This lesson belongs to that class of Theology which we call Demonology. This deals first of all with Satan, then the matter of devils or demons, and finally with the Devil’s attack against the word of God and against the Christian.
The Christian life is a battle against Satan, called “the Devil.” He is called “the Devil,” and he is called “Satan.” (We will talk more about his titles later.) By virtue of the fall of man, man became the Devil’s possession, his pawn. The Devil is called “the god of this world,” who operates this world. The Lord Jesus Christ made it very clear in Luke chapter 4 that although He would not accept the kingdoms of this world as a bribe for worshipping the Devil, that until the Second Advent the kingdoms of this world belong to Satan.
We all share the same fate, those of us who are saved; if it hadn’t been for the grace of God, we would have wound up in Hell. When we received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, this relationship to Satan was broken, but Satan did not give up. He fought on to regain us, and one may say that although the relationship with the Devil was broken, it is augmented fiercely in another direction.
I heard an old time preacher one time put it very clearly. (Many times the old, uneducated preachers that believed the word of God had a much clearer way of stating a thing and a much more accurate way of defining it than does our new, educated breed. Not always, but occasionally.) He said to a certain soul winner, who was having a great deal of trouble with his family and his boss and his health and this and that, “Well, you have been leading people to Christ, haven’t you?”
The soul winner said, “Yes.”
The preacher said, “Well, let me ask you something. If somebody came into your house at night and stole one of your children from you and escaped with the child, would you be favorably disposed toward him?”
The young man said, ‘’No.”
The preacher said, “Well, how do you think the Devil feels when you kidnap his children?”
There is more truth than fiction in that statement. In leading people to Jesus Christ, you take them from their father. Christ said in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do...for he is a liar.” You take that child from that father and give him to another Father, and you have got trouble.
The Bible tells us to resist Satan, to fight him, and to give him no place in our lives. The Bible says in James 4:7, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The Bible says to stand fast, “having done all, to stand” (Eph. 6:13).
About the origin of this being: of course, he is not recognized by modern science, but Hollywood recognizes him. They have their lead villain in each play (who typifies the Devil), the lead hero (who pictures Christ), and the heroine (who pictures the church). There are no “original” plots in movies or on TV. However, the Devil is not recognized as a personal person to be dealt with and handled, except by rare individuals at rare times, and then he is usually caricatured to be somewhat of a “boogy man.”
Contrary to popular legend and myth, the Devil is far smarter than any body of scientists that ever assembled on this earth to discuss anything. In the Bible, he is revealed as an “angel of light,” “wiser than Daniel,” and having had 6,000 years of experience in dealing with men, there isn’t any place where he has to bribe a man to trade his soul in for a few days of pleasure. All the Devil has to do is come up alongside you and say, “Everybody else does it” or “We have always done it” or “But, it feels good” or “You gotta get married” or “You gotta make a living” or “It depends on how you look at it.”
Don’t you know the Devil is as wise as a serpent? He is an old serpent himself. He knows all the answers. He had no trouble getting Noah to get drunk. He won’t have any trouble with you. He had no trouble getting Simon Peter to curse. You won’t “give him a hard time.” He had no trouble taking a man after God’s own heart and getting him to commit adultery and murder. He’ll finish you off. The Devil is a force to be reckoned with, and a Satanic force that is brilliantly intellectual, rational, scientific, and persuasive.
Satan is a created being (Col. 1:16). The time of his creation is unknown, but since he is called “the anointed cherub that covereth” (Ezek. 28:12–19), he was obviously created at some time before Genesis 1:1. Sometime before time, per se, or creation took place, Satan was created as an anointed cherub that covered, and he was given a place over the throne of God.
In Ezekiel, chapter 28 we learn the following things about his person. He is described as “full of wisdom, and...beauty” (v. 12). He is covered with precious stones like the high priest’s breastplate (v. 13). He is the “anointed cherub,” never an angel. Angels are never cherubs. Cherubs are never angels. Angels don’t have wings. Cherubs do. Angels are loosed from the throne. Cherubim are not. He was the anointed cherub. He was the fifth cherub who covered the throne. Verse 17 says his heart was lifted up because of his wisdom and beauty.
Verse 15 says he was created perfect and remained perfect until sin entered into him. Verse 16, sin and iniquity were first discovered in Satan. Verses 16 and 18, Satan was cast out of the third heaven in the sense that he no longer had access to it in his dealings.
In his original position, Satan is described as “Lucifer,” son of the morning (Isa. 14:12). His pride led him to be like the Most High God. That is the exact temptation that he gave Eve and the National Education Association (Isa. 14:13–14).
His destiny is mentioned as being Hell, down “to the sides of the pit” (Isa. 14:15). He now has access to the first heaven. This earth is his sphere of dominion, and he has access to accuse the brethren before the throne. His power will continue until Revelation 12:10. In the original position the Devil is pictured as a calf, a winged ox, and yet representing the reptilian class.
Observe there are four cherubims present now (Ezek. 1, 10; Rev. 4). The four cherubims represent the human class, the man; the flying class, the eagle; the tame class, the ox; the wild class, the lion. The class that is missing is the AMPHIBIAN or REPTILIAN class, the one that had to stay in the water during the Flood. Their representative, then, was a fifth cherub who had been dethroned. He is no longer over the throne, and this is why the reptile is still said to eat dust in the millennium. Did you notice that in Isaiah chapter 65? The curse upon the serpent is not lifted in the millennium, although the curse upon everything else is.
When Satan fell he was deposed from over the throne, therefore there is no representative of the reptilian class in heaven. As the fifth cherub, he was given the power of death (five letters), because he was the Devil (five letters), called “Satan” (five letters). Therefore, FIVE has never been the number of grace and never will be the number of grace as long as the world is. FIVE is the number of death. The only time it ever touched GRACE was in the death of Christ, and that was death too, with FIVE pieces of clothing and FIVE wounds.
Satan’s personality: many people today do not believe in a personal devil, recognizing only the evil tendencies of the flesh or vices or human weaknesses. But Jesus in John 8:44 said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” Well, he must be a person to be a father. In Job chapter 1, Satan talks to God, accusing Job of evil. Why, you don’t have any evil influence that has contact with the third heaven and accuses you to God! That is a person.
In the temptation of Christ (Matt. 4), Jesus wasn’t dealing with His subconscious or His conscience, His libido or His ego or His Id in Matthew chapter 4. He was talking with the Devil, a real enemy, a real person.
Satan is a person possessing life, intelligence, will power, and feelings; and one day, on this earth, he will be a man. Notice carefully the distinction between a person and man. A person is a free moral agent that has will, emotions, feelings, and is capable of responding and acting: volition. That doesn’t necessarily mean a man. Angels are persons, but angels are not flesh and blood men. Satan, however, is a “spirit being” in the sense of a person who does not possess a human body, at least not yet, but he will have one in the Tribulation.
Satan’s character: First of all, the Bible says he is a thief. In Matthew 13:19 we read that the Devil steals the word of God from the hearts of hearers. “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” That is the work of a thief.
We read in the Bible that the Devil is subtle (2 Cor. 11:3). Satan beguiled Eve. We read, “as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty.” The Bible says he is a murderer (John 8:44). The Bible says he is a liar (John 8:44). The Bible says he is a deceiver, “Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). Now, these aren’t very good qualifications for you to live a moral life or a life pleasing to God.
subtle thief who deceives people and lies and murders is certainly the wrong “father” to have. You say, “How do I get out of the family?” “Ye must be born again.” You will have to be born again into the right family. Nowhere does the Bible ever indicate that fixing up, renovating, altering, changing, renewing, dedication, or “committal” will do anything for you. The first birth is wrong. You are born into the wrong family with the wrong father. “Ye must be born again” and “translated...into the kingdom of His dear Son.”
Satan is called “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). He is called a “roaring lion” (1 Pet. 5:8). He is the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), “the power of darkness” (Col. 1:13), he is the “great dragon,” the serpent. The Devil is described in detail in Job chapter 41. He is called “the prince of this world” (John 14:30). He is called “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). He has control of the earth, Hell, and the bottomless pit, and this being is a perfect imitation of Jesus Christ. He has the apostolic Charismatic signs. He has the gift of healing (Rev. 16:13–16). He is able to talk in tongues (2 Thess. 2). He has apostles who counterfeit the apostolic signs in the book of Acts (2 Cor. 11:13–15).
The Devil is called “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) to counterfeit God. He is called the “prince of this world” or “the prince of the power of the air” to counterfeit Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. He is called a “lion” to counterfeit Jesus Christ, “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” He is called a “serpent” to counterfeit Christ, the serpent of brass. He is called “an angel of light” to counterfeit the Angel of the Lord. He is the perfect imitation of Jesus Christ. He is just not “the Lord’s Christ.”
He blinds the minds of men (2 Cor. 4:4), accuses the brethren (Rev. 12:10), tests the Christian (Luke 22:31), destroys the lives of men (l Cor. 5:5). He is here to sow tares and false doctrine (Matt. 13:25), and the first words he ever spoke in the Bible questioned what God said.
The Devil has subordinates. He has angels, evil spirits, unclean spirits, and devils (2 Pet. 2:4). He has principalities, powers, world rulers, and spiritual hosts (Eph. 6:12). He has sinners who will do his will (John 8:44), and he has “good, godly,” dedicated men who will speak for him (Matt. 16:22–23). Peter was a “good, godly” Fundamentalist and Conservative who loved the Lord, and he spoke up and took Satan’s position, which many Bible scholars do this day.
Satan’s destiny is that he will be cast out of Heaven (Rev. 12:9), but he still has access to Heaven today (Rev. 12:12). He will be chained later in the bottomless pit by an angel (Rev. 20). He will come out at the end of the Millennium to gather a final rebellion together against God (Rev. 20:3). He will be defeated and cast into the lake of fire forever (Rev. 20:7–10).
This terrifying creature is pictured as a great red dragon, unknown by scientists, unseen by scientists, undetected by scientists. His work is up and down through the “great deeps” of the universe, which he causes to foam after him like a pot or like a milky way.
He will come incarnate to this earth three and one-half years as the “man of sin,” and then he will go to Jerusalem and sit down on the throne as “the anointed cherub that covereth,” and then he will be “the son of perdition,” the Devil incarnate: Satan manifest in the flesh.
This fifth cherub, whose name has FIVE letters, whose power is FIVE, and who has the power of death, is cast down FIVE times:
1. This being lost his first position, losing power in the third heaven and going into the second heaven in Genesis 1:2.
2. He lost power of the second heaven and went into the first heaven in the time of Christ, when Christ said, “I beheld Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
3. He will be cast out of the first heaven down to this earth in the Tribulation, when he comes down to be “the man of sin,” the Antichrist.
4. He will be cast from this earth to the bottomless pit in Revelation chapter 20 when he is chained up for a thousand years.
5. He will be cast out of the bottomless pit into the Lake of Fire in Revelation chapter 20 at the great White Throne Judgment.
In his present state, Satan appears manifest as “an angel of light,” a perfect counterfeit of Jesus Christ, with all of the Charismatic signs of tongues and healing to deceive the unwary who have not learned how to prove things by the word of God, and have taken so many translations they no longer have “the word of God” or can find out what it is.
When this fearful being comes down to this earth, we read, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12).
In our age, we are told “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” (Eph. 6:12). We are told to resist the devil, to stand fast in the Lord, to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Nowhere in the Bible is it ever intimated that we can withstand the Devil in our own power. Nowhere is it ever suggested in the word of God that we have the power to ridicule the devil or take him on single-handedly. There is no way in the world to do it. He is called “the god of this world.” He has run the world for centuries. He will run it until Jesus Christ comes back, and the kingdoms of this world become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ,” when Christ shall reign forever and ever. As he tested Job, he will test Christians today. The Lord said in Luke 22:31 32, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee.”
So, this fearsome, awful being, who goes back to the days before time started in Genesis 1:1, has the power to take the lives of men, power to take their property, power to smite them with diseases, and power to counterfeit healers and faith healing. This being has power to counterfeit life, although he cannot produce the original creation When Pharaoh told his servants to counterfeit the dust turning into lice, they couldn’t counterfeit it because that was the original creation, where God made the animals out of the “dust of the ground.” The only life the devil cannot produce is the original act of creation. He will not only create life, but he will give birth to an Antichrist (Gen. 3:15) and give life to an image (Rev. 13:12–16).
This fearsome being, the Devil, who can manipulate men and get the power to ruin them, asks for Job’s family and then for his health, and (if he had been granted the third permission) he would have asked for Job’s life. The Devil is no joke.
There is alive in this universe somebody who, if he could get permission tonight to put you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, kill your family, burn your house down, and send you to Hell, would do it and never bother to give you the time of day.
The only person who is strong enough and powerful enough to stop Satan is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we are told to “stand fast in the Lord” and to be “strong...in the power of his might” and put no confidence in the flesh but rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is mighty, but God is Almighty. Satan was defeated spiritually at Calvary; he will be defeated physically at the battle of Armageddon.
The lesson for the Christian is obvious. He is constantly to claim victory over Satan through the blood of Jesus Christ and remember the blood of Jesus Christ works on the atomic level, below protons and neutrons. It can be applied and contact things unknown to any scientist anywhere in the world, living or dead, on any continent. After all, if the blood of Christ can purge our conscience from “dead works to serve the living God,” and can purge us from our sins—which are not physical things—it can be used by the Christian in handling his warfare against Satan.
Let me give you the admonition of Paul, the Apostle, who said, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil...and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:10–16). “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God” (1 Pet. 5:6). “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Source: Theological Studies Vol II - Demonology - by Peter Ruckman
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