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NASB | Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. |
Bible Question: Who are the fallen angels? |
Bible Answer: Hello strickmar, There is indeed a realm of angels that are now opposed to God (Eph. 6:12). The Handbook to Bible Study by Paul S. Karleen gives this insight: "Some as Servants of Satan To the modern mind Satan is only a joke. How much more foolish, then, to believe in an organized group of followers of Satan who do his bidding. And yet that is exactly what the Bible teaches. Revelation 12:4, although figurative, may describe the fall of a large segment of angels along with Satan. If so, this accounts for the existence of some angels, confirmed in evil, that are in complete opposition to God. Matthew 25:41, which speaks of “the devil and his angels” (AV), indicates that he has a role of leadership over such rebels (see also Mt. 12:24). There is good warrant for taking evil angels and demons to be the same group, although some have seen them as two different groups. Satan is associated with both as a leader, indicating that they are synonymous (Mt. 12:24–26; 25:41). The Bible nowhere indicates that an angel once fallen can return to service to God. Instead, it seems to be that every act of a fallen angel in Scripture is an occasion for venting hostility against God and those that belong to Him, as in Acts 16:24, where demonic opposition through a young girl led to the incarceration of Paul and Silas. Such free angels appear to be allowed by God to carry out Satan’s bidding. However, some angels are confined, as indicated by Jude 6 and 2 Pet. 2:4. The context of the latter passage has suggested to some interpreters that the sin of those imprisoned angels was connected with the great violation of Gen 6:4. In any case, some angels are permanently out of the way. Why some are still allowed their freedom, as if they had not sinned as much as the others, is not revealed in the Bible. We only know that God permits them to be active in a kind of perverted service—now directed toward another angel, Satan—in the lives of individuals and nations, and ultimately He will receive glory in spite, or even because of, what they do. We probably underestimate the degree of demonic activity in any age, including our own. For example, through its window on the angelic realm, Dan. 10 reveals that fallen angels (apparently the category to which the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” belonged) back some governments, and unfallen angels may be engaged against them. Interference in the personal lives of human beings must be equally extensive. The presence of the Holy Spirit in each believer will not allow a demonic being to be present also, ruling out the possibility of a Christian being demon-possessed. But such control must be extensive among the unregenerate. In 1 Tim. 4:1 Paul teaches that demons have their own system of teaching and propagate it through false teachers. We should always be alert to and realistic about the possibility and presence of such deception." I hope this will help in answering your question. BradK |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Eph 6:12 | Author | ||
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JWeaver | ||
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justme | ||
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WUN_ACA_JZ@NWOCA.ORG | ||
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strickmar | ||
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BradK | ||
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mrsscottsharp |