Key passages:
- Ephesians 6:10-18
The devil works to break down human freedom and maintain his control through force, threat and deception. In this conversation we focus on his strategies of control through deception. Look at Revelation 12:9ñthe dragon is called “the deceiver of the whole world.” Likewise, the devilís agents use deception. See Revelation 13:14.
Satan has always worked through the dominant culture. So resisting Satan involves sustaining a counter-culture. In the Old Testament the people of God were only a small island of monotheism in a great ocean of polytheism. Egyptian magic and Assyrian sun worship invaded right into the precincts of the temple at Jerusalem. The kings of Israel and Judah promoted the worship of foreign deities as part of their foreign policy.
Key questions:
- In our culture what are the avenues through which Satan exerts his deception and control of the human race?
- Is it possible to resist a dominant culture? How did the religious culture of monotheism survive the almost over-whelming cultural pressures of polytheism? What strategies can a community use to sustain a world view that goes against the dominant culture? What has worked?
- Ephesians 6:10-18 makes the call to do battle against spiritual powers, rather than against mere flesh-and-blood rulers. What spiritual strategies does Paul propose?
Link to Addendum A and Addendum B for Lesson 10
