As dangerous and as powerful as Satan is, I think some of us give him too much credit.
In the Book of Job we learn that Satan can only do whatever God permits him to do. God forbids him to take Job’s life, so he can’t.
St. James teaches us, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Although he is sometimes referred to as “the prince of this world,” I don’t believe that means that Satan is sovereign over God’s created world, but rather, only over those who reject God for the world.
If the world really did lie under Satan’s government, the whole thing would look like certain places in New Jersey.
If God really had ceded the rulership of the world to Satan, we would have, under Satan’s direction, entirely killed ourselves off by now. I cannot see the human race surviving the 20th century without God’s intervention. Not that we would’ve ever made it to the 20th.
God’s provides us with abundant proofs–the beauties of nature, the tenderness of love, the goodness of His word: but this list could go on all day–that He is a faithful Creator who is always close to us, who loves us, and who will see us through our many trials.
So why does God permit Satan to do anything at all?
Because everything Satan does, God will turn to His own use; because we whom God made in His own image have to be endowed with moral freedom, which sadly means we have the freedom to do wrong, and very wrong indeed… And boy, if you can see clear to the bottom of God’s plan, or clear to the ceiling, you don’t need any two cents from me!
It’s unwise to underestimate Satan. While it is true that he was not allowed to kill Job, Satan WAS allowed to kill Job’s children, his flocks, cause him untold pain, illness, etc., so that even his wife was disgusted. No, Lee, it’s not a good idea to underestimate him. And the Books of Revelation and of Daniel prophesy about the beast system/one world government/one world religion. Someone IS going to pull it off – for a time.
God has not given Satan the power to control our will and compel us to worship him.
Ah – and that’s the crux of it.
Indeed, and it goes back to before the fall of man. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad represented God’s right to establish moral law. We can see what happens when moral law is issued by humans: it fails.
Imagine the persuasive power of Satan. He drew a third of God’s angels away – angels that KNEW God! This is why in Ephesians 6 Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God.
It’s terrifying, yet we see it happening on a smaller scale, all around us. Our God is a God of order, yet a substantial portion of humankind has chosen disorder and have done so freely.
Meanwhile, God’s law stands, and no one can break it with impunity.
Ironically. statism promises us “order” but delivers only moral anarchy.
Statism + Pietism (the church abrogating its responsibilities in the world) = the mess we’re in now.
I very much agree. One obvious example is the promise of sexual “freedom” which has resulted in a wave of sexual addictions, sexual dysfunction and an existence of meaningless encounters which leave people unsatisfied and frustrated.
Which is one of the reasons that at age 70, and even with uncooperative knees, I spend time on them each night, talking with Father. He is our refuge and our fortress!
The Satanic goal is to undermine the line of the messiah and to prevent Christ’s enthronement. It’s been demonstrated over and over. Herod ordered the death of all males born around the time of Jesus’ birth. He was operating under the aegis of Satan’s power and was able to enforce an atrocity.
We can see the assertion of power by Satan every day. If you can’t get a summer job without stating your belief in abortion, that is Satan’s influence. He wants to kill humans and doesn’t mind killing humans whom are utterly defenseless. It’s Herod writ large.
The misleading propaganda is foretold in Revelation 16:13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
This is the extent of demonic influence in this world in the End Times. Speak out against these and you are at peril, it’s that simple. It is God allowing Satan to have his way and to influence people in such a way that it leads to the ultimate confrontation between ungodly mankind and the Sovereign of the Universe.
We are seeing the effects of this Satanic government before our eyes right now. Think about the atrocious matters which you report on daily. There are common notions which have misled vast portions of humankind. This is not random, this is assertion of power over the world by God’s arch enemy.
When God created man he gave him quite a bit of autonomy and authority to rule over this planet. When Adam fell, he turned over some of that authority to Satan. How much authority and what that all entails I don’t know. Some have made the analogy that Adam, in essence, turned over earth’s title deed to Satan. As you noted, Satan is called the god of this world, and the whole world is under his control (1Jo 5:19). Satan has his own kingdom. When he tempted Jesus in the desert with all the kingdoms of the world, Jesus did not dispute his statement, and you can’t tempt someone with something you don’t have. So Satan does have some authority, which is why he can still approach God’s throne as we have seen in Job, and probably why God has not sent him to the Lake of Fire “yet”.
Some say that God is in control of this world, but I disagree. It that were true than it wouldn’t be a mess that it is now. If God were in control there wouldn’t be murder, war, theft, etc. in this world. He gave that control over to us, and Adam gave some of it to Satan. That’s not to say that Satan has complete control, or that God does not intervene. There is a spiritual tug-o-war going on, but I believe God is doing it in a way that is lawful according to the spiritual laws he put in place. We believe that God can do anything, and he can, but he places restraints on himself if it serves a greater good, such as saying he does not lie. Once God has set something in place he will not violate it. It is like with the King Darius. He decreed no one should worship any god but him for 30 days. So when Daniel violated that law and was thrown into the lion’s den, King Darius couldn’t undo this law even though he wanted to save Daniel. We think as a king he could do anything, but he was bound by his own laws. I believe it is the same way with God. Even though Satan usurped some of man’s authority over this planet, he can’t just take it away unlawfully.
But God is working on taking that authority back. When God sent Jesus to shed his blood, that was the first step to reclaiming that authority. That was the genius of God’s plan. Only a flesh and blood man currently has the rightful authority to be on this planet, and why Jesus came as a man through the womb of a woman. Also why Jesus is called the last Adam. Jesus will fully reclaim that authority when the events of Revelation play out and he opens the seals. Then he will begin to judge the world and Satan and usher in his kingdom on earth. Then God will be in control of this world and it will be heaven on earth. That’s just my two cents, and if someone disagrees, that’s fine. I can concede that I can always be wrong about something. As Paul said, we see through a glass darkly.
Abundant food for thought. I’m still thinking. Well said.
That was beautifully put, Watchman, and IMO quite accurate to scripture. There is an order to how God has arranged our redemption and this has to be followed. God is true to His word and respects the rights of humans as well. He will not uproot randomly or without consideration, but He will end Satan’s influence over earthly affairs and eventually cast him into the Lake of Fire, ending not only our suffering, but the suffering of all creation which has been caused by the disharmony of Satan’s rebellion.
My personal opinion is that Armageddon will happen when the true opposers of God’s sovereignty literally attack His people at Gog of Magog. The significance is that God’s actions will not be able to be construed as an attack where any innocent party suffers, but as a matter of defending God’s interests and the right of humans to worship Him as the One True God. He could have squelched all of this way back in Eden, but He gave it a chance to play out fully and for the results of Satan’s rebellion to be visible to all.
Amen, come quickly Lord Jesus.
I try to keep it straight that “The earth is the Lord’s,” and this fallen world is ruled over by Satan (whose goal is one-world government – sound familiar?). I like to think of the example of the Roman Empire. It was satanic for sure and Christians suffered much more then than they do now )overall). And what happened to the Roman Empire? – It became the Holy Roman Empire.