Eph. 6:12
By: Dr. Victoria Sarvadi
We see rebellion against God first showing up in Lucifer in the Garden of Eden. Ezekiel 28:2 (NIV) reveals the thoughts of the deceiver’s heart as he declares, “…I am a god, I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.”
These words mirror what the Jewish teacher and apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV) about the lawless “man of sin” who will one day be revealed. “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Satan Sets Up the Dark Kingdom
Now known as the dark force in the earth or “the prince of this world,” Satan continues to have demonic dominion over this present age. From the beginning of his rule, he has set up principalities and uses his angelic powers over regions of his conquered earth.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV).
However, we know this isn’t the end of the story. God has not abandoned us. He has always had a plan to redeem man back unto Himself, give His creation power to navigate through the dark kingdom, and then ultimately restore all things to divine perfection as it was initially intended.
We learn from Moses in Deuteronomy 32:7 (BST) that God was a righteous judge and oversaw the process of determining the boundaries and limitations against the spiritual hosts of wickedness and all they obtained through man’s acquiescing to Satan.
“Remember the days of old, consider the years for past ages: ask thy father, and he shall relate to thee, thine elders, and they shall tell thee. When the Most High divided the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the nations’ bounds according to the number of the angels of God. And His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of His inheritance.”
This indicates that even though Satan had “legally” obtained the earth through Adam’s obedience to him, God still had a watchful eye and was overseeing the fallen angels that were set up as principalities over regions of the earth.
Notice that God made an allotment for Himself, a future nation, Israel. Israel is His inheritance on the earth. It would be through this inheritance that He would assign the archangel Michael as the prince (or watcher) over His nation. God was able to break through the darkness by a covenant He would make with Abraham to one day bring salvation to all nations overcoming their dark overlords. (See Daniel 10 for an explanation of Israel’s Prince, Michael.)
The Persecution of Job
During the time of Job, the inhabitants of the earth were subjected to the ruling powers of the fallen angels (also known as the Sons of God). Still, God had power in His heavenly court where these angels were called to assemble and give account.
In Job 1:6 (NKJV), we learn, “there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” During one of these divine council meetings, Satan came and stood before the Judge of Heaven to accuse all mankind of evil and thus find legal grounds of torment and destruction.
In Job 1:8-12 (NASB), we are privy to the conversation that ensued between God and Satan, where God boasts about a particular man who did not succumb to the temptation to bow down to elemental spirits but instead worshipped the Creator of the universe.
“The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But reach out with Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will certainly curse You to Your face.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So, Satan departed from the presence of the Lord” (Job 1:8-12 NAS).
Because Job worshipped God instead of the influences and powers of the air (the fallen angels), he had God’s blessing intervening and overriding the evil spiritual government of the earth. Yet, the earth belonged to Satan, and as such, the evil prince pressed his right to impose his “wares” upon Job.
Temptation, worship of self, pride, and pleasure are the “wares” Satan peddles in his kingdom of darkness on earth. He manipulates and sways opinions of the masses by controlling the narratives thereby controlling world view.
There are seven major influences that impact society called “mountains”. The Bible often uses the word mountain figuratively as a place of power or dominance.
The Seven Mountains
1. RELIGION
Every society has some type of belief in a superior being. In the far east, religions tend to be polytheistic (many gods and idols). Although, these religions are thousands of years old, they continue to thrive today. In the west, Judeo-Christianity is predominant, but postmodern views are increasingly being accepted and the concept of God is being rejected. This is especially true in Europe and among the younger generations.
The people of the Bible (Bible believing Christians and Jews) have a responsibility to offset these persuasions of the world by teaching Torah principals taught by our great Rabbi Messiah Yeshua and the righteous patriarchs and prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. FAMILY
There is nothing more prevalent in society than the breakdown of the family. In any functional society, the family is the “building block” of the community. Throughout the Bible, you will find examples of family relationships that portray how we ought to live our lives today. God desires those men, women, and children within a family be united in His love. After all, He is the ultimate Father.
The families of the United States have been under constant and prolonged attack. Divorce has affected 50% of marriages. Spousal and child abuse, homosexual marriage, pornography, and other negative influences have brought great dysfunction to so many. God is calling fathers and mothers to bring order to the chaos that the enemy has unleashed against families in the world. He also wants to bring healing to marriages and relationships within families. This will result in a moral foundation for children in the future to stand upon.
3. EDUCATION
At one time the education system of America unapologetically incorporated the Bible, prayer to the God of the Bible, and biblical values in every aspect of school life. Not coincidentally, this system produced a people that produced the most powerful and prosperous nation the earth has ever seen.
Now, the children of our nation are inundated with liberal ideologies, atheistic teachings, and postmodern principles from pre-school to the university. The dark kingdom persists in indoctrinating the youth with false, biased, and anti-biblical information.
4. GOVERNMENT
Proverbs 14:34 states that, “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Many times, as exemplified in the Old Testament, a nation’s moral standards are dependent on those exhibited by its leaders. While each individual is responsible for his or her own sins; the fact remains, that people are greatly influenced by those morals (or lack thereof) that popular leaders adopt through rhetoric and eventually corrupt legislation.
The progressive liberal agenda, empowered by well-known men and women in the arts and entertainment industries, have made significant gains in the political arena over the past few decades. In fact, many liberal groups, such as the ACLU, seek to remove anything related to God from the governmental and educational systems because of a misapplied interpretation of the phrase, “separation of church and state.” The goal is to put in place righteous political leaders until the prophetic false Messiah is allowed to overcome world government.
The Jewish teacher Paul counsels the new Christians in Thessalonica according to Torah in this way:
For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom. 4 He will oppose himself to everything that people call a god or make an object of worship; he will put himself above them all, so that he will sit in the Temple of God and proclaim that he himself is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5
Even though this mountain of government seems to prevail for a short time in the latter days, we are reminded by the prophet Isaiah;
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:6
5. MEDIA
The media mountain includes news sources such as social media, radio, TV news stations, newspapers, Internet news and opinion blogs etc. The media has the potential to sway popular opinion on current issues based upon its repetitious reporting and slanderous narrative to those who oppose their agenda.
There has been a rise in conservative news services. However, there is much activity to bring negative attention to conservative and Christian news networks. Many conservative journalists have been silenced by means of false accusations, character attacks, employment termination or show cancellations.
6. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
In this mountain we find some of the most influential forces shaping our society. Music, filmmaking, television, social media influencers, and the performing arts drive the cultural tastes, values and standards of a nation’s citizens, particularly its youth.
With a heavy reliance on the strong appeal of materialism, sex, drugs and alcohol, the arts and entertainment industries wield significant influence. Hollywood and the box office control the global message. Conservative and Christian films fight for position and often lose to the blockbusters.
7. BUSINESS
The ability to literally create wealth through ingenuity, enterprise, creativity and effort and is a God-given gift and a universal impulse. The markets and economic systems that emerge whenever people are free to pursue buying and selling become the lifeblood of a nation. This includes anything from farms to small businesses to large corporations.
Of course, this realm is prone to corruption through idolatry, greed and covetousness. Profit becomes more important than safety, health and quality. Woke corporations force the narrative and influence the corporate culture. The dark influences of this world order have been shaping corporations and business leaders for millennia.
So, the seven mountains of influence in our society; Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Entertainment and Business have all been cleverly utilized and exploited by the dark forces of the world and employed by liberal agendas starting with our children. But God promises to influence the earth by His own Mountain.
“Now it will come about that in the last days, The Mountain of the House of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it” (Isaiah 2:2 NAS).
We must pray in faith for God to intervene not only in our personal lives but also for mankind. The Psalmist, in desperation, makes a plea to God to deliver the earth quickly from the fallen angelic dominion.
“God has taken His place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods, He holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken (Psalm 82:1-5 RSV).
Be confident in this- the earth is only temporarily shaken. God is not unjust, and time will prove that. This is why He says to be patient until the end—we will receive what He has promised. God has always planned to win back the world and its dominion from the evil one and overturn the curse of death passed down from Adam and Eve. Though we may not understand all the details and timing, know God loves His creation and will absolutely perform His Word.
