One of the most familiar and popular portions of Ephesians 6 is the description of the whole armor of God. It is interesting to note that all of the weapons Paul describes are spiritual weapons of faith, which indicates that our battle against the rulers of darkness is a spiritual battle, one that our Redeemer has already won, and His victory can be ours if we faithfully use the weapons that Paul describes in verses 13 through 17.
However, there is a very interesting point Paul makes prior to his description of our weapons of spiritual warfare that is often overlooked. He mentions it in verse 12, first part.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
This is certainly encouraging counsel in the Christian’s battle against spiritual hosts of wickedness, but often overlooked is what Paul wrote immediately before that.
In this verse, the New King James Bible (NKJV) translates the Greek word aion as age, while the Kings James Bible (KJV) translates it as world. Actually, either is correct.
Understanding that either is correct helps us gain a broader and deeper understanding of the passage. It also helps us in our struggles in facing life’s daily challenges. Any time we are having difficulty dealing with a particularly trying situation (or person, for that matter), it helps to remember that our struggle, our wrestling, is not against that situation or that person, but against the rulers of darkness. It is usually and commonly understood that this phrase refers to Satan and his agents. It’s worth noting that Satan has agents who do not know that they are, in fact, his agents.
Inspiration confirms that Satan and his agents can influence our thinking and therefore our actions.
“The greatness and power with which the Creator endowed Lucifer he has perverted; and yet, when it suits his purpose, he can impart to men sentiments that are enchanting. Everything in nature comes from God; yet Satan can inspire his agents with thoughts that appear elevating and noble. Did he not come to Christ with quotations of Scripture when he designed to overthrow Him with his specious temptations? This is the way in which he comes to man, as an angel of light disguising his temptations under an appearance of goodness, and making men believe him to be the friend rather than the enemy of humanity. It is in this way that he has deceived and seduced the race—beguiling them with subtle temptations, bewildering them with specious deceptions.” Christian Education, 73
Clearly, we have an enemy in this world.
Now let’s focus on the rest of verse 12: “… against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
“Spiritual hosts of wickedness” usually refers to Satan and his agents, but let’s give these prepositional phrases a deeper look. The NKJV says these spiritual hosts of wickedness are “in the heavenly places.” Note that “places” is a word added by the translators, supposedly for clarity. In fact, Paul used that same phrase with the same added word five times in Ephesians. They all use the same Greek word epouranios. This is a word composed from two other words that we’ll leave to others more learned in Greek to explain. The word occurs 20 times in the New Testament. It is translated as heavenly 16 times, as celestial twice, as heaven once, and as high once.
For now, let’s look at the five occurrences in Ephesians using the NKJV and KJV Bibles.
Ephesians 1:3
NKJV: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
KJV: Essentially the same
Ephesians 1:20
NKJV: “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”
KJV: Essentially the same
Ephesians 2:6
NKJV: “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
KJV: Essentially the same
Ephesians 3:10
NKJV: “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”
KJV: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
ISV: “He did this so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm.”
This wisdom of God in verse ten is a reference to the mystery that Paul explains in Ephesians 3:6: “[T]hat the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.” Note that this mystery, this gem of the wisdom of God, is to be made known “through the gospel.”
That implies that only those who understand and accept the gospel of Christ can understand this mystery and gain this wisdom. Therefore, all non-Christian religions are left in the dark and are in that condition by their own choices of refusing to accept Christ as the vicegerent of God.
Now let’s look at the fifth occurrence of this phrase, one that builds on what we have just learned and takes us back to where we started.
Ephesians 6:12
NKJV: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
In this verse, the KJV and the NKJV differ.
KJV: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
We see a significant difference between the NKJV and the KJV, and a deeper study reveals that the KJV may be more correct.
Here’s something to think about for a minute: Are there words in the English language that have completely different meanings, depending on the context? Of course, there are. Think of the word set. This simple three-letter word has the longest entry of any word in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Here are some examples of usages in which the meaning differs, based on the context:
- The church uses a set of utensils for the communion service.
- Are we set for what lies ahead in the time of trouble?
- The rabble set up quite a furor for Jesus to be crucified.
- The pharisees strived to set up Christ for a charge of blasphemy.
- Christ came to set the prisoners free.
- The Lord set a mark on Cain.
In fact, there are almost 600 verses in the Bible containing the word set. A study of those occurrences is a powerful educational process.
It is possible that Paul’s use of the Greek word epouranios in Ephesians 6:12, is different from the other five uses in his letter to the church at Ephesus.
Note that Paul was in prison and facing death when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. He undoubtedly wanted to give them counsel to strengthen them for the opposition that the new church was facing, opposition that came from the highest rank in the Jewish church.
So, in verse 12, when Paul was giving encouragement to the new Christians in Ephesus, he warned them that their struggle was against spiritual wickedness in high places. Although the NKJV says, “in the heavenly places,” consider what we are told in Revelation 12:7–9. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So, the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
There were not then and there are not now “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Thus, I will contend that the KJV translation “against spiritual wickedness in high places,” is correct and that Paul was warning the Ephesians, and therefore us as well, against high church officers who preach not the truth and are, in fact, agents of Satan.
Just as the early Christians needed to be on guard against being led astray by church leaders, so too, do the followers of Christ today need to know and understand what the word of God says to avoid being led astray by church leaders.
May God help us to know and do His will in all situations and all circumstances, according to His word, and not according to those in high office.
John R. Pearson is the office manager and a Steps to Life board member. He can be reached by email at johnpearson@stepstolife.org or by phone at 316-788-5559.