Is There Really a Devil?

[Word of Life]

Is There Really a Devil?
From the publisher of The Good News magazine.

The Enemy of Mankind

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, New International Version).

One primary cause lurks behind the suffering and tragic circumstances that afflict so many people. The Bible reveals that a powerful, intelligent and seemingly infinitely influential being actively orchestrates the wickedness that dominates our planet. Most of us have heard of him. The Bible most often calls him the devil and Satan.

You may have wondered whether he really exists. After all, to many the devil seems like a fairy-tale character—a grotesque, blood-red creature with horns, a pointed tail and bat's wings that carries a pitchfork and inhabits an infernal region of ever-burning flames. Because he is typically depicted so fancifully, it isn't surprising that few take the idea of a devil seriously.

Does such a being exist? Where could such a creature have come from? What is his purpose, his goal, his intent? What does he do?

Is he, as many believe, simply a mythical embodiment of evil?

Most people aren't sure what to believe. They either haven't given the concept of the devil that much thought or don't know where to look to find the answers.

Through the centuries belief in the existence of the devil—a being responsible for evil—has waxed and waned. During the Middle Ages belief in the evil one and his influence on mankind was unquestioned. But, as scientific advancements during the Renaissance dispelled myths and superstitions related to demons, the notion of the devil as a literal being fell into disfavor.

Subsequent scientific advancements and increased education encouraged skepticism regarding the existence of a spirit world, good or bad. Today many ridicule the idea of an evil being who is responsible for the misery and suffering we see around us.

Finding a reliable source of knowledge

Where can we find reliable, accurate information on the spirit world? Only one source can give us the answers, revealing to us information we could find nowhere else. That single dependable source is the Bible. Beyond it, everything concerning Satan and whether he exists is only mythology and speculation. (For clear evidence of the reliability of the Bible, be sure to request your free copy of Is the Bible True? from any of our offices listed at the end of this booklet.)

The Bible contains unequivocal internal evidence that it truly is the Word of God. Through its pages God reveals true spiritual knowledge, information unavailable from any other source. It tells us in sobering terms that the devil does exist. It explains that this being and the spirit world are every bit as real as our own.

It shows us that Satan is an incredibly powerful spirit being with a pervasive influence over humanity. Along with his cohorts—called demons or devils—he is mentioned frequently in the Scriptures. He shows up from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation.

The Bible reveals much about this being. It shows us his origin, how he came to be what he is. It reveals his intentions and the methods he uses to accomplish them. It describes his character and nature and the motivations that drive him. It helps us see the staggering impact his influence can have on us individually as well as his sway over the whole of humanity. It gives us knowledge we could never discover or understand on our own.

Real-life encounters

Jesus Christ spoke of the devil as a powerful, conscious, real entity. If we accept Jesus as real, as the Son of God—and the Bible as including the truthful account of His ministry and teachings—we must also accept the devil as real.

The writers of the four Gospels record instances in which Christ confronted Satan and his cohorts, the demons. The Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, show Satan to be the enemy of Christ, determined to thwart and undermine His work. Just before Jesus began His ministry, Satan tried, through temptation, to turn Him aside from His divine purpose (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). Failing at every turn, Satan was finally allowed to influence other human beings to execute Jesus (Luke 22:2-4; John 13:2, 27)—making Him, as our Messiah and Savior, the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

The apostle Peter, who experienced his own struggles with Satan (Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 22:31-32), warns us to be on guard against this powerful wicked spirit: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8, New International Version, emphasis added throughout). Peter's warning helps us realize that not only is the devil the enemy of Christ, he is the enemy of all Christ's followers, seeking to devour them.

Mankind's enemy

But we find more to the story of Satan. A central message of the Bible, from beginning to end, is that the devil is the enemy of all humanity. As we discover what the Bible says about him, we find him continually intent on mankind's harm, waging war against human beings in every way imaginable.

The very name Satan, the name the Bible uses most for this evil being, helps reveal his malicious intent. God calls things what they are. Satan is a Hebrew noun meaning "adversary"—the enemy, opponent, antagonist, foe. The verb forms of the noun mean to "accuse," "slander" and "be an adversary" (Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 5, 1992, "Satan," p. 985).

The other term the Bible uses to describe this being, devil, is also revealing. Devil is translated from the Greek word diabolos, the root from which we get such words as diabolic and diabolical, used to describe something wicked or sinister. Diabolos means "an accuser, a slanderer" (W.E. Vine, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Devil, Devilish").

The Bible reveals much more about this evil being's nature and character. Christ says Satan is "a liar and the father of it" and that "there is no truth in him" (John 8:44).

It is through his lying, deceptive nature that Satan most successfully influences mankind. The Bible reveals the enormity of Satan's lies—that he "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9).

Did you catch this stunning testimony to Satan's handiwork? He "deceives the whole world"! What does this mean? What is God telling us when He reveals that this malignant spirit deceives the whole world? Consider the staggering implications of this statement.

The apostle John did not say that Satan deceived the world only at some time in the distant past. The word John uses—translated "deceives" in the New King James Version of the Bible—is in the present active tense, meaning that Satan's deception started in the past and is a continuous, ongoing process that is not yet finished. The book of Revelation shows that Satan's great deception will continue until God miraculously intervenes to put an end to his influence over mankind.

 

[Word of Life]

The beginning of Satan's influence

Satan has seduced humanity for thousands of years. But when—and how—did his influence begin? How did he gain his firm foothold in human thinking? What is it about him and his methods that allows him to deceive not just a handful, but virtually the entire human race?

The story begins with the very origins of humankind. As stated in the book of Genesis, God created our first human parents, Adam and Eve, and provided a beautiful garden paradise in an area called Eden as their home (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7-8). There He began personally instructing them (Genesis 2:16-17), laying the foundation for them to develop a close personal relationship with Him.

But something happened that suddenly derailed that relationship. "Now the serpent [the devil, Revelation 12:9; 20:2] was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden"?'" (Genesis 3:1, NIV).

God had told Adam and Eve they could eat of all the trees in Eden except one—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). He warned them they would perish if they ate of its fruit.

Satan, appearing in the form of a serpent, came privately to Eve and subtly contradicted what God had told her and her husband. "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'" (Genesis 3:4-5).

Eve believed the serpent. She ate the fruit and shared it with Adam. Together Adam and Eve set in motion a tragic pattern that mankind has followed ever since: choosing to decide their own way—which is in reality nothing more than falling prey to Satan's deceptive influence (1 John 3:10)—rather than the truth of God. Life for man would never be the same. Sin—rebellion against God's instruction—had entered the world (Romans 5:12). Mankind would now reap its tragic fruit.

Satan, who accused God of lying, was himself shown to be a liar. Rather than leading to life and becoming as wise and understanding as God like Satan had promised, the way of disobedience Adam and Eve chose would lead only to confusion and death.

Adam's and Eve's surrender to Satan's influence was the beginning of "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4). Satan managed to inject his cunning deceptions into the relationship between God and God's human children. By convincing Eve that God was lying to them about the consequences of partaking of the forbidden fruit, Satan showed early in human history that he is the adversary of both God and humanity, the ultimate false accuser and slanderer—the meanings of his biblical names.

A murderer from the beginning

Jesus referred to this incident in the Garden of Eden when He confronted those who opposed His message and work—murderous men who wanted to kill Him for identifying Himself as the Son of God. Jesus recognized the source of their motivation: "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44).

Satan was truly "a murderer from the beginning." Yet he did not need to physically harm Adam and Eve to bring about their deaths; he knew that if he could influence them to sin—to disobey God—they would bring death on themselves (Romans 6:23). His lies—his deception—did lead directly to Adam's and Eve's eventual submission to the clutches of death. By influencing all human beings since then to likewise choose the way of sin and disobedience to God, Satan has played a part in the deaths of all humans since Adam and Eve who have died (Romans 5:12).

Christ also said Satan is "a liar and the father of it." His lies undermined and then destroyed the relationship between God and His children. By following in Adam's and Eve's footsteps in accepting Satan's ways of sin and rebellion, we have cut ourselves off from God's guidance and assistance and desperately need the redemption that can come only through Christ (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 3:23-24; Acts 4:12).

The world suffers because of sin

Humanity as a whole has continued to follow the pattern set by Adam and Eve long ago. Satan, by deceiving us into rejecting God's instruction and influencing us to follow him instead, has seen to it that we, just as did Adam and Eve, would continue to resist God's rule over us (Romans 5:10; 8:7; Ephesians 2:1-3). We suffer the painful consequences of our choices and actions just as they did.

(Of course, Jesus came to die for our sins and show those of us whom God would call to salvation in this age the way to repent and come out of our miseries. To understand more, please write for our free booklets "The Road to Eternal Life" and "Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion.")

Why is the world so full of misery? The answer, as revealed in God's Word, is simple: We reap what we sow. "Do not be deceived," writes the apostle Paul. "God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction . . ." (Galatians 6:7-8, NIV). Our actions bring consequences. Much of the world's suffering can be traced to people's actions and decisions. We haven't learned that many of our choices lead to tragic results regardless of our intentions.

The prophet Hosea understood the principle of cause and effect as he observed the sad spiritual condition of the kingdom of Israel in the 700s B.C. Hosea 2 and 4 show that idolatry, violence and sexual immorality were rampant in Hosea's time. Within a few years the mighty Assyrian Empire would sweep down from the north and lay the Israelite kingdom waste, slaughtering and enslaving its inhabitants.

God revealed to Hosea what was coming and why: "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). "You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies . . ." (Hosea 10:13). In other words, said God, it was inevitable that the people's sins would catch up with them: "Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you" (Jeremiah 2:19).

When we search for the main reason people suffer, we can learn a great deal by tracing their circumstances back to their cause. Most often we will find that sin is the underlying cause—and suffering and misery are merely the natural consequences.

By influencing mankind to sin, making it attractive and appealing, Satan holds our world in a deceitful grasp of lies, suffering and death.

 

[Word of Life]

Is There Really a Devil?
From the publisher of The Good News magazine.

Is The Whole World Deceived?

If you were the devil and wanted to deceive the entire world, how would you approach such a challenge?

You first would probably convince people that you don't exist and that the only source of information that reveals your motives and methods is little more than a collection of fables that have nothing to do with their lives.

We have seen exactly that. Starting several centuries ago, and prompted by the theories of men such as Charles Darwin—who fabricated a way to explain creation without the Creator—many people began directly challenging the authority and inspiration of the Bible. They began to ridicule, as mere myth and superstition, the existence of a spirit world, long accepted without question by those who believed the Bible.

In the world's leading universities skeptics challenged the validity and accuracy of the Bible, and scientific reasoning—much of which rejects anything that cannot be detected by the physical senses—became the order of the day. Generations of leaders were taught to discard anything that could not be measured by scientific methods.

Then came two world wars. Two successive generations saw their fathers, husbands and sons lost on bloody battlefields in far-flung corners of the world, with neither war gaining a lasting peace. Civilian casualties, too, were appalling, with tens of millions of lives snuffed out. Numbed by such wholesale mass destruction of lives and property, many lost their belief in God, thinking that an all-powerful Supreme Being would never allow such carnage and suffering.

Thus, in only a few generations, belief in an almighty, all-loving God and trust in the Bible as His revelation to mankind were shattered.

In our modern world, although many people still claim to believe in God, few take their stated belief seriously enough to let it guide their lives. The Bible is consistently one of the world's best-selling books, yet it is one of the least read and least understood. Most people think the Bible and the spirit world have nothing to do with them and their lives.

Although religion should be the source of an understanding of God and the spirit world, it is too often only another source of confusion and disagreement. For example, Christianity is the professed religion of approximately a third of the world's population and is the largest single religion. But it is splintered into thousands of sects and denominations, many of them claiming to represent the true teachings of the Bible and Jesus.

Never in human history, of course, have professing Christians comprised a majority of the world's population. Most people during the last two millennia have followed a bewildering array of deities, gurus and religious teachers. Some have believed in God, others in various good and evil spirits or no God and spirit world at all.

Obviously these incompatible and often opposite beliefs cannot all be right. God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). The effect of so much religious confusion and division is exactly what one would expect of a being whose aim is to "deceive the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). Many people do not believe in the devil at all, and many of those who do aren't sure what they should believe, since so many religious teachings are confused and contradictory.

Most people are deeply sincere in their beliefs. But, since the beliefs of so many professing Christians contradict the beliefs of other professing Christians, they cannot all be right. Many of them are sincere, but sincerely wrong. They, along with the rest of the world, have been deceived. So what are the implications to professing Christians of Satan's deception and its resulting confusion?

Christ challenged people in His day who were sincere yet deluded: ". . . Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

He cautioned His followers to be aware of religious deception. "Take heed that no one deceives you," He warned (Matthew 24:4). He prophesied that religious leaders would arise who would claim to represent Him but in fact they would be impostors who would "deceive many" (verse 5).

Rather than a source of information and understanding about the great malevolent spirit that is the enemy of mankind, religion has actually been one of the major tools the devil has used to deceive people!

 

[Word of Life]

Is There Really a Devil?
From the publisher of The Good News magazine.

Did God Create the Devil?"

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Isaiah 14:12).

Where did the devil come from? How did such a creature come to be? Did God purposefully create an evil being? The Bible reveals the answers to these questions. They can help us understand why Satan really is the enemy of mankind.

To understand Satan's origin we must go far back in time, before man existed. Genesis 1:1 tells us that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." However, as is usually the case, the Bible doesn't tell the whole story in one or even several verses. We find more details elsewhere in the Bible, in this case in the book of Job.

When Job, because of difficulties he was having, began to question God's judgment, God responded with pointed questions to help him realize he didn't have the wisdom to question God. In His response, in the form of questions to Job, God revealed some details about His creation of earth. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" God asked him. "Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? . . . On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7, NIV).

God here reveals information no man could know, since no man was present at creation. God described the earth at its creation as a dazzlingly beautiful jewel floating in space. The creation events were so magnificent that "all the angels shouted for joy." The angels—spirit beings God had created—already existed when God made the earth. They were united in their joy when God had created the world, singing and shouting in exultation. They were in perfect harmony and agreement at that time.

A beautiful earth becomes a wasteland

Some time after this, however, the situation dramatically changed. Genesis 1:2 tells us that, after its creation, "the earth was without form, and void." This English translation doesn't adequately convey the meaning of the original Hebrew. The words tohu and bohu, translated "without form" and "void," are better translated "waste and void" (Young's Literal Translation).

However, in Isaiah 45:18, God expressly says that He "did not create it [the earth] in vain." Here the same Hebrew word, tohu, is used. If God did not create the earth in a state of "waste and void," how did it come to be in that condition?

Part of the answer is indicated in Genesis 1:2. The Hebrew word hayah, translated "was," can also properly be translated "became," as it is translated in Genesis 2:7 and 19:26. The earth was not created waste and void but became that way at some point after its creation. The Rotherham translation of Genesis 1:2 appropriately reads, "Now the earth had become waste and empty."

God created the earth in such sparkling beauty that the angels were overjoyed at its creation. But something happened to bring it to a condition of devastation and waste. Its original beauty was destroyed. God then reshaped it, forming it into a beautiful home for the first man and woman, as recorded in the remainder of Genesis 1. But the Genesis account does not tell us the entire story. Something else happened between the first two verses of Genesis that is not recorded there.

God does give us additional details of what brought on this condition of confusion and waste in several other chapters of the Bible. In 2 Peter 2 the Bible records several examples of God's judgment for wrongdoing. Verses 5 and 6 discuss the flood of Noah's time, then the fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But before this, in verse 4, we read that "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but thrust them down into Tartarus [a place of restraint], and delivered them into chains of darkness, being reserved for judgment" (Modern King James Version). When did these particular angels sin, and what was their sin?

Again, we must look at other verses to find the answer. Jude 6 gives us additional details: "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these [God] has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day" (NIV).

We saw earlier that at earth's creation all the angels were happy and joyous, singing and shouting together. Obviously, then, at a later time some sinned—destroying the wonderful harmony and cooperation they had once enjoyed. What was the nature of their sin? They "did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home"—they left the place and position God had given them. They rebelled against their Maker, the Creator of the physical universe and the spirit world of angelic beings!

 

[Word of Life]

Is There Really a Devil?
From the publisher of The Good News magazine.

The first war

In Isaiah 14 we find more information. This chapter describes this angelic rebellion and identifies its ringleader. It gives us many important details we could learn of in no other way.

In verse 4 God addresses the "king of Babylon." In Isaiah's time the city-state of Babylon was emerging as the major power in that region of the world. Its king was a warmonger, expanding his empire through brute force. He enslaved, plundered and devastated the nations around him. His philosophy was satanic—acquiring wealth and power at the expense of others, gaining it through violence and bloodshed. This king of Babylon exemplified Satan and his characteristics.

In verse 12 the subject shifts from this physical king to another powerful being, here translated "Lucifer." The original Hebrew word for this being—used only this one time in the Bible—is Heylel, which apparently means "brightness" or "shining one."

Many scholars recognize that the original language here is in the form of a lament, an exclamation of mourning over a great loss. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Msost High'" (verses 12-14).

Who is this being who dared to exalt himself above the stars (angels; Revelation 1:20) of God, to challenge God Himself as ruler of the universe?

In Ezekiel 28 God gives us the answer. This chapter is written much like Isaiah 14. God begins by discussing a human ruler, then shifts to the spiritual power behind the earthly throne—the behind-the-scenes ruler who controls the kingdoms of this world (compare Luke 4:5-7).

In Ezekiel 28:2 God addresses the "prince of Tyre." Tyre, a coastal port city north of ancient Israel on the Mediterranean coast, was famous as a trading center. Its rulers had grown haughty and presumptuous because of their wealth and influence. In verses 6-10 God tells this ruler that because of his arrogance, his might and wealth would fail and he would be overthrown.

But notice in verse 12 that God begins to address "the king of Tyre" rather than the prince. This being is the true ruler, the real power behind the throne.

God's description of this "king of Tyre" makes it clear that He is speaking to no physical human being. ". . . 'You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created" (verses 12-13).

No mortal human could accurately be described as being "the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." This being was created—unlike humans who are born rather than created. This being had also been "in Eden, the garden of God." Other than Adam and Eve, no people had been in Eden. God had expelled Adam and Eve, after which He placed an angel there specifically to prevent anyone else from entering (Genesis 3:24).

In the next verse God mentions some of the history of this being. "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones" (Ezekiel 28:14).

Fall of a superangel

What do these remarkable statements mean? What is a "cherub who covers"?

Hebrews 8:5 tells us that the tabernacle established by Moses—the portable sanctuary the Israelites carried with them through the desert—was "a copy and shadow of what is in heaven" (NIV). In Exodus 25:18-20 we find that God instructed the Israelites to make a representation—a physical model—of His throne for the tabernacle they would carry with them in the wilderness. At either side of the "mercy seat," which represented God's throne, was a golden cherub with wings extended to cover the mercy seat. These two cherubim, fashioned out of gold, represented real angelic beings—the great superangels whose wings cover God's throne.

The being God addressed through Ezekiel is called the "cherub who covers," indicating that once he had been one of the great angels depicted in the model of God's throne. God gave these angels the awesome distinction of serving at and covering the very throne of God.

Many other scriptures say that God "dwells between the cherubim," showing that these wondrous creatures accompany and serve Him at His seat of power (1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1; Isaiah 37:16). This magnificent being apparently held a position of honor and distinction in God's angelic realm.

This same great cherub is also described as being "on the holy mountain of God." In the Bible, "hills" and "mountains" are often used to symbolize governments (Revelation 17:9-10). Apparently this superangel administered and assisted in the governance of other angels, who number in multiple millions (Daniel 7:9-10).

God also says to this cherub, "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:15). Like the description in Isaiah 14, this passage describes a created being, not a human. This being was extraordinary, perfect until he sinned.

". . . You were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones" (verse 16, NIV). This once-marvelous being sinned and was expelled from God's throne, cast away in disgrace.

What was the sin that brought this great angel banishment from God? Isaiah 14:13-14, which we read earlier, gives us the answer: "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'" (NIV).

This powerful spirit entity decided to challenge God for control of the universe!

Totally transformed from good to evil

What had been an amazingly beautiful, immensely talented spirit being with great responsibility in God's angelic order became, through his rebellion against Almighty God, a reprehensible, despicable creature. He became Satan—the adversary, slanderer, accuser and destroyer. He became the devil—the enemy of God and humanity!

The immense powers he had used in God's service were turned, not to serve God, but to try to thwart God's purposes. This creature remains an enormously powerful spirit being, but now his powers are used for wicked, destructive ends.

This being became so vain and proud that he thought he should be ruler of the universe. God tells him, "Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor" (Ezekiel 28:17). His enormous talents and abilities led him to believe he was equal to, if not better than, God Himself. His thinking became corrupted. He rebelled against God and tried to overthrow Him. By his rebellion against his Creator he transformed himself into Satan the devil.

He was not alone in this rebellion. Millions of other angels joined him in rejecting God's authority and leadership. We find this symbolically described in Revelation 12:3-4: "And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon . . . His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth . . ." Verse 9 identifies this dragon as Satan. As we saw earlier, the Bible uses stars as a symbol for angels (Revelation 1:20). This apparently indicates that a third of the angels followed Satan in this rebellion.

The Bible refers to these rebellious angels as demons. They are fallen angels—who had plummeted from their purpose of serving God and humanity (Hebrews 1:13-14), reduced to hatred and bitterness toward God and His holy purpose for humanity. In Scripture they are shown to be able not only to influence but possess humans (that is, exercise even more direct control than a human hypnotist could). Such demonic control can often cause people to exhibit violent and self-destructive behavior (Matthew 8:28; 17:14-18; Acts 19:14-16; Luke 8:27-33).

God's servants are not to be fearful or overly anxious about such demonic influence affecting them. Evil spirits are fewer in number and inferior in power to God's faithful angels, who are "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). Christians are to be confident because "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

A strong mind spiritually attuned to God's way of life is the best way to resist demonic influence. Faithful servants of God are to be filled with His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), enabling them to resist such influence and causing evil spirits to flee (James 4:7). Also, the true ministers of Christ have been given authority over demons, enabling them to cast demons out of those possessed (Matthew 10:1, 8; Mark 6:13, 16:17). After all, God is the ultimate source of power.

 

[Word of Life]

Is There Really a Devil?
From the publisher of The Good News magazine.

Why Does God Allow Satan to Influence Mankind?
God is all powerful. Yet He allows Satan to carry out his deceitful and destructive activities—within certain limits—for a purpose. To understand that purpose, let's begin with an example from the book of Job.

"One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the LORD, 'From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.' Then the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.'

"'Does Job fear God for nothing?' Satan replied. 'Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.' The LORD said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger'" (Job 1:6-12, NIV).

God understood Job's heart better than Satan perceived it. Though God granted Satan permission to afflict Job, the devil failed in his attempt to turn this righteous man against God. Nevertheless, the story of Job's suffering under Satan's affliction reveals much about why God sometimes allows us to suffer.

As with Job, God tests the character of every human being. Paul wrote, "We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts" (1 Thessalonians 2:4, NIV). Moses explained to the ancient Israelites, "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger [a form of suffering] and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 8:2-3, NIV).

God allows mankind to learn—partly by firsthand experience—that the only way of life that will work is the way of life He reveals in His Word, the Bible. That lesson will not be complete until all of humanity has learned that "every word" of God's revealed instructions is vital to our physical, mental and spiritual well-being (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 5:29). No alternative way of life achieves God's purpose or ultimately leads us to happiness.

But how can God get this point across to people who are born into the world with no knowledge or understanding? He could have preprogrammed us to behave only according to harmless predetermined instincts. But then we would be mere automatons, having no choices, no individuality, no character.

Such existence is not what God intends for us. He has created us to become members of His own family —His sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18)—able to carry great responsibilities within His family.

At the beginning of human existence God stated His purpose for us: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:26-27).

God created mankind to be like Him, to rule—have dominion—over His creation. To learn to properly exercise such a level of responsibility, man must first learn how to discern right from wrong, good from bad and the wise from the foolish. Learning real wisdom involves learning how to make wise choices. From the beginning God pointed out the right way, but He allowed humans to be exposed to and make foolish choices.

God allowed Satan, the epitome of evil, to enter the Garden of Eden and discuss his view of life with Adam and Eve. They then had to make a choice. They chose to follow Satan rather than God. Satan's tragic delusion of mankind has been the result.

However, when Jesus Christ returns to earth, God will remove the delusion of Satan. God then will begin, on a grand scale, the process of reversing the damage Satan has done. Eventually none of the devil's influence will remain.

Mankind can then review thousands of years of tragic history and compare it with the blessings of Christ's rule. The Bible reveals that when this occurs the overwhelming majority of humanity will reject Satan's deceptions and enthusiastically embrace every word of God.

God is in control, but He has allowed Satan to dominate humanity for two basic reasons. First, Adam and Eve, our first parents, chose Satan's domination over them. Second, God wants all of humanity to learn that "the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).