THE SEVENTY NATIONS AND GLOBAL SPIRITUAL WARFARE

THE SEVENTY NATIONS AND GLOBAL SPIRITUAL WARFARE

We are continuing the account of the second phase of the ministry of Jesus, after he said that he was setting his face toward Jerusalem. (Luke 9). Jesus was heading toward the final victory over human sin and corruption by his death on the cross, so he sent seventy disciples to go before him and bring a foretaste of the blessing of the Kingdom of God in his name. 
Luke 10:1 towns and villages he planned to visit later.

The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the 
The number seventy is significant in this story of the ministry of Jesus. 
Firsly, it represents the principle of delegation of governmental authority, as also seen in the command to Moses to delegate authority to seventy elders to help him in counselling the people of Israel in the wilderness. And the Jewish Sanhedrin was the delegated authority of the ruling council in New Testament times, consisting of 70 elders, following the precedent set in the Old Testament. In this story of the seventy disciples Jesus was not only heading towards Jerusalem to overcome human sin and corruption on the cross but was also heading toward overcoming all the rebellious principalities and powers of darkness that had corrupted the world throughout the ages. 

There were three major acts of spiritual rebellion to be overturned by Jesus when he came to establish his Kingdom.
The first act of spiritual rebellion was by Satan, the angelic prince power who appeared as the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God.
The second  spiritual rebellion was by angelic powers just before the flood of Noah in Genesis Chapter 6. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day Jude 1:6)
The third spiritual rebellion was at the tower of Babel, soon after the flood, where the entire world was divided by God into seventy nations. The people had built a tower that they said would exalt them to Heaven. God divided their languages and sent them out into all the world. Read Genesis Chapter 10 where these seventy nations are named. They all came under the influence of spiritual principalities and powers of idolatry. Many of those nations throughout history had rulers who saw themselves as gods, such as Egypt, and Rome (Caesar is Lord). Canaan and Tarshish (Spain) are mentioned. And in Daniel the prince power of Persia and the prince power of Greece, and Babylon. 

Soon after the tower of Babel God called Abram out of one of those nations, from a place called Ur of the Chaldees (the nation of Babylon), to establish the Holy Nation of Israel. 
The nation of Israel was ruled by the one true God, and Israel went into battle against many of those scattered nations who opposed their entry into the promised land. Israel finally took the physical territory of the land, but they did not necessarily overcome the idolatry and spiritual darkness that remained in those regions. But Jesus was to come out of and through Israel, and overcome all principalities and powers in the heavens and on the earth. 
Jesus was giving these seventy disciples the authority to speak in his name and to confront the territorial powers of darkness that had held power over those Gentile and Jewish places for many generations since the tower of Babel.
Reading on in the story… 
These were his instructions to them: 
Luke 10:2 “Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers to help you, for the harvest is so plentiful and the workers so few. Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. Don’t take any money with you, or a beggar’s bag, or even an extra pair of shoes. And don’t waste time along the way. This was a disciplined strategic mission.
“Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. If it is worthy of the blessing, the blessing will stand; if not, the blessing will return to you.
“When you enter a village, don’t shift around from home to home, but stay in one place, eating and drinking without question whatever is set before you. And don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, for the workman is worthy of his wages!
“If a town welcomes you, follow these two rules:
(1) Eat whatever is set before you.
(2) Heal the sick; and as you heal them, say, ‘The Kingdom of God is very near.’
“But if a town refuses you, go out into its streets and say, ‘We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom. Never forget how close you were to the Kingdom of God!’ Even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a city on the Judgment Day. This demonstrates the strategic confrontation against the ancient spiritual rebellion that still pervaded the territory. 
What horrors await you - cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did for you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. Yes, Tyre and Sidon will receive less punishment on the Judgment Day than you. And you people of Capernaum, what shall I say about you? Will you be exalted to heaven? (This echoes the Tower of babel language) No, you shall be brought down to Sheol”
Then he said to the disciples, “Those who welcome you are welcoming me. And those who reject you are rejecting me. And those who reject me are rejecting God who sent me.” When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Even the demons obey us when we use your name. ”Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy, and to walk 
among serpents and scorpions and to crush them (symbolic of evil spirits – Revelation 9:10). Nothing shall injure you! However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”
Then he was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the worldly wise and for revealing them to those who are as trusting as little children. 

So the sending out of the seventy disciples was a turning point in the final overcoming of the Kingdom of God that was to be accomplished for us at calvary - a complete victory over evil spirits. When Jesus said he had overcome the world he was not just talking about human corruption, but about the corruption of the world by the rebellion of dark and demonic angelic forces throughout the ages.
And Paul tells us that Jesus has overcome all principalities and powers of darkness – Colossians 2:15 He has disarmed principalities and powers, and has made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them... Paul also tells us that we are seated in our Heavenly position with Jesus far above all principalities and powers. (Ephesians 2:6). 

We are living in days when there is much spiritual activity, both of the Holy Spirit and of the powers of darkness that seek to blind peoples’ minds from the light and truth of God. There are Principalities and powers of darkness influencing leadership in the cultures of all the nations of the world at the moment. And there are nations where those powers will not prevail because those who believe in Jesus and his Kingdom choose to live in obedience to God and his Word – and God is fighting for them. On a personal level our offensive weaponry in our direct encounters with the power of darkness is our faith that God is in command of our lives and is fighting for us. We don’t shout at the devil – we have Jesus speaking to us and through us – the one who has overcome darkness for us.
Deuteronomy 3:22 You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you. 
Our defensive weaponry in our direct encounters with the powers of darkness is the saving and protecting power of God through faith in the abiding presence of God the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us to stand against the powers of darkness by ‘putting on the full armour of God’ 
Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the times of evil, and having done all, to stand firm. 
We are equipped to overcome personal attacks of darkness upon us that are designed to weaken our trust in God and to get us into emotional conflict with others and into internal conflict within ourselves.
14. So stand firm in this way, with a belt that is buckled with truth…
The buckled belt speaks of alertness and readiness to move forward with the truth that defines who we are and where we stand with God. We are confident that we are OF him and FOR him and that he is FOR us.
…and having the breastplate of an obedient surrendered heart.
This is the alignment of our heart with his heart and surrendered to his will for our lives. Our heart’s desires are then safe from the deceitful enticements of darkness. 
15. And have shoes on that allow you to walk the talk of the wonderful message of a shared life with Jesus. 
We are literally walking in his shoes, standing where he stands and going where he goes. This prevents the enemy from getting us off track with his diversionary tactics.
16. Hold up the shield of faith with complete trust in God. That will stop any flaming missile that the devil hurls at you.
The devil will manufacture the missiles of deceit and malice and aim them at us then fire them through the aggrieved heart of somebody else straight at our heart, where our deepest and most vulnerable feelings reside. Our faith that God knows our heart deflects those missiles and we can trust him to defend us.
17. Wear the crash-helmet of safety that protects your mind from darkness and deception and cut through the lying darkness with your spiritual sword, which is the Word of God.
Our mind is the prime target in spiritual warfare, so we focus and affirm ourselves through his Word and then speak that into our hearts and then into the darkness, and the darkness has to flee. I want to just pass on to you now is how I like to treasure the present moment. I like to wake myself up to the fact that now is now, yesterday was yesterday, 10 minutes ago was 10 minutes ago and the future is in God's hands. Now is the hour, the day, the place that is of salvation - feeling safe - it is now. 
So what do I do with my mind in the present moment - what am I to think. I'll tell you what I think - I think ‘this moment Lord is not mine it's yours, you created this moment and you're the one that is actually reordering the entire universe, and you are reordering my world and my mind at this present moment. I don't want to frustrate that grace and fill it with stuff in my mind that's diversionary or negative or fearful or anxious. I'm going to give this moment to you - it's yours. But when I think that moment is mine I may start to think but this moment going to pass away - what happens when this moment is gone?  Well  what you do you is just say that in this moment I'm going to be looking forward expectantly to see you bringing your future with your good will for my life into my view, and so this moment is just going to have to expand until I see that and say thank you Lord. And I tell you that moment can be a very very long wonderful time! We are in charge of our minds but we practise that over and over again. We don't wait till we're in a crisis and say what was that I’m supposed to do again? No, I continue to get with God and start speaking about what am I doing with this moment now.  

Those 70 disciples were set out with discipline – so make that your priority to overcome evil. We are being sent out as his disciples with discipline and the first thing is an ordered mind - a disciplined mind. Paul wrote to Timothy and he said ‘God hasn't given you the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of an ordered mind’. 
Thank you Lord for giving us the fortress of your presence that we can overcome all darkness be in alignment with you and speak - and the enemy will flee - in Jesus’ name. Amen.