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Bible Readings for Monday, December 12th, 2011

– The Week of The Third Sunday of Advent *Click on each bible passage to expand the text. Psalm 125 1. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

2. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

3. The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

4. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.

5. But those who turn to crooked ways the Lord will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel. 1 Kings 18:1-18 1. After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 2. So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.Now the famine was severe in Samaria, 3. and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. 4. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) 5. Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.” 6. So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.7. As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”8. “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’” Ephesians 6:10-17 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12. 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.

13. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15. and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.- Psalm 125:1

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

The Rulers, the Authorities, and the Powers

What are these “rulers, authorities and powers”? If we are to believe a lot of the movies in Hollywood and much of the popular theology of modern Christianity, these “rulers, authorities and powers” are actual demons. You know, the kind that possess and are scary looking and such?

If only “fixing” that which is wrong and perverted in all of us were that easy. But it’s not because evil doesn’t work like that.

I find this tendency to personify the “rulers, authorities, and powers” (heck, even Satan) extremely sad and unfortunate. To make a myth in which these evil powers are embodied by beings that we can see, do battle with, and defeat with magic and violence is… strange.

Don’t get me wrong, these “powers” are very real and very corrupting, but I believe it is a great disservice to humanity to take a very real threat and make mythological monsters from them. We can’t do battle with things that go bump in the night. This is unhealthy for us conceptually and spiritually, because worst of all: it plays an undeniable role into our drawing those lines in the sand of “us vs. them”. Who is under the influence of the devil, of demons? “They” are. “Those people”. Never us… never me… never you… always “them”.

Do you see?

Rather, I would love it if we could look at these “rulers, authorities and powers” symbolically, as Paul gives us a fine example of regarding our “armor” for this battle. If we are taught to view our “armor” symbolically, shouldn’t we do the same with the “enemies” we are to do “battle” with??

The “Armor” of God – Ephesians 6:11-17

The Belt = Truth

The Breastplate = Righteousness

The Boots = The Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace.

The Shield = Faith

The Helmet = Salvation

The Sword of the Spirit = The Word of God



The Enemies of God? - Ephesians 6:11-12

(according to some popular theology) Devil = Devil

Rulers = Demons

Authorities = Demons

Powers = Demons

Huh? Why do we do readily accept this difference in interpretation?



Do you see how absurdly we’ve perverted the intent of Paul’s passage in Ephesians 6 if we allow ourselves to create monsters from what are really only symbols?? Therefore, if we are to view these “rulers, authorities, and powers of evil” as metaphor or symbol, what then could they be if we try to model our answers after the “armor” examples of the text?

The Enemies of God(according to Trig)- Ephesians 6:11-12 Devil (diabolos) = That slandering doubt within all of us that rails against any form of trusting in God.

Rulers = Our Fears

Authorities = Our Ego and desires.

Powers = Greed, avarice, and self-interest

Waging War Against the Enemies of God

What makes approaching the “rulers, authorities and powers of evil” described in Ephesians in this fashion so effective is the realization that these concepts are universal to all of us. We all doubt and do not trust in God, we all have fears, we all battle with our egos and desires and we all fall under the cultural spell of society’s worship of greed, avarice and self-interest. There can no longer be a sense of “clean and un-clean”, “us vs. them”. We are all affected by these enemies of God.

All of us.

But the good news is, in our shared identity as victims of these “rulers, authorities, and powers of evil”, we can unite together to wage spiritual as well as rational “warfare” against them. We are now armored for this war with the tools God has provided: truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.

Truth, love, charity and compassion: these are the antithesis of evil. These qualities are our goal.

Amen.