03 August 2023
Our mission is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. That glory is chiefly defined as walking in His Covenant.
In the wider context, that means we are making the case in Heaven for Jehovah's agenda in Heaven. We are His witnesses. We have only vague hints in Scripture about most of that, but we do understand that this is "spiritual warfare" in the sense of political wrangling in the divine council.
Our Lord's opposition in Heaven outranks us in ways we cannot comprehend. While we cannot know all that much about the situation there, we are granted enough of a glimpse to understand that Jehovah is the Creator, and that He has granted a measure of free will to these lesser beings on His divine council. At the same time, He has implemented some restrictions on their actions, particularly their actions as they rule over human affairs.
Reminder: If at any moment you grouse about this situation, you are asking for trouble. God created the system; don't argue with it. We have zero "rights" in these matters. We are utterly insignificant in terms of our power against these things, and our judgments of what is good or evil are exactly the wrong thing to trust. This is playing into the hands of Jehovah's opposition. You may have limited understanding of things, but even the slightest hint of resistance or rebellion against the order of things is damnation.
However, while we cannot fight the system, we can certainly stand against the opposition. That's the meaning of the term "spiritual warfare". The primary means of our opposition to the opposition is by living the Covenant. In so doing, we must reject any substitutes.
In Scripture, this is portrayed in terms of feudal tribal living. We have the choice to embrace the superior covenant offered by Jehovah through His Son. Otherwise, we are turned over to the opposition in the divine council. There is no neutral ground, no place to stand outside divine politics. If you are not under Jehovah's authority (His "law"), then you are under some other law. A key element in this warfare is learning to recognize the difference between Christ's Covenant and those who seek to supplant His reign in our individual lives.
The opposing members of the divine council act as if they are deities, worthy of worship and obedience. Every false idol in human history reflects that pretense. Even in the Post-modern West, we find people clinging to false gods without referring to them as gods. People dedicate themselves to all kinds of things that are tantamount to idolatry. This is simply the latest perverted scheme of the opposing members of the divine council. The point is that we must learn to recognize when a certain human choice crosses the line between the Covenant and idolatry.
This particular part of the spiritual war has gotten very subtle. There are any number of false idols claiming to be Christ; there's a lot of pagan law labeled as "Christian". It has gotten to the point where they don't even bother to evangelize. The agents of false gods have been simply presuming their false claims are true and asserting over us the moral authority that derives from swallowing the false law.
Do you feel the moralistic scolding of feminism? How about the false reprimand of antisemitism? It's one thing to wisely consider the tactical implications of how we live in a society ruled by those false laws; it's another to absorb the perverted moral values by tacit agreement. If you actually feel guilty, you belong to a pagan idol. Those things are definitely not a part of the Covenant of Christ.
Jesus, our Lord and Savior, condemned the Pharisees. Judaism is simply the extension of Pharisaism. Echoing our Savior's condemnation of false religion is called "antisemitism", so if you are following Christ, you cannot be worried about that bogus accusation. And if you don't understand how feminism is a flat rejection of Christ's lordship, then you simply aren't paying attention.
Every act of warfare against the heavenly opposition must stand on the law of the Covenant. We dare not get wrapped up in human strategy and tactics. Our mission is to break down the power of the spiritual political resistance to God's agenda in our own hearts. In general, there is not a thing we can do with the human situation. The human situation proceeds from spiritual realities that we cannot change for others, only for ourselves. We are not permitted to work towards changing the human situation at large; that is tantamount to surrendering to the opposition. That's how they capture us away from Christ.
That doesn't mean violence is inherently wrong; Jesus cracked a whip in the Temple. There are times when something crosses that invisible line and you must act, regardless of the prospects for success. You are the only one who can see that line for yourself. It's a matter of conviction. However, you should understand that human violence is generally not how we get things done for the Kingdom of Jehovah.
It doesn't matter much who promotes the false religions of the divine opposition. Digging into the back story of human agents is of limited value. They are not the responsible party, just the minions of higher powers. Our primary warfare in this world is rejecting false religion internally, and then when appropriate, expressing our opposition to false morality to others. We must promote the true message of the gospel first by how we live it, then by how we express it to others.
Never forget: This world is supposed to suck. The Covenant doesn't change that basic truth, but it does mitigate some of the sorrow. That's the whole point. We study the written covenant law codes so we can understand the underlying moral priorities and live in a way that promotes our Lord's political reputation on Earth and in Heaven.
This document is public domain; spread the message.