WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH & BLOOD
By Hal Dekker
2008.05.26
Last page update: 2021.07.27
1 Sam.17:6 And [he had] greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
"greaves of brass" - According to 'Manners and Customs of the Bible' by James M. Freeman, ancient Assyrian sculptures show us what greaves looked like. They covered the leg starting below the knee, and went down to cover the leg and ankle, and part of the foot in some instances. Logically, a knee is a prime spot to inflict an injury if you want to disable your opponent to stop his mobility, so you can get a better target to swing at. Therefore, we may be able to conclude that Goliath's "armor of scales" may have been long enough to come down to cover Goliath's knees.
If Goliath's greaves were bronze in the front and leather-laced around the back over the calves as the sculptures show, then maybe we could conservatively add another 15 pounds to the total weight of Goliath's body armor, just for the greaves. The helmet, armor of scales, and greaves together now come to a weight of about 155 pounds!
"target of brass" - A little questionable translation here. The Hebrew word in the text is kiydown, which should have been translated "staff", a long rod. If this staff was solid bronze or copper, for a mortal his size, it could conservatively add another 15 pounds to the total weight of his body armor and weapons. So now, the helmet, armor of scales, greaves, and staff, together come to at least about 170 pounds, wrapped around a philistine soldier 12 to 13 feet tall! In hand to hand combat, how agile would Goliath have been, carrying about 170 pounds in body armor and weaponry, not yet counting the weight of his spear? If Goliath routinely went into hand-to-hand combat carrying this much weight, then the physically much smaller Judeans may have started thinking about how many of them it would take to defeat just one Philistine his size, especially him.
"between his shoulders" - means it was strapped to his back between his shoulder blades. The "staff (a rod, not 'target') of brass" was strapped to Goliath's back between his shoulder blades. Since Goliath was carrying this bronze or copper rod between his shoulders, he likely may have been able to reach over his shoulder to pull it out for use.
1 Sam. 17:7 And the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
"staff" - Heb., ets, a wooden shaft, most often translated "tree" and "wood", refers to the wooden shaft part of his spear.
"weaver's beam" - Heb., arag manowr. God uses a figure of speech, simile, of "resemblance" to draw attention to "how big" were each of both parts of Goliath's spear. Both the shaft of the spear was huge, like a "weaver's beam", and the iron head of the spear was huge, weighing "six hundred shekels of iron." If the "weaver's beam" shaft of the spear were made out of a hard wood like oak, as opposed to a soft wood like fir, this would have added more weight to the spear shaft.
"spear" - Heb., chaniyth. The spear (chaniyth) was a heavier weapon than the staff (kiydown). God tells us that Goliath carried the staff on his body, strapped to his back between his shoulder blades. But, he didn't carry all his weaponry into battle, his armor bearer carried some of it, and stood nearby with perhaps the weapons not specifically chosen by Goliath at this time.
"spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron" - Heb., shesh meyah sheqel barzel. Using the same calculation method here as we did for armor of scales in verse 5, using the common shekel weight of 11.35 grams per shekel, 600 shekels would weigh about 6,828 grams, divided by 28.35 grams per ounce equals about 241 ounces, which is about 8.5 pounds, almost the weight of a 10 pound sack of potatoes. How far can you throw a 10 lb. sack of potatoes?
Try throwing 8.5 pounds of something at someone, and see how long they have to get out of the way before it reaches them. 8.5 pounds is only the weight of the spear's head, not including the "weaver's beam" shaft weight. It seems likely to me that Goliath didn't use this spear like a javelin, and that it always remained in his hands when he used it.
God wants us to know that this spear was HUGE. Thusly enforcing the fact that Goliath must have been HUGE also, HUGE enough to carry this heavy weight of body armor, helmet, armor of scales, greaves, a rod of brass between his shoulder blades, and this HUGE spear in his hands, and still remain agile enough to be deadly enough to remain alive.
We calculated on our own that Goliath's solid bronze helmet could have weighed about 15 pounds. God told us that Goliath's armor of scales weighed about 125 pounds. We calculated again on our own that Goliath's greaves could have weighed about 15 pounds. God tells us that the head of Goliath's spear weighed about 8.5 pounds and its shaft was like a weaver's beam, which must have weighed something also, perhaps 8 more pounds for balance.
So altogether, Goliath's body armor and weaponry weighed about 186.5 pounds! How physically (flesh and blood) huge would a man need to be, to still be agile enough to move with enough speed to conquer his opponent in hand to hand combat, while carrying about 187 pounds in weight? Plus, Goliath may need to fight for extended periods of time while carrying this much weight, before an opportunity afforded him time to fall back and refresh. The armies of Israel saw this, thought about it, and it almost scared to death!
Among the Philistines, Goliath wasn't the only warrior this huge. There are three other references in the biblical records about men who carried spears with shafts as big as a "weaver's beam", and two of those records refer to Lahmi, Goliath's brother (2 Sam. 21:19, 1 Chron. 20:5), who was a Philistine warrior also. The other record refers to an Egyptian.
God describes all these details about Goliath, his body armor and weaponry, to show us what was going through the minds of the soldiers of the armies of Israel, as the adversary consumed them with fear and intimidation through their own sense of sight. Satan wanted them to think of how futile hand to hand combat may be against an enemy this physically (flesh and blood) big and powerful. Plus, most importantly, Satan, the devil, wanted the armies of Israel to believe they had no choice but to fight on the five senses flesh and blood level!
This is how the devil and demon spirits work to defeat you in your mind, by feeding you false information to you through your five senses. The fact that Goliath was huge wasn't false. What was false was Satan's assertion that the armies of Israel had no other choice on how to fight, than to physically "wrestle against other flesh and blood" on the five senses level! Yes, absolutely, eventually David did fight Goliath in hand to hand combat, but only after David had already defeated Goliath in his own mind, through his belief and trust in his heavenly Father's Word, the belief and trust which God previously earned in David's heart.
"and one bearing [a] shield went before him." - A little soldier carried the shield (tsinnah) that the big soldier hid behind! This shield is the largest of shields mentioned in scripture. It is a full-body covering shield. It is a shield of this kind that God through David's Psalm, promises to use to protect his people.
Consider a record in Psalm:
Psalm 5:12 For you, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor you will compass him as [with] a shield (tsinnah).
Goliath's "shield" metaphorically represents all the methods Satan's demon spirit realm uses and hides behind, to cover, cloak, and shield their moves from a believer's detection, especially to shield them as the authors of certain philosophies of mortals, ones who wait in cunning craftiness to deceive (Eph. 4:14). From where do mortals obtain those deceitful philosophies (Luke 8:30; John 13:27)? The devil and demon spirits work through other mortals; Pastor so and so, or Rabbi so and so, or reverend so and so (2 Cor. 11:13-15), wolves in sheep's clothing planted in among the assemblies of believers.
What is this "shield" which God promises?
In the time of Jesus' earthly ministry almost the entire religious hierarchy of religious leadership of the children of Israel were working for the devil (John 8). For some reason today, most all of "Christianity" does not believe the devil is working through it's religious hierarchy at all! This is because now, just as in the days of Jesus' earthly ministry, the key knowledge of the prophesied true "tent" of God, the one which he shall build with his own hand, the one absolutely not built with the hands of mortals, the knowledge which empowers people to enter in into the Kingdom of the God, is absolutely not taught (Luke 11:52; Rev. 3:7)!
For references to God's prophesied true "tent" see: Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 11:16-20, 36:25-27; Joel 2:28-29; Amos 9:11-12; Acts 2:14-41, 7:42-50, 15:13-18, 17:24-25; 1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Cor. 5:1, 17, 12:9; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:15; Col. 3:10; Heb. 8:1-2, 9:11; 2 Pet. 1:13-14; Rev. 21:3).
The key of the knowledge of Christ is still withheld for the most part, now by so-called Christian church leadership. If the great truths of the complete knowledge of the new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, and subsequently the knowledge of a believer's new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, the building of God's prophesied true "tent" built with his own hand, were actually taught and known today in Christianity, that complete body of associated knowledge would empower a believer with the ability to determine exactly who are the false believers and leaders in "Christianity" today, as well as at anytime! The devil working in the assembly absolutely does not want that to happen! The God himself indwelling within a believer is the promised "shield'' which encompasses a believer!
This body of knowledge begins with the great prophecies and truth that it is literally God himself who homesteads in a born from above believer, his prophesied "tent", since the day of Pentecost, which day is described in Acts 2. This great truth of God's true "tent" has many related facets of associated truth; all of which symphonize to describe how believers are more than conquerors over the attacks of the devil and demon spirits (Rom. 8:37), and can quench all of the missiles of the evil one (Eph. 6:16), and can do all things through Christ (Phil. 4:13), and more.
God our heavenly Father's desired and prophesied true "tent"; the "tent" of David which was fallen down, he has raised back up, and he has built it with his own hand. If this truth, and all of the other almost endless facets of related truth, were taught in "Christianity" today, the enlightenment and understanding from this body of knowledge would teach believers that they, on account of God permanently dwelling within them, have the ability to discern spirits, and perform any and all of the other nine basic manifestations (1 Cor. 12) of God's Spirit in them. God's gift to us of his holy Spirit is what mortals have now to use to defeat the devil and his demon spirits. How to use God's Spirit within us is what discipleship to Christ Jesus is all about.
The teaching of the knowledge of this truth, which is at the heart of God's new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, in which covenant only a disciple of Christ Jesus can take part, would soon produce spiritual growth in a disciple toward growing up into the stature of the fullness of the spiritual maturity of Christ Jesus (Eph. 4).
The spiritual growth in a believer from the greatness of this body of scriptural knowledge soon gives a believer the ability to discern false believers and false leaders, as well as discern demon spirit-caused activity. And this is exactly why the prophesies of God's desired true "tent" are all ignored in "Christianity", and the associated abundance of truth scattered throughout the new covenant writings of the coming to pass of those great prophesies, are all ignored. To refer to God's Spirit homesteading in us as being a shield for us is to say the least. It could be a figure of speech of understatement! (Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 6:13-18; Phil. 4:13; Col. 1:27; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5)
The very heart of the greatness of why the Father sent his son, and the greatness of what Jesus' shed blood actually accomplished for mortalkind, is still unknown in "Christianity" today. It's been replaced by triune godhead stuff. The devil and his demon spirits, through hiding behind the appearance of some false ones in church leadership around the world, are actively and desperately keeping the key of knowledge of the "tent" hidden, in order so that they can somehow remain revelant, and keep getting a paycheck out of the plate.
Just as the devil used Goliath and the Philistines as stage props and as a shield to hide behind while attacking the children of Israel, today the devil is using false believers and various people in leadership positions among the assembly to attack God's true children, those born above in God's paternal seed, God's gift of his holy Spirit. Thusly the devil continues to manipulate the great subject matters of God's Word, and the presentation of them as twisted half truths, which half truths absolutely are lies.
The current neutered, marred, and extremely shallow "Christian" concept of "salvation" at the most can only lead a person to Christ and future salvation. But the "full" 4th century invented triune godhead gospel doesn't teach much of the greatness of the truth of God's Word about covenant reciprocity, discipleship, sonship, personal spiritual empowerment (Rom. 1; 1 Cor. 12-15), the ongoing spiritual battle, recognizing demon spirit activity all around, or much of any of the vital truths in God's Word necessary to learn and believe, in order for the parts of the one body of Christ to become more than spiritual conquerors.
Thereafter the "church" devotes most all of it's teaching resources related to leading a person away from the bulls eye of the full truth of salvation/wholeness, true discipleship to Christ Jesus, and to a mortal-made theological theory that teaches that the ability of a believer, of a child of God, to manifest God's gift of holy Spirit in them, died in the first century with the apostles, thereby condemning a believer to being nothing more than a spiritually helpless newborn babe for the remainder of their earthly life, contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles, for us to grow up into the fullness of the stature of the spiritual maturity of Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:13).
Have you ever wondered why we were made in God's image? Since the day of Pentecost the one body of Christ, which is made of all those who have received the new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, is the new permanent domicile of the God, his true prophesied "tent" in which he homesteads, the "tent" of David which had fallen down, which the God has raised back up when he raised his son, Christ Jesus, up out from among dead ones! Please see my study titled God's Desired True "Tent", his "Domed-Roof House".
The devil was working through Goliath. Goliath was the "shield", the false front that the devil was hiding behind, and working in and through. The devil didn't show himself openly and come right out and face the armies of the children of Israel. He wanted them to think it was simply nothing other than another group of human beings challenging them, the Philistines. Today the devil hides and shields himself behind false believers and false leadership in the assembly, to manipulate it to teach so-called "mortal-made" theological theories about God's Word, the triune godhead invention in the 4th century, in place of God's Word.
Satan and his demon spirits have no shield or defense against the knife of the Spirit, the Word of God, that's why the shield used by Goliath metaphorically represents stealth, a covering, a false front to hide behind to keep from being detected and attacked himself. Goliath hid behind his shield while the devil hid behind Goliath's physical outward form.
In modern "Christianity" the devil's shield is showbiz; consisting of a vast array of stage props, lights, sound, and action, behind which he hides! Hollywood has come to the assembly! Motion, tons of motion, most of it wasted motion, to keep people's minds occupied with something to think and do, like which method of manipulation is used on children all of the time to control their thinking.
The scriptures, through various records, reveal to us characteristics of Satan and his demon spirits, such as they are wise but not all-knowing, stealthy but sometimes blatantly stupid, deceitful liars but often times use Truth to get you to start heeding them, etc., as the "tree" of the knowledge of good and evil . And, they are cowardly also. Satan's demon spirit's always use a shield of some kind, a front, a covering, a false appearance, a false pretense, a five-senses show of some kind that they hide behind to try and deceive others from detecting their approach and presence.
God's Word gives us ample instruction on how to detect their every move! And when we do "see" demon spirit activity, God, through apostle James, tells us what we must do.
Consider what apostle James said:
James 4:7 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore (oun), be put in submission (hupotagēte) to the (tō) God (theō).
But (de) stand opposed (antistēte) to the (tō) diabolical one (diabolō), and (kai) he shall cause himself to flee (pheuxetai) from (aph’) you (humōn).
"stand opposed" - Gk. root, anthistemi, to stand against, oppose. "Stand opposed" here is in the imperative mood making it a command. We are commanded to stand opposed/against the devil, to oppose him, and God says that he will flee. If God hasn't given us the ability to oppose Satan, then opposition would be suicidal, and God wouldn't ask us to do that, because his son Jesus Christ already died once and for all time for all, so we could have the gift of holy Spirit, "power from on high" (Luke 24.49). God says through James, "he (the devil) will flee from you."
"he shall cause himself to flee" - Gk. root, pheugo, to search for safety. God says in James 4:7 that when you stand against and oppose the devil, that he will run to search for safety. This is the truth! Satan wants you to believe that he and his demon spirits are BIG and POWERFUL, like Goliath. The devil spirit realm does have advantages over the natural man of just body and soul, and the natural man can be easily manipulated by them in their minds and bodies. But, they are no match for God's Spirit working in and through a son or daughter of God, no match against Christ in you (Col. 1:27)! And you, being born from above with God's Spirit in you, makes you more powerful than they; because, how powerful is the God, in you? Got it?
This is exactly what Satan does NOT want you to know! Once you believe you have God's Spirit in you, and you believe that God's Spirit is more powerful than the devil, then you'll start to practice it, and that's when your life will become a whole new ball game, and you'll start winning in spiritual competitions!
In Luke 4 and Mat. 4 are records of some of the temptations Jesus faced by Satan during Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. Jesus' temptations continued throughout all the forty days (Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2), but those accounts given to us in scripture are the temptations which occurred at the end of the forty days, at which point Jesus "hungered" and was at his weakest point throughout the forty days. (Luke 4:2, Mat. 4:2). Jesus Christ at even his weakest moments was more powerful than Satan. And, it's "Christ in you" (Col. 1:27)." What do you suppose that means? That's one of the things you received when you received salvation/wholeness! Is that TOO big for you to believe? Oh, I see, your adopted triune godhead beliefs preclude you from believing you can become like what Christ Jesus was in this world, because you believe the mortal man Jesus was the God almighty, and so how can anyone become like the God himself, right? And so you are already steered away from discipleship to Christ Jesus because you already believe that you can't become anything like the mortal man, Jesus. Isn't that correct?
According to the records of Satan's temptations, Jesus' every response was to quote God's Word back to him. This is the lesson. This is the standard, the level of the bar, the benchmark to follow regarding facing temptation. Did Jesus words defeat Satan's attempts to tempt him into sinning? Absolutely! Jesus said, concerning the words which come out of a mortal's mouth, that, "...for from the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). Jesus Christ didn't take the suggested actions that the devil suggested Jesus should take, but he simply spoke God's Word back to the devil, and that is exactly how Jesus Christ defeated the devil.
How can we speak God's Word out of our mouth properly if we don't have it first in abundance in our hearts? Did Jesus have God's Word in abundance in his heart, the inner most part of his mind? Yes! It was the pure unadulterated power of God's spoken Word on Jesus' believing lips which defeated Satan's attempts. That's part of the lesson in here for you and me, to speak God's Word to command the devil and the demon spirit realm to do what they should according to God's Word. We, the one body of Christ, are to command both the devil and his demon spirits to do exactly what God's Word says, using God's Word coming out of our own mouths! Oh, that's right, the triune godhead camp preaches and teaches that God no longer does signs, miracles and wonders, which lie you think you can use to get you off of the hook from discipling yourself to Christ Jesus so he can't raise you up into the spiritual maturity of himself. Then he'll say to you, "I never got to know you!"
Here, try this for the next month or so, and see if you can't see some changes and deliverances in you life from any spiritual battles going on around you that the devil and/or his demon spirits may bring to you.
"You demon spirits hanging around this house, or our property, trying to negatively affect us and the things we do during the day, and trying to fill our minds with bad dreams at night, in the name of Jesus Christ you (singular or plural) go now to the bottom of the deepest part of the oceans and remain there until the appointed time for your judgments. Now go in the name of Jesus Christ." And they must go, if not immediately, within the hour!
If you have had a new birth above, and God's Spirit is within you, then God's Spirit within you will work in and through you to personally escort those demon spirits to where you, according to God's Word, have commanded them to go. God's Word shows us in several place that the deep waters are a perfectly acceptable place to send them. You look up the verses for yourself! That's how you will remember them better.
In response to Satan, did Jesus quote what great philosophers once said? Did Jesus quote what the tabloids and local gossip columns said? Did Jesus quote back to Satan what the Pharisees or Sadducees say about God's Word? Did Jesus quote back what Homer Simpson said? Did Jesus quote back to Satan the name of the topic of Wednesday night Bible study class? No!
Jesus spoke God's Word, just as all of God's prophets, and Jesus' disciples and apostles have always spoke. No more and no less:
2 Pet. 1:20 (LIT/UBS4) we knowing (ginōskontes) this (touto) first (prōton), that (hoti) every (pasa) prophecy (prophēteia) of [a] writing (graphēs) is absolutely not caused to come to pass (ou ginetai) over one’s own letting loose (idias epiluseōs);
2 Pet. 1:21 (LIT/UBS4) because (gar) absolutely not (ou) for [a] desire (thelēmati) of [a] mortal (anthrōpou) was prophecy (prophēteia) brought (ēnechthē) in time past (pote)!
BUT (alla), mortals (anthrōpoi) spoke (elalēsan) being brought (pheromenoi) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of holy (hagiou) Spirit (pneumatos) from (apo) God (theou)!
If a believer finds himself surrounded by threatening people and/or circumstances, and has a suspicion that the devil and/or his demon spirits may be at work against him, then open your mouth and speak God's Word, speaking a command like the one above, to command them all to leave you in peace, and they must comply; because it is God in you causing you to both desire and to do his will, and it is his Spirit within you which is more powerful than all of them, on account of the new covenant Jesus put through with his own shed blood and death.
And Jesus Christ spoke these kind of words:
John 6:63 (LIT/UBS4) The (to) Spirit (pneuma) is (estin) the (to) [life, v54, RE] making one alive (zōopoioun).
The (hē) flesh (sarx) absolutely does not profit (ouk ōphelei), absolutely not one (ouden) [profit, RE]!
The (ta) statements (rhēmata) which (ha) I (egō) have spoken (lelalēka) to you (humin), [each statement, RE] is (estin) Spirit (pneuma), and (kai) [each statement, RE] is (estin) life (zōe)!
John 6:64 (LIT/UBS4) BUT (all’) there are (eisin) some (tines) out (ex) of you (humōn) who (hoi) absolutely do not believe (ou pisteuousin)!”
When a believer speaks God's Word verbatim, it is not the person speaking as much as it is God's Spirit within a believer speaking in and through that believer. So then, are the devil and demon spirits going to argue with God's Spirit within you after they have been commanded to depart from your presence? God's power within you is greater. They have no choice but to depart from you. Believers are carrying around within them a power greater than a .45 cal. auto pistol on their hips, God himself is within believers (Rom. 8:9; Heb. 13:5, 21; John 14:20, 17:21; 1 John 4:16-19), because they are his paternal children!
Scripturally speaking, as opposed to mortal-made religious inventions, all of mortalkind are not God's children, but only those who have received a new birth from above in God's paternal holy Spirit. You look up the verses. All of mortalkind are God's creation, but not all mortals within mortalkind are God's paternal children. The only other children God has had, or has now, are the children of Israel, who up until the day of Pentecost could only be adopted, since until then the outpouring of God's Spirit hadn't yet occurred. Since the day of Pentecost many of the children of Israel have believed upon the precious name of Jesus, to receive a new paternal birth above. But most of Israel up until now are mostly adopted children of God. But no mortal, except Jesus Christ, has had an opportunity to become a paternal son of God until the day of Pentecost. Jesus Christ became the firstborn of all of God's paternal children (Rom. 8:29).
And these kinds of words:
For the Spirit of God being in Christ, and the Spirit of Christ (God's Spirit) being in those who believe upon his Jesus Christ's name, making them more than conquerors now, see Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Php. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5.
And these kind of words:
Heb. 4:12 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) the (ho) Word (logos) of the (tou) God (theou) [is] [a] living one (zōn), and (kai) [an] energized one (energēs), and (kai) [a] sharper one (tomōteros) over (huper) every (pasan) double-mouthed (distomon) knife (machairan);
and (kai) one causing itself to cut through suitably (diiknoumenos) until (achri) [there, AE] [is] [a] division (merismou) of soul (psuchēs) and (kai) of Spirit (pneumatos), both (de) of joints (armōn) and (kai) of marrows (muelōn).
And (kai) [the Word, RE] [is] critical (kritikos) of inner passions (enthumēseōn), and (kai) inner mindful things (ennoiō) of [a] heart (kardias).
Speaking back to Satan or demon spirits anything else BUT God's pure Word of Spirit and power, will get you defeated! That's part of the lesson in here for you and me. We decide with what level of abundance we want to fill our minds with God's Word. Our knowledge and belief of God's Word in our minds, and then our speaking it on our lips, is our armor, for both offense and defense!
The prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 14 tells us of the awe of natural man who has gone to the grave, and as though they could speak, what they would say at the sight of Satan, the fallen messenger Lucifer, when God finally and openly exposes him to all mortalkind for what he truly is:
Consider a record in Isaiah:
Isa. 14:10 All they will answer and say unto you, "Are you also become weak as we? You are like us?
Isa. 14:11 Your arrogance is lowered into Hell, [with] the noise of your psalteries: Under you is spread the worm, and maggots cover you.
Isa. 14:12 How have you fallen from the heavens, O Shining one, son of the morning? You are cut down to the ground, who weakens over the nations!
Isa. 14:13 And you have said in your heart;
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'I will go up to the heavens.
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I will raise my throne above the stars of God.
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And I will sit on the mount of meeting, in the sides of the north.
Isa. 14:14
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I will rise over the heights of the clouds.
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I will be like the most High.'
Isa. 14:15 Yet to Hell you will be lowered, to the sides of the pit.
Isa. 14:16 They who see you shall stare at you, shall ponder at you, 'is this the strong man making the earth quake, shaking kingdoms,
Isa. 14:17 setting the habitable world (tebel) like [a] wilderness (midbar), and its cities tore down, he opened not the house of his prisoners?'"
The devil, Satan, and demon spirits, do not reveal themselves openly. They are spirit-based beings, whose spirit is not visible in the light spectrum visible to mortal's eyes. They are not beings of the light even though they often portray themselves as beings of the light. They remain dark, in darkness, hidden, working in secret, manipulating people in their minds. God's Word says they enter into people to evilly affect their thinking.
Here's another reference. Consider what apostle Peter says:
1 Pet. 5:8 (LIT/UBS4) Stay awake (grēgorēsate), be sober (nēpsate)!
The one (ho) opposed to the righteousness (antidikos) of you (humōn), [a] diabolical one (diabolos), walks around (periratei) as (hōs) [a] lion (lēon) causing himself to roar (ōruomenos), searching (zētōn) for someone (tina) to drink down2666 (katapiein);
"as [a] lion causing himself to roar" - With a roar, a sound, the devil hopes to panic and/or paralyze his prey, through their five senses, into making mistaken, desperate moves, instead of acting upon the Truth of God's Word! The devil was using Goliath, to roar through him, to roar at the children of Israel, to try and get them to respond some other way than to speak God's Word.
Consider what Jesus said to the "spiritual leadership" of Israel in apostle John's record:
John 8:43 (LIT/UBS4) Through (dia) [the sake, AE] of what (ti) do you absolutely not know (ou ginōskete) the (tēn) speech (lalian), the (tēn) [speech, RE] of me (mou)!?
[Is] [it, AE] because (hoti) you can absolutely not inherently power yourselves (ou dunasthe) to hear (akouein) the (ton) Word (logon), the one (ton) of me (emon)!?
John 8:44 (LIT/UBS4) You (humeis) are (este) out (ek) of the (tou) father (patros) [of you, RE], the (tou) diabolical one (diabolou);
and (kai) you do desire (thelete) to do (poiein) the (tas) lusts (epithumias) of the (tou) father (patros) of you (humōn)!
That one (ekeinos) was being (ēn) [a] mortal-killer (anthrōpoktonos) from (ap’) [the] beginning (archēs).
And (kai) he has absolutely not been standing (ouk estēken) in (en) the (tē) Truth (alētheia), because (hoti) Truth (alētheia) is (estin) absolutely not (ouk) in (en) him (autō)!
When perhaps (hotan) he may speak (lalē) the (to) falsehood (pseudos), he speaks (lalei) out (ek) the things (tōn) of his own (idiōn);
because (hoti) he is (estin) [a] false one (pseustēs), and (kai) the (ho) father (patēr) of it (autou)!
John 8:45 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) because (hoti) I (egō) speak (legō) the (tēn) Truth (alētheian), you absolutely do not believe (ou pisteuete) me (moi)!?
The Truth of any situation is absolutely not only what mortal's five senses perceive it to be, but exactly what God's Word says it is! We need to retrain ourselves about our five senses, that what we may sense is most likely not all there is to any situation, since our five senses can't detect the devil or his demon spirits' presence. But our five sense, later after the fact, can detect devilish outcomes in the five senses realm. And so we can attribute his work to him, and/or to his demon spirits, and/or to any mortals who may be in the same league as he or his demon spirits. But our detection of those causes depends upon how great is our knowledge of God's Word specifically about the devil and demon spirit activity, in order to be able to trace causes of evil back to them. The devil is constantly lying, spreading a large dose of falsehoods, along with whatever little bits of Truth he may speak to throw you off of his track, and duck your glance his way.
Whenever the devil or demon spirits attack believers an attack is usually preceded by a "roar" of some kind, usually either a shocking sight or sound of some kind, or both. Listen very closely to his or her words they may speak, and compare them to exactly what the God has said in his Word. If there is a disagreement in the meanings of those words, no matter how small, then one or the other is lying. Who do you think is the one lying, the devil or God's Word? What God's Word says about a situation is the Truth. Greater is the Spirit of God in you than the spirit of antichrist in the cosmos (1 John 4:4). That is the Truth!
The five senses realm, including the five-senses mortal, can be easily manipulated by the darkness, with orchestrations for appearances and "window dressings", and "stage props". The devil, and/or demon spirits, will try to throw at you the whole deceptive shebang they've orchestrated, to try to immediately overwhelm you into indecisiveness. The truth is that the power of God in you, a believer, a paternal son or daughter of God, the gift of holy Spirit from God, is greater than Satan and his little demon spirits! No matter how big and powerful the enemy may look or sound, no matter how desperate the situation appears, the truth is, "greater is he (God) that is in you than he that is in the cosmos" (1 John 4:4). Pound this into your mind to renew it (Rom. 12:2).
But Satan's little demon spirits will keep trying to work at you through your five senses, to wear you down mentally, to try and make you question and doubt this truth, especially in hopes of causing you to lose your spiritual composer, to stop you from focusing upon all of God's Word.
The first objective of Satan and his demon spirits is to get you to believe them, and doubt the integrity of God and his Word, and his son Jesus Christ. And after he has accomplished that, and you have agreed on trying to defeat him based upon your flesh and blood strength, and brute stupidity, he has you set up for stealing, killing, and destroying. Don't let the greatness of any five senses show he may throw at you force you out of standing up to the devil to resist him with God's Words on your lips. God's Word on your lips is the rapier/knife/sword of the Spirit, God. And it cuts going all ways, because it is sharper than any double-mouthed knife/sword (Heb. 4:12). Through questioning anyone about God's Word it is easily possible to determine, for yourself personally, exactly what one may believe about God's Word, and to determine whether you are dealing with the soul of a person, or the spirit of a demon; all the way to being able to criticize the inner passions and inner mindful things of any person's heart. Their final judgment is left up to Christ Jesus and his one body, when the time for that is revealed.