Heiser, Michael S.
Citation (APA): Heiser, M. S. (2020). Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness [Kindle Android version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
FRONT MATTER
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Obstacles to Overcome
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I’m announcing this at the outset because, when I decided to write this book, I did so despite knowing that there were serious obstacles to overcome. To be blunt, Christians embrace a number of unbiblical ideas about the powers of darkness. The reasons are twofold and are related. First, most of what we claim to know about the powers of darkness does not derive from close study of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Second, much of what we think we know is filtered through and guided by church tradition— not the original, ancient contexts of the Old and New Testaments.
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You might be wondering what sort of unbiblical ideas I’m referencing. A few illustrations will suffice. Most English translations use the term “demon” three times in the Old Testament (Lev 17: 7; Deut 32: 17; Ps 106: 37). Christian readers might wonder why demons are mentioned so infrequently in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament Gospels. But that very question erroneously presumes that the “demons” of the Old Testament are the same as those encountered in the Gospels. They are not. Another assumption is that the śāṭān figure of Job 1– 2 is the devil of the New Testament. That conclusion is not feasible exegetically. Another example is the oft-repeated belief that Satan and one-third of the angels of heaven rebelled against God before the creation of humankind. This idea is prevalent throughout Christian tradition despite the fact that such an episode appears nowhere in the Bible. The only passage that comes close is Revelation 12: 4, a passage dealing with the birth of the Messiah, thousands of years after the primeval period.
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As with the terminology for hostile supernatural powers, the meaning of “darkness” isn’t self-evident. While it is obvious that the literal physical circumstance of the absence of light is not in view, considering what the Bible seeks to communicate by its references to darkness matters for framing what it says about certain supernatural powers. In Scripture, darkness is a metaphor for negative, fearful human experiences. There are roughly two hundred references to darkness in Scripture, nearly all of which are used as a contrast to the God of the Bible— the source of love and life. It is no surprise, then, that death, the threat of death, and the realm of the dead itself are linked to supernatural entities expelled from God’s presence and service.
Overview
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From the perspective of English Bible translations, the word “demons” seldom occurs in the Old Testament. The ESV, for example, uses the term only three times. “Evil spirit” occurs only once (Judg 9: 23), a passage that may or may not involve a supernatural entity. This creates the impression (and drives the flawed conclusion) that the Old Testament has little to say about supernatural powers of darkness.
Chapter 1: Hebrew Terms for Evil Spiritual Beings
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The life God desired for human beings on earth had been diverted and corrupted. The fears and threats of the natural world were consequences of divine rebellions, from which death and chaos overspread the world of humanity. For this reason most of the terms we find in the Old Testament can be categorized as either (1) terms that are associated with the realm of the dead and its inhabitants, with fearful places associated with that realm, or with the threat of death itself, or (2) terms associated with geographical dominion by supernatural powers in rebellion against Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Terms Associated with the Realm of the Dead and Its Inhabitants
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The most familiar evil supernatural figure in the biblical underworld is the serpent of Eden— known later, beginning in the Second Temple period, as “Satan.” My wording here suggests that the serpent is never called “Satan” (śāṭān) in any verse of the Old Testament.
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The realm of the dead— that afterlife destination for all mortals— is referred to by a variety of terms in the Hebrew Old Testament, including sheʾôl (“ Sheol”; “the grave”), māwet (“ death”), ʾereṣ (“ land [of the dead]”), and bôr (“ pit”). 11 As the realm of the disembodied dead, this place has no literal latitude and longitude. Nevertheless, the association of death with burial led biblical writers to describe the dead as “going down” (Heb. y-r-d) to that place (Num 16: 30; Job 7: 9; Isa 57: 9).
- “Death” (Māwet/Mōt)
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Since a connection between the realm of the dead and death is obvious, it should be no surprise that death is at times personified in the Old Testament. - “Knowing One” (Yiddĕʿōnî)
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Deuteronomy 18: 9– 14 lists a number of “abominable practices” forbidden to Israelites. One prohibition is utilizing the services of šōʾēl ʾôb wĕ-yiddĕʿōnî (literally, “one who inquires of a spirit or a knowing one”; Deut 18: 11). 40 The term yiddĕʿōnî (from y-d-ʿ, “to know”) means “knowing (one)” and occurs eleven times, always with the term ʾôb.
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The point made here should not escape the reader. While yiddĕʿōnî, “knowing (one),” and ʾôb may at times be used of human mediums, the failure to note that they also refer specifically to supernatural entities results in missing Old Testament terminology for evil spirits.
General Considerations
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in biblical thought, everything that threatens life is the result of such rebellion. Natural disaster, disease, and death extend from humanity’s failure to fulfill the Edenic mandate, a failure provoked through the deception of a divine rebellion. The earth was under a curse. Eden was lost. Demonic spirits derivative from the transgression in Genesis 6: 1– 4 became an ongoing scourge of human well-being. God disinherited humanity at the Babel event, assigning the nations to lesser gods who sowed chaos among their charges (Deut 32: 8– 9; Ps 82). 84 For Israel, raised up by divine intervention on the part of Yahweh after Babel’s judgment, things like plague, infertility, sickness, natural disasters, and external threats of violence were only to be feared in the wake of apostasy (Exod 15: 26; Lev 26: 14– 39; Deut 28: 15– 68). - Demythologized Forces of Nature
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In Psalm 91: 3– 6, the psalmist writes that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty will be delivered “from the deadly pestilence [deber]” (v. 3) and will not fear “the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence [deber] that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction [qeṭeb] that wastes at noonday” (v. 5– 6). Why? Because these forces are not autonomous deities. Yahweh of Israel is in control of them. Consequently, he will protect his own from their lethal harm. - “Commander” (Śar)
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Supernatural figures are described in the Hebrew with the lemma śar in eight verses (Josh 5: 14– 15; Dan 8: 11, 25; 10: 13, 20– 21; 12: 1). 9 The LXX is not always consistent in its treatment of the term nor in its perspective of the supernatural character of the figure in question: 10•Joshua 5: 14– 15— archistratēgos (“ commander”)•Daniel 8: 11— archistratēgos (“ commander”)•Daniel 8: 25— apōleias andrōn (“ destruction of men”) 11•Daniel 10: 13— stratēgos (“ commander”) Theodotion LXX— archōn (“ ruler”) 12•Daniel 10: 20— stratēgos (“ commander”) Theodotion LXX— archōn (“ ruler”)•Daniel 10: 21— angelos (“ angel, messenger”)•Daniel 12: 1— angelos (“ angel, messenger”) Setting aside Daniel 8: 25, which contains a text-critical issue with the LXX rendering of śar, 13 we can proceed with some observations.
Septuagint Use of Greek Daimonion in Hebrew Bible Translation
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It is sufficient here to note the problem: LXX translators used daimonion in certain passages that speak of the sons of God allotted to the nations, and later New Testament authors use the same term for spirit entities that harm people. Consequently, two groups of sinister divine beings that have completely different origins in Old Testament and Second Temple Jewish thought get lumped together. While this conflation is unfortunate, the vocabulary (daimonion) is still quite serviceable. Greek daimōn and daimonion broadly refer to a divine being (good or evil). It can also be used of divine beings at different places in the divine hierarchy or supernatural pecking order.
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As a result, the Greek translator of the LXX could use these terms without intending the categories of divine rebels in the Old Testament to be merged into one ontological class. Unfortunately, we have lost the knowledge of the term’s range of nuance. This has led some scholars to drive a theological wedge between the testaments, charging that New Testament writers would not view the gods allotted to the nations as “real” deities, just “demons.”
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Construing this as meaning that the biblical writers thought the gods of the nations were merely handmade objects does not reflect the reality of ancient beliefs about idols. Michael Dick, whose research focuses on idolatry in the ancient Near East, cites ancient texts that reveal the idol maker using deity language for the idol that he made with his own hands while still maintaining a conceptual distinction between the image he made and the deity it represented. The deity would come to reside in the statue, but it was distinct from the statue.
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Gay Robins, another scholar of ancient cult objects and idolatry, explains the conceptual distinction between deity and image maintained in the ancient Near Eastern worldview: When a non-physical being manifested in a statue, this anchored the being in a controlled location where living human beings could interact with it through ritual performance.…
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The point is that, for ancient people— including Israelites— gods and their idols were closely related but not identical. This is important because Paul cites Deuteronomy 32: 17 in 1 Corinthians 10: 21– 22 to warn the Corinthians about fellowshipping with demons. Paul obviously believed daimonia were real.
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Against this backdrop, it is somewhat difficult to discern what the LXX translator of Isaiah 65: 3, 11 was thinking. This people who provokes me is before me always; they sacrifice in their gardens and burn incense on their bricks to demons [daimoniois] that do not exist. (Isa 65: 3 LES) But you who have forsaken me and who forget my holy mountain and who prepare a table for a demon [daimoniō; Heb. gad] and fill up a mixture to Fortune [tychē; Heb. mēnı̂.… (Isa 65: 11 LES) The first thing to point out is that the phrase “to demons that do not exist” is not present in the Masoretic Text (MT). The translator either had a different text or, more likely, added the phrase in light of the content of verse 11 to follow. While it might seem obvious that the translator was inserting a theological point, the content of verse 11 creates some confusion for the translator’s thought process. The LXX uses daimoniō in Isaiah 65: 11 for Hebrew gad, a well-known deity name in Canaanite, Phoenician, and Punic texts. 34 Gad was a god (or goddess) of good luck, which is why Gad often appears in texts with a goddess (or god) of destiny, Tyche (Tychē), as here in LXX Isaiah 65: 11.35 Why the translator recognized one deity name but generalized the other with the lemma daimonion is not clear. He may not have cared, since he inserted the line “do not exist” earlier in Isaiah 65: 3.
Summary
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This brief survey of how the Septuagint (LXX) translates the Hebrew Bible’s vocabulary for evil spirits enables us to draw some broad conclusions. While some semantic nuancing is lost to readers, LXX translations are consistent with the content of the Hebrew Bible. While no one would claim LXX translators thought as one, the translators were not trying to amend or obscure the theological worldview of their predecessors.
Trouble in God’s House
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Most readers will acknowledge that the serpent (Heb. nāḥāš) was not simply a member of the animal kingdom. 2 This conclusion seems obvious, since the New Testament identifies the serpent as Satan or the devil (Rev 12: 9). The devil is certainly not a zoological specimen (2 Cor 11: 14; cf. Matt 4: 1– 11; John 8: 44). Put simply, if we agree with the New Testament that a supernatural being (Satan) tempted Eve in Eden, then by definition the serpent must be more than a mere animal.
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Ancient readers would have thought about Eden in such a way that the supernatural nature of the serpent would have been conspicuous. We think of the garden of Eden like we think of earthly gardens. We know God was there, but a garden is a garden; Eden was a perfect garden, but, at the end of the day, it was just a garden. People from the biblical period would have had a different perception, one that was more transcendent. They would have thought of Eden as a temple. 5 After all, temples are where gods live. Eden was the abode of God, “an earthly archetype of the heavenly reality.” 6 “Because Adam communed with God in Eden,” Wenham adds, “the latter was the temporal analog for the celestial archetype.”
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Wallace’s observation that the cosmic dwelling (garden or mountain) was also home to the divine council would have been expected by an ancient reader. The scholarly literature on the divine council11 and the meeting place of the council as a garden or a mountain12 is extensive. The divine council, the assembly of the heavenly host, was perceived as an administrative bureaucracy. In biblical thought, the members of the divine council participate in issuing and executing divine decrees. 13 Just as a king has a court, God was his own administration. Where he lives, he conducts business.
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Genesis 2– 3 portray Eden as a divine garden and mountain. But what indication do we have from Genesis 3 that there is a group of divine beings (a council) in Eden? In Genesis 3: 5, the serpent told Eve, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God [ʾelōhı̂m], knowing good and evil.” We discover that ʾelōhı̂m in this verse should actually be read as a plural when we reach Genesis 3: 22, where God— speaking not to Adam, Eve, or the serpent— says, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” The violation resulted in Adam and Eve becoming like “one of us,” which obviously requires plurality. The fact that their sin did indeed result in knowing good and evil tells us the serpent did not lie in that component of his deception. God himself confirmed the result in verse 22. This means the ʾelōhı̂m of verse 5 points to a group— God’s heavenly council.
The Original Rebel outside Genesis 3
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We know the basics of the fall story from Genesis 3. One of God’s heavenly-council servants presents himself to Eve as a serpent with the intent to deceive. Many incorrectly presume, however, that the language of Genesis 3 can be parsed only as a talking snake. There are other options, particularly after the full text of the Hebrew Bible existed. Other passages contribute elements to the story. For example, the divine being of Eden is referred to as a cherub (kĕrûb) in Ezekiel 28: 14— specifically a “guardian” (hassôkēk) cherub.
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The cherub in the OT… had three distinctive roles: (1) to guard the source of life (Gen 3: 24); (2) to draw the chariot of God (Ps 18: 11 = 2 Sam 22: 11; 4 Ezek 1: 5– 20; 10: 1– 22); and (3) to serve as the throne for God (1 Kgs 6: 23– 28; 8: 6– 8).… In [Ezek] 28: 14 an “anointed cherub” (kěrûb mimšaḥ) functioned as a guardian (hassōkēk) within the garden of Eden.…
What about Satan?
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therefore, either God’s omniscience or his truthfulness), leading to the events of the rest of the book. God’s character must be validated.
Implications
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What have we learned about the original divine rebel? While ancient Israelites did not use the Hebrew term śāṭān for the nāḥāš of Genesis 3, it is clear that he was an adversarial figure in the flow of biblical history— a hostile entity to the purposes of God. His rebellion resulted in humanity’s forfeiture of everlasting life with their Creator in the divine abode. Yahweh had, of course, warned Adam and Eve of this consequence, but even his warning reflected his love for his creatures. God never told Eve that, if they violated his command, he would kill them. Rather, he said simply, “You will surely die.” Divorced from the source of life, God’s own presence, their expulsion from Eden ensured that circumstance. 48 Thankfully, the story did not end there. God promised redemption for Adam, Eve, and their descendants, and so the story of salvation history began from the shame of humanity’s failure— a failure precipitated by a divine throne guardian who wished to rule instead of being ruled. For being the first divine rebel, the villain of Eden would become perceived as “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4: 4). This Pauline phrase is as much a theological statement as a play on words. In all three passages we’ve looked at (Isa 14: 12– 15; Ezek 28: 11– 19; Gen 3), the original supernatural rebel was “cast down” to the earth, expelled from membership in the divine council. 49 As I discussed in detail in The Unseen Realm, the Hebrew term for “earth” (ʾereṣ) is also a term for the realm of the dead:
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In biblical cosmology, the underworld (as its name suggests) is in or under the earth. It is consequently part of the earth. The rebel’s sentence makes good sense in that light— he was plunged both to earth and under the earth. The serpent is associated with the realm of the dead because that is where he was sent. As we will see in the next chapter, the fact that this realm was thought by Israelites and, later, Jews to belong to Canaanite Baal, epithets and motifs attributed to Baal began to be applied to the demoted cherub of Eden. The Israelite lord of the underworld started resembling the Canaanite lord of the underworld. Since the expulsion of humanity meant death passed to all humanity because of Adam’s sin (Rom 5: 12), death and the serpent became associated with each other in biblical thought. All of the motifs of darkness, death, disease, and chaos we discussed in preceding chapters would become part of that association, not because they are spelled out in Genesis 3 (they are not) but because all the conceptual roads lead to the realm of the dead.
Satan or Satans?
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It would take some time for the label “adversary” (i.e., the lemma śāṭān) to be applied to the serpent, but it would be. And it would stick. While the rebel of Genesis 3 is not cast as a “chief demon” in the Old Testament— even after other divine rebellions in the biblical story produced more villains— it would be unwarranted to conclude that Old Testament readers would not have thought of the serpent as God’s archenemy. Second Temple writers certainly followed this line of thought.
Azazʾel (Satan) as Leader of the Watchers?
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As we saw earlier, the Old Testament does not refer to any evil spirit as a satan. The New Testament does not witness a multiplicity of satans. It knows one satan, who is addressed by the proper name “Satan.” Yet the New Testament does describe Satan as having authority over the other divine rebels and powers of darkness. He has a kingdom, an army of angels, and rules this world (Matt 25: 41; John 12: 31; 2 Cor 4: 4; Rev 12: 7– 9; 20: 7– 9).
Serpent, Deceiver, and Tempter
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Despite the fact that the Old Testament does not identify the serpent as śāṭān, the confrontation between the śāṭān of Job 1– 2 and God was adversarial, not collegial. That means that the śāṭān of Job 1– 2 could be perceived as an enemy of God. That conclusion could be read back into Genesis 3 (and Second Temple material informs us that it was).
Summary
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We have seen that there is no single, unified presentation of Satan, the original divine rebel of Eden, in Second Temple Jewish literature. Nevertheless, all the particulars of the New Testament’s theology of Satan are present in the literature of this earlier period. Those particulars are grounded in the Old Testament, though both Second Temple texts and the New Testament form a theological mosaic from those data in varied ways.
The Apkallu under Judgment
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The point for our purposes is that these fallen divine beings, cast into the abyss, became associated with demonic activity. This is of course where we would expect to find evil spirits.
Corruption and Depravity
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The reference to “eye paint and all manner of precious stones and dyes” will seem out of place to the modern reader. While it is clear that the passage links these items to seduction, less apparent is the fact that scholars have successfully connected these terms to Mesopotamian words for magical-medicinal practices known to the intellectual elites of Babylon.
The Tower of Babel
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As in Genesis 1: 26– 27, the episode at the place that would become known as Babel included the members of the heavenly host, the divine council. In Genesis 11: 7 Yahweh exhorts, “Let us go down and confuse their language there.” Again, in concert with Genesis 1: 27, the declaration to the host is followed by the swift judgment of Yahweh alone: “So Yahweh scattered them” (Gen 11: 8).
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Deuteronomy 32: 8– 9 informs us that the act of judgment enacted on humanity at Babel resulted not only in dividing and scattering them but assigning them to members of Yahweh’s heavenly host-council. In this regard the allotment language of verse 9 is significant. Israel is said to be Yahweh’s allotted inheritance. This implies that the other nations are “allotted” to lesser gods—“ sons of God” among Yahweh’s heavenly host.
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just like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger— 23 all nations will ask, “Why did the LORD do thus to this land? Wherefore that awful wrath?” 24 They will be told, “Because they forsook the covenant that the LORD, God of their fathers, made with them when He freed them from the land of Egypt; 25 they turned to the service of other gods (ʾelōhı̂m) and worshiped them, gods whom they had not experienced and whom He had not allotted to them. (Deut 29: 21– 25, JPS)
Psalm 82—Divine Rebellion and Judgment of the National Gods
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The picture that emerges from the Old Testament is that Deuteronomy 32: 8– 9 and associated passages are the biblical explanation as to how humanity’s direct relationship to the creator God morphed into the worship of other gods. The judgment at Babel altered that relationship. God chose to divorce himself from humanity and begin anew with Israel.
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Prior to the coming of the Promised One, gentiles had to join themselves to Israel, forsaking other gods, to be in right relationship to the true God.
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While Israel is condemned for worshiping the sun, moon, and stars, there is no indication in the Old Testament that the sons of God allotted to the nations at Babel were “fallen” (i.e., adversaries of Yahweh) when that assignment took place. While the allotment and its punishment context are clear, the Old Testament never indicates that Yahweh was pleased when the allotted sons of God were worshiped. If he had intended the nations to worship the sons of God allotted to them, there would ostensibly be no reason for such worship to offend God. They would be doing what God expected. There are naturally dozens of passages condemning Israelites for the worship of other gods besides Yahweh, but Scripture also condemns such worship in more general terms, inclusive of the peoples in the forsaken nations (Ps 97: 7; Isa 2: 12– 21). God judges the people of the nations and their gods (Deut 12: 31; 18: 9– 14; 20: 15– 18). The gods allotted to the nations are false (Jer 14: 22; 18: 15) and their worship worthless (Pss 96: 5; 97: 7).
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One might presume that Yahweh expected better behavior from the other lesser ʾelōhı̂m, that they should have abhorred being worshiped in place of their sovereign. There is no such indication in Scripture. Rather, the expectation seems to have been that, as the God of gods, the Creator, and the sovereign over that creation, Yahweh is the only god worthy of worship by anyone, anywhere. That would in turn mean that the role of the lesser ʾelōhı̂m was administration of the nations. God may have severed the relationship between himself and humanity, but he still wanted those created in his image to be ruled justly, not abused. At some point, the sons of God transgressed Yahweh’s desire for earthly order and just rule of his human imagers, sowing chaos in the nations. This is the distinct trajectory of Psalm 82, where the gods of the nations are excoriated by Yahweh for abusing their charges.
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The divine ones, the gods who are supposed to provide for order/ righteousness among the peoples of the earth, have utterly failed to do so. They have shown partiality to the wicked and failed to maintain the right of the poor and the weak. The consequence of this is stated to be a shaking of the foundations of the world. The failure to maintain order, which in this instance is clearly seen to be the maintenance of righteousness in the moral sphere, the resistance to a disorder that does in the poor and gives the rich and the wicked control, is seen to be manifest in a kind of cosmic disorder. The cosmos comes apart when righteousness is not maintained.
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The concept is straightforward: when there is disorder in the divine realm, when the members of Yahweh’s council are not in harmony with his will, misery, chaos, injustice, and death on earth are the result. Yahweh rules justly and expects the same from those who rule the nations. But what we read in the Old Testament makes it clear that this is not the reality among the nations. Worse, their gods seek to spread chaos to Yahweh’s portion, Israel, by seducing his people to worship them instead of the Most High.
Cosmic Geography and the Dark Princes of the Nations
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A number of episodes in the Old Testament story that have elements that appear odd to modern readers are readily explicable given the backdrop of cosmic-geographical thinking. 13 For example, David describes being driven away from “the inheritance of Yahweh” (1 Sam 26: 19 LEB). He angrily complains that Saul and his minions expelled him: “Go, serve other gods!” (1 Sam 26: 19 LEB). His words imply a connection between land and deity. When the Syrian military commander Naaman is healed of leprosy following his obedience to the instruction of the prophet Elisha (2 Kgs 5), he asks the prophet for permission to carry dirt back to his home country (2 Kgs 5: 17). The request would be inexplicable without understanding that Naaman recognized the lordship of Yahweh over all gods and henceforth pledged to sacrifice only to him. Since Yahweh was to be worshiped in his own land, Naaman asked to carry dirt from Israel to Syria (1 Kgs 5: 17– 19). When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines and taken to Dagan’s temple, the moved proved disastrous. In less than twenty-four hours, Dagan’s idol was reduced to a limbless, headless stump by an unseen force (1 Sam 5: 1– 4). The impression left by the obliteration of Dagan’s idol was that his priests refused to walk over the ground on which Yahweh had shattered Dagan, even though the space was in Dagan’s own temple (1 Sam 5: 5). The ground had been conquered and was now under the dominion of Yahweh. Perhaps the most familiar illustration of cosmic geography is found in Daniel 10: 13, 20. That these princes are supernatural beings is confirmed by the fact that they are confronted by Michael, Israel’s “prince” and “one of the chief princes”
Overview
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The Old Testament describes three divine rebellions: one individual, two corporate.
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The term śāṭān (“ adversary”) was a sensible moniker, given the rebel’s opposition to God’s human imagers and his plan for them. But “Satan” would be only one of several serviceable titles assigned to this figure during this period. The original rebel also came to be viewed as the dark overlord in command of the fallen sons of God, the disembodied spirits (“ demons”) of their offspring, and the lesser gods allotted to the nations at Babel. - Satan (Satanos)
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The proper personal name “Satan,” a transliteration of the Hebrew noun śāṭān, occurs thirty-six times in the New Testament, just under half of which are found in the four Gospels. 1 Satan is said to have a kingdom (Matt 12: 26; Luke 11: 18), a detail which presumes an exalted ruling status. The term suggests some of the Old Testament noun’s meaning in passages like Mark 4: 15 and Luke 22: 31, where Satan acts in an adversarial way toward believers. The name is used interchangeably with “devil” three times (Rev 12: 9; 20: 2; compare Rev 12: 7, 10). 2 - Devil (Diabolos)
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The other frequently employed term for God’s great enemy is diabolos (“ devil”), a title that means “slanderer.” 3 John’s use of the term (John 8: 44) followed by the epithet “father of lies” captures the slanderous, accusatory tone. The designation is apparently drawn from the Septuagint, which utilizes diabolos as the translation of the supernatural śāṭān in Job 1: 6, 7, 9, 12; 2: 1– 4, 6– 7; Zechariah 3: 1– 2; and 1 Chronicles 21: 1. True to the contexts of these Old Testament passages, in the Gospels the devil is “portrayed as the adversary of Jesus (Mt 4: 1– 11; par. Lk 4: 1– 13) and the enemy of his work (Mt 13: 39).” 4 In Matthew 25: 41 the devil is cast as the leader of other evil spirits (“ angels”) in much the same manner as Second Temple Jewish literature describes Satan. - Beelzebul (Beelzeboul)
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The term “Beelzebul” occurs in several places in the New Testament (Matt 10: 25; 12: 24 [cp. Mark 3: 22; Luke 11: 15]; Matt 12: 27 [cp. Luke 11: 18, 19]). 6 Twelftree notes, “The Vulgate and Syriac versions have attempted to explain the term by correcting it to beelzebub, the god of Ekron (2 Kings 1: 2– 3, 6, 16; Josephus Ant. 9.19).”
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There is general consensus that the initial part of the name (beel-) represents Semitic baʿal (“ lord, master”) and perhaps the divine name Baal (Baal). However, some scholars believe that zeboul reflects Hebrew zebul (“ exalted dwelling”; 1 Kgs 18: 33), producing a meaning akin to “lord of heaven” (i.e., ruler in the heavenly realm), a title that would make its bearer the “prince of demons” (archonti tōn daimoniōn; Matt 12: 24; Mark 3: 22; Luke 11: 15).
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Beelzebul is therefore best understood as a Greek transliteration of a title of Baal.
Satan as Ruler of the World and Its Demons
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Each nation was under the dominion of demons, so it is logical to consider a figure associated with Baal, the “ruler of the earth,” also to be the ruler of demons. The Gospel writers understood the casting down of the original rebel as conceptually connected to the underworld home of Baal, lord of the dead. The matrix of ideas illustrates how New Testament thinking about Satan, though creative in its articulation, has secure roots in the Old Testament. A similar title is found three times in the Gospel of John: “ruler of this world” (ho archōn tou kosmou toutou; John 12: 31; 14: 30; 16: 11).
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The fourth Gospel, however, employs the title “the ruler of this world” only in contexts where Jesus is referring to his own death and its significance. For John, the crucifixion marks Jesus’ upward ascent and return to the Father; in a parallel movement, the devil’s rule of the world comes to an end. The cross becomes the signpost of the archōn’s defeat.
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John’s “ruler of this world” is echoed by two Pauline descriptions: “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2: 2) and “god of this world” (2 Cor 4: 4).
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The supernatural power mentioned in Ephesians 2: 2 would be the same as the one elsewhere referred to as the devil (Eph 4: 27; 6: 11) or the evil one (Eph 6: 16). In other NT passages like John 12: 31 and 16: 11, he is likewise associated with the “world” (kosmos) as in Ephesians 2: 2. In 2 Corinthians 4: 4, Paul describes him as the “god of this world” (literally, “god of this age” using aiōn).
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What is the relationship of “the air” to “the heavenly realms”? It may be that the writer is using terminology from different cosmological schemes, but it is fairly certain that he intends the two terms to indicate the same realm inhabited by malevolent agencies.…
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This New Testament profile of Satan has much in common with Second Temple Judaism, in which Satan, or the devil, is leader of all the other evil spirits. His scope of authority is the whole world (i.e., the nations). This perception would effectively assign to Satan ruling authority over the gods allotted to the nations at the Babel event (Deut 32: 8; cp. Deut 4: 19– 20; 17: 1– 3; 29: 23– 26). The Old Testament does not attest this power structure, though its logic is discernible.
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The “sons of the Most High” who abused the peoples over whom they had charge (Ps 82: 2– 5) would naturally be considered enemies of Israel, the remnant people of God— Yahweh’s nation (Deut 32: 9). They were disobedient spirits headed for the realm of the dead at the eschaton (Ps 82: 6– 7), joining the lord of the dead in his domain.
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This meant that “the world” was the place conceptually opposite Eden and its promise of everlasting life. Opposition to Yahweh meant death. Any spirit standing against him must be like-minded and guided by the lord of the dead in a common agenda.
The Devil’s Temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness
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That Satan tempts Jesus in the desert wilderness is not arbitrary. The Greek term translated “wilderness” (erēmos) is used in the Septuagint translation of the destination of the goat for Azazel (Lev 16: 10) and the desolate place described by Isaiah that was home to preternatural creatures associated with evil spirits (Isa 13: 9).
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In the previous chapter we learned that in Second Temple Jewish thought, the desert wilderness was where the goat for Azazel was driven and where the demonic Azazel was imprisoned.
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In effect, Satan was offering Jesus rule over the nations abandoned by Yahweh at Babel (Deut 32: 8).
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The Hear and its kingdoms were handed over to Satan at the time of the fall of Man in Genesis 3.
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Had Jesus failed in the wilderness temptation, the plan to bring the nations back into the family of Yahweh also would have failed.
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Not only that, His redemption plan would have failed .
The Final Fate of the Devil and Other Supernatural Rebels
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With respect to the renegade sons of God, the Watchers of Second Temple Jewish tradition, it is clear that Second Temple texts have them imprisoned in the abyss for “seventy generations” or “until the day of their judgment… until the eternal judgment is consummated” (1 Enoch 10: 11– 13). 27 Many scholars believe that the book of Revelation describes their release, a precursor to the return of Christ, the day of the Lord, and their ultimate punishment (with Satan) in the lake of fire. Specifically, the scene in Revelation 9: 1– 10 of the “unlocking” of the abyss by a “star” who is given the key is construed as the eschatological emancipation of the imprisoned Watchers.
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According to Kulik, the mixture of human and animal features is “widely known” in demonic depictions in Judaism, classical Greek literature, and the ancient Near East.
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Accordingly, just as in Second Temple tradition, the New Testament has the fallen sons of God imprisoned until the end of days and finally judged at the climax of the apocalyptic day of the Lord.
Chapter 10: Evil Spirits—Demons and Their Destiny
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Demons were the disembodied spirits of dead Nephilim in Second Temple thought, a conclusion drawn from the Mesopotamian backstory to Genesis 6: 1– 4 and the presence of Rephaim spirits in underworld scenes in the Old Testament.
Demons: Evil/Unclean Spirits
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The New Testament uses “evil spirits” and similar phrases to speak of demons. “Evil spirits” (or the singular, “evil spirit”) are mentioned in eight New Testament passages. 3 More common is “unclean spirits,” a descriptive phrase found in over twenty passages. 4 Though “only at Matthew 8: 31 is daimōn [‘ demon’] used in the New Testament for an evil spirit,” 5 that “unclean spirits,” “evil spirits,” and “demons” are interchangeable is evident from Jesus’ comments about and acts of power upon these entities in parallel episodes in the Synoptic Gospels.
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These spirits are called unclean in analogy to the similar classification of unclean animals: an unnatural combination of heavenly and earthly beings, they represent an anomalous mixture of categories.… Evil spirits, in many Jewish sources, ultimately trace their origins to the defiling union of these heavenly beings with women. Like unclean animals, these “impure spirits” represent an anomalous mixture of categories.
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With respect to the phrase “evil spirit” some elaboration is also in order. As was the case in the Old Testament, there is ambiguity with respect to the phrase “evil spirit” in certain instances in the New Testament. This issue is related to how some modern scholars dismiss the idea of evil spirits. Readers will recall our earlier notes about Old Testament texts that describe “an evil spirit” being sent by God to trouble Saul (1 Sam 16: 14– 16; 18: 10– 11) and sow discord or confusion among people (Judg 9: 22– 23; Isa 19: 13– 14; 37: 5– 7). We saw that the term translated “evil” in this phrase (lemma: rāʿ) often does not speak of moral disposition or character, but something contemptible (Gen 41: 20, 27; Jer 24: 2, 3, 8; 49: 23; Ps 112: 7; Deut 22: 14, 19; Neh 6: 13) or harmful (Gen 19: 19; Deut 7: 15; 28: 35, 59). Thus by “evil spirit” the writer may mean that God was the source of an undesirable mental affliction or psychological disposition. As it relates to these and other Gospel passages, the “evil spirit” may therefore be some sort of physical malady or mental illness. Indeed, some of the passages seem to designate “evil spirits” as a sickness:
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The clear connection between these phrases and diseases is among the reasons why many modern scholars argue against the reality of demons. They charge that in the context of the primitive medical knowledge of the first century AD, illnesses of the body and mind were misidentified as the work of demonic entities. This presumption may be workable in some passages, but as Dunn and Twelftree observe, New Testament writers did not attribute all illnesses to demons: “There were well-known maladies like fever, leprosy and paralysis which it was not thought necessary to attribute directly either to Satan or to demons (Mark 1: 29– 31, 40– 44, 2: 1– 12; cf. Mark 4: 19).” 8 Certain New Testament descriptions of evil spirits unmistakably point to an intelligent, conscious spirit entity. 9 For example, certain passages straightforwardly present Jesus in an adversarial stance and in conversation with an evil/ unclean spirit, with no hint that Jesus was “playing along” with a deluded, mentally ill individual who only thought he was possessed:
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The episode with Legion, the cluster of demons possessing the man in the country of the Gerasenes (Mark 5: 1), simply cannot be considered a disease. A mental or physical illness does not beg to be transported into a herd of swine nor can it jump from a human into the herd (Mark 5: 6– 13). 11 This infamous encounter along with others transcends the sorts of diseases and pathologies that are diagnosed and treated medically in today’s world.
Demonic Possession and Exorcism
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The divergences from external exorcism practices and texts serve to highlight the special nature of Jesus as the Son of God. Scholars have taken note that, unlike contemporary exorcists, Jesus did not use any device as part of an exorcism, “a feature common to many other exorcists’ technique.” 23 Such “tools” for exorcism included incense, potions, rings, bowls of water, amulets, ashes, and various spices. 24 Jesus also never prayed in conjunction with an exorcism nor did he invoke a higher power to bind a demon before commanding it to come out of a person. In short, Jesus never appealed to a higher power to cast out a demon, unlike the common procedure in other exorcism texts. The power to command evil spirits resided within him as God incarnate, the Son of the Most High.
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As Twelftree notes, “In the Synoptic Gospels the defeat of Satan is linked with Jesus’ exorcisms. In John the defeat of Satan is linked with the cross (Jn 14: 30; 16: 11).”
Summary
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For New Testament writers, the defeat of evil spirits was firmly linked to the appearance of the Messiah to inaugurate his kingdom, as well as his death and resurrection.
New Testament Cosmic Geography: Holy and Unholy Ground
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“Where is God’s presence?” The God of Israel was incarnate in Jesus Christ, and so it should come as no surprise to read his challenge (“ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”; John 2: 19) as ultimately about his own body (John 2: 21– 22).
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In New Testament theology, believers are holy ground, the place where the presence of God resides. This is reflected in New Testament statements referring to believers (corporately and individually) as the “temple of God” (1 Cor 3: 16; 2 Cor 6: 14– 18; cp. 1 Pet 2: 4– 5) or “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6: 19; Eph 2: 19– 22). Paul’s insistence that an unrepentant believer be expelled from the Corinthian church and that the people “are to deliver this man to Satan” (1 Cor 5: 5) illustrates an application of the idea. The church, the visible body of Christ, removes sin “outside the camp” into the world. Sin belongs outside holy ground in the world, the dominion of Satan.
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It is difficult to miss the implications. When Jesus declares that “the gates of hell” will not be able to withstand the church, he does so in a place deeply rooted in Old Testament and Second Temple-period thinking about Satan and the realm of the dead, his kingdom as it were. Jesus chooses Mount Hermon to reveal his glory— a direct provocation of the demonic realm. For ancient readers, these cosmic-geographical spiritual warfare gestures would be unmistakable. Jesus is essentially picking a fight, as these two events are precursors to the commencement of teaching the disciples that he must die in Jerusalem— the catalyst to God’s redemptive plan.
New Testament Cosmic Geography: Reclaiming the Promised Land
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Demons in Galilee (Jewish) Legion in Bashan (Gentile) “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” (Mark 1: 24) “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (Mark 5: 7)
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Recall that in Deut 32: 8– 9 the “Most High” had disinherited the nations of the world, assigned them to the dominion of supernatural sons of God, and then created Israel as his own inheritance from nothing. Those sons of God rebelled and became corrupt (Psalm 82: 1– 4), throwing God’s order into chaos (Psa 82: 1– 5). The exorcism of Legion is therefore more than a strange tale of suicidal swine. It’s about theological messaging. Legion recognizes that Jesus is rightful Lord of the country of the Gerasenes— old Bashan now under Gentile occupation.
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While the territory in which this encounter occurs is subsumed in the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, the fact that Jesus ventured into an area under gentile governance in his day let everyone know that he was not merely the Messiah for Yahweh’s portion. He was lord of gentile lands as well.
New Testament Cosmic Geography: Reclaiming the Nations
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As I described in The Unseen Realm, every element of the Pentecost story hearkens back to an Old Testament divine council motif, particularly the reclamation of the nations disinherited at Babel (Gen 11: 1– 9; Deut 32: 8– 9). 11 It is a transparent launch of the reversal of the Deuteronomy 32 worldview by the kingdom of God. The list of nations in Acts 2 move from east to west then branches out at the Mediterranean. The list encompasses all the geographical regions reflected in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10) except for Tarshish (Spain), the final location Paul planned on preaching the gospel (Rom 15: 24, 28). 12
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The story of the book of Acts is nothing less than the liberation of the peoples of the world held captive by the gods of the nations who enslaved them in their idolatry and unbelief. Jesus’ acts of power in gentile regions and Acts 1: 8 were early indications as to what the new covenant entailed (Jer 31: 31– 33; Ezek 36: 25– 28).
Paul’s Deuteronomy 32 Worldview
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“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” The notion that “demons” led people astray by “teaching” arises from the Second Temple Jewish theology of the Watchers, who are repeatedly blamed for leading humanity astray via forbidden knowledge. Recall that the demons of the Gospels were the disembodied Watcher-spirits. Paul’s association of false teaching and “demons” is quite consistent with the Second Temple Jewish perspective.
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Paul typically does not use daimonion when speaking of evil supernatural powers. Paul’s vocabulary— predominantly aimed at gentile believers— shows his awareness of the Deuteronomy 32 worldview: 13•“ rulers” (archontōn or archōn)•“ principalities” (archē)•“ powers”/“ authorities” (exousia)•“ powers” (dynamis)•“ dominions”/“ lords” (kyrios; kyriotēs)•“ thrones” (thronos)•“ world rulers” (kosmokratōr)
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Paul refers to these hostile beings in the unseen realm earlier in Ephesians. He wrote that God raised Jesus from the dead and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every ruler [archē] and authority [exousia] and power [dynamis] and dominion [kyrios]” (Eph 1: 20– 21 ESV). It was only after Christ had risen that God’s plan was “made known to the rulers [archē] and authorities [exousia] in the heavenly places” (Eph 3: 10 ESV).
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Daniel’s notion that nations are governed by a spirit “prince” derives from the allotment of the nations to the sons of God described in Deuteronomy 4: 19– 20; 32: 8– 9. Paul’s use of the term stoicheia (“ elemental principles”) has a subsidiary relationship to the Deuteronomy 32 worldview.
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The point is that when Paul uses terms of geographical dominion in conversation with gentiles, he is not referring to the demons of the Gospels. He is referring to the corrupt gods allotted to the nations as part of God’s punishment of humanity at Babel. Paul’s language conveys a theology of cosmic geography.
The Delegitimization of the Gods
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Paul’s cosmic-geographical thought was at the heart of his discussion of the delegitimization of the rule of the gods over the gentile nations and their inhabitants as a result of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
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Note that instead of “lower parts of the earth” the ESV inserts a comma: “the lower regions, the earth.” The effect of the comma is that Jesus descended to “the lower regions, [in other words] the earth.” This option fits the context better (the gifts are given to people who are of course on earth) and has some other literary advantages. If this option is correct, then the descent of verses 9– 10 does not refer to Jesus’ time in the grave, but rather to the Holy Spirit’s coming to earth after Jesus’ conquering ascension on the day of Pentecost.
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Two climactic accomplishments are noted here by Paul. First, “the record of debt that stood against us” (Jew and gentile) was canceled or “set aside” (v. 14). Second, the “rulers and authorities” were “disarmed” and “put… to open shame” (v. 15). The resurrection (v. 12) was the causative agent to both, for if there was no resurrection, the debt against us would still stand and we would not be “made alive together with him.”
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Paul uses the same verb in Colossians 3: 9– 10 when he reminds the Colossians that they have “put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.” The “putting off” and “putting on” speaks of turning from the old way of life to something new.
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While not destroyed, the supernatural rulers and authorities have been displaced or removed from the authority they held over the gentiles. Who was it that removed this authority? The Most High himself, on the basis of the death and resurrection of Christ.
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The point of Paul’s declaration is that the ruling authority of the gods allotted to the nations (Deut 32: 8; cp. Deut 4: 19– 20; 17: 3; 29: 23– 26) was declared illegitimate and null by the work of Christ.
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Psalm 82 tells us that those gods, “sons of the Most High” (Ps 82: 6), rebelled and became corrupt. Instead of ruling their people according to the sort of justice God desired, they enslaved them, ultimately becoming the objects of their worship and seducing Yahweh’s own people into idolatry. Now, because of the cross, their rule has no legitimacy.
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Jesus’ announcement that the kingdom of God had come was accompanied by exorcisms (Matt 12: 28; Luke 11: 18– 20). The point wasn’t that there were no more demons. Exorcism accounts inform us quite clearly that both the demons and Jesus knew the fate of the powers of darkness was yet future (Ps 82: 6– 8; Isa 24: 21; 34: 1– 4).
“Demons Are Fallen Angels”
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The devil (Satan) can have “angels” on his side (Matt 25: 41; Rev 12: 9), which, in the totality of good versus evil, would mean that demons, part of Satan’s kingdom, can be considered fallen angels. Nevertheless, demons are consistently cast as disembodied spirits of dead Nephilim and their giant-clan descendants. Those spirits are the offspring of the angels that sinned before the flood, so the demons cannot be those fallen angels. Consequently, while a term like “fallen angels” may be used correctly in discussing demons, it is too often used simplistically and inaccurately.
“Satan Rebelled before the Creation of Humankind and Took a Third of the Angels with Him”
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There isn’t a single verse in the entirety of Scripture that tells us (a) the original rebel sinned before the episode of Genesis 3, or (b) a third of the angels also fell either before humanity’s fall or at the time of that fall. There is only one passage that mentions a “third” of the angels (presumably) and Satan/ the serpent in tandem (Rev 12: 1– 9):
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I say that this passage is “presumably” about one-third of God’s heavenly host being fallen because it is not clear that the “third of the stars” swept down by the dragon (serpent/ Satan) refers to the angels who already are assisting the devil. It could well be that the one-third are good angels who have been defeated by the dragon. There are good reasons to take that position, namely, that Revelation 12: 4 appears to be the fulfillment of Daniel 8: 10.4
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The reference to the child born to rule the nations as being “caught up to God and to his throne” is an explicit reference to the resurrection and ascension— the key events that result in the defeat of Satan and the inauguration of the kingdom of God on earth.
“What Did Satan and the Demons Know about Jesus?”
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“WHAT DID SATAN AND THE DEMONS KNOW ABOUT JESUS?” It is evident from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ encounters with Satan (Matt 4: 1– 11; Mark 1: 12– 13; Luke 4: 1– 13) and demons (Mark 1: 21– 24; 5: 9– 15; Luke 4: 31– 37; 8: 30– 33) that the powers of darkness knew who Jesus was. Jesus is identified in these episodes as the “Son of God” or “Son of the Most High” (Matt 4: 3, 6; 8: 29; Mark 3: 11; 5: 7; Luke 4: 3, 9; 8: 28). Such identifications do not mean, however, that Satan and evil spirits knew God’s plan for the death of Jesus, his resurrection, and ascension. Passages such as 1 Peter 1: 10– 12 and 1 Corinthians 2: 6– 8 make this ignorance evident:
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As I noted in The Unseen Realm, the plan of salvation was scattered and fragmented in dozens of places. 9 Only in hindsight could the plan be understood as a whole. It is not as though a human or supernatural intelligence could simply consult the Scriptures to find out what would happen. The plan was hidden in plain sight. Even after the resurrection, in the presence of the risen Christ himself, Jesus had to “[ open] their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24: 45). The plan of salvation and its relationship to the Old Testament Scriptures had to be revealed supernaturally. There is no reason to expect the powers of darkness to have been given such understanding.
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It would be perfectly reasonable for Satan and demons to discern that the Son of the Most High had come to earth to inaugurate the kingdom of his Father and reclaim the nations of the earth for membership in that kingdom. In fact, this intent would be difficult to miss. But the mechanism for accomplishing the end game (the cross, resurrection, ascension) was fragmented and cryptic, requiring the Spirit’s illumination.
“Can Satan and Demons Read Our Minds?”
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The fact that angels appear to people in dreams and visions (Matt 1: 20; 2: 13, 19; Acts 10: 3) seems to suggest that supernatural beings can tap into one’s mind. The assumption is that since evil spirits are fallen angels (see the earlier discussion on that language), then Satan and demons have the ability to “occupy space” in the human mind.
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That angels in the New Testament instructed people through such means is not evidence of mind reading. If anything, such incidents describe the transmission of information, not reading minds. Such incidents could of course influence human behavior and might conceivably be a line of demonic oppression. That said, there are no scriptural examples of Satan or an evil spirit appearing to someone in a dream. As such, it is impossible to make a scriptural argument for a demonic invasion of the mind of the sort that would facilitate mind reading or demonization.
“Cain Was (Literally) Fathered by Satan”
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Most scholars agree that Genesis 4: 1 ends with Eve expressing her belief that Yahweh had helped her conceive a child, though she obviously understood she had sexual relations with Adam.
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For example, Sarah and Hannah both believed that they were able to conceive and have children due to divine intervention— a point affirmed by the text (Gen 17: 19, 21; 18: 9– 15; cp. Gen 21: 2; Heb 11: 11; 1 Sam 1: 11, 19– 20).
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Since the entire epistle of 1 John deals with the theme of brotherly love, the figure of Cain, the murderer, provides the perfect antithesis to Christ, the one who laid down his life for others.
“Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed?”
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We might ask, “Can Christians come under a high degree of influence by a demonic spirit?” or, “Is it possible for Christians to yield control of their bodies to a demonic spirit in the same way that they yield to the power of sin?” 28 The answer to the question, however worded, is “yes.” On this the New Testament is clear, as several passages employ language that suggests Christians can fall under the influence of Satan and evil spirits.
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Less dramatic but equally dangerous are New Testament warnings about “[ giving] opportunity to the devil” (Eph 4: 27) and habitual, unrepentant sin (“ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil”; 1 John 3: 8). While the sinful impulse that gives rise to temptation resides in the flesh (Jas 1: 14– 15; Rom 7: 18– 24), the devil is nevertheless called the tempter (1 Thess 3: 5). Yielding to temptation enslaves the believer (Rom 6: 6, 12– 14; 8: 3– 8), and so such a lifestyle can rightly be construed as a kind of demonization.
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The overarching point is that, while Christians cannot be owned by Satan— an idea that derives from the unfortunate “possession” language— they can be demonized. Demonization can take various forms: persecution, harassment, being captivated by false teaching, and enslavement to sin.
“What Is Spiritual Warfare?”
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The kingdom of darkness will lose what is essentially a spiritual war of attrition, for the gates of hell will not be able to withstand the church. This is why believers are never commanded to rebuke spirits and demand their flight in the name of Jesus. 35 It is unnecessary. Their authority has been withdrawn by the Most High. Believers in turn are commanded to reclaim their territory by recruiting the citizens in those territories for the kingdom of God.
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Jesus never commanded that his followers confront spiritual entities. 36 Instead he gave the Great Commission. A spiritual entity might be driven away, but that doesn’t necessarily result in a new soul entering the kingdom of God. This latter goal is the reason Jesus gave his life and rose from the dead. The work of Christ was not about power encounters with demons. It was much more comprehensive and enduring than that. The goal was to bring Eden full circle— fulfilling God’s desire to have a human family with him forever. Punishing fallen spirits does not accomplish God’s original Edenic goal. Only the Great Commission accomplishes the ends to which God has been working as well as the defeat and punishment of rebellious evil spirits. The Great Commission is thus a comprehensive plan for spiritual warfare.
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Amen to the Great Commission being Spiritual Warfare
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In Paul’s explanation of spiritual warfare to the church at Ephesus, he nowhere recommends that believers confront or admonish the supernatural rulers and powers. His list of weapons does not include exorcism against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Instead, here is what Paul considered effective in spiritual combat against the forces of darkness:•truth (v. 14)•righteousness (v. 14)•the gospel (v. 15)•faith (v. 16)•salvation (v. 17)•the word of God (v. 17)•prayer (v. 18)•perseverance (v. 18)
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Spiritual warfare is about leading a life obedient to Jesus, following his obedient example for the cause of God’s vision for a kingdom on earth.
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It starts with that
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As disciples, we need to prepare ourselves to avoid demonization in the form of false teaching, temptation, and sinful life patterns.
“Why Do Satan and the Powers of Darkness Resist the Kingdom of God? They Are Defeated. Do They Think They Can Win?”
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Evil spirits are doing what is consistent with their character— they rebel. There is no reason to presume that the rebellious will that launched these entities on their path has diminished. Further, with no opportunity of redemption, there would be no point to a change of course.
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Only when gentile evangelism is completed in God’s mind will the restoration of Israel be possible (“ in this way all Israel will be saved,” Rom 11: 26). 38 What this means for the question under consideration is that the ongoing activity of Satan, demons, and the fallen gods not yet imprisoned makes sense if the goal is impeding and forestalling the fullness of the gentiles. In other words, opposing world evangelism allows them more time to spread misery and destruction among humanity, the objects of God’s love and plan. This is the only definable “victory” the powers of darkness can hope to accomplish. It is the only conceivable way they can hurt and grieve God. In this context, their resistance is comprehensible.
“How Does the Deuteronomy 32 Worldview Relate to the Modern World?”
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Only Israel had access to the written oracles of God (Rom 3: 2). Only Israel could produce the Messiah, Abraham’s seed (Gen 12: 3; Gal 3: 16) to make the people judged at Babel part of God’s family once again (Gal 3: 7– 9, 13– 14, 26– 29).
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The point is that the limitations of the human authors, certainly known to God, did not prevent God from using them to make statements he intended to be understood with global totality.