Life on earth is enveloped in spiritual warfare. On one side are the Holy Spirit and the holy angels. They concentrate on doing good and advancing the purposes of God. Arrayed against them are the spiritual rulers and the dark forces of evil. They strive to obstruct Gods purposes and attempt to work as much evil as possible.
God's authority prevails in the spiritual dimension. His authority was not affected by the fall, so this battle changes nothing in the heavenly places. In the spiritual dimension, both sides must abide by God's rules.
The outcome of the spiritual struggle is manifested on earth. When the light side wins the struggle, peace and plenty prevail on earth. When the dark side is on top, trouble and tribulation will be prevalent.
Authority
The outcome of the spiritual struggle is not determined by numbers. If it were, the light side would win, because good angels outnumber evil angels two to one. The outcome is not determined by force. If it were, the Holy Spirit would win hands down. The outcome of the spiritual struggle on earth is not determined by numbers or force, but by authority.
God has given authority on earth to humans. The outcome of the spiritual battle depends on which side is given the greatest authority by people on earth.
Authority on earth in the spiritual realm is determined on earth by numbers of believers, faith and words declaring God's purposes.
If enough people are following Jesus, praying in faith, and declaring God's purposes, the Holy Spirit and the holy angels will have the authority they need to hold the dark side in check. It does not have to be the majority. In fact, the greater their faith, the smaller the number of faithful people can be. On the other hand, if too many people on earth with authority are giving authority to the dark side, it will win the spiritual battle and the Holy Spirit and the holy angels will be constrained.
Signs of the Times
When the balance of power in a nation shifts back towards the powers of darkness, signs of the change will be obvious to people with eyes to see. Jesus rebuked the people of Jerusalem because they could read weather signs, but they could not discern the times in which they were living. They knew that when the south wind blew, the weather would be hot, but they did not understand what was happening in their own city (Luke 12:55-56).
This strange comment roused their curiosity, so some of those present asked Jesus about two recent events. In the first, some Galileans had been killed by Pilate and their blood mingled with Roman sacrifice. In the second, eighteen people had been killed when the Tower of Siloam had fallen on them. He explained that these events were an indicator of their spiritual status.
Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:2-5).
Jesus was clear that the sins of the people killed in these tragedies were no worse than those of other Galileans, or other people living in Jerusalem, but he warned that unless they all repented, everyone would perish.
When the people who followed Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, began to reject him, the authority to the forces of evil was increased. As the city of Jerusalem hardened its heart against the one whom God had sent as their messiah, the authority of the Holy Spirit and the angels was reduced, so they were unable to prevent the devil from flexing his muscles. He is no respecter of persons, so he does not limit his attacks to sinful people, but uses his new authority to have a go at anyone in the way.
The forces of evil showed off their extra authority by inspiring the Romans to kill some Galileans and mix their blood with their sacrifices. They also caused a stone from to Tower of Siloam to fall on eighteen men and kill them. The men killed were no worse than anyone else in Israel. They just happened to be in the way when the forces of evil got busy and began pushing their new powers.
The message for Israel was clear. If they continued to reject Jesus, they would be handing greater authority to the powers of evil, so worse destruction was inevitable. If they pursued their opposition right to the end, the Holy Spirit and the angels would be seriously restrained and the nation would be totally exposed to evil.
The tipping point came when Israel fell into unbelief and called for their messiah to be crucified. This spiritual desolation shifted the spiritual balance of power in favour of the forces of evil and they were able to come in like a flood. In AD 70, the Roman army besieged Jerusalem, smashed down its walls and slaughtered those who survived.
The spiritual forces of wickedness are not very creative. The small scale evils that that occur when their spiritual authority begins to increase are often a sign of what they intend to do, if they can gain even greater authority. Being abnormal and unusual, these events are noticed by everyone.
Minor occurrences of evil are often a warning of worst disasters to follow, because they reveal the mind of the devil. This was the case in Israel. The events that Jesus was questioned about were a foretaste of what would happen when the real destruction of Jerusalem came.
New Zealand
For the past 140 years, there have been enough Christians in New Zealand praying and declaring God's purposes to give the light side sufficient authority to come out on top. The result has been a time of enormous blessing, despite some fairly terrible stuff that was done at times by political leaders.
However, over the last two decades, the balance has shifted. More and more people have rejected Jesus, or just forgotten him. It is not that people are hostile, but more that they have lost interest, because being a Christian no longer seems like a very attractive option. As people have been filled with fear (the opposite of faith) and spoken out negative words about other people, themselves and the future, the balance of power in the spiritual world has begun to move back toward the dark side. Evil has begun to flex its muscles in this nation.
As the number of people serving Jesus has declined, their faith has weakened and many have begun to declare negative things, rather than the purposes of God. This has withdrawn authority from the Holy Spirit and the angels and constrained their ability to act on the earth.
This struggle is currently even evenly poised. The forces of evil had sufficient authority to release an earthquake in Christchurch, but they did not have sufficient authority to take human lives. Very few people were killed by the quake because the holy angels still had sufficient authority to protect lives, even if they could not protect property.
The earthquakes were a warning. There has been a huge power shift in the spiritual realms, authorised from by the people of New Zealand. Unless the number of Christians increases, or their faith increases dramatically, so God's purposes are declared with boldness, the Holy Spirit and the angels will not have sufficient authority to turns back the tide of evil that is emerging in our land.
Economy
The financial crisis was not that bad in New Zealand. (People were still walking their dogs).
The reason the economy did not get as bad as people expected is that God held back the economic tide. He had planned to shake the nation into revival and blessing, but his people were not prepared. Most were so entwined with the world that any serious shaking would have swept them away, so God held the crisis back.
This turning back of evil has lulled us into a false sense of security, but our complacency is based on a misunderstanding.
We did not come through the financial crisis unscathed,
because we are strong.
God withheld the shaking back
because we are weak.
That may not happen again. In recent years, a power shift has taken place in New Zealand, as we have given greater authority to the forces of evil. We have unwittingly handed control of our culture, our society and our economy to the forces of evil. Our nation has gone so far down the wrong road that they now have a much freer hand.
By casting off restraint,
we have left evil unrestrained
and constrained the Holy Spirit's authority to protect us.
The forces of evil are now flexing their muscles. They watched the world financial crisis and are thinking, "We can do better than that". They are planning a strike against New Zealand that will devastate our economy and plunge us into a crisis that cannot be constrained by the hand of God.
The timing is uncertain, because the enemy is not as powerful as we think. He is struggling to get his capability together, but he will eventually succeed. The devil's depression will be deeper and darker than anything that this generation has seen.
God has been voted out of New Zealand and no longer has authority to intervene and work evil for good. His ability to hold back evil is now severely constrained, so he will not be able to shape the next economic crisis for his purposes.
Preparation is urgent. There is no time for mucking around, trying to get things perfect. Getting prepared is more important than getting things right.
Return to Christchurch