Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual Warfare
Section: Really Real ⋅ War ⋅ Engagement ⋅ Extrapolations
A lot of people believe in heaven and angels, but not as many believe in demons. From a Biblical perspective, demons are just angels who've gone bad, so we can't seriously have one without the other. The only reason not to believe in demons is fear. Because supernatural things have all the power and we can only perceive them when they want to be seen, this makes it very difficult for us to maintain the illusion of control in our lives. While God gives us freedom of thought, we don't always have freedom of choice. Let's look at all the demon activity in the Bible and, more importantly, what it means for our lives.
- Genesis 6:5-6 hub
- Genesis 8:21 hub
- Job 15:14-16 hub
- Jeremiah 16:12 hub
- Jeremiah 17:9 hub
- Ezekiel 36:26 hub
- Matthew 23:27 hub
- Luke 11:11-13 hub
- John 2:24-25 hub
- Romans 3:23 hub
Satan has quite a rap sheet. Here's his dossier:
(The above doesn't include the numerous references to Satan in the passive voice, which are Matthew 5:37, 6:13, John 17:15, Ephesians 6:16, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 John 2:13-14, and 3:12.)
Since God tells Ezekiel that Satan was in Eden, and Jesus confirms Satan was around in the beginning, then that makes him about 6,000 years old. The pessimistic side of me assumes that the events recorded in Genesis 3 happened on day 8. (They likely at most had to happen before Eve's monthly clock had run even a half cycle.) If Satan already understood mankind well enough to dupe us out of paradise when he was only a week old with three lousy sentences, then we would be well advised not to trust nor underestimate him. After reading each of the verses about him above, he's clearly an extremely powerful misanthrope (hater of humanity), and we would have a recipe for disaster of Biblical proportions if we thought we could simply forget he exists and be fine.
Satan was described as far back as Genesis 3, but his proper name was only used in 3 Old Testament books (and 12 in the New Testament). And it wasn't until the Gospels that he was referred to as "the devil." He may have convinced a third of the angels to participate in his attempted coup/mutiny (Revelation 12:4, 12:9) and they are referred to in the New Testament as demons, but in the Old Testament they're called "spirits":
*Always use caution when reading Job. There are foolish people quoted in Job 3-37 so context is critical. Job 4 is quoting Eliphaz, who also says in verse 7 "who, being innocent, has ever perished?" So his wisdom isn't top notch (Job 42:7) but I include his description of his experience since it is there.
There were also plenty of angelic interactions in the Old Testament, here are just some highlights:
- Genesis 6:4 hub
- Genesis 16:7-12 hub
- Exodus 3:1-4 hub
- Numbers 22:21-35 hub
- Judges 6:11-24 hub
- 2 Samuel 24:15-17 hub
- 2 Kings 6:14-18 hub
- Daniel 10:1-14 hub
- Zechariah 1:8-11 hub
Jesus had many interactions with demons. And they were no big deal to Him. It wasn't as if Jesus was surprised and ever said "where did you come from?" Let's look at a harmony of the gospels, but just the explicit interactions with angels & demons. Because if Jesus talked with them, then it's logically inconsistent for a Christian to seriously dismiss the existence of demons.
| Description | MT | MK | LK | JN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel visits Zechariah | 1:1-25 | |||
| Gabriel visits Mary | 1:26-38 | |||
| Angel visits Joseph | 1:18-25 | |||
| Angels visit shepherds | 2:8-15 | |||
| Angel visits Joseph | 2:13,19 | |||
| Satan visits Jesus | 4:1-11 | 1:12-13 | 4:1-13 | |
| In a synagogue | 1:21-28 | 4:33-37 | ||
| Mass healings | 3:7-12 | 4:40-41 | ||
| Legion | 8:28-34 | 5:1-20 | 8:26-39 | |
| Prince of Demons | 9:32-34 | |||
| By Beelzebul | 12:22-28 | 3:20-30 | 11:14-26 | |
| Transfiguration | 17:1-9 | 9:2-10 | 9:28-36 | |
| Out of boy | 17:14-18 | 9:14-29 | 9:37-43 | |
| Crippled woman | 13:10-17 | |||
| Rich man and Lazarus | 16:22-23 | |||
| Satan entered Judas | 13:27 | |||
| Angels strengthen Jesus | 22:41-43 | |||
| Angels roll away stone | 28:2-4 | |||
| Angels appear to women | 28:5-7 | 16:5-7 | 24:4-8 | |
| Mary sees 2 angels | 20:12-13 |
Four times in the gospel of John the crowds accused Jesus himself of being demon possessed. Jesus specifically denied it in John 8:49, and then in John 10:21 other onlookers realized that Jesus was too weird even to be possessed by a demon. However, clearly the Apostle John was the least of the 4 gospel writers concerned about recording Jesus's interactions with angels or demons (as illustrated by the table above).
This list doesn't mean everything is caused by demons. Jesus healed many people without reference to demons. For example: And when He calmed the stormy sea in Matthew 8:23-27 / Mark 4:36-41 / Luke 8:23-25 there was no mention of supernatural activity. It's also worth pointing out in Matthew 8:14-16, Jesus first heals Peter's mother-in-law from a fever and it's not until that evening when the community brings Him other people is He described as casting out demons. This is evidence not everything harmful is caused by spiritual forces (though we already knew that if we know the natural state of man).
The supernatural encounters just keep going, so we can't forget about (or dismiss) them. They continue in the book of Acts: Paul mentions demons: And there were still more references to demons in the new testament besides from Paul:
- Matthew 5:35-37 hub
- Ephesians 4:27 hub
- 1 Corinthians 7:5 hub
- 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 hub
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3 hub
- 1 Timothy 3:7 hub
- James 4:7 hub
- 1 John 5:18 hub
- Revelation 2:13 hub
- Revelation 2:24-25 hub
- Revelation 3:9 hub
False teachings are the Biblical Worldview interpretation of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, the origins of Hinduism, Taoism, paganism, and even atheism (including materialism, humanism, and evolution). Contrary to what they did with the false prophets just named, rather than appear to us with all new theology, there are two examples in the Bible where angels demonstrated how they were (are) supposed to respond when we tried to worship them: Because the supernatural can be so dangerous to us mortals, we're not supposed to talk to demons (psychomancy) for anything except to cast them out in Jesus's name. This includes asking someone else (a medium) to do it for us, or using things like Ouija boards: Our job is not to kill Satan, nor his followers (demonic or human). Our job (in this context) is to be like God and model God's love (Matthew 22:37-40, John 13:34, 1 John 4:8). (We're also supposed to rule the world according to Genesis 1:27-28, but even then we're supposed to be God's ambassadors while we're at it, 2 Corinthians 5:20.) Even though God is love, that doesn't preclude Him from the emotion of hate. After all, He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). Do you know what God hates? It's important we know for numerous reasons, including it's a guidebook for what Satan can be expected to encourage us to do, and we should resist. Here's a list:
Plus He detests a few more things:
- belt of truth buckled around your waist
- breastplate of righteousness in place
- feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace
- shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one
- helmet of salvation
- sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
- Genesis 4:7 hub
- Deuteronomy 6:6-9 hub
- Matthew 10:16 hub
- John 15:18-26 hub
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 hub
- Ephesians 6:18 hub
- 2 Timothy 1:14 hub
- 2 Timothy 2:22-26 hub
- James 4:1-3 hub
- 1 Peter 2:11 hub
- 1 Peter 3:15-17 hub
- 2 John 1:7 hub
Bikers (people who prefer to live life on a Harley Davidson) know Satan is a punk. But we all know he's a bully, whether we've realized it or not. And his servants are bullies too. The demons are the worst kind, the kind that can't be tamed or won over, nor beaten. We will never be stronger than them on our own, but remember 2 Thessalonians3:3 and 1 John 4:4. As for the people we encounter, this is a good time to remember Ephesians 6:12, and the people who are being used by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and our goal is not to crush the person (as with character assassination) but to crush their argument and expose their logic as foolish (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and to then give them the chance to repent (Matthew 4:17, Matthew 12:41). This may (or may not) be a good example of what was described in Matthew 11:12. Just remember, we aren't called to win, we're called to obey. God is sovereign and will influence the outcome of our efforts according to His will, His plan. And no matter the outcome, imagine the stories we'll have to tell in heaven if we stand firm (2 Timothy 4:7, Matthew 25:21).
So what are we to do?
- Be ready for the devil's attacks. Know his game plan, his strategy. This familiarity only comes from reading the word of God. Reread this webpage from top to bottom as necessary, and be sure to read every single verse reference.
- Be comfortable in prayer. When you encounter a servant of Satan, and you want to practice Mark 9:28-29 and Acts 16:18, then it better not be the first time God has heard you pray in a while. And if God's answer to your prayer is for you to do something, then you better be accustomed to obeying or you may end up like Acts 19:15-16.
- Never get arrogant, always be humble. It's not you fighting, it's you being God's ambassador. (Many good verses...)
- Not every encounter needs to be won (Matthew 7:6). Sometimes just get away, or turn the other cheek and practice 1 Peter 3:15. But that doesn't mean every time (Matthew 10:16, Revelation 3:15-16). If the English Pilgrams (and their successors who sought relief from religious persecution) just sat back and lived at peace with their oppressors, never bothering to cross the ocean, who knows how much worse off the world would be like today.
- They may start with a short, false presumption, which allows them to then twist a lot of truth into something ridiculous.
If you get distracted by all the truth and miss the erroneous initial lie, you'll have an impossible time of beating the oponent in debate. Look for the lie at the beginning. If an adversary uses a lot of truth, remember their false lead in and call them out on that. Don't waste time with all the truth they spewed. If you didn't catch the beginning, either trace their logic back or just ask them to repeat the beginning again. But be careful, if you have to ask them to repeat, you've just tipped your hand and don't expect them to give you a fully honest answer.
- They'll try to command the rhetoric (remember 1 Kings 18:16-18). A bully will use the words "hate", "tolerance", and "love" (any words you find meaningful) against you. They don't care what the words real definition/application are, they'll just throw them out at random and enjoy watching your flounder.
Call them out on this. If they call you a bigot (for example), ask them to name one example of you acting like one. If you can cite an example of them clearly demonstrating what they're criticizing you of, that's fun. Point out they're just being a bully and they've got nothing (no real argument, nothing constructive, only criticism). However, in case they actually do, the more you know about the topic, the better your chances of coming out on top.If you're uncomfortable with the idea of calling out liars, consider using another word rather than liar: hypocrite. Jesus did it numerous times:
And then there were Jesus's indirect references in Matthew 6:2, 6:5, 6:16, and 24:51.
If an opponent criticizes you and they're right (because you haven't lived a perfect life) then don't be discouraged by this. No one was perfect except Jesus (Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1, Psalm 143:2, Romans 3:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5). Paul wrote half the New Testament, but earlier in his life he was no saint (John 16:2, Acts 7:57-58, Acts 8:1-3, Acts 9:1-2). Your troubled past in absolute reality has no impact on the truth of God's word. It takes a special kind of person to be able to minister to anyone and everyone. The rest of us have certain kinds of people we relate and appeal to better than others. If you had a troubled past then you'll be able to relate to certain people better than another Christian who grew up more insulated from trouble. God can and does use everyone.
In summary, we should:
- Read our Bible (God's special revelation) to improve our Biblical worldview and understand our Creator better
- Learn logic, math, and science (God's general revelation) to understand our Creator and His creation better
- Practice good communication so we can be the best ambassadors we can be for our Creator
- Be in constant communication with our Creator (prayer) telling Him what we care about and what we care to happen in the world
- Listen for God's voice, obey Him. Remember, reading our Bible and prayer are also ways God speaks to us and engaging in them is a form of asking Him to do so. When He does, we need to listen to what He has to say/ask. How quickly we obey is evidence of how serious we are. Also note, sometimes He asks/tells us to do something for our own good. But often it's actually for someone else's good. God likes to bless others through us, and He wants to bless us through others. If you don't feel blessed enough then start putting your money where your mouth is and listen for God's voice, do what He says, and bless others. Not only will God bless you for such a choice, it would only take one other person doing the same as you for you to end up getting blessed in return.
- Take spiritual topics seriously.
- When given the opportunity to vote, vote with your top priority being worldview, and let economics and politics (and whatever else) come second.
- Never believe the father of lies (John 8:44). Remember that he is a master of blending truth and lies, he's a master of disguise (2 Corinthians 11:14), and of course, he is a good liar.
- Never assume you are alone, nor that you're the only one who knows anything. Angels (including demons) are finite just like us (not like God). But we can't perceive them unless they wish to be seen, and they aren't bound by the same laws of nature (physics, chemistry, biology) that we are. When you discover something in secret, they may be right there learning it to.
- Remember God and Satan take everything you say and do seriously, even if you don't.
- Telepathic computers may be appealing, but will be the greatest threat to human thought and human liberty the world has ever known. They have the potential to cause more chaos than anything before them, since we have no natural defense against having our mind read from afar. The potential to ruin each others' lives will increase dramatically by such technology, and Satan is fine with that. Ruining our lives and separating us from our Creator is his goal anyway. All of us are pawns to him in his efforts to overthrow God (Isaiah 14:13-14).
- The fictional 2017 movie Wonder Woman did a great job depicting the example of the fictional Greek god Ares using suggestion (rather than outright force or coercion) to steer humanity towards violence and self destruction. While a fictional example, it's a decent reminder of how dangerous subtle can be (John 13:2).
- Cacodemonomania is a term meaning you believe you are possessed by evil spirits.
- What if our first interaction with Satan was a test, like with Job (Job 1-2), or the cave on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back? What if we failed the test, and only because of that is Satan prince of this world, in our place?
- People who do wacko things may not be acting alone. Satan is a complex individual, like each of us, or maybe even more. He's not obligated to have a simple plan just so we can understand it. He employs different strategies in different situations. He seems to use different tactics in different parts of the world. In Muslim, Hindu, and Taoist societies he is more overt. (For example, those cultures believe in witch doctors for a reason.) In Christian societies he operates differently. He seems to want us to believe there is no supernatural (good nor evil) and we are self righteous. Though he's not obligated to stick to this pattern nor adhere to it tightly. When someone with no odd history walks into a school and shoots at children, the chances they recently accidentally invited a demon into their life are high. Remember God loves children (Mark 10:14, Matthew 11:25, Luke 17:1-2) and Satan's main goal is to get us to reject God as the only way he can hurt God (God's feelings).
- Satan hates everyone, but he seems to hate women more (called a misogynist) or at least has an easier time of it. Notice how he attacked (spoke to) Eve before Adam in Genesis 3:1. And then as a consequence of that interaction, Eve directly suffered from Adam's curse but Adam only indirectly (at most) suffers from Eve's curse (Genesis 3:16). If indeed Satan hates women more than men, it's because he hates God, humanity is God's favorite creation, and woman is man's helper (Genesis 2:18). Take out man's support system and humanity collapses, and Satan can feel like he has hurt God. Not convinced? Why is there a global trend for women to care more about their looks than men? Why is there a global trend of feminism where women are tricked into volunteering for all the same responsibilities of men while not offloading their own responsibilities on anyone else? Does the father or mother get more lifelong trauma by abortions?
- B.U.S.Y. = Buried Under Satan's Yoke. This is not an absolute, everyone is busy sometimes. It's when our entire lifestyle is always busy. In America (the "land of opportunity") it is so easy to get into the "woe is me" mentality that we're so pitiful because there's so much to do we just can't do it all. That's so American. Everyone else in the world looks at you and laughs, not pitties. Prioritize, and do that. Don't worry about whether you can do it all. Even those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities aren't necessarily important just because they're once-in-a-lifetime. Make a strategic plan and make sure you're filling your time with what aligns with that plan, and avoid getting stuck under Satan's yoke.
- Here's a quote from Todd Burpo's book, Heaven is for Real, on page 134:
"Hey Colton," I said. "Did you see Satan?"
"Yeah, I did," he said solemnly.
"What did he look like?"
At this, Colton's body went rigid, he grimaced, and his eyes narrowed to a squint. He stopped talking. I mean, he absolutely shut down, and that was it for the night.
We asked Colton about Satan a couple of times after that, but then gave up because whenever we did, his reaction was a little disconcerting: it was as if he changed instantly from a sunny little kid to someone who ran to a safe room, bolted the door, locked the windows, and pulled down the blinds.
