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SATAN
First, Who, what is Satan? Second,
What part or purpose does he play in God’s plan? Third, What is his
fate?
Who, What is Satan? Satan’s biggest deception (in modern Western nations)
is that he doesn’t exist at all. Thus the Western modern industrialized
world is blind to Satan’s reality. A careful study of the Word of God reveals a
lot of interesting things about Satan which
Christians are totally unaware of. They
often read over some of the Scriptures I will go through, not taking
in their full intent and meaning. Let’s
see what the Bible has to say about Satan (and his demons, which number
one third of all the created angels).
Revelation 12:9 states that Satan is “that old serpent”, meaning literally, old, ancient. Satan is very, very old. He has been around from before the beginning of creation, which took place anywhere from 4 to 6 billion years ago [now astronomers with the aid of the Hubble Space Telescope, think it’s close to 13 billion years old!]. God did not create physical matter first. What do you think was God’s actual first “creation”, was it physical matter, or something else? Where would we look, Genesis 1, or somewhere else? If you say ‘Genesis 1’, you are wrong. The actual first beginnings of creation are to be found in John 1:1, which reveals a prior existence before physical matter and the universe were formed. Let’s read it. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him [the Word] was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-2). In Hebrews 1:3, we find the Word created “all things”, which is translated in the Moffatt translation as “the Universe.” The entire Universe was created by the one called the Word. Who was the Word? In verse 14 of John 1 it identifies the Word as Jesus Christ, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The Word was none other than Jesus Christ, born over 1900 years ago in Bethlehem of Judea. So we find ALL THINGS--the entire physical universe--were made by this “Word”, who was none other than Jesus Christ in his pre-existent, glorified form, the 2nd personage of the Godhead. In Ephesians 3:9 it states God…created ALL things by Jesus Christ.” Jesus was also constantly reminding his disciples that he only spoke what the Father told him to. So what about the first creation? The Godhead (Elohim, for our Hebrew scholars)
did not create matter first as many might assume. The laws of radioactivity reveal with absolute
certainty that there was a time when all matter did not exist. So what came first, the chicken or the egg? What came first in God’s great creative plan? God the Father through the Word first designed and created SPIRIT BEINGS--angels. Each angel was an individual creation, because
angels cannot reproduce. They
were completely composed of spirit--not physical matter. They were given immortality at the time of their
creation, eternal life. God created
within each one of them immensely intelligent minds, with the power
to think and reason and make choices and decisions on their own. This brings us to the next question of supreme
importance in the realm of God’s kingdom and presence--Godly character,
holy, righteous character that is present in God the Father, God the
Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit. God created all of the angels, but how does he create godly character
in each and every one of them? The
actual creation process was merely an engineering design problem compared
to this one, because perfect godly character is something that must
be developed over time, and it requires the free choice of the being
in whom this character is being developed. Holy and righteous character can be defined as the ability of
a separate being to come to discern the true and right way from the
wrong or false, and make the voluntary choice to follow the true as
opposed to the false or wrong way--to determine even against temptation
or self-desire to live and do the right as opposed to the wrong. That’s character. What about the angels? 1.) God created them with minds capable of thinking,
reasoning, making choices and decisions, all on their own, and 2) God
revealed very clearly to them his true and righteous way, as opposed
to the wrong way to live. But
God also allowed them free moral agency to accept the right or wrong
way, ways of their own devising. Although
this is pure conjecture at this point, ask the question: ‘What was God’s
ultimate objective for the angels?’ Could it have been the development of godly character in them? If so, the Bible indicates, as we shall see, one third of all
the created angels rebelled against God, under the deceptive inspiration
of one of the greatest angels ever created, Lucifer, who became Satan. All this occurred before the creation of man. The actual rebellion may have occurred after
the original creation of the heavens and the earth, but most definitely before the creation of human beings. [To learn more about this time in the dim pre-history
of man, log onto http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm.] The original
Hebrew words (the words actually written by Moses) imply a perfect creation
in the first verse of the Bible. This
first verse of the Bible actually speaks of the original physical universe,
including the earth, perhaps billions of years ago--and it does so as
a perfect creation, both a beautiful and perfectly finished work. Other passages place angels on the earth prior
to the creation of man. When man was created, Satan and all his rebellious
demons were already residing on planet earth! Genesis 3 is not a fairy tale. If you accept Genesis 1 and 2 as the creation
account, you must also accept Genesis 3. How did Satan get into the Garden of Eden? Answer, he was already on the earth, and God
let him into the Garden of Eden. The
big question that very few Christians seem to ask, is why? And why would God create the species of man on a
planet inhabited by billions of demons invisibly roaming all around
it?? We’ll get to that question a little later, but keep it in the back
of your mind.
Revelation 12:9 states that Satan is “that old serpent”, meaning literally “old, ancient”. He has been around from the beginning of the
physical creation, which took place anywhere from 6 to 13 billion years
ago, as estimated from the latest calculations based on the Hubble Space
Telescope. By all the indications given by the record of
the rocks (geology), the earth and heavens were created long before
man was created, along with all the “modern” life-forms that man is
familiar with (read that dinosaur link I gave you, it’s quite revealing
in the realm of paleontology). What
happened in that distant past? Let’s
see. First turn to Revelation 12 and we’ll start
reading about this time in the distant past of earth, before the Garden
of Eden was created.
Revelation 12:3-4,9.
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven
heads and ten horns and seven crowns [this “seven heads and ten horns”
description is symbolic, showing he’s the actual spiritual leader of
the beast empire to come out of Europe, cf. Re13 & 17]. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung
them to the earth…” [stars in prophetic Bible language often symbolize angels.] Jesus saw this rebellion and casting down of
Satan and the angels who fell as a result of Lucifer’s deception. This section of Scripture indicates there was
a prior war in heaven, accompanying this deception that lead to total
rebellion by one third of the created angels. This is very strongly implied by Jesus direct statement that
he saw Satan cast down to earth. In
Luke 10:18, Jesus states “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Revelation 12:9, “The dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world
astray. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels with him.” Revelation 12:1-4 and also verses 7-12, denotes two wars that occur
in heaven, where Satan attempts to throw God off his throne. The first war has already occurred, in the dim
past of antiquity, before man was created. It states in Job 38:4-7, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s
foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone--while
the morning stars [angels] sang together and all the angels shouted
for joy?” So we see that this was a perfect creation,
and all the angels where witnesses of it, they were right there as the
physical matter--the heavens and the earth--were created. They were watching it all happen. It was such a perfect creation that it caused
the angels to sing out with joy. It
is now thought that parts of the universe were created as long ago as
13 billion years ago, and that earth is at least 4 billion years old
[from radioactive decay percentages of uranium into lead].
Scripture
shows us that sin entered the picture before the creation
of man. The first sin wasn’t
Adam’s but Lucifer’s and the demons. II Peter 2:4-5 states, “For if God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell [Greek: Tartarus, a place
of restraint, like a prison], and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved
Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood
on the ungodly.” The verses above
place the sinning of the angels prior to the sins of the human world
at Noah’s time that started with Adam and Eve’s first sin. Lucifer’s sin of rebellion where he drew one
third of the angels into this rebellion occurred prior to the creation
of man. Sin does not exist without
law, and this would prove God’s law existed on earth before the creation
of man (1 John 3:4). Apparently
these created beings had been given dominion over earth, and Lucifer
went nuts, and deceived the angels that were with him, apparently administering
the earth. It is these angels that went with him and attempted
to throw God off his throne in the third heaven, described in Revelation
4. The universal sin of the angels ended up causing the universal destruction
of the planet earth. Genesis
1:1 denotes a perfect creation. Genesis
1:2 denotes something else, tohu and bohu, Hebrew for emptiness, waste, void are the words used to describe the world after the initial creation
described in Genesis 1:1 and Job 38:4-7, where the angels sang for joy
over its beauty. Then in Genesis
1:2, just days before the creation of man, we find the Spirit of God
was moving across what would appear to be dead seas, seas that had long
been dead. The Word of God in verse 2 of Genesis 1 says
the whole world was empty, void, waste. That would mean that even the seas the Spirit of God was passing
over were dead seas, even to the microscopic level. Geologists and paleontologists tell us that the living ecosystem
on earth and all its dinosaurian population had died 65 million years
previously in a massive cataclysm. [Read
about it at http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm if you haven’t yet. The proofs
given in this linked article are pretty conclusive.] Combine that event with Luke 10:18, where Jesus stated “I saw
Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Satan was the very first created being to “go crazy” (mentally)
in his mind. When you start to sin you start to go crazy. When and to the extent that you obey God’s law, you are sane. [And true obedience can only be achieved by God writing his laws
into the hearts and minds of his believing Christian and Messianic children,
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, empowering our feeble attempts
to obey--and this far from perfect obedience of ours in no way buys or pays for our
salvation--only the perfect sacrificial death of Jesus Christ does that.] Do the holy angels that didn’t sin have God’s
Spirit in them? I don’t know. That’s a good question, one which we should
ask Jesus later after he comes back to earth. We can only be sure of what the Bible tells
us, and even then our own individual interpretations often cloud what
the Bible is actually saying. All
this will be cleared up in the future as well, when Jesus returns.
Satan actually tried to throw God off his throne,
and Revelation 12:7-12 shows he will actually be stupid enough to try
it again, driven nuts more than likely by us Christians in our final
efforts to evangelize the whole world. When you put verse 7 in context with verses 10-12, it becomes
evident that verse 7 of Revelation 12 is referring to a war in heaven
that has not yet occurred. But let’s read a little more history about the
first rebellion and war in heaven. It
must have been a “Star Wars” type battle. Regardless of what some other Christians may
believe, the record of the rocks do not lie. So Satan, with the help of
one third of the created angels, actually tried to throw God off his
throne in what must have be a colossal Star Wars type of battle. For some reason, unexplained as yet by God,
God chased Satan and all his demon cohorts back through our galaxy,
back through our solar system, and threw them back down to earth. We read what Jesus remarked of this event in
Luke 10:18. Now let’s look at
Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17 and learn a little more about this
event. Isaiah 14:12-15, “How are you fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn! You
said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne
above the stars [stars: a symbolic term for angels in Bible language]
of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost
heights of the sacred mountain [KJV: sides of the north]. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself
like the Most High.’ But you
are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” Ezekiel 28:12-17, “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the
king of
Let me clear something up right here--man never
co-existed next to dinosaurs--that silly interpretation
of some Christian people who are not qualified paleontologists and have
attempted to say they have seen human footprints next to dinosaur footprints
imbedded in a stone slab has been proven to be totally bogus by real
paleontologists. Had man dwelt alongside dinosaurs,
that would have put man on earth at or before the time of Satan’s
rebellion, which is un-Scriptural. All
the footprints are those of dinosaurs in that questionable slab of stone,
and they are rather poor imprints of dinosaurs at that, which unqualified
laymen have interpreted as those of a human walking next to a dinosaur. This “theory” has been thoroughly debunked by real qualified
paleontologists. Theologians
would be very wise if they would keep their noses out of real science,
and leave that to qualified geologists and paleontologists, and combine
properly what the geologists and paleontologists say with Scripture
to get a true interpretation. They
do a very strong disservice to the gospel by throwing monkey-wrenches
into the Word like this. Many
educated people who may have been able to be drawn to Jesus have been
turned off by bad interpretations like that. [Be sure to read the article
about “The
Day the Dinosaurs Died” at http://www.unityinchrist.com/dinosaurs/dinosaurs.htm if you want to read some real evidence. If you would like to research some more scientific proofs,
log onto http://www.sciencediscussion.com .] After this “War”, no life
existed on the planet, not even plankton. The asteroid belt has the mass of a planet about the size of
earth. The moon and other planets who’s surfaces we can view are all covered with huge crater-blast marks. The
human mind can snap in similar ways as Satan’s did. Apparently, God began to plan for man out of the ashes of his
experience with Satan and his demons. According to the record of the rocks, God took about 65 million
years to plan for his next creation, which is described in Genesis 1:2-31.
Second: What Part or Purpose Does Satan Play in God’s Plan?
Understand
Satan’s influence. Ephesians
2:1-3, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in
which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and
of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now
at work in those who are disobedient. All of us
also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful
nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” (NIV). Now in the king James Version, “And you hath
he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience: among whom also we all had our
conversation [conduct] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others.” Satan
works in this world, as its unseen leader, providing unseen spiritual
inspiration, which equates to attitudes of wrath. A full description of the attitudes Satan broadcasts powerfully
into the air can be found in Galatians 5:19-21. But wrath is the chief of these attitudes, because Satan is a
wrathful creature. Notice also, he’s called the prince of the power of
the air. He is powerful, and he powerfully broadcasts these attitudes
into the minds of mankind all over the world. These broadcasts are more powerful than any radio station we
could ever make, and they are all tuned to the “frequency” of the human
spirit God has placed into every human brain, giving it human intelligence
(see 1 Corinthians 2:9-12). Let’s
take a look at the list of attitudes Satan broadcasts into our minds. Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have
also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God.” The unseen, unheard broadcasts
of Satan into the human spirit wave-length produces that laundry
list of sins. Satan cannot make
anyone sin, but he can influence people to sin by his powerful broadcasts
into their minds. That is his
chief method for deceiving the world, bringing the human world down
to his level. God’s level is found in the next two verses
of Galatians 5 for anyone who’s interested. Notice what Satan’s aim is, in the last part of verse 21. Paul says “they which do such things shall not
inherit the
We saw in Revelation 12:9 that Satan has the whole world deceived. Obviously he has deceived it with his form of human governments and the many false religions we see in the world today. Satan did make the offer to Jesus in Matthew 4:8-9, “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’” Satan could not offer what is not his to offer, and you’ll notice Jesus didn’t say these kingdoms of the world weren’t Satan’s to give. He criticized Satan for asking him to worship him instead of God. The kingdoms of this world are Satan’s to do with as he pleases, for now. After Jesus returns, as Revelation 11:15-18 shows, ‘the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ.’ But
what is Satan’s major deception, what has he blinded mankind to that
is far more significant than his ruling over mankind with false forms
of government as opposed to God’s government? 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 gives us a big clue. “And if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so
that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.” Satan does this in two ways, 1) with false religions
that are not Christian (or Messianic Jewish). 2), Satan tries to pervert the gospel of Jesus
Christ with false doctrine or by watering down the gospel. We see this where the apostle Paul goes on in
2 Corinthians 11 to condemn the false apostles of his day (and we have
similar ones today). But he makes
a statement about how they appear as angels of light, just like Satan
appears. It is worthy to take note of what Paul said. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants
of righteousness. Their end will
be what their actions deserve.” Now
Paul wasn’t talking about the pagan religions all around him, but false
Christian apostles, who were flying the banner of Christ, saying they
were Christian, and deceiving those under them with false doctrines,
twisting the Scripture to suit them. This is one way that Satan works. But Satan’s main method of deception is to simply
deceive mankind in general, blinding them to the message and opportunity
of the gospel of Christ, the gospel of salvation. Satan’s biggest deception in the modern industrialized
western nations is that he does not exist. “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. There’s no afterlife, no God, no devil, it’s all a lie. You evolved from green slime.” That’s Satan’s biggest deception to the masses within the industrialized
western nations. The one billion plus in
Warnings about Satan:
1
Timothy 5:14-15, “So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have
children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity
for slander. Some have in fact
already turned away to follow Satan.” Have any of you been watching Dr. Phil lately? Have you seen and perceived what Satan has done to the families
in
Attitudes Satan loves to work with and through: Unforgiving attitudes are one of Satan’s devices. If we have an unforgiving attitude toward someone, Satan can gain an advantage over us. 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, “If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”(NIV) verse 11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (KJV).
Spiritual
Warfare:
When we
become Christians or believers in Yeshua, we enter into active warfare
with the Satanic realm. Ephesians 6:10-13 plainly states, “Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. Put
on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore
put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you
may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything,
to stand.” This is active warfare. But Satan and his forces are very subtle, and
can be very patient. They work
tirelessly over the centuries, weakening the various Christian denominations,
gradually inspiring the introduction of doctrines into them that will
spiritually weaken them over time--lots of time, centuries. Satan also introduces legislation aimed at weakening
the nations that are (or were) Christian, in his ultimate aim of bringing
them down (witness the “hate crime” laws Senator Kennedy has passed
in the U.S. senate that will muzzle what Christians can say or print,
even passages from the Bible, if it speaks against the homosexual lifestyle,
which the Bible clearly condemns). Reread Isaiah 14:12 again. “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning
star, son of the dawn! You have
been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”(NIV) “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (KJV) In a
democracy such as exist in the industrialized western nations, it is
quite easy, once a simple majority are non-believers, to introduce anti-Christian
legislation which will ultimately bring the nation down--promoting and
legislating certain lifestyles
that destroy the family--and the family is the very fabric that makes
for the strength of a nation and guarantees it’s continuance. [read http://www.unityinchrist.com/counterattack/counterattack1.htm
.] Introducing laws that protect those family-destroying lifestyles, and even allowing for their free encouragement will ultimately bring
any nation down over time. It is said that of all the empires that have
ever existed, none have survived for more than a few generations that
have destroyed the fabric of the family. The activists that cause the passage of these “laws” don’t realize
they are pawns of Satan and his demonic realm, but they nonetheless
are pawns, Satan’s very agents, promoting the legislation of laws he
wants passed. So we can see how Satan and his demonic realm works to weaken Christian churches, whole denominations,
and even Christian nations, making them post-Christian. To
learn more about this spiritual warfare all active Christians are engaged
in be sure to log onto: http://www.unityinchrist.com/ephesians/eph6armour.htm
and http://www.unityinchrist.com/ephesians/putonarmour.htm
and http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/1.htm
. These three link sections should fill in some
of the gaps in your understanding which this article doesn’t have space
to provide. But sure to log onto
them and read them carefully if you are an active Christian. (If you aren’t an active Christian, but one
who’s sort of on the sidelines, then Satan’s demonic realm is probably
leaving you alone.) The last
link shows how the promotion of the gospel of salvation is actually
an information war which the body of Christ is waging against Satan’s
evil demonic empire and realm. The first two links apply to how a Christian
can make himself or herself more “combat ready”--putting on the whole
armour of God--essential reading for every Christian.
Now the
name of this section was “What part or purpose does he [Satan] play in God’s plan?” I have not
totally answered that. I will
attempt to answer that question now. Satan is an integral part of God’s lesson plan for mankind. One
of the big reasons God left Satan and the demons on the earth when he
created mankind has to be that God wants mankind in general, and that
includes all of us, to get a very good taste of Satan and his evil way
of life (which really equates to the way to death), just so that we
all will NEVER, EVER want anything to do with
it or the attitudes that make up this way. Allowing the human race as
a whole to live immersed in Satan’s evil realm and ways is a major part
of God’s lesson plan for mankind, even though most Christian churches
and denominations don’t teach much about it. Job chapter one shows God actually using Satan
to try Job, to show Job some major character flaws he had. God used Satan as an unwitting pawn to bring
these things out in plain sight for Job to see. Job was pretty impressed with his accomplishments and obedience
to God before all this took place in his life. So we see in Scripture God using Satan as part of Job’s spiritual
lesson plan, as a teaching agent (although unbeknownst to Satan at the
time). Job 1:6-12, “One day the angels came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan also
came with them. The Lord said
to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and
going back and forth in it.’ Then
the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright,
a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ [Now here’s a set-up if ever there was one! Poor Job.] ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You
have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are
spread throughout the land. But
stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely
curse you to your face.’ The
Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands,
but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’” (NIV) The whole book of Job is about how God used Satan to bring out
Job’s remaining character flaws through trial by fire--using Satan as
the chief administrator of those trials.
There is an obscure prophetic set of beliefs held by some tiny denominational group of Christians who make up a tiny part of the whole body of Christ which may give a good reason why God left Satan and all his demon friends on planet Earth. (You don’t have to believe this set of obscure prophetic beliefs, it won’t effect your salvation either way whether you do or not.) See if you can find these beliefs. They’re tucked away in an obscure backwater location of this website (because they’re so non-essential to the gospel of salvation).
Hint: this obscure set of prophetic beliefs that contribute to this theme is located in a part of the massive church history section. Next, Satan’s end. We’ll be looking at Leviticus 16 and Revelation 20:1-3.
Third:
Satan’s End:
The time
is approaching when Satan will no longer be allowed to deceive the nations. God is the one, as it says in Romans 11:32, who has “concluded
[shut up, literally] them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy
upon all.” In 2 Peter 3:9 God
says through the apostle Peter, “He is not willing that any should perish,
but all should come to repentance.” God is omnipotent--all powerful and all-knowing. As you saw in Job 1, even Satan had to ask God’s permission before
he could go after Job. Satan did under-estimate God once and got thrown
back to earth. Revelation 12:7-10
shows he will under-estimate God again, and try yet once more to de-throne
God. But a time is coming when
Satan will no longer be allowed to deceive the nations. So this very fact that Satan has up until this
point, and is now currently deceiving the whole world would indicate that this deception has been allowed
by God, sanctioned by God--just as Satan was allowed, sanctioned by
God, to attack Job. God has allowed
Satan to deceive the nations of the world, kingdom after kingdom, empire
after empire. But that will all
change.
In Leviticus 16 are found the special commands
about how the Levitical priesthood were to
observe the ceremonial laws having to do with the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement itself is a spiritual picture
of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world,
mankind. Leviticus 16:5-10,15,20-22. “From the Israelite community he [the high priest,
Aaron, vs. 3] is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram
for a burnt offering. Aaron is
to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself
and his household. Then he is
to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance
to the Tent of Meeting. He is
to cast lots for the two goats--one for Lord and the other for the azazel [ azazel: Hebrew for goat
of removal]. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to
the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. [this goat points directly to the sacrificial
death of Jesus Christ.] But the
goat chosen by lot as the azazel shall be presented alive before
the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert
as a scapegoat [goat of removal]…He shall then slaughter the goat for
the sin offering for the people [this is backtracking to the first goat,
to give some more details for the sacrifice] and take its blood behind
the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] and do with it as he did with the
bull’s blood. He shall sprinkle
it on the atonement cover and in front of it…When Aaron has finished
making atonement for the
As to Satan and the demon’s ultimate fate, judgment? Jude gave a slight indication in Jude verses 6,13-14, and Paul did in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3. Paul spelled it out very plainly, it is we, the saints, who will be used to judge the angels. And Jude shows which angels, the fallen ones. The righteous holy angels don’t need judging (maybe rewarding for their faithfulness, but not judging in the sense of eternal punishments). 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels?” Jude 6, 13-14, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day…They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame, wandering stars [symbolic term for angels], for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” That concludes this study on Satan, who
he is, what his purpose is, and what his fate is. I may have stirred up some new thought on the
real purpose for his being left on earth. Don’t use those ideas or new information the way Satan would
love it to be used, to create dissention amongst the ranks. Satan loves doing that with what I term secondary
biblical knowledge, creating division within the body of Christ. It’s OK to believe differently on the secondary
knowledge, but don’t use those differences to divide, or else you’re
being used by Satan, not the Lord. Think
about that. Use the links I have
given you to further your understanding, especially in the area of putting
on your spiritual armour, for we are most definitely in a spiritual
war-zone, battle-zone.
The editor.
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