Introducing the Powers

Introduction to Powers



Yahweh—God of Gods—God the Father

Powers in heaven Powers in Earth
Council of gods/Sons of God
Angels over realms
National gods -----------------------------------------------à Emperors
Messengers/Spirits Kings/Princes
Elders/Shepherds
Fathers

Humanity
Realm of Land
Realm of Sea
Realm of Air



1. Who are the powers?
They are people who have power and authority over a certain realm. Some (like an Emperor) have power over a vast realm with other rulers under him. Some (like a father over his family) have limited authority, but they still have authority over some.

2. What are heavenly powers?
These are powers who cannot be seen because they exist on a “spiritual” level. They may appear on earth at times, but they usually make their authority felt, but rarely seen—like the wind. (Ephesians 6:2; I Peter 3:22)

3. Who is Yahweh?
Yahweh is who we call “God” today. Yahweh how he revealed himself to Israel and it is what he calls his name, as opposed to “God” or “Most High” or various other names which are only titles or descriptions. He is called the “God of gods” because He is the greatest authority over all the powers—heaven and earth. He is called “One” because there is no one next to him in power and authority. He is called “Father” because he is the great authority over all. (Exodus 3:13-15; Deut. 10:17; Joshua 22:22; Psalm 84:7; Psalm 95:3; Psalm 97:9; Psalm 135:5; Psalm 136:2; Daniel 2:47; Daniel 11:36)

4. What are angels?
The word “angel” is a general term for heavenly powers. It literally means “messenger”, which determines the common use that Yahweh has for the powers to men. However, angels do more than just give messages—they can command over an army, over a human body, over winds and rivers (Joshua 5:13-15; Luke 1:19-20; Daniel 10:10-14; Revelation 9:1-3; 13-15). Again, each angel has realms of authority and they have control over that realm to rule justly. These powers are also called “spirits”, “gods”, “sons of god”, “elements”, and “powers” in Scripture .

5. What are earthly powers?
These are the powers of governments and rulers that we are familiar with. Today, presidents, prime ministers, generals, corporate executives, archbishops are all powers with a realm over which they rule. A homeowner is a power with authority over his realm, although other authorities rule over him or her. Even so, all the powers on earth have a realm over which they rule, but they are also ruled over. Even the greatest power on earth is ruled over by a heavenly power.

6. What are “sons of God”?
“Son of God” has various meanings, but the root meaning is an authority who is answerable directly to Yahweh himself. Thus there are many angelic powers who are called “sons of God” (such as in Job 1:6) and a few human rulers are called “sons of God” because their rulership is under God himself (such as in II Samuel 7:14).

7. What is the “council of God”?
This is a group of heavenly powers that answer directly to Yahweh, report to Him and take their direction from Him. This council might also make suggestions or give him counsel, but what Yahweh determines is unanswerable. (Psalm 82; 89:6-7; Jeremiah 23:18, 22)

8. What are “national gods”?
Over each distinct group of humanity, there is a god who rules over them. It is this power that is truly in charge of a nation or ethnic group. The human power—king or president or whatever—only rules under the authority of the national god, whether he or she recognizes that power or not. “When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.” Deuteronomy 32:8 (See also, Deut. 12:2; Deut. 12:30; Deut. 29:18; Josh 23:7; II Sam 7:23; I Kings 11:2)

9. How should we respond to the powers?
a. With fear. (Daniel 10:5-12; Luke 1:11-13)
Powers are powerful and otherworldly. They are nothing to treat lightly or casually. These powers have the power of life and death in them and many of them have power over mankind. When a man sees a heavenly power, his first impulse is to quake with fear or worship the being. These are beings who it is natural for us to fear. If we have nothing to fear from them, they will tell us so, but otherwise there may be much to fear.

b. With reverence (Jude 1:8-11)
These powers, even the evil ones, have authority given to them by Yahweh, the God of gods Himself. We cannot take authority into our own hands nor can we command powers as if they were animals. We are to be respectful to all powers and to acknowledge the authority they do have.

c. Not with worship (Revelation 22:8-9)
We are not to worship any of the lesser gods or offer them slave-service. We are under the authority of Yahweh himself through his Son Jesus Christ. Other gods are to be respected, but not worshipped or bowed down to. We reserve all worship to Yahweh himself.

d. With boldness. (Luke 10:18-20; Ephesians 6:12-13)
When we are dealing with powers that have overstepped their authority—an evil spirit that has entered into our realm, for instance—we can boldly command that power to leave because they are doing what they are not allowed to do.

e. With care (Matthew 12:43-45; Acts 19:13-16)
We cannot command any and every power that have a right to do what they are doing. If an evil spirit has control over a person because that person invited that spirit into their realm, it is very difficult to command that spirit to leave. Only the one who is the ruler of that realm can do so. If a national power is doing evil, they have the power to do evil over their realm and we cannot stop it by commanding it to go. If we overstep our authority, then it is we, ourselves, who will be hurt or cast out.