"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. … For we wrestle . . . against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:10,12). How remarkably we are here reminded of Joshua in verse 10, and Israel’s foes in verse 12! To Joshua the word was, "Arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. . . . There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee:I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage:for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous" (Josh. 1:2-7; also verses 9,18). Also, it is clear that if the Canaanites were but enemies of flesh and blood, they are types of the still deadlier foes we have to fight_foes whose effort it is to hinder the Christian from taking possession, in present enjoyment, of his heavenly inheritance.
It is not here, note it well, the Red Sea crossed, and then the desert, where we have to learn what God is and to be proved ourselves. The wilderness is the great scene of temptation. Although there are occasional battles, as with Amalek and with Midian, still it is the place where we have to go or stay at God’s bidding, in need of daily, heaven-sent supplies, where there is nothing else to sustain, ever marching onward with the heavenly land before us. But the wrestling here, as in the Book of Joshua, supposes the crossing of the Jordan and entrance into Canaan, where the day of conflict begins rather than that of temptation in the wilderness.
In the Red Sea we have Christ dead and risen for us; in Jordan we have our death and resurrection with Him. The one ushers us into the world as the dreary wasteland of our pilgrimage, while the other puts us in view of our heavenly blessing which we have then to appropriate by victory over Satan. The distinction is important, though both are true of the Christian now. When the glorious day comes for the inheritance to be ours, we shall not have to wrestle with these principalities and powers in heavenly places; the conflict will be closed for us forever. But all the time the Church is here below, our conflict goes on with these spiritual wickednesses in heavenly places.
Has this any instruction for us? Have we consciously laid hold of our union with Christ on high? Do we know our place is there in Him? Is nature, root and branch, a judged thing in us? Do we render a heavenly testimony_not only righteous and holy, but heavenly? Are we advancing on the enemy and making good our title by present victory to enjoy the boundless blessings above which we have in Christ? Or are we still, as far as realization goes, ransomed, but in the wilderness with Jordan uncrossed? Are we merely guarding against the flesh breaking out here or there, against worldly temptations overtaking us in this or that? If so, need we wonder that Eph. 6:12 sounds mysterious, and that we question what is meant by the wrestling with the enemies in heavenly places? It was probably the total misapprehension, or non-apprehension, of the truth here revealed, which led our English translators into the unwarranted change of "heavenly" into "high" places in this passage (6:12) only. However, it behooves ourselves to consider whether our own souls have proved and are proving the whole armor of God in this conflict, where, above all, it is plain that "the flesh profiteth nothing."
(From Lectures on Ephesians.)