5. Satan's Government
Chapter 5 Satan’s Government “…the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) Angels Fight Over The World’s Governments
We all know that politicians fight over who will run the government, but did you know that angels fight for that too? Well, they do, but it’s not the same way people do. We’re going to look at a story in the book of Daniel that talks about a battle that occurred between certain angels. This true story can help us understand how Satan and his angels also battle over the governments and kingdoms of this earth.
Before the time of Daniel the prophet, Israel had turned their backs on God, so God disciplined them so that they would repent. God allowed some ungodly countries under Satan’s rule to come fight against Israel. They took Israel captive and began to rule over them, making them their slaves and servants. This became one of the worst periods in Israel’s history. God allowed several countries like Babylon, Persia, Greece and later Rome, to come and rule over them (2 Chronicles 36:17-20).
While Israel was exiled in Babylon and Persia, Daniel lived with them in exile and was a prophet of God. He became an old man there. During the Persian rule, Daniel received a special prophecy from God which is in Daniel 10. For three weeks he agonized in prayer over the hard times that Israel had experienced. God heard his prayers and sent an angel to give him a message concerning events that were going to happen in the future. In verses 2-11 we read that when the angel appeared to Daniel, Daniel fainted and fell to the ground. He didn’t have any strength to get up and he could hardly speak. This is because angels are so powerful that just seeing and hearing them could overwhelm us. Let’s continue the story and read what the angel said:
Daniel 10:12-21 says: …"Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one daysthe spirit prince of the kingdom of Persiablocked my way. ThenMichael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come." While he was speaking to me, I looked down at the ground, unable to say a word. …"Don’t be afraid," he said, "for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!" As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, "Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me." He replied, "Do you know why I have come? Soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come.… (No one helps me against these spirit princes exceptMichael, your spirit prince.”(NLT) God Used Demons To Influence The Kingdom Of Persia Against Israel
God sent one of his angels to Daniel. The Bible doesn’t tell us his name, but some scholars think this is the angel Gabriel, which is the same angel we see in Daniel 8, 9. So we will call him Gabriel for the sake of telling the story. Gabriel was sent to give Daniel a message, but the Prince of Persia hindered him for 21 days. Since he was hindering an angel like Gabriel, we realize that this “prince” was not just a human ruler like other princes. This Prince of Persia was a spiritual prince (as in the NLT above). He was an angel with authority over Persia, but he was an evil spirit. This Prince of Persia must have been a demon who was directly influencing the King of Persia—the human king that he also mentioned. Satan and other angels (both good and bad) are sometimes called princes in the Bible because of the authority and power they have to rule or influence human governments.
Ephesians 6:12 says: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” So these verses give us a glimpse of the battles that go on in the spirit world in order to rule over human kingdoms. In this case as well as others, we see that God had previously allowed demons to influence human kings (like those of Persia and Greece) to come against Israel. Apparently, these heathen countries who were enemies of Israel had been influenced by some demons to come and take Israel captive and then continue to influence their kings. Although Satan seemed to be in control, God is still sovereign, so he used the demons to do his work. Satan and his demon “princes” want to rule over each country on earth—especially Israel—in order to destroy them, because Satan hates everything God loves. But instead, God used those countries under Satan in order to disciplineand teach Israel.
God Used Angels To Prevent Demons From Destroying Israel
Even though God allowed the demons to bring other countries against Israel, he still used Gabriel and other angels to act as guardians to watch over Israel (Daniel 12:1). So it seems that there was a power struggle or spiritual battle going on between the good angels and the demons. God was probably using the good angels to make sure the demons would stay within the limits that God had put over them, and not allow them to totally destroy Israel. As humans we can’t see this kind of battle going on between angels and demons, but Gabriel talked about it so that we could know what is actually going on around us in the spiritual realm.
Prince Michael Watches Over Israel As the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Daniel became weak and lost all his strength. He became faint and fell down like a dead man. This shows us that Gabriel and other angels are very powerful compared with humans so Daniel would be just overwhelmed by simply seeing them. Gabriel was a very powerful angel, but the evil angel (demon) that was ruling over the King of Persia was very powerful too. So God had sent another angel named Michael to take Gabriel’s place and fight with the evil angel. This allowed Gabriel to be free to go talk to Daniel.
Daniel 12:1 describes Michael as: “the great prince whoprotects your people...” The Bible also describes Michael as an “archangel” (Jude 1:9) which means a ruling angel that has more power and authority over other angels. Of course God is the one who assigns the amount of authority that each one has and the work that each one does. We also see here that God appointed Michael specifically as the protector of Israel (Daniel 12:1). In Daniel Ch. 10 God sent Michael to take Gabriel’s place and fight with the Prince of Persia.
God Alone Determines The Strength And Place Of All The Angels And Demons
God is all-powerful and the source of all power, so he is the one who gave the demons their power while they were still good angels, before they fell in sin. They received their power and position from God and they still have at least some of that power. It was God who allowed the demon to rule over Persia and punish Israel, but later God removed that demon and let another demon “prince” which was ruling Greece come and take the Persians’ place. That’s when the Greeks began ruling over Israel (Daniel 10:21). This story shows us that good angels and demons alike are concerned with people. The good angels listen to God and do his will. But the demons are rebellious and try to guide the thoughts of kings and leaders and governments away from God’s will. But God is able to use them both. Does God Not Have Enough Good Angels? In this story, Gabriel said that he alone was fighting with the demon prince that was ruling over Persia, so it might seem at first that perhaps God didn’t have enough angels to help Gabriel. But in fact God has many good angels, so we shouldn’t think that God is shorthanded.
It must have been God’s will that Gabriel do this job himself. God probably allowed the demons to have the upper hand in Persia in order to rule over Israel at that time because he wanted to punish the proud Israelites. God only needed Gabriel to keep watch and make sure the demons did not destroy Israel altogether. One angel was enough because he had God’s authority and he could oppose a whole army of demons and win easily if he needed to. But plenty of good angels do exist. In fact the Bible says they actually number in the millions. There are twice as many angels as there are demons, and God can use them whenever he likes (Revelation 5:11; Revelation 12:4).
God Protects The Prophet Elisha With A Vast Army Of Angels
We can look at another story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elisha which shows us the vast army of good angels that exist in the spiritual realm.
2 Kings 6:8-23 says: “Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, "Invade at such and such a place." But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, "Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there." So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said to them, "One of us must be helping the king of Israel." One of his advisers said, "No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom." The king ordered, "Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him." The king was told, "He is in Dothan." So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. They arrived during the night and surrounded the city. The prophet’s attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, "Oh no, my master! What will we do?" He replied, "Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them." Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he can see." The LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As they approached him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." The LORD struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for." He led them to Samaria. When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, "O LORD, open their eyes, so they can see." The LORD opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Should I strike them down, my master?" He replied, "Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master." So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.” (NET) The King of Syria and his huge army had come to get Elisha. They surrounded the city of Dothan by night, but when Elisha saw it, he wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, he trusted in God’s power and prayed. But Elisha’s servant was very much afraid, because he didn’t know about the army of God’s angels that also surrounded and protected them. So Elisha prayed and asked God to open his servant’s eyes so he could see the huge army of angels that was there to protect them. Then God did open the servant’s eyes and he could then see God’s army of angels. Israel’s enemies were blinded and couldn’t fight properly. In the end, they just went back to their own country and left Elisha alone. God was indeed watching over Elisha and all of Israel.
There Is An Army Watching Over Us So why don’t we see angels all the time? God used angels to protect Elisha, but no one but Elisha and his servant saw them. God had to open their eyes in order for them to see the angels in the spiritual realm. We are not prophets and we can’t see angels, but we don’t need to be concerned about seeing them either. As we’ve seen from this story, God’s armies of angels really do exist. He has thousands upon thousands of angels that wait to do his bidding (Revelation 5:11; Hebrews 12:22). They are ready at any time to do his work, and if necessary, they can protect us against Satan’s demons. We don’t have to be afraid of the demons if we are on God’s side. Even though Satan’s spirits are very strong, God is much stronger, and they cannot defeat God or his angels. We can praise and thank God for that!
We Are Also In This Spiritual Warfare
What did the two prophets, Daniel and Elisha, do when the demons and the angels fought in the spiritual realm? They both prayed and God helped them. We don’t see the spirits, nor do we have the strength and wisdom to fight them. That’s not our job. But we can talk to God about our concerns. And he is far above all other powers. In this way we can fight along with the angels on God’s side. In a later chapter we’ll talk about praying, and about the armor of God. But first let’s consider Satan’s government and how Satan fights against us.
Satan Has A Government
It’s true that Satan has a government in much the same way as people do. But his government is hidden from our eyes. Satan uses many hidden methods to rule over people of this world so that they follow his desires.
Ephesians 6:12 talks about “...rulers, ...authorities, ...powers of this dark world and ...spiritualforces of evil in theheavenly realms.”
These words describe the power and authority of the government or kingdom of Satan. Satan is like a king or boss over other demons. And those other demons rule over parts of his government. We saw this already in the story from Daniel 10. The Prince of Persia and Greece were demons that influenced the kings of Persia and Greece. And from Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 we see how Satan himself was connected with the king of Tyre and Babylon. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul calls Satan the “god of this world.” This means that Satan has power over this earth and wants to rule all of man’s governments. The world is under Satan’s rule. Where Is This Government Or Kingdom?
Ephesians 2:2 says Satan is “…the ruler of thekingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The Bible says that Satan is the “ruler of the kingdom of the air.” Some people think that he lives in the lake of fire (hell) and rules over dead people as his kingdom, and some have even written some false books about this idea. But the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible says that hell is “prepared” (or made ready) for Satan (Matthew 25:41) and that he will go there later after his judgment in the end times (Revelation 20:10). Then he will remain there forever and will never be able to leave. But for now he lives and works in the “heavenly realms.” We’re not referring to the heaven where good angels live with God. That heaven is far above the sky. Satan and the demons don’t live there. The demons live and roam around in the heavens—the air and sky around this earth (Job 1:7).
Satan’s government doesn’t have a government office or Parliament Building. Instead, Ephesians 2:2 says that Satan works in the hearts and minds of people—“disobedient” people. They are the enemies of God. Satan’s kingdom isn’t just in one country. The “kingdom of the air” (or sky) covers every country around the earth. So Satan’s government rules over all the “children of disobedience” wherever they live (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6). They are disobedient to God and submit to Satan’s influence or rule over their life. So those disobedient people which are from every nation, are part of Satan’s kingdom. Satan’s government or kingdom is a worldwide kingdom.
1 John 5:19 says: “We know that we are children of God, and that thewhole world is under the control of the evil one.”
How People “Vote” For Satan And His Government
Many countries vote for those who will lead the government of the country, but what about Satan? Who voted for Satan to make him the leader of every place on the earth? As we heard earlier, it all started back in the beginning of time, after God made Adam and Eve and appointed them as the original rulers of the earth.
Genesis 1:26-28 says: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,so that they may rule...
...Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.Ruleover... every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God made Adam and Eve rulers over the earth. But later they listened to Satan and submitted to him (Genesis 3:1-6). By that act of submitting to Satan, Adam and all of his lineage became Satan’s servants.
Romans 6:6 says: “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey...?” When Adam listened to Satan and obeyed him, it was like he voted for Satan to become his ruler. And we know that when parents vote for a government, then that government also rules over their children even though those children did not vote. So, in the same way, now Satan has become the ruler over the descendants of Adam too—people all over the earth. And Satan also wants to control every human government in order that every person continues to follow him and remains in his kingdom.
Satan Uses Many Powerful Weapons To Govern The Minds Of People
Long ago, kings used to fight wars to capture cities and make them part of their own kingdom. A king had to have a strong army and powerful weapons in order to win a war. Then he used his own governors to keep those people under control of his government. Satan also is fighting a war, but it’s not a physical one. He is fighting a spiritual war to keep control of the hearts and minds of humans, so he does not use the same weapons that humans fight with. Satan wants to keep people spiritually blind so they cannot see God’s truth and become part of God’s kingdom.
2 Corinthians 4:4 says: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see...”
Satan wants to keep control over everyone’s minds and thoughts. He wants to deceive people and keep them in spiritual darkness so they don’t realize he is leading them to eternal destruction. He uses many spiritual weapons or powerful tools that have the power to persuade peoples’ minds. In Ephesians 6:12 we saw that Satan has many “powers of this dark world” to deceive people and keep them in spiritual darkness in order to rule this earth. Satan uses his army of demons to govern and keep control of his government and influence people to follow his will. Now let’s look at some of the powerful weapons that Satan uses to influence people:
Governments (Matthew 4:8-9)
Riches and pleasures of the earth (Luke 8:12-14; Matthew 6:19)
Books, TV, radio, videos, newspapers, internet, computers (1 John 2:14-17)
Some parents and families (Matthew 10:21; Luke 14:26)
Some friends (1 Corinthians 15:33)
Some churches and beliefs (2 Corinthians 11:14-15; Matthew 13:38)
All these things have the power to persuade and influence people’s minds, so Satan uses them to his advantage to draw people away from God. Let’s look at these things individually.
Governments
Some governments are good and some are bad. God himself invented governments to help keep people from harming each other, but Satan wants to use governments to do the opposite. He wants to use them to lead people astray and ruin them. Sometimes governments will lead their people to fight with other countries to steal their land or for no good reason. Some governments harm innocent people or take away their freedoms. Satan has many ways to change governments and sway the thinking and decisions of the politicians, leaders and even soldiers. And if Satan is directing them, then the government will eventually influence people to become greedy, selfish or lazy and want to take advantage of others. This eventually stirs up frustrations among the people and they get angry and desperate. Many then turn to violence or theft or other kinds of sin. Satan just loves it when men turn against each other.
Business And Possessions
Satan can use things like business and stores and the strong desire to have nice possessions in order to entice people away from God. He tempts people to be completely taken up with collecting nice things, making them believe that their possessions will bring satisfaction and true happiness. So, they keep very busy, thinking only about physical things, instead of thinking about their spiritual lives. This is one of Satan’s most powerful tools everywhere in the world. It is like modern idolatry.
Books, TV, Radio, Videos, News, Internet, Computers
Many people find enjoyment in reading books or watching TV and videos or surfing the internet or playing video games. Although these things can be beneficial in some ways, there is also a great risk and danger that can go along with those activities. Satan knows that when we are enjoying ourselves and being entertained, we are much less likely to be on guard against him. So he can slowly and gradually corrupt people’s minds with different types of sin without them even knowing it. We can see this in our society today if we look back at the early history of TV for instance. In the beginning, TV shows seemed quite harmless. But over the last 60+ years, shows and videos have steadily become more and more filled with greed, hatred, crime, violence, wars, divorce, cheating and sexual sins of all sorts, to the point now that this is all considered normal. The things that entertain us as stories eventually become our standard way of life in our communities and we are no longer shocked by what we see on TV—we begin to accept it as normal. Satan uses the stories to teach evil—to entice people to covet things and lie and steal and fight and commit adultery and murder and many other sinful things. If we just look around, we’ll quickly observe that yesterday’s entertainment is today’s news. Satan is using these forms of entertainment as a powerful tool to slowly shape the minds of people without them knowing it.
Quite often, even the news producers use the news as an opportunity to teach propaganda or their own opinions to draw people in one direction or another. Satan can use this to stir up anger or strife and even lead people into new directions which are against God’s ways. Satan is often behind those ideas, and most people have no idea that he is the one in control. He often works slowly, starting when children are young, changing their ideas little by little so they don’t even know what’s happening.
Recently, cell phones, computers, the internet and video games have become a powerful influence on people—sometimes a bad influence. When we hear sinful ideas or see inappropriate pictures, these things get stuck in our minds and that affects our spiritual life. It’s like a hook in a fish’s mouth—Satan tries to hook us and make sin look very inviting. Even many believers and pastors and church leaders have fallen into sin this way and have ruined their ministry, their families and their lives because of these things. We need to be on guard and be careful how we use these things!
School And Teachers (Education)
Children are learners and usually listen to people who they think are smarter than they are—so they believe what most teachers say. Unfortunately, not all teachers are good. Not all of them teach the truth. In many schools today, teachers often mock God and his word and therefore lead students astray. They often tell their students that the Bible is a myth and that faith in God is just for uneducated people. They teach that God didn’t really create the universe and everything in our world, like trees and plants and food and animals and people. They claim that all these extremely complex living things on our earth just randomly came out of nowhere—from a big explosion—that no one can properly explain. They say that science proves evolution of life as a fact. But actually, evolution requires much more faith than creation does. Satan has invented these ridiculous lies and even smart people have fallen for them.
Romans 1:21-22 says: “…their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…”
Satan loves those kinds of teachers because he uses their teaching to draw students away from God, so they don’t believe in his word, the Bible. This started years ago in a few schools and now it has just about taken over all of them. So Satan is using some schools and teachers as a powerful way to turn students away from God.
(If you are a student and your teachers are trying to ridicule God and your faith, you can look up this website for some help: https://www.icr.org/video. The website is by Institute for Creation Research and has many videos and written tools to help you in your research. They can connect you to many professors and other knowledgeable scientific people who believe in God and can help you understand the truth—and that science doesn’t have to conflict with belief in God. It can confirm your faith even more.) Parents And Family
Even before children go to school, they learn most things from their parents by listening to them and watching what they do. They learn to trust their parents. Some parents are good about teaching their children about God and his Word, but many parents don’t know how to teach them about God and how to live godly lives. Satan also knows that children learn most from their families, so he likes to break up families, and then the children often aren’t happy and they sometimes start getting into all kinds of trouble. Satan can also use brothers and sisters and other family members to teach sinful ways to the children. Children often grow up to follow in their footsteps and turn away from God.
Friends
Friends are also one of the most common ways young people are led away from God. Satan knows that young people want to be accepted by their friends, so he can use bad friends to lead those young people and even adults astray.
Some Churches And Beliefs This may seem strange to you, but Satan can also use churches to spread error. Some churches and pastors follow God’s word very closely and teach their people well. But some have not studied God’s word very well, or they believe some false doctrines, so they follow someone else’s teaching or their own ideas. Even if a man is a good pastor and wants to follow God, Satan can use one wrong belief to confuse him. He might even start a new religious movement or cult. Then eventually the people who follow him get further and further away from truth about God. There are many false beliefs in churches around the world. Satan is the “father of lies,” so he loves that kind of deception, because people think they’re learning truth in their church and doing just fine, but actually they are being deceived by Satan’s fancy lies. We’ll talk more about Satan’s tricks within the church later.
Satan wants to blind people’s minds so they’ll turn their backs on God, so he uses all these things to entice people away from God. These are just some of the ways he exercises control over the earth. They are part of his “government” that he uses to rule over people and it is very powerful. But Satan doesn’t have total control over the earth. He can’t just do whatever he wants. Satan has an authority that is over him—a boss that he is accountable to. Satan’s “boss” is the subject of the next chapter.