The word kingdom is a bit strange to our American sensibilities. We like to think of ourselves in terms of democracy and rule by the people, but the idea of a king is a familiar concept to many nations. Kingdoms are ruled by kings, but for the sake of this article we can refer to any nation as a kingdom. A nation or kingdom is any geographical area that is under the rule of some type of governance. The United States, Japan, Ukraine, Brazil, and hundreds of others are the kingdoms of our generation.
The Bible speaks of many human kingdoms down through the ages. They Assyrian kingdom conquered the Israeli kingdom in 732 BC. Assyria was followed by the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Over the years we’ve seen many kingdoms come and go, but I think there is a different type of kingdom that exists in the earth. There are unseen kingdoms. There are spiritual kingdoms. The Bible mentions a few.
Ezekiel 28 is a great example of one of these spiritual kingdoms. In this passage, Ezekiel’s prophecy is against a human king who ruled the earth, but it also seems to speak to the evil spirit that controlled him. Verse 13 in this passage says that this king was in the garden of God, but how could that be? The King of Tyre lived thousands of years after Eden. This earthly king was either strongly influenced or possessed by Satan.
Another example of this can be seen in Daniel 10:13. Daniel had prayed for 21 days for an answer, but the response was held up by the prince of Persia. Who is this prince of Persia? Would a physical human being be able to prevent a spiritual angelic being from getting to Daniel? I doubt it! This prince of Persia is more than likely a spiritual being (demon) who has spiritual oversight in that region. Daniel 10:20 also mentions the prince of Greece. Again, this could mean a human, but probably is a spiritual being over that region of the world. Ezekiel when talking about Gog calls him a Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal. The Bible also speaks of Michael as a spiritual being (Archangel) over Israel. Daniel 12:1 says he is the great prince who stands guard over Israel.
This leads to the inevitable question: Do we have spiritual rulers over geographical or ethnic groups in the world today? Is there a prince over the United States? Is it an angel? Demon? Do we have both? I’m not sure, but I do know that God is the ultimate ruler over all things. Right now, God has allowed Satan to rule over the earth. The Bible calls the devil the prince of the power of the air (the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience) – Eph 2:2. But there is a day coming when all things will be put under Jesus feet. Then Jesus will bring Himself into submission to the Father, so that God may be all in all.
Potential Spiritual Beings:
- Prince of Persia – Daniel 10:13
- Prince of Greece – Daniel 10:20
- Chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal (Turkey) Ezekiel 38:2-3
- Prince of Demons – Beelzebub – Matt 12:24
- Prince of the Power of the Air – Eph 2:2
- Chief Prince over Israel – Dan 12:1