Friday, January 15, 2010

Spiritual Warfare

It is true, what Tozer says, that there is not, presently, an actual battle going on in heaven that God must defend Himself against. Of course there were real battles—that of Michael against Satan, for instance, although that was not for God’s protection, but to place Jesus in power beside God. But God did battle against Leviathan and against the Sea. And that wasn’t necessarily for God’s protection, but to defeat His enemies. God also battled against the Canaanites and the Babylonians and others. The spiritual warfare that the Bible mostly talks about is God battling on earth for our sakes. Battling against spiritual forces that attack us, not Him.

We must not confuse Milton with the Bible's theology! According to Revelation, the battle between Satan and Michael happened after Jesus' ascension, not before the creation of the world. As we can see in Job, Satan is welcomed into heaven at that point. Popular theology is... well, popular. But let's stick with the evidence.

Some would say that such language of battle is metaphorical and God does not actually battle, either spiritually or physically. However, this arbitrary choosing of some concept above the actual revealed word of God is disturbing to me. “God isn’t physical, therefore he doesn’t battle,” is an argument used against Scripture. Should our concept of God become so lofty that we must do away with a simple understanding of God’s word, then our theology needs some serious adjustment.

No comments:

Post a Comment