From Genesis to Revelation: The One Story – The Golden Thread that Explains Everything – Part 19

By Andre Eksteen

The time of Elijah had ended, but his fire had not.

His voice fell silent, but heaven did not.

For when Elijah was taken up in the whirlwind, something ancient began to move again — something that had been quiet for a long time, but had never disappeared.

The powers of the air.

Those same princes who had been appointed over the nations in the days of Babel began to stir once more. The ones who had ruled over the heathen now found a new doorway — not through war, but through apostasy.

For when Israel chose the gods of the nations above the God of their fathers, they themselves broke the protection of the Most High.

They wanted to be like the nations around them — independent, strong, free — and so God gave them what they asked for.

Scripture says:

“And the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hand of their enemies.”

(Judges 2:14)

But those “enemies” were not only people — they were the powers behind the people.

God withdrew His protection and handed them over to the same heavenly princes He had appointed over the nations at Babel. What had once remained outside Israel’s borders now began to rule over them.

Thus the people of the covenant, who had belonged directly to God, placed themselves under the authorities of the air.

Not because God abandoned them, but because they abandoned Him.

They exchanged the Light for darkness — and the heaven that had once been open above them grew silent.

What had once stood under the rule of the LORD of Hosts now fell under the authority of fallen beings.

And the war began again — not against the heathen, but within Israel itself.

Israel was divided: ten tribes in the north, two in the south.

The people of the covenant were no longer one body, and through that tear the old spirits began to breathe again.

What had once stood outside the borders now began to speak within the holy land.

Scripture says:

“And the children of Israel forgot the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.”

(Judges 3:7)

What began in the days of the Judges now reached its full expression.

Elijah’s fire consumed the prophets of Baal, but the spirits behind them remained alive.

For spirits do not die — they wait.

And they always wait for one thing: disobedience.

When the people were divided, God’s protection was divided. The northern kingdom quickly began to bow before the same gods God had wiped out through David’s wars.

Not through violence, but through worship.

Not through battle, but through mixture.

“They feared the gods of the nations, yet served the LORD,” says Scripture.

(2 Kings 17:33)

That is the most dangerous place to be — half for God, half for the world.

For whatever is mixed with God is always contaminated by sin.

But look how blind the modern church has become.

They read these verses and say it is merely history — Israel worshipping idols, copying pagan customs. They deny the spiritual reality behind it all: the princes of the air who received that worship, the same powers that still rule over nations, institutions, churches, and human thinking today.

By explaining it away as symbolism, the church keeps the veil in place that God intended to tear apart.

In doing so, they protect the very princes they were meant to expose.

They explain away the supernatural to keep people comfortable in unbelief, and so the enemy remains unseen — but never inactive.

Like Israel, people today still fall under the powers of the air without realising it, because the church has stopped acknowledging the war.

They preach love and peace, but no longer understand that we still live in an invisible conflict.

A war where every compromise, every false teaching, every distortion of truth becomes an invitation — an open door through which the same old princes begin to rule again.

The Book of Jubilees says:

“And the spirits of the giant kinds began again to wander over the earth, to lead astray the children of men.”

(Jubilees 10:8–9)

Not giants in the flesh, but giants in power — the ancient princes of the air now working in human hearts.

They teach people how to rule without God, how to worship without obedience, and how to live without holiness.

These are the spirits that began to overtake Israel.

The first clear sign was Jeroboam’s golden calves.

“Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt,” he said.

(1 Kings 12:28)

Those words tore the heavens open.

For Israel did not merely make idols — they placed the Name of the LORD upon false gods.

This was not just disobedience; it was betrayal.

They handed themselves over to the same ancient princes God Himself had once cast down.

Then came Assyria.

An empire of cruelty and violence — people who dragged their enemies with hooks through their lips and impaled children on spears.

But it was not only people — it was a spirit.

The prophet Nahum calls it “the bloody city, full of lies and robbery.”

(Nahum 3:1)

Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was not merely a city of soldiers, but a throne of spirits.

Ancient writings describe their worship of Ishtar, the “queen of heaven” — the spirit of war and lust who taught people to see murder as holy and cruelty as power.

Her “witchcrafts of whoredom,” says Nahum, sold nations — not with weapons, but with promises of power.

(Nahum 3:4)

That same spirit is stronger today than ever.

She has changed her names, but her work remains the same.

She feeds the world the belief that violence is strength, cruelty is justice, and fear brings control.

Look around you — look at South Africa.

Look how people murder others with the necklace method and film it as if it brings honour. Look how crowds watch and cheer while someone burns.

This is the same spirit once worshipped in the streets of Nineveh now dancing in the streets of modern cities.

This is not merely people becoming cruel — it is a spirit of blood and pride that has found its voice again.

She lives in governments, in entertainment, in music, in ideologies — anywhere people believe that power matters more than mercy.

The bloody city of Nahum still exists; it has simply acquired new walls and new laws.

The church looks away because it does not want to stand in the line of fire — and so God turns away from the church.

And the same cycle begins again.

God’s people look at the power of the world and say, “Let us also be like that.”

And history repeats itself — just dressed differently, with new slogans and new songs.

Assyria was therefore not merely an empire; it was the manifestation of a spiritual power.

When Israel turned its back on God, He handed them over to the princes they themselves had called upon.

For worship determines ownership — and whoever bows before a foreign god becomes his possession.

The people of light now fell under the same darkness as the nations they were meant to warn.

Psalm 106:37 says it plainly:

“They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils.”

Not metaphor — truth.

The Hebrew word shedim refers to fallen beings, the spirits of the Rephaim who continued to wander after the Flood.

Israel, God’s own people, brought blood to the enemy — the final sign that they no longer belonged to Him alone.

Then came Babylon.

And in that exile, God showed Daniel what was happening in the unseen realm.

For three weeks he prayed without answer, until the angel came and said:

“The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me; but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.”

(Daniel 10:13)

This is the unveiling of the war behind the war — the heavenly powers that rule over empires and peoples.

The prince of Persia, and later the prince of Greece, confirm that every world empire carries its own heavenly ruler.

(Daniel 10:20)

Not as metaphor, as the modern church prefers to claim, but as reality.

And that is why Paul later writes:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

(Ephesians 6:12)

It is the same war Daniel saw — only described with clearer words.

The princes of the air never disappeared; they merely found new thrones — in governments, institutions, ideologies, and even churches that exchanged the Spirit of God for human influence.

They have new names, new forms, new masks — but the same goal: to bring mankind back under their authority.

Even Jesus warned us of this daily conflict.

When He taught His disciples to pray, He said:

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

(Matthew 6:13)

Notice this — daily deliverance from the Evil One.

Not only from sin, but from the power behind it.

Every day you breathe, you walk through a battlefield you cannot see. And if you do not pray for protection, you fight without armour.

Deuteronomy 32 says God divided the nations according to the number of the sons of God.

But when those watchers fell, they became gods in the eyes of men — and men began to worship them.

That is the cycle of deception: man serves what exalts itself over him, and becomes its slave.

Thus the spirits of Babel, Assyria, Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome continued — the same beings, only under different names.

Persia worshipped light and fire.

Greece worshipped wisdom.

Rome worshipped power.

But behind it all was one voice — the ancient powers of the air seeking to break God’s people from within.

And yet, through everything, the Golden Thread remained unbroken.

God kept His prophets alive in exile, preserved His promise, and did not abandon His plan.

Daniel saw that these powers would rise and fall until the day when:

“One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven.”

(Daniel 7:13)

The King of kings — the One before whom every knee will bow, human and prince alike.

For He is seated above all principality, power, might, and dominion, and all things — angels, authorities, and powers — are subject to Him.

The princes of the air who once ruled the nations now tremble beneath His feet.

But until that day, the heavens would remain restrained, and the earth would continue under the rule of the princes of the air.

For Israel — God’s people, His inheritance, His light — forgot who they were.

They began to live like those they were meant to lead.

And when they chose the gods of the nations over the God of their fathers, the LORD withdrew His protection and handed them over to the powers they themselves had invoked.

The fallen princes found their voice again.

First softly, like a whisper in the temple.

Then louder, like songs in the streets.

And before long, they sat on thrones — not over the heathen, but over Israel itself.

They influenced priests, misled kings, and filled the people with pride.

For this is how these beings work:

They use piety to trap the faithful,

and worship to enslave the worshipper.

Scripture says:

“They feared the gods of the nations, yet served the LORD.”

(2 Kings 17:33)

That is the most dangerous place to stand.

For whatever is mixed with God will always be infected by sin.

And so the war continues — unseen, unacknowledged, but relentless.

Until the Light Himself appears again.