaking it and running to the Lord. Obviously, God does not repent in the same way we must repent; that is from sin.  We only hear of God repenting in the Old Testament, not the New. The word repent in Hebrew is the word naham which means to comfort, to relent. 

The word repent appears 40 times and the word comfort appears 65 times.  In Genesis 6:6 we read that God repented (as it says in the KJV) that He made man on the earth and that it grieved the Lord at His heart. Now, that seems like an odd thing for the Lord to say right? Why would God regret that he made man when He knew what man would do before He created him? Scholars say that the writer is describing God in what is called the anthropopathic mode. What that means is that human emotions and characteristics are being attached to God. It helps us as finite human beings understand God better if we describe Him with emotions.

What God actually regretted was man's evil, not the fact that He created man. God said everything He created was very good (Gen 1:31). So, there were no mistakes on God's part. The mistakes are all on us.

We also hear of God repenting when Moses intercedes on behalf of rebellious Israel. When Moses when up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, the Israelites have Aaron build them a golden calf - an Egyptian deity so they can worship it and have an orgy. This is what the scripture says, and the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way I have commanded them, They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it...Now, therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation out of you. But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, "O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought up out of the Land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did He bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit forever.' "And the Lord repented (or relented) from the disaster that He had spoken of bringing on His people (Exodus 32:7-8, 10-14).

The reason God did not destroy His people is because Moses interceded for them to spare their lives. God was within His rights to wipe them out because they had violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods besides me (Exodus 20:3). Repentance in the form of mercy was extended to Israel due to the prayer of Moses.

Another account of God repenting is in the book of Jonah. We read that the city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. Jonah preached only eight words, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4). The entire city sits in sackcloth and ashes, fasts and repents. Starting with the king to the least of them - even the animals. As a result of their humility and confession of sin, God spared the city (Jonah 3:5-10).

As a reminder, God does not repent because He is cable of wrong. He repents when we repent from our evil ways. When God is satisfied with our reaction toward His judgment upon us, He will relent from the harm that He would bring upon had we refused to obey His commands.  Even after judgment, God is willing to end his punishment if a person or nation is willing to repent as in the case when God through the Babylonians destroyed Judah, Jerusalem and the temple (Jeremiah 42:10).