Two Kingdoms

The Bible describes two kingdoms – a physical (seen) and spiritual (unseen) kingdom. The physical earth has numerous kingdoms, which belong to Satan, as well as men; the spiritual kingdom, also known as the kingdom of heaven, belongs to Elohim (God). What goes on in the heavenly kingdom impacts what goes on in the earthly kingdom. This is evident in the book of Job (Job 1:6-11; 2:1-7). Yeshua (Jesus) gave us many parables to tell us what the kingdom of Elohim is like.

Satan’s kingdom is this world; it is seen.

In Matthew 4:8, Yeshua was still being tempted by the devil. It says, “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Yeshua said to him “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your Elohim and him only shall you serve.”

Yeshua’s kingdom is not of this world; it is unseen.

In John 18:36, Yeshua answered Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

The Battle

Elohim desires to have a relationship with the people He has created. He must know who will be righteous and loyal to Him and who will not. Other than Elohim, there are other spiritual beings, which are different classes of angels. Two thirds are loyal to Elohim (righteous spirits), but one third – the demons (evil spirits), which have their own hierarchy – rebelled against Him. These demons, including their leader, Satan, attempt to keep us from having a close relationship with Elohim whether we realize it or not. Essentially, there is an ongoing battle for our souls.

For those who believe they have sold their soul to the devil, just know that the blood of Yeshua has been shed to redeem or buy back your soul from the devil. You must repent and switch your allegiance from Satan to Elohim before it is too late.

Since the Garden of Eden, people have had to make a choice that can be described in several ways: life or death; blessing or cursing; obedience or disobedience; righteousness or unrighteousness; lawfulness or lawlessness; and/or fulfilling the desires of the flesh or walking in the Spirit. When we choose Messiah (Christ) and accept his grace and forgiveness, we must also choose to walk in righteousness while putting to death the desires of the flesh.

• Genesis 2:16-17 And YHVH (the Lord) Elohim commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
• Genesis 3:22-23 Then YHVH Elohim said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³ therefore YHVH Elohim sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
• Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰ loving YHVH your Elohim, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that YHVH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
• Proverbs 11:19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.
• Romans 6:19 … For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
• Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
• Galatians 6:8a For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption (death), but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
• Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of ’

Our Enemies are our fleshly desires and the influence of the world, Satan and his demons, and witchcraft attacks.

World:

• 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
• Galatians 4:3-4 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
• James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before Elohim, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
• James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with Elohim? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim.
• John 17:14-18 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Fleshly Desires

• Colossians 3:5-11 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of Elohim is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
• Galatians 5:19-24 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery (pharmakeia), enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Satan (Devil):

• Ephesians 4:27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
• James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to Elohim. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
• Revelation 20:2-3 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³ and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Witchcraft:

• Revelations 18:23d … and all nations were deceived by your sorcery (pharmakeia).
• Deuteronomy 18:10-12 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer ¹¹ or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, ¹² for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your Elohim is driving them out before you.
• Joshua 24:9-10 And he (Balak) sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor (who practiced divination; Joshua 13:22) to curse you, ¹⁰ but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

The Ongoing Battle

Again, the primary ongoing battle waged against us is the battle for our souls; it takes place primarily in our minds.

• Second Corinthians 10:4-6 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of Elohim, and take every thought captive to obey Messiah, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

The Armor of Elohim, found in Ephesians 6:10-20, equips us for spiritual battle. Many times, we think of the armor in terms of Roman armor; however, we should also consider the clothing of the High Priest.

• Shoes of the gospel of peace
  • The basic message of the gospel we walk in is: Elohim created us to be in relationship with Him; Our sins separate us from Elohim; Sins can’t be removed by good deeds; Paying the price for sin, Yeshua died and rose again; Everyone who trusts in Yeshua alone has eternal life; and Life with Yeshua starts now and lasts forever. All of this gives us peace that we can share with others.
• Belt of truth – remember, the truth can set you free.
• Breastplate of righteousness – we are to walk in righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Helmet of salvation – knowing we are saved by grace through faith protects our minds.
• Sword of the Spirit – this is the rhema – the spoken word – of Elohim (Luke 12:11).
• Shield of faith – what we can’t see, yet trust in, can be a shield around us.
• Prayer – specifically, prayer in the Spirit. This can be in unknown tongues, but the Spirit can also lead us to pray in our own minds with our heart language.  

There are other tools that Elohim has given us that can be utilized to defeat our enemies. Over time, you can add fasting; warfare-style prayers including binding and loosing, and decrees and declarations; prophetic acts; prayer walking; etc., as the Lord leads.

Be sure to guard your lips; don’t put your whole life on social media – some people you think are your friends may be jealous of you and may take an opportunity to interfere with ways Elohim wants to bless you, while others may be monitoring spirits or witches who will eventually bring you harm.

Remember, Yeshua once said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)