Wrestling with the Unknown

Ephesians 6:12 contains a Greek wrestling match known as a pale.  This is the only place in scripture where this word appears.  Like most wrestling matches, the goal is to throw your opponent.  Victory is determined when a wrestler is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon their neck.  The winner is haled while the loser has both of his eyes gouged out.

The context of this passage is at the beginning of Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.”  The actual verse means our pale is not against flesh and blood, meaning our wresting opponent is not human beings, those we interact with on a daily basis.  Rather, our opponent is 4 fold: 2 groups we can see and 2 groups we can sense.

Our spiritual wrestling match begins with rulers of the world Satan uses to accomplish his will.  The second opponent is with existing authorities which attempt to strip away the spiritual freedoms of Christians.  This second group of opponents involve spiritual discernment and prayer to counter attack these forces.  The first unseen opponent are powers of darkness in our world and the second are spiritual forces of evil, demons.

Every day, there is a new wrestling match.  Satan’s goal is to blind us from the real battle, to throw us off the spiritual scent.  This is often accomplished by causing us to get angry, become bitter or hold grudges against other human beings.  Be careful not to be deceived, test everything and hold fast to God’s Word.  When you are wrestling with the unknown, walk by faith, not by sight!

by Jay Mankus