THE OFFICE, AUTHORITY AND WORK OF THE DEVIL
Please comment. Was Satan demoted when he fell? Is he still to be regarded as a dignity? Does he have license to do whatever he pleases? Why did Michael not say, I rebuke you in the name of the Lord? rather, he said, the Lord rebuke you. By what authority do some pastors rail against the devil? Is it scripturally supported?
Comments (12)
Psalms 78:49 He [God] cast vpon them the fiercenesse of his anger, wrath and indignation, and trouble: by sending euill angels among them. 1 Kings 19-22 19 And he said, Heare thou therefore the word of the Lord: I sawe the Lord sitting on his Throne, and all the hoste of heauen standing by him, on his right hand and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, Who shall perswade Ahab, that hee may goe vp and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one sayd on this manner, and another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will perswade him.22 And the Lord said vnto him, Wherewith? And hee sayd, I will goe foorth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt perswade him, and preuaile also: Goe forth, and doe so. 2 Samuel 24:13-16 13 So Gad came to Dauid, and told him, and said vnto him, Shall seuen yeeres of famine come vnto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three moneths before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three dayes pestilence in thy land? Now aduise, and see what answere I shall returne to him that sent me.14 And Dauid saide vnto Gad, I am in a great strait: let vs fall now into the hand of the Lord (for his mercies are great,) and let me not fall into the hand of man. 15 So the Lord sent a pestilence vpon Israel, from the morning, euen to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan euen to Beersheba, seuentie thousand men. 16 And when the Angel stretched out his hand vpon Ierusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the euill, and said to the Angel that destroyed the people, It is ynough: stay now thine hand.
if God has sent them, what do we do, i have wondered. other than glory in God's might and power...so, emphasis on verse 7 and 10 James 4:7 4 Ye adulterers, and adulteresses, know yee not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoeuer therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God. 5 Doe ye thinke that the Scripture saith in vaine, the spirit that dwelleth in vs lusteth to enuy? 6 But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble. 7 Submit your selues therefore to God: resist the deuill, and hee will flee from you.8 Draw nigh to God, and hee will draw nigh to you: cleanse your hands ye sinners, and purifie your hearts yee double minded. 9 Bee afflicted, and mourne, and weepe: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your ioy to heauinesse. 10 Humble your selues in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you vp.
On whether Satan can do whatever he pleases . . short answer is "no". He can only do what God/Jesus Christ allow (Job 41:2 . . entire Book of Job . . .Jesus commanding Satan during the temptation and with Peter). However, when you reject Christ/Truth and abide in sin, God has given him free reign to destroy your flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5), possible unto damnation, but at the very least so you will learn and return to God/Jesus Christ.
the verses below, i think tie-in with commandings you mentioned
Wow . . great subject. So . . I always think Satan's beginnings from the description in Ezekiel 28 "14Thou art the annointed Cherub that couereth: and I haue set thee so; thou wast vpon the holy mountaine of God; thou hast walked vp and downe in the middest of the stones of fire. 15Thou wast perfect in thy wayes from the day that thou wast created, till iniquitie was found in thee." What does "annointed cherub" means? One definition is "chosen as if by divine election." Satan was chosen by God for a purpose from among other angels . . as a cherub. What is a cherub? My best research is that Cherubim are the angels who protector God's glory . . and and most notably, eventually, his Creation. And the Seraphim are the protectors of God's throne. A chosen cherub . . a protector of the Garden of Eden . . was a very powerful trusted role, but maybe not the highest angelic role. Was Satan jealous of the Seraphim? Ultimately we learn that he wants God's throne so his jealousy exceeded that of just the Seraphim. What else do we know about Satan? His intelligence vastly surpasses ours . . .but he does not have perfect knowledge. His powers of persuasion are immense, but he cannot take an unwilling soul. He is a liar and a murderer and the truth does not abide in him. So . . is he somehow to be respected as powerful angel, even though he was cast out of heaven? NO. For a couple of reasons in my line of thinking. 1) We are part of the body of Christ and Jesus resisted and commanded Satan. We should do the same invoking the power of our Lord; 2) Paul told us that, as part of the body of Christ, WE will be judging angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). To me, this means that we have a special place with Christ above the angels in some way. Maybe because, like Christ, we will have endured in the flesh and held fast to our faith. Angels never had to endure the temptations of the flesh and did not have the trials of faith we endure as they are. . or were in the case of the fallen . . in God's presence always. After thinking more about it, I think the reason Michael called up on the Lord to rebuke Satan was that Michael knew that he did not have the power of judgement over other angels . . .that resides in Christ and US. And this leads me to conclude that . . among angels .. . there is no "hierarchy". Angels have divine appointments, but they are not to claim power over one another. They will not accept worship from men or each other. These are the things sought by Satan and his followers. For the faithful angels, all glory is to be directed to God/Jesus Christ. So . . Satan was not demoted to a lower rank and is not worthy of any type of worship . . although he would want you to have sympathy for him and believe that.
. . correction . . angels aren't to invoke authority over one another. Each is authorized for their function independently by God . . and given the power from God to perform those functions.
I'm not familiar with the scripture that refers to Israel as angels. Where might I find it?
1 Samuel 29:9 reference David as an Angel of God. In Matthew 22:30 Jesus says those in the resurrection are as the Angels of God. Israel are those with faith in the sacrifice Christ had to make in order for man to be brought back to peace with God. Instead of Israel, I could have use the description, the people God saved out of the land of Egypt, as being the ones who God consider as Angels of God, and of those, some kept not the first estate.
What was the angel's first estate? Jude 1:6 And, how do we reconcile Revelation 12:7-10, which has the devil cast down from heaven? And, in Luke 10:18, Jesus said he saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Jude 1:6 seems to be to be referencing the Levites who rebelled against Moses, and the earth swallowing them up, and they being sent directly to hellfire, without experience a natural death first. Once Israel was brought out of Egypt, they be considered as the Angels, but some of them kept not the faith, instead followed Satan. For Luke 10:18. Geneva Bible notation says, The Power of Satan is beaten down by the preaching of the Gospel. Satan might extort himself to heaven, but he is brought down by the word of God. Revelation 12 happens after the 7th trumpet has been blown, and shows vision in heaven, which are future events for John, who saw them in around 100AD. The woman, representing the Church, was also seen in heaven, the Church still at the earth though, as I do not think this is to taken literally. I do think we are taught that Satan has access to God. Satan wants to usurper the authority of God, and claim a place in heaven, but the woman who brought forth the child to rule the nations, proves the word of God to be true, and Satan no longer has a place in heaven. Is that not one of the lessons in Revelation 12?
Some Bibles say Satan was demoted, while others say not. What do you think?
Adam was given dominion over every living thing that moved on the earth, would that not include Satan? Not certain what Satan would be demoted from, heaven? I think just like Adam, Satan was/is native to the earth, and like Adam, Satan was kicked out of the Garden of Eden, once corruption enter creation, with Adams disobedience against God. Where Adam and Eve would repent of their disobedience at the call from God, Satan would instead go on to throw accusations against God, and his people. With man following Satan, he is the God of this world, and I guess you could say a dignity. I think Michael was teaching us that we rebuke Satan by using the word of God, as we ourselves trying to use our own wisdom when dealing with Satan, is doomed to fail. Anyway that be some of my thought on the matter.