Sacred Insight: Context
As you read, look for answers to these questions: What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?
I grew up in church. My family was there on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesdays and lots of days in between. It was a huge part of my life and a beautiful experience – even a privilege. My church family and experience shaped me in so many beautiful ways. But, seeing that it was made up of humans, and humans are far from perfect, it was flawed. There were cliques and egos and splits and problems. Through the good and the bad, I learned one undeniable fact about the Christian church: It has a huge target on its back. It is the place the Enemy would most like to destroy.
It makes perfect sense if you think about it, the church is the place where God is praised and exalted. It’s the placed where people gather to fortify their faith, to grow and become more like Christ.
Most of us who have grown up or spent time in the church have experienced Satan’s vicious attacks in real time. Hurt, abuse, exclusion and distortion of God’s word.
The church in Ephesus was just like your church and my church. It was a church planted by Paul in 53AD where he served as the lead pastor for three years. Sounds pretty much like a lot churches I know. And it had a target on its back, too. No, there’s no scandal here to report, no major issue Paul was addressing to the church when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians from a prison cell in 56AD, but Paul knew. Paul knew how persistent, sneaky and evil Satan could be, especially when it comes to the body of Christ.
The scripture we’ll be focusing on this month is a warning to the church that those spiritual forces were and are, alive and well. Satan’s army is very real, very angry and very strong – and their biggest adversary is us, both individual believers and the church.
The book of Ephesians is full of encouragement and guidance. Paul truly loved this local church and wanted to see it thrive. That’s why he took the time to warn them that Satan would be on the attack, that they needed to know and recognize that the spiritual forces of evil would be coming for them and take preemptive action.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
What can we do to fortify the body of believers against Satan? One big way to do this, is through unity. Ephesians says that when we link arms in solidarity, when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, we are unstoppable. Not even the Enemy can penetrate its walls.
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
As you meditate on this verse, be careful not to lose heart or let fear in. Ultimately, it is a huge encouragement to call out the source of evil not as our fellow humans, but as Satan himself. We need to know the one we’re actually fighting against, right? But we have a commander who is vastly more powerful. We already know that we are on the winning team.
What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?
Have you experienced spiritual attacks on the church?
How can you see the attacks on the Body of Christ as accomplishing Satan’s goals?
How does knowing the source of those attacks (Satan) change your battle strategy? How should we respond?
Live It Out:
- See if you have any of the following: A study Bible, index in the back of your Bible, concordances, historical timelines, etc. What contextual information can you can dig up about the author, the time in history in which it was written, what was going on in the lives of its recipients, etc. Pick any contextual element that interests you and find out more.