Battling Marine Demons
Paul the apostle lays out the hierarchy of demons in Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
As I wrote in my book, Jezebel’s Puppets, spiritual warfare requires wrestling—hand-to-hand combat with bodiless enemies we can’t see with our natural eyes. The Greek word for “wrestling” in Ephesians 6:12 is pallo. The New Testament Greek Lexicon defines it as “a contest between two in which each endeavors to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck; the term is transferred to the Christian’s struggle with the power of evil.”
Demons try to choke you—or put you in a stranglehold. In the wrestling world, a stranglehold is an illegal hold that chokes the opponent. Merriam-Webster calls it a “force or influence that chokes or suppresses freedom of movement or expression.” If the wrestler doesn’t break free from the stranglehold, the lack of blood or air can cause him to black out. Translating this to our spiritual realities, the enemy wants to choke the Word of God out of your mouth so you can’t wield your sword of the Spirit or pray. The enemy wants to choke out the revelation of who you are in Christ and your authority over him.In Ephesians 6:12, you can see there are differing, broad categories of demon powers. Let’s start with principalities. The word “principality” comes from the Greek word arche. In Ephesians 6:12, principalities refer to “the first place, principality, rule, magistracy” and speaks of “angels and demons,” according to The King James Version (KJV) New Testament Greek Lexicon. Vine’s Expository Dictionary gives more insight, calling principalities “supramundane beings who exercise rule.”
Exouisa is the Greek word for “powers” in Ephesians 6:12. Our lexicon defines it as “the leading and more powerful among created beings superior to main, spiritual potentates.” Meanwhile, “ruler,” which comes from the Greek word kosmokrator, means “lord of the world, prince of this age,” and wickedness from the Greek.
Ponēria, which means unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, fornication, covetousness, and malice, is the Greek word for “wickedness” in this verse is. Merriam-Webster’s definition of malice is “a desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another,” or “intent to commit an unlawful act or cause harm without legal justification or excuse.”
The Greek word kosmokrator is used to describe “rulers of the darkness of this world,” which means “lord of the world, prince of this age.” And darkness stems from Greek word skotos, which can mean darkness, like night darkness. However, in the context of Ephesians 6:12, it means “of ignorance respecting divine things and human duties, and the accompanying ungodliness and immorality, together with their consequent misery in hell.” It also means, “persons in whom darkness becomes visible and holds sway,” according to The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon.
Our struggle is not just with demons in heavenly places. It’s also with demons in watery places. The good news is, you have authority over every demon power—on the earth, over the earth, and in the seas.
The Wonders of Water in the Word
The Word of God speaks of the water of life, rivers of living water, passing through the waters, springs of waters unto eternal life. We find literal stories about water and important metaphors that are worth exploring as we seek to understand water spirits. The law of first mention—a principle that suggests the first place in Scripture a word or doctrine is found informs our understanding of God’s intent—is a strategic place to start our study.
The first time we see water mentioned in the Bible is in the second verse of Genesis. Genesis 1:2 tells us, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
This is an especially telling verse in the context of the law of first mention. We see a spirit—the Spirit of God—moving over the surface of the waters. Given the enemy always works to counterfeit what God has done or is doing, we understand that demon spirits will move over the waters to combat God’s purposes and plans in the earth. This is the best case for marine demons—but it’s not the only one.Searching the Bible, we find Scriptures that connect water with both death and life. Isaiah 12:3 speaks of drawing water from the wells of salvation with joy. Jesus promised everyone who believes in Him would see rivers of living water flowing from His heart ( John 7:38). In Isaiah 43:2, God makes a beautiful promise: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you….”God refers to Himself as “the fountain of living waters” in Jeremiah 2:13. We are baptized with water as a sign of being buried and resurrected to new life in Jesus (see 1 Peter 3:21). David spoke of God leading him beside quiet, or still, waters (see Psalm 23:2) and Paul talks of washing of the water with the Word (see Ephesians 5:26). We know Naaman dipped seven times in the Jordan River by the word of the prophet Elisha and was healed of his leprosy (see 2 Kings 5). In heaven, there’s a river of the water of life (see Revelation 22:1-2). These are just a few of the many Scriptures that speak of the life-giving, cleansing or healing power of water.Also enlightening as we set out to expose and defeat water spirits is the reality that water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. Jesus was speaking of the Spirit of God when He told the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Water archetypes paint vivid pictures through Scripture, including physical birth (see Genesis 1:20), purification (see Ezekiel 36:25; Hebrews 10:22), God’s help (see Isaiah 8:6); personal posterity (see Isaiah 48:1) and humankind’s purposes (see Proverbs 20:5).Water is overwhelmingly positive in Scripture, but water can also carry a negative connotation—including enemy attack. Second Samuel 22:17-18 tells us, “He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.” Psalm 144:7-8 shares, “Stretch forth Your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hand of aliens whose mouths speak deceit, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”
And Psalm 124 reads:“Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,” let Israel now say, “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the waters would have engulfed us the stream would have swept over our soul; then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.” Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
How Marine Demons Pollute God’s Purposes for Water
Satan is not a creator. He can only imitate and pervert what God has already created. In the context of marine demons, God created the water for His purposes.
In Genesis 1:20-22, God says, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures…. God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind…. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas….’”
Satan and his cohorts seek to pollute and pervert those purposes. There are startling parallels to this truth in the natural realm. Water pollution is a growing problem around the world. According to the Borgen Project, “personal care products and pharmaceuticals, including birth control pills, antibiotics and painkillers, are washed into water reservoirs and lakes, contributing to the rising water pollution. They have a damaging effect on the aquatic ecosystems and cause hormonal imbalances in humans and animals.”
Borgen also reports approximately 946 million people are forced to defecate in street gutters and near water bodies, exacerbating the rising water pollution and 1.8 million people rely on drinking water potentially contaminated by human waste. Contaminated drinking water and inadequate sanitation cause more deaths annually than violence from the ongoing wars. Approximately 842,000 people, including 361,000 children under five, die yearly from diarrhea.
DoSomething.org reports the Mississippi River carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year, creating a “dead zone” in the Gulf each summer about the size of New Jersey. And approximately 40 percent of the lakes in the United States of America are too polluted for fishing, aquatic life, or swimming.
And Ocean Health reports the Pacific Ocean is turning into a desert: “The waters of the Pacific off the coast of California are a clear, shimmering blue today, so transparent it’s possible to see the sandy bottom below […] clear water is a sign that the ocean is turning into a desert, and the chain reaction that causes that bitter clarity is perhaps most obvious on the beaches of the Golden State, where thousands of emaciated sea lion pups are stranded.”Indeed, the enemy is manifesting his ministry to kill, steal, and destroy (see John 10:10) by polluting the waters with marine demons. It seems in many cases the water is bitter and there’s poison in the pot. We see these concepts in Scripture.
After the Israelites left Egypt, they came to Marah but could not drink the waters because they were bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord, and He told the prophet to throw a tree into the water to make the water sweet (see Exodus 15:23-24). Elisha came across poisoned water and purified it with salt (see 2 Kings 2:19-22). All of this is a manifestation of what is happening in the unseen spirit realm—demons are influencing spiritual climates and natural waters.
How Marine Demons Influence People
Great cities of the world surrounded by water or home to large bodies of water see the influence of marine demons on their communities—and the people who live in them. From witchcraft to greed to murder, we see historical and present-day manifestations of water spirits all around the world, but especially in marked by significant rivers, seas, bays, channels, wetlands, and swamps.
An article in Port Strategy magazine waxes prophetic in the world of water spirits. The magazine reports the US government is working to reclaim the docks from the mob and has filed a legal case against organized crime bosses. The American mafia’s corruption on the waterfront dates back to the 1930s. The mafia’s strategy to dominate the ports is demonic masterminding at its best.
With a stronghold in the ports, the mafia infiltrated the US economy, working in gambling, gas-tax fraud, restaurants, and racketeering in many industries. Rituals, rules, and customs emerged, as well as symbolism in violent acts and murder. Of course, the mafia was birthed in Sicily, Italy, which is home to seas and channels where marine demons thrive. Could it be possible marine demons defiled the hearts of businessmen who could have used their ambition for godly kingdom exploits?
College students from around the world flock to beach cities, like Panama City, Florida, for Spring Break each year. The parties are marked by sexual immorality, drugs, drunkenness, psychic readings. Gang rapes have been reported on crowded beaches, as well as house party shootings, binge drinking, sexual perversion, robberies, and more are common during Spring Breaks. Could it be possible these good kids go buck wild in an atmosphere driven by marine demon agendas?
Likewise, the top states in the US for human trafficking are water cities. According to Human Trafficking Search, California, Texas, Florida, and New York are the top four states for this wicked practice. Could it be possible that marine demons have built territorial strongholds that pave the way for horrifying human trafficking strategies?
Like the US government that’s filing a legal case against the mafia, Christians need to legislate in the courts of Heaven against marine demons that are influencing their cities. Much the same, individuals need to take personal responsibility to identify the temptations and influences marine demons introduce to their souls—from pride to rebellion to sexual immorality and beyond—and resist it. Of course, apart from Christ it’s difficult to resist evil, which is why marine demons oppose the Gospel in the territories over which they have erected dominions and thrones.