The Supernatural Beings Known as the Rulers.

In our daily meditations over the past few days, we've examined the spiritual realm and how Satan has organized evil entities so that nations, regions, towns, villages, and even leaders in strategic locations are under some level of enemy influence. John the Apostle wrote:

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

In referencing the entire world under Satan's control in the above Scripture, John discusses the system set up by Satan against God. Those walking with Christ are no longer under his authority and control (Colossians 1:13). The only way our enemy can influence us is through our minds if we allow him. Let’s examine what Paul the Apostle wrote about the four categories of evil mentioned in Ephesians 6:12. The first category is rulers.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12; emphasis added).

1) The Rulers. Our English translation of the New Testament comes from the original Greek language. The Greek word Paul uses to describe the first category of evil entities is Archē. This word means principalities or chief rulers. We get the term Archangels from this Greek word. The scripture passage above speaks of evil angels of the highest rank in Satan's kingdom. The term also suggests a beginning—perhaps Paul is thinking about the angels that sided with Satan in his rebellion against God. The word refers to dark angels positioned so high that these spiritual rulers confer with Satan himself and govern over nations and territories, aiming to achieve the goals of these enemies of God. We can compare these rulers to Hitler's top aides in the Nazi Party before World War II, who sat down with Hitler and planned how to wage war to control most of Europe.

We can't be dogmatic about this because we lack sufficient information, but this writer believes that Satan has assigned evil angels’ responsibility over specific geographic areas on earth. What biblical evidence supports this idea? In the book of Daniel, there is an example of an evil spiritual prince who governed over the territory of Persia (modern-day Iran) and tried to oppose God’s work. After Daniel received a vision from God, he prayed and fasted for twenty-one days, seeking understanding of the vision. God sent an angel to help Daniel interpret the revelation mentioned in chapter eleven. An evil supernatural ruler called the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted and delayed the angel’s assistance in answering Daniel's prayer. Eventually, the good angel was able to reach Daniel and spoke to him:

¹²Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (Daniel 10:12-13).

An evil spiritual being with the rank of a prince caused a delay in answering prayer. Have you ever experienced a postponed response to prayer? Maybe this passage explains why. The angel was able to deliver the message to Daniel only after the archangel Michael stepped in.

Since the cross and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to the Church, God's people have been given the authority to resist and oppose evil spiritual forces by cooperating with the Lord in prayer. Iran still has that evil spirit whispering into the ears of those in power. They seek to do what they can to destroy those who serve the God of Israel. The people of Iran have been under the influence of an evil angel, the Persian prince, through their thoughts, philosophies, and religion for some time. As I write, that situation continues in Iran, but God is moving powerfully in that land. Iran now experiences the fastest growth of any nation in the gospel. Pray for them! Let's continue this theme tomorrow. Keith Thomas

This meditation is a shortened version of the study: Know Your Enemy, found in The War Against Satan and Demons series.