A biblical examination of evil spirits and the personification of human sin.
Titus 1:13-14
13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. (Titus 1:13-14, KJV)
Please consider 2 Peter, beginning at v10 where Peter argues. ‘We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty’
He goes on to denounce false teaching in 2 Peter 2:1, who will ‘introduce destructive heresies’
Peter then launches into the ‘If’s’ of verses 2 Peter 2:4-9 beginning with 2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2 Peter 2:4, KJV)
It is easily established that the New Testament term angel does not necessarily mean a heavenly angel: Acts 12:13-15
13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14 And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. (Acts 12:13-15, KJV)
Since these men considered Peter to be a spirit, and not a man, but a ghost, or a doppelganger, and called these an angel, it is clear that that term angel does not automatically mean an angel of God. Rather the expression is used in a broader sense, to include ghosts. Hence sinful angels are not necessarily fallen angels, since to be called an angel does not automatically imply that a spirit is or was of God.
In 1 Kings 22 were the prophet Micaiah describes his vision to Ahab king of Israel:
19 ‘I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and left. 20 And the Lord said ‘who will lure Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there? 21“One suggested this another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will lure him’ 22“By what means?’ the Lord asked “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “You will succeed in luring him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ (1 Kings 22:19-22, KJV)
To some this vision if difficult, this is because they fail to understand that there is ‘One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.’ [Ephesians 4:6] Indeed Paul testifies in Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being;..
Such confusion exists because people think heaven to be a place, with boundaries and limits, rather than a state of being.
That is as David observes;
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139:7-8 (Psalm 139:7-8, KJV)
God is omnipresent, and in heaven this means all the spiritual realms or heavens, are visible to him, and he is present within them [just as God is present throughout the physical cosmos] as Paul observes in 2 Corinthians 12:2: I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven’.
Evil spirits are exist in the spiritual realms, and are visible to God.
In Job 1:6 we read ‘Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them’. This is not to say that Satan is simply an evil spirit like the lying spirit of Micaiah vision, but that Satan is a spiritual entity, and is therefore before God whether in the heavens, that is the spirit realms, or on earth for Satan’s natural state and origin is roaming through the earth [Job 1:7] And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’ And Satan’s opportunity to come before God is facilitated by the Sons of God presenting themselves before God.
Understanding that these sons of God are not angels, but righteous men through faith in God, who like Job were even then able to say ‘For I know that my redeemer liveth,’: [Job 19:25] we can appreciate that their angels are continually before the face of God
Matthew 18:10 10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10, KJV)
Among these Sons of God, not angels, was Satan. This day of presentation can only be the time when these men met together to present themselves in worship. Yet among them was Satan who as a spirit being was able to present himself to God, much like the lying spirit in Micaiah’s vision. Where do these spirits come from?
Lets look at another example:
1 Samuel 16:14-16 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. (1 Samuel 16:14-16, KJV)
As in Micaiah vision the evil spirit comes from God, that is the spirit is unable to act without God’s permission, in Kings 22:22 God says ‘Go and do it’ again Satan in Job requires God’s permission to act. The harp player is of course David and we later read:
1 Samuel 18:9-11 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 11 And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. (1 Samuel 18:9-11, KJV)
The question as to why an evil spirit trouble Saul is answered here:
1 Samuel 15:23-24 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (1 Samuel 15:23-24, KJV)
Basically the evil spirit was visited upon Saul because of sin. We will examine this relationship in greater detail, but it is sufficient for now to recognize the work of these messengers of evil, that is evil angels in scripture.
Returning to 2 Peter 2:4, we read how these sinful angels are because of their sin in Tartarus. This distinction is vital, even if you insist that these angels are not by nature evil, but are heavenly angels that are fallen, it matters not, as Peter v4 observes that ‘God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.’ This is a rebuke to those who promoted the book of Enoch, which pretends that heavenly angels fall, and rebukes those that teach that fallen angels are a danger to us; such are not but are chained. Thus if Satan is a fallen angel, or simply a spirit that sins then Satan is held in ‘chains of darkness’, and is not free to roam as in Job, or indeed as in 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8, KJV)
Peter then further warns [2 Peter 2:10-11] ‘Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.’
Peter observes angels, that is not to say fallen angels, but spiritual beings which maybe by nature evil, which are inescapably before the omnipresent Jesus, do not slander’ that is ‘speak evil’, that is falsely accuse celestial beings. This warning not to slander celestial beings should echo loudly in our hearts and minds when we consider the fable of the fallen cherub.
Cherubim are closely associated with the Lord Jesus, Ezekiel, from whose writing the myth is derived, describes them thus: ‘Wherever the Spirit would go they would go, without turning as they went, [Ezekiel 1:12] going on to say ‘And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: [Ezekiel 1:24]’
Animated by God’s spirit, sounding as his voice, it is a being such as these that fable purports rebelled against God. Yet scripture is clear such beings are not independent of the Spirit, but directed, being as the voice of God, they are angels - literally messengers, the spiritual equivalent to the tongue of God, the spiritual mechanism by which the word of God is carried,
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. [Psalm 18:10] (Psalm 18:10, KJV)
Such beings exists solely because of this purpose, rebellion requires independence of thought, no such independence is suggested by Ezekiel, rather an absolute dependence on the Spirit of God for both motion and direction.
In short the spiritual Cherubim of God cannot be equated with physical cherub described in Ezekiel 28:12-19
V12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
In verse 12 the person is identified as the King of Tyre, a human title that describes a physical man, who was ‘full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.’ ‘..Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations..’ [Gen 6.9] There was nothing supernatural about Noah either. Usually the Hebrew translated as perfect in both Genesis and Ezekiel, is rendered ‘without blemish’, this is a measure of physical
... (continuing the detailed argument from the source text about the physical king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28, not a cherub falling, but human iniquity; the origin of devils from human sin as per Isaiah 59, Deuteronomy 32, etc.; Satan as the personification/idol of collective human evil; corporate spirits like nations, Jerusalem, Legion, the beast; tying back to 2 Peter, Job, etc.)
In conclusion we have seen that evil spirits originate from the thoughts, words and deeds of men.
Now we must conclude with the origin and true nature of Satan. Paul has already revealed to us the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4, KJV)
Remember 1 Chronicles 16:25-26
25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. (1 Chronicles 16:25-26, KJV)
The god of this world is an idol – a construct, something that is created by man and worshipped by man. In this sense Satan is constantly renewed and empowered by sin, that leads to death, which is the devils power – not of himself but by sin through man, his angels, the evil spirits that come from him, by man’s evil intents given form. As the personification of man’s evil, the devil has actual form, and as a spirit being possess a personality in keeping with his nature.
To understand this let’s look at examples of corporate entities.
Ezekiel 22:3-4 3 Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself. 4 Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries. (Ezekiel 22:3-4, KJV)
Here Jerusalem is has identity, it sheds blood, and defiles itself with idols.
This concept is seen in Isaiah 29:1-2
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. (Isaiah 29:1-2, KJV)
Where Ariel = Jerusalem, literally Lion of God.
Judges 20:1
Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh. (Judges 20:1, KJV)
Nehemiah 8:1
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. (Nehemiah 8:1, KJV)
This idea of corporate identity might be dismissed by the un-spiritual as metaphor, as poetic license; that these cities did not possess an actual corporate spirit, that Israel was united in common interest, mutual agreement. Yet our very understanding of the body of Christ the Church, is built upon the principle of spiritual unity.
More over Daniel recounts in chapter 10, a vision of a heavenly being; this angel spoke to him, and in saying in v13 ‘But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia’. And later the same angel explains V20 ‘Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. 21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.’
Who are these princes? Clearly the being Daniel is speaking with is spiritual, and the conflict is likewise spiritual, these nations first Persia and then Greece, like Israel, indeed even Jerusalem, possess a collective spirit. Such is revealed to Daniel as princes, Michael being the prince of Israel.
Lets look at another example on a much smaller scale.
Luke 8:27-31 27 And when [Jesus] went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) 30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. 31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. (Luke 8:27-31, KJV)
Jesus knew exactly who and what confronted him, -remember Jesus knew the thoughts of men - in asking the demon its name, Jesus sought to demonstrate what manner of spirit had tormented this poor man, the name the demon gave not only shows that many devils can enter a man, but more importantly they behave as a single corporate entity; note that Luke records v29 that Jesus had commanded the evil spirit, that is one spirit, [knowing full well the true nature of this spirit] to come out of the man. Luke also tell us that the man broke his bonds and ‘was driven of the devil’ that is one devil into the wilderness. Yet this demon or unclean spirit, was a collective entity made up of many spirits, [a Roman Legion numbered some 6,000]
Jesus also taught about the nature of Satan saying ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.’ John 12:31
Just as Daniel revealed that nations collectively were personified by spirit beings, that are princes, so Jesus reveals that the fallen world is also personified in spirit, this prince is Satan.
Paul further teaches this truth [Ephesians 6:10-12]
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:10-12, KJV)
As Christians we wrestle even with the spirit of nations – principalities; and with the spirit of the fallen world – the devil
John’s testimony agrees with this, and Jesus shows us in Revelation that the actions of man’s government are analogous to Satan’s saying
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10 (Revelation 2:10, KJV)
Physically it was the Roman or otherwise governing authorities that imprisoned and abused them, but because Satan is as Satan does, and because Satan is an idol, a construct of man, - men’s evil actions are devilish, giving body, and building up their prince.
Jesus demonstrated this.- Matthew 16:22-23
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew 16:22-23, KJV)
Peter was Satan here; there is no need to put words in the Saviour’s mouth, to excuse or explain his statement, Peter’s words were satanic, they were adversarial - going against Jesus’ express purpose. Since evil intent, unintentional though it maybe, is the very substance of the idol that is the god prince of this world, so it was that Peter was by his words condemned, he was Satan in this moment.
Satan is among us, just as he was among the Sons of God in Job, because Satan comes from us. You only have to read Satan’s protestations to God about how he protected and favoured Job to recognise the voices of jealous thoughts and words from among Job’s peers. Does not James warn us thus?
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:6 (James 3:6, KJV)
Here is the truth if you would have it, the god of this world is an idol, the same is the prince of this world, the personification of fallen man, just as legion was many spirits united in purpose, just as the princes of Persia and Greece personified the nations that gave rise to them, so collectively the sinful world gives rise to its own prince, iniquity given form, whose greatest lie of many lies, is that he is a true god, a being of power and influence, but in truth the only power the devil ever possessed is that ceded to him by men, God permitting.
The crux of the matter is this, to give worship is acknowledging power and authority.
Isaiah 42:8 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. (Isaiah 42:8, KJV)
If any power or authority is suggested or pretended, given over to the devil, then it is glory taken from God, the god of this world is an idol, and to suggest that the devil has power of his own is to worship this idol. There is no room in Christ Jesus for the pagan idolatry of dualism. God alone has authority and power, and we are his children, from God comes forth the good, and from our rebellion evil. There is no room for another god.
Peace
Charles