Here is the same kind of context we find in Galatians 4. "You" in this case very, very likely means Gentiles.
I read that because we need to understand that all of us—Israelite, Gentile, it does not matter who—have been in bondage to Satan and his demons to some degree, some more than others.
In the case of the Gentiles, they were completely in bondage because there were things from their spiritual lives that were absolutely absent from them. God had made a covenant only with one people. He tells us:
The "you" were Israelites. So those people knew God. The Gentiles did not. The Israelites did know God, and some of their religion (Judaism) came from the Old Testament. Not all of it, but some of it. They were not lacking in knowledge of God. It was not right knowledge. It was very poorly interpreted. And I want to add one more thing.
Please turn over to Ephesians 2, verse 1. No wonder so many psychiatrists and their patients do not understand many of their negative moods and attitudes. Here in Ephesians 2, we are going to read verses 1 through 3.
And then in Ephesians 6, verse 12, Paul emphasizes the importance of putting on the whole armor of God in order to fight against this prince of the power of the air, the spirit.
So these evil spirits place damaging moods and feelings in vulnerable or unsuspecting human minds. And to some people, they implant impulses to want to give in to sin or give up on life.
