SRI LANKA WRESTLES AGAINST POWERS IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE AND
THE KINGS OF THE EARTH
Have you ever felt that it is so hard and difficult to fight against “the powers that be”, particularly in Sri Lanka? The “………Go Gama” concept was initially set up at Galle Face in Sri Lanka, which made all of us feel very hopeful about seeing the exit of certain people who were in power. However, this is what we hear now from the public:
- · “However much we tell him to go he is not going”
- · “Though he resigned and went he will control everything through their agent……..”
- · “The expected national government and an all-party Cabinet will never come because the dynasty will never allow it”
- · “ I am giving up my fight because as long as they remain in power we will see no change”
- · “The 21st amendment brought forward by the government does not meet the demands of the Aragalaya. It will only facilitate the continuation of the Rajapaksha regime”
Why are people feeling this way? Is it merely human failure
to do what is right and good? Or are there any unseen powers or forces that are
working against our nation? With the untold sufferings that have come upon Sri
Lanka some including Parliamentarians have begun to say that the country is
under a curse. Who inflicted the curse? Did the Easter bombing and the
injustice to the victims precipitate God’s anger? There are millions of
questions that seek an explanation from a spiritual dimension to what is
happening in the ground realities of Sri Lanka today.
According to the teachings of the Bible, heaven and earth
are continuously intermingling with all kinds of creatures, forces, and cosmic powers—both
seen and unseen. We need to be alert and
better equipped to discern the unseen forces that could be working behind the
conflicts and sufferings that our people are experiencing in Sri Lanka today.
“What are these powers? What do they do in the world and
especially in our country? How do they operate? How do they relate to God and
to humans?” – these are vital questions that have to be addressed amid present political and economic struggles.
There are spiritual beings other than the human beings of the earth
The God of the Bible is power-sharing. He shares his
powers with the humans as well as the heavenly beings - spiritual beings
Psalm 89:5-8
5The heavens praise Your wonders,
O LORD—
Your faithfulness as well—
in the assembly of the holy
ones.
6For who in the skies can compare with the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beingsb is like the LORD?
7In the council of the holy ones, God is greatly feared,
and awesome above all who
surround Him.
8O LORD God of Hosts, who is like
You?
In Psalm 89 reference is made to an “assembly of the holy ones” What is this assembly? It is the heavenly council which consists of powerful heavenly spiritual beings. However, they are not equal to the Lord of hosts – who is “the mighty God and wonderful above them” and is enthroned as High King (Psalms 95:3-7). He is the one true God who is above all. God alone is truly Lord Sabaoth, the Lord over the Hosts – Armies. The hosts or the armies here are not spoken of the humans, but of the “hosts above”, “holy ones,” the angelic beings. God who is above them has interactions with them just like the interactions with the human beings.
But this is not the only information we receive from the
scripture about the heavenly spiritual beings. In Psalm 82 we receive another picture about the heavenly hosts
1God presides
in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the
“gods”:
2“How long will
you a defend the
unjust
and show partiality to the
wicked? b
3Defend the
weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and
the oppressed.
4Rescue the
weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of
the wicked.
5“The ‘gods’
know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the
earth are shaken.
6“I said, ‘You
are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most
High.’
7 But you will
die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other
ruler.”
8Rise up, O
God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your
inheritance.
In this Psalm God makes a charge against ‘gods’ the heavenly spiritual beings - at least some of them are “condemned by God for not exercising justice when governing the nations”. They were supposed to “govern justly concerning the poor, needy, fatherless, powerless – but they didn’t do their job.” Therefore God declares that the disobedient ‘gods’ the heavenly spiritual beings will die like mere mortals. This is very strange. The Old Testament Prophets repeatedly made charges against humans failing to do justice. Yet here we see God directly assigning blame to the world’s spiritual powers for the injustices that take place on earth. He renders judgment against them, even saying these gods – the heavenly spiritual beings will die.
There is a deep connection between the “powers in the heavens above and the Kings on the earth”
“Fallen humans are
responsible for the world’s evil. Fallen spiritual powers are responsible for
the world’s evil. The Bible says “Yes” to both of these statements.” What
evidence can we find in the Bible to understand this?
Isaiah 24
21In that day
the Lord will punish
the powers in the heavens above
and the kings on the earth
below.
22They will be
herded together
like prisoners bound in a
dungeon;
they will be shut up in prison
and be punished after
many days.
According to the above,
destructive forces, rulers and powers are operating jointly in the heavenly
realms and the earth. They have a joint venture of rebelling against God both
in heaven and on earth. The running of the world—the world in rebellion against
God—is not merely carried out by presidents, prime ministers, and kings. It is
equally governed by the angelic rulers of the heavenly assembly, the rulers of
darkness. They are operating in two different realms of heaven and earth. However, their joint venture is evil and destruction. The devil is constantly on
the prowl looking to trap people here on
earth. “He is not omnipresent for he can only be in one place at a time.
However, he has a massive infrastructure of emissaries (demons) who do his
bidding in every nation.
The Sri Lankan experience of “powers in the heavens above and the Kings on the earth”
It is no secret that most of
the Sri Lankans who hold political power dabble with witchcraft and spiritual
powers which are other than their faith and the religion they follow. Such
forces are sought to gain power, remain in power, prevent others from coming
into power and also to remove others who are in power. Dabbling with
astrology, evil powers, charms etc. has become part of the political culture
in Sri Lanka. We need to understand how forces of evil have been invoked and
employed by our Sri Lankan politicians in their power struggles!
Insensitivity and
inattentiveness to the sufferings of the people bring discord -
This is a very painful complaint we hear so much today from the masses against their political representatives. The very leaders who were extra sensitive to the sufferings of the people during the LTTE atrocities and rapidly responded with military action have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the untold sufferings of the people today. The way they talk and behave gives no reassurance to the people who brought them to power. The President who was instrumental in having “Gama samaga pilisandarak” – a conversation with the village is now confined to the President's House in Colombo. It is a sign of a huge gap between the people and their political representatives which is sad. The political representatives who mingled with the masses are now keeping away from them. They are asking the authorities to provide them with military guards in addition to the police protection they already have. Isn’t this a sign of discord between those in power and their subjects. Such discord is undoubtedly the work of the devil.
Stubbornness –
The overnight decision made by the President to convert to organic fertilizer from chemical fertilizer has brought utter chaos to the Agricultural field. For several months University dons and the ordinary farmers appealed to go into organic farming gradually without seeking an overnight change. But it fell on deaf ears. When the earlobes of the President and the Agriculture Minister became so indifferent to the cry of the farmers, their two minds became “occupied territory of evil forces” making them very stubborn. They both thought they can never be mistaken. Especially the arrogant way of speaking and acting by the former agricultural minister Mahindananda was a clear sign of him being influenced by evil. The stubbornness of the President and the Minister of Agriculture compelled the farmers to withdraw from the cultivation of paddy and vegetables and the entire nation is now on the pathway to a food crisis. When a ruler whose mind has fallen into passivity and been occupied by evil spirits, the words of wisdom spoken by others are seen by the ruler as an invasion of his authority. He will become absolutely closed and defensive, and he will not want to know about anything else. Neither his own reason and conscience nor the explanations and theories of others can change him at all. When the ruler will not use his own reasoning he will be subject to any deception by evil spirits and will be completely ignorant of it himself. Others who have only a little understanding will know his danger, yet he will be quite content. Isn’t this what we see happening in Sri Lanka today?
Fraud, Lies and Deception
Talking about Fraud, lies and deception, Sri Lanka is unbelievably overshadowed by these three. Election Manifestos of the political parties or candidates have always hoodwinked our people. The 6.9 million people who brought the current government into power are now confessing how they have been cheated by the President and the government through various promises. It took only a few months and not years for this to be realized by the people.
Members of the SLPP government are now confessing that they were asked to vote in favour of the 20th amendment to the constitution where provisions were made for dual citizenship holders to come into the Parliament and even the Cabinet. Learned people and certain religious leaders who first dissented later on consented to the amendment because they were promised and assured that this was only a temporary measure until a new Constitution is brought in which will not allow a dual citizen to come into political authority. The other day I listened to a young reputed lawyer, who worked hard to bring to power this government had also swallowed the above-mentioned lie without any questioning whereas in every other matter he was a relentless disputant. Yes, 6.9 million people including religious clergy, university teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers etc. were duped by the President and the Prime Minister – the two brothers wanted a 4th brother in the regime to complete the dynasty. Funnily there are still people who become so gullible to the lies of the rulers. Isn’t ingenious acts intended to dupe or cheat others part of the grand programmes of the father of lies?
Many court cases have been stalled, and suspects have been released from serious offences declaring “nidos kota nidahas” (declared as innocent and discharged). The public knows well how fraudulent activity has been carried out by the accused. In such situations, the problem is mostly with the plaint which is weak and the charges can’t be proved. Cases seem to be filed not to prove but to invalidate the evidence against the suspects. What a deception! This is becoming the model with cases that are filed against fraudulent activities of the notorious robbers of our nation. Their minds are so warped by the devil and they do not feel bad about their actions. The boldness with which they speak to the media defending themselves proves how their minds have become the workshops of the devil!
“Stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
The purpose of this article is not to bring fear into you or make you feel despondent. Neither it is to give glory to the devil by highlighting the spiritual forces that are working in our land today. My determination is to make ourselves realize that we, the Sri Lankans have to be proactive in this darkest hour of our nation where both the spiritual forces and the human forces have come together on a joint venture to destroy our beloved nation. Every other person seems to be getting disheartened and discouraged in seeing the collapse of our nation. The call to our nation from the Scriptures is to “Stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) We do not simply stand against “what it appears to be.” We have to stand against the reality of the schemes of the devil operating in different forms. C.H. Spurgeon cautions us about the devil-like this "He will attack you sometimes by force and sometimes by fraud. He will seek to overcome you by might or by sleight, and no unarmed man can stand against him. Never go out without all your armour on, for you can never tell where you may meet the devil. He is not omnipresent, but nobody can tell where he is not, for him and his troops of devils appear to be found everywhere on this earth" including Sri Lanka.
We need to be aware
of the demonic. We need to be aware of darkness. We need to be aware that it
has infected a world system and so it is in our nation. However, our focus is not to be on that. Our focus is to be on the
resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection
power in each individual life and the national life!
Rev. Asiri P. Perera
Retired President Bishop
Methodist Church Sri Lanka
June 26, 2022
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