I used to really wonder what the real difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament was. I knew that Jesus came and died for our sins, which caused a new covenant, but I didn’t see all of the important differences. I’ve found that a few dramatic changes from the old to the new was the shift to fighting against the spiritual forces of darkness, the change of identity, and that we are no longer under the law.

It’s important to see and understand these differences, so we’ll be discussing them in the next few posts!

The Old Way

For a while now, I’ve tried to have a foot in both the Old and the New Testament every day. The biggest thing that I noticed when reading it is that they both have a very different approach when it comes to conflict.

Much of the Old Testament features war, fighting, slavery, and a bunch of other similar stuff. Basically, a bunch of man-on-man violence and conflict.

According to the History Collection, the wars of the Bible and events surrounding them include “virtually every atrocity which is possible for humans to commit upon each other.” That’s pretty crazy.

Why Was It So Bad?

This is a question I’ve found myself asking. Why was it so bad if these were God’s chosen people?

The Old Testament follows the Israelites, from Abraham, To Jesus at the start of New Testament. These were God’s chosen people, but still, they had to endure a bunch of hard stuff.

Well, during this time, the Eastern side of the world was a brutal place. Kings at the time loved the terrible savagery of war, which is evident through history, and what the Bible shows us.

This was even more of an issue for the Israelites.

Seedbed points out that “the Israelites were not a militarized nation” and were “poorly armed” (7 Keys to Understanding Violence in the Old Testament – Seedbed). They only won the battles they did, because they had the Lord on their side. We can see this through their defeat at Ai.

In Joshua 7, we see that the Israelites were defeated at Ai, when they normally would’ve won. Why did they lose? One of the Israelites, Achon, went against the Lord and kept something from their previous victory. In the next chapter, when Israel is completely obedient, we see them defeat Ai, because they had the support of the Lord.

The Israelites constantly appeared to be on the wrong side of conflicts. Outnumbered, outgunned, out planned, out about everything. Luckily, they had a spiritual force that was behind them, supporting them.

Well, why would God help them fight other people? Simply, the violence, war, and bloodshed had to happen to keep the Lord’s nation alive. With the brutality of the other nations, if the Israelites didn’t fight back, they would’ve been wiped away completely.

Earthly Forces to Spiritual Forces

Jesus’ sacrifice created a shift in many ways, but his entire life created another shift.

Jesus was persecuted in many different ways, but he only ever had one reaction. He only treated his persecutors with love.

Unlike those in the Old Testament, Jesus didn’t fight those who tried to oppress him. He could’ve brought fire down, as his disciples suggested, or used weaponry to defeat them. Instead, he contested them, but didn’t fight.

I believe that this is for a few different reasons, but there is one to focus on.

Preparation for the New Covenant

I believe that Jesus was really preparing us for the new covenant life we are called to live. Jesus’ ministry was like no other, and it changed so much. Entirely different ways of doing things were formed including the way we should treat other people.

Let’s take a look at Ephesians 6:12.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

In the Old Testament, we were to fight other people, just to make sure the Israelites could stay alive, and that they could get the promised land. Now, we don’t fight people. We fight the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Why the Shift?

Before we can really start to discuss the spiritual forces, we need to know why there was a shift in the first place.

It’s something that I’ve noticed for a while. Notice how we almost never see anything about fighting spiritually in the Old Testament, but we see that concept continuously in the New Testament. That is because of Jesus.

When he imparted his spirit upon us, he not only gave us all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), but he also gave us authority over much of the spirit realm (Acts 1:8).

His teaching also impowered us to believe in things we didn’t know we could do (Matthew 17:20).

The life of Jesus and the sacrifice that he made really empowered us to live a completely different life. Now it’s time to understand how to do it.

What Spiritual Forces?

The spiritual world is one we really can’t typically see. It’s one that, just by faith, we know is there.

In one of my posts on Spirit, Soul, and Body, we discussed our spirit and how the Holy Spirit works with it. The spiritual forces we’re talking about fighting though, are definitely not like the one discussed there.

Although it says the “forces of evil in heavenly places”, the spirits are not heavenly at all. That simply means in the spiritual places. It really is talking about the demonic world and all that that domain features.

Throughout much of the Gospels, we see Jesus having interactions with demon possessed people. These people are often seen with some sort of issue. They are often seen with problems like blindness, sickness, or deafness. Today is no different. There are people still being affected by them today. They’re real and they definitely still affect people.

So, the demonic forces can lie in people, but they can also just lie pretty much anywhere.

Even though we typically can’t see them, we still have a very effective and great way to fight against them! Let’s see how.

How Do We Fight Spiritual Forces?

That verse, Ephesians 6:12, shows us that we really are not fighting man on man or with fleshly things at all. We simply are fighting the evil spiritual forces. I believe that the verse right before gives great insight on how we are supposed to fight them.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

It’s clear from reading that scripture that the way to fight and stand against the schemes of the devil is to put on the whole armor of God.

The Whole Armor of God

The armor of God consists of quite a few things so let’s look at what those are.

• The Belt of Truth. The only way to really fight those that lie in darkness is the truth.

• Breastplate of Righteousness. “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor” (Proverbs 21:21).

• Shoes of Peace. Equip yourself with a readiness, not being dismayed or anxious, but being ready and at peace to fight.

• Sheild of Faith. “With which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

• Helmet of Salvation. Salvation is the greatest gift we could ever receive, and with it, we have great protection.

• Sword of the Spirit. The sword is the word of God. With it, you are ready to battle any spiritual force necessary.

While it may not be super necessary to take a deep dive into each of those parts, the important thing to notice is that all of those attributes are aspects of our Christian walk. They are all very necessary parts to live a successful Christian life.

Those that hold truth close to them, cover themselves in righteousness, walk in peace with every step, protect themselves with undeniable faith, wear their salvation, and live with the true word of God as their one and only weapon, will truly be able to defend themselves against any attack of the enemy.

The Sword of the Spirit Vs. The Attacks of Spiritual Forces

I love every single one of those parts, and they are all very important, but the one that sticks out to me the most is the sword. As we’ve already discussed, the sword is the word of God.

If you’ve read really any of the posts on here, you know that I talk about the word a lot. It’s really the greatest thing ever to me, and I couldn’t imagine trying to live life without it now.

The word is what really helped me to battle some negative thoughts and overcome any depression in my life. The way that it did that is as a sword.

We know that the enemy came to “steal, kill, and destroy”, and one of the ways that he does that is by lying. He tries to convince us of a bunch if lies and take away our foundation, our hope, and our joy.

We also know that the word of God is completely true. There’s no lie in that book, because it is the word of God, and He doesn’t lie.

What better way to stand against the lies and attacks of the enemy than to stand on the true, never changing, always amazing word of God.

I like to imagine that with the sword, along with the full armor, we’re like guards of a castle, with our swords in front of us, standing tall against the enemies that may come to attack.

It shows that we are not powerless citizens of the Kingdom of God, but we are all armed with everything we need to battle as well!

Practical Application

The full armor of God may seem like a fairy tale, as may spiritual forces, but they are all very real. We can add each and every one of those pieces of armor to our lives and see a huge impact.

The overarching theme of the pieces of armor is that they are each an aspect of a Christian walk that we should each want to have. Luckily, our born-again spirits are all those things in one and we can live through that identity! So, what I would encourage is this:

• Walk in your identity. Begin to know who you are and wear that around you! When you start to see who you are in your spirit, and live in your that, you can really defend yourself!

• Begin to apply the scriptures to your life. It’s important to walk in your identity in Christ, but it’s also super important to take action and live according to the Bible!

• Read your Bible! This is a super powerful step to fighting the spiritual forces of darkness. When you know exactly what the scripture says, you’re able to detect the lies of the enemy. Stand firm in the truth!

Final Thoughts

One of the biggest lies of the enemy is that our true enemy is each other. The life and sacrifice of Jesus changed that, and it’s so evident throughout the New Testament. Our true enemy is the spiritual forces of darkness.

Another huge lie of the enemy is that we don’t have the power to defend against those evil forces. Guess what? The sacrifice of Jesus changed that. We now have access to the Holy Spirit AND the Bible, two great defenses!

It’s time to put on the armor, pick up your sword and shield, and start defending yourself against the enemy.

Stand firm in the truth and remember that you are equipped with everything that you could ever need!