Evil Time

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. (6:11)

What is the “time of evil”? We aren’t actually told in this passage. It does seem to mean that it is a planned time of Enemy engagement with the Body of Christ. (And I assume that the engagement is with individuals in that Body, but it could be with the wider Body as a whole.)

The planning for the barrage comes from the Enemy. He has a strategy for action. This “time of evil” seems to fit into this overall strategy of disruption.

Because this “time of evil” sounds like a specific point of time, I’m going to suggest that it is not a constant bombardment. He’s certainly capable of it, and we think he is constantly wreaking havoc with the Body of Christ. However, Paul seems to use this term to refer to a definite point in time when the Enemy unleashes a special fury, hatched from his weak and miserable intentions to cause us harm.

We don’t know, either as a group or individually, when that time is coming. It could be a “big time of evil”, such as right before the return of Christ, but we know the Enemy is working at other times as well. This time of evil could include all the points of engagement leading up to that ultimate end battle, as well as the ending. But if we are clothed with the armor God gives, then we will be ready for whatever comes, whenever it comes.  

We might think that whenever the Enemy is lurking and working, that is a time of evil. It does seem so. However, I believe that this refers more to a season of evil, a planned time in which he responds to a specific purpose or advance of God’s work and His kingdom being carried out through his people.

In the last two parts of this devotional book, I document two such times of evil which my wife and I record for the reader. Both of those events seem to fit this description of time of evil. As such, those times deserved a special resistance response. In one sense, clothed with the armor, we are always in a posture of resistance. But when a specific time of evil comes, our armor enables us to actively resist an active spiritual assault. Or, unaware of the offensive launched against us, we find ourselves scrambling to get ready and suited up.

Even when we are standing ready, we are in an active posture of resistance. I believe Paul is urging the believer to guard against any kind of passive attitude. Or one which says, “When I see the battle starting or raging, I’ll grab my armor and suit up.” That, to me, is the danger. We can’t actually see or predict when the evil-time-assault has been launched. The Enemy looks for our weaknesses to exploit them. He looks for vulnerabilities to expose. He is strategically trying to interfere with us in times of evil that he has planned out for the purpose of bringing his fury against us.

We put on armor in order to stand ready to resist the Enemy, doing so to stand firm against him in what is called “the time of evil.” Whenever that time comes, we are ready for whatever he throws our way.

“Father, help us to stand ready, alert to the ploys and strategies of the Enemy, who Martin Luther called ‘the one who seeks to work us woe.’ Let us be ready, clothed with that armor, whenever this time of evil surfaces or is unleashed against us.”