Satan cast out of heaven by Gustave Doré
Introduction
Last week we were thinking about angels. Yes, they do exist! They are real spiritual beings who surround the throne of God and are his messengers for mankind. Billy Graham refers to then as “God’s Secret Agents” in the world. But if this is the case, why then is there so much evil in the world? Why do ( to quote the poet Burns) “the best laid plans of mice, and men, gang aft agley” ?
Why is it that all the best utopian schemes to eradicate poverty, and to usher in world peace, and all the political solutions to the world’s problems fail, time and again? Why are we humans so ineffective at doing good?
Partly, we must admit, it’s our own fault. It’s the inherent selfishness and sin of mankind. But I think it goes further than that. Why, for example, does evil sometimes take such a personal and vindictive form? How can we understand such a man as Hitler, who had an insane hatred of the Jews?
The Bible writers ( the Prophets, and Evangelists, and Apostles ) and even Jesus himself, would answer that Satan and the fallen angels are behind all this. Evil is not just the absence of good. There is more to it than just the forces of decay and dissolution at work in the universe.
No, evil is personal, and it is anti-God. There is an extremely powerful, malign being who hates God and his people and who does all in his power to thwart God’s purposes in the world. More than that, there are millions of such beings – devils, demons, evil spirits, fallen angels – call them what you will.
What then are these fallen angels? And since we are coming up to Hallowe’en, when many people will be concentrating on the occult, it might be a good thing now for us to think about them. After all, you have to know your enemy.
The Fallen Angels: their origin
Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve in Eden were tempted by the Serpent. Other passages of the Bible indicate that the Serpent is Satan. But how did Satan get there? Was not everything “good” when God created it? How did evil originate, and how did Satan become evil?
Now we can not be dogmatic about this, but it seems obvious that if God created beings who could love him of their own free will then he would also have to allow the possibility of their not loving him. If they really are to love him freely they they also have the choice of rejecting him. He did not create them as robots.
This theme of the fall and rebellion of Satan and his followers is dealt with great poetic genius by Milton in Paradise Lost. It may read a bit like mythology in Milton but this idea is found in Scripture – the idea that some of the angels became evil.
For example
God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment. ( 2 Peter 2:4 )
and
The angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
( Jude 6 )
Nothing is said about what their sin actually was, but it is likely that they exalted themselves against God and aspired to the supreme authority. Satan, when he wanted to tempt Adam and Eve, used the same lure of selfish ambition and pride.
Their leader: the Devil
He appears in Scripture as the recognized head of the fallen angels. It seems that he was originally one of the highest princes of the angelic world. Perhaps he was the chief of all the angels. So when Satan led the rebellion against God, then Michael would have been promoted to Archangel ( see Revelation 12:7-12).
What titles are given to the Devil in Scripture?
Satan
This comes from the Hebrew “shatan”, which means “adversary”. This title emphasizes the fact that he is the enemy of God and Man. That is why he caused the Fall of Man. That is why he attacked Jesus at the start of his ministry.
Apollyon
This comes from a Hebrew word meaning “destroyer”. Because he seeks to spoil all that is good and to destroy God’s works.
The Devil
This comes from the Greek word “diabolos”, which means “accuser” or “slanderer”. What the Devil does is, firstly to tempt us to sin, and then secondly to accuse us of sinning! So we are tempted to wallow in our sins and to give up trying to be good. “May as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb”.
The Devil is the author of all those guilt feelings which don’t go away, even when we confess our sins. (It is interesting that it is also the work of the Holy Spirit to make us feel guilty – He convicts us of our sins. But when that happens we turn to Jesus and receive forgiveness. On the other hand, the guilt feelings that the Devil produces do not lead to salvation.)
The prince of this world
Or even “the god of this world” ( 2 Corinthians 4:4)
This doesn’t mean that Satan is in control of the world – simply that he has power over all who do not submit to God. After all, you don’t actually have to be a Devil-worshipper or Satanist to do the Devil’s work. All you have to do is to fail to love and serve God.
As “prince” or “god” ( note the small “g”) of this world Satan has tremendous power and knowledge, but he is not all-powerful and all-knowing. Only God is. Satan’s power is limited by God and will ultimately serve God’s purposes.
We see this pre-eminently in the events of the Crucifixion. It was Satan who entered into Judas and tempted him to betray Jesus. It was Satan who motivated the enemies of Jesus when they agitated for his death. It was Satan who brought Jesus to the Cross.
But in Gods sublime purpose that very Cross was turned from defeat to victory. Through that Cross Jesus saved the human race, and indeed brought liberation to the whole universe. For all his evil intentions Satan only succeeded in fulfilling God’s plan. How amazing and mind-boggling is that!
Fallen angels: their activities
It is instructive to contrast the good and bad angels.
- The good ones perpetually praise God, the bad ones perpetually curse him
- The good ones fight God’s battles, the bad ones oppose God.
- The good angels carry God’s messages, the bad ones try to deceive God’s people.
- The good protect God’s people, the bad bring harm on God’s people.
They have many ways of doing these things:
- Demons can possess people, sometimes causing physical or mental illness.
- They possess Spiritualist mediums, impersonating the dead in order to deceive people. They lead people into occult bondage.
- They bind and imprison humans with the ropes of fear, despair, discouragement, sorrow, lusts and temptations.
All these are ways used by the Devil and his angels to destroy God’s work.
But we must remember that they are on the run! They are on the losing side, and they know their cause is hopeless. Even though they are chained to hell in pits of darkness ( Jude 6). As Calvin said, “Though as spirits they are not limited to one place, they drag their chains wherever they go.”
Fallen angels: their downfall
In the Parable of the Strong Man ( Matthew 12:22-29 ) Jesus likened Satan to a tyrant who has to be overcome and bound before his house can be despoiled and his captives released. Jesus himself is the one who binds Satan by his victory on the Cross.
Yes, Satan was mortally wounded at Calvary, but he still thrashes about ( as Michael Green says). He is rather like a conger eel in a fishing boat. It is dangerous for hours after it has been caught. If you go near it it will bite your foot.
So Satan and his angels refuse to lie down and die. They still seek to harm us. But when, by faith, we stand in the victory of Christ we can bind them. Some people indeed have a special ministry of binding evil spirits and releasing the captives. But in a sense, all Christians can bind Satan and his cohorts. Whenever we take up the weapons of love and encouragement, of joy and trust in the word of God, whenever we hold up the shield of faith we are binding Satan – we are holding back his evil purposes.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. ( Revelation 12: 12)
He knows he has a lost eternity. He is destined to be cast into the bottomless pit, with all his followers ( Revelation 20:10).
All this might seem to be a bit scary. The activity of the fallen angels is frantic and their power is great ( for the time being). But we must remember that Christ and his angels have the final victory, and we shall share in that victory if we trust in Jesus.
