Satan, you ain't all that--you just ain't

Satan is simply a prince, this inferior royalty, and he’s "the god of this world" only in the sense that the world worships him.

“Don’t overstate the authority he has,” says Columbus, Ohio Preacher David Reid. “The psalmist says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.’ It’s not the case that because Adam sinned, all of a sudden now Satan gets to run everything and God just says, ‘Oh, yeah, too bad, I used to have control over the universe but now I guess it’s yours, Satan.’ It doesn’t work that way.

“Remember how Genesis 1 talked about man having dominion over animals? Well, if man’s dominion transferred to Satan at the fall of Adam and Eve, then Satan would have dominion over animals, right? Wrong. God says in Psalm 50, [10] For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
[11] I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
[12] If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

*****

II Chronicles 36:23 says, [23] Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

“Where does Cyrus get all the kingdoms of the earth? From God the Father. Even though Satan has these middle managers--these folks that have intermediate authority--who is the one determining when kingdoms rise and fall? God the Father.

“Even Satan’s influence over kingdoms is limited because God decides what kingdoms are going to be in place at a given time. He decides the extent of their authority. He decides how long they last.

“When Paul’s dealing with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he says ‘[27] For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

“The key to having an understanding of what’s going on in the Scriptures is not to take one verse and just run with it in all kinds of directions. The key is to take that verse and the dozens and dozens and dozens of other verses and reach a conclusion that reflects the whole counsel of God.

"Look at Job 41:11: [11] Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.’ God has all of it. It’s all His. It will never stop being His.

*****

Job 1:6-7 says, [6] Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. [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.

“What happens in God’s government of the heavens is 'the sons of God,' the angelic beings, come to present themselves before the Lord and Satan comes with them. The point is, Satan had to account to God. Satan is not off in a part of the universe doing his own thing and he just says, ‘I’m ignoring God because, you know, I’ll do whatever I want.’

“Verses 8-10 say: [8] And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
[9] Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? [10] Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

“Are these events in Job the result of Satan’s initiative or God’s initiative? God’s the one who says, ‘Hey, Satan, have you considered my servant Job?’ And Satan’s response to that is, ‘Well, look, you put a hedge about him.’ Well, what does that mean? That means God did something Satan couldn’t do anything about, right?

“In other words, Satan is saying, ‘Well, sure, God, Job worships you and follows you because you’ve ordered his life and you have this hedge about him and you’ve blessed him.’ What does that tell you about Satan’s dominion? Apparently it ain’t that great! Because God just does what He wants! Isn’t that what the verses are saying?

“Verse 11: [11] But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. Satan says, ‘See, God, if you would just do this, then Job would curse you.’

"Verse 12 tells us ‘the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.’ Until God said that, it wasn’t, right? There was a hedge. ‘Only upon himself put not forth thine hand.’ As the verse ends, ‘So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.’

“What did God just do? He said, ‘Satan, I’m going to give you authority to do A, B and C but not D.’ Isn’t that what just happened? Satan’s not the unilateral decision-maker here, is the point. He’s not the ultimate authority deciding things. God’s saying, ‘I’ll give you authority to do this and this, but you can’t do that.’

******

“What Job 1 tells you is Satan is basically just a middle manager. He’s not making the big decisions; he’s making the small decisions AFTER God has already laid out what the rules are.

Job 2:1 says, [1] Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

“In other words, Satan comes back again because he has to account to God the Father. Job 2:2-3 says, [2] And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
[3] And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

“God says, ‘Satan, I gave you authority to do what you wanted; you moved me to destroy him without cause and it didn’t do anything.’ Satan moved him to do it but God had to make a decision. If God hadn’t made the decision, Satan wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“The passage continues, [4] And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
[5] But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
[6] And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

“Again, here’s another example. Satan’s saying, ‘You didn’t give me enough authority. If I could have caused him personal harm, he would have changed.’ And God says, ‘Okay, I’ll give you a little bit more authority, but not all that you want.’

“If you read just those two chapters, Satan has limited authority and it is defined by God. Satan is not making the ultimate decisions. It’s clear as can be.

*****

“I Kings 22 says, ‘And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
[21] And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
[22] And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

“Notice what happens is the Lord has decided He wants Ahab to fall at Ramoth-gilead, so He’s having a conversation with the heavenly occupants. There’s different ideas suggested and one says, ‘I’ll go be a lying spirit.’ What’s happening here is this inferior devil is volunteering for a job; he’s not making a decision.

“Then you see what verse 23 says about it: [23] Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. The devil went and did that act, but who was the person who decided it would happen? The Lord had decided it.

“What all this is telling you is, the devil and his minions play roles. They go do things God has decided He wants done, but that’s because God has given them limited authority so that they can carry out the decisions God wants.

*****

“As you teach this material, people will say, ‘Well, wait a minute, what about in II Corinthians 4:4 where he’s called [the god of this world]?’

“What I would tell you about that is, if 12 verses tell you Satan can’t do something and one verse says he’s ‘the god of this world,’ and on the basis of that one verse you conclude he can do a whole bunch of things the other verses say he can’t, you’re not thinking about it very clearly.

“Let’s walk through some verses that describe the power and influence Satan has over this earth.

"Luke 4 is a common one people quote as to how Satan has control or ownership and dominion over the earth. Luke 4:5-6: [5] And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
[6] And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

“In some sense, Satan has influence over these kingdoms, but look with me at John 12:31: ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.’ There’s some other verses in John that also refer to Satan as the prince of this world, so whatever Satan’s role is he is a prince of this world.

“Ephesians 2:2 says, ‘Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.’ Here he’s described as ‘the prince of the power of the air.’ In I Corinthians 2 he’s described as ‘one of the princes of this world.’

“Look with me at Ephesians 6:12: ‘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.’ So what Satan and his minions are described as is they’re principalities, they’re powers, they’re rulers of the darkness of this world.

*****

“Daniel 7:25 says, ‘And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.’

“This is the beast that has power during the tribulation. Look at verse 26: [26] But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

“If you look at that verse, one of the things you can say is, ‘Well, look, the beast has a dominion there. Doesn’t that prove that Satan has control over the earth?’ I say, ‘Doesn’t that verse prove the exact opposite?!’ What does it say?

“Notice in verse 25 it says ‘and they shall be given into his hand.’ If they are given into his hand at that point in time, guess what they weren’t prior to that? They weren’t given into his hand. You see what’s going on there?

“Does the beast have a dominion? Yes, he does. He has it for a discreet period of time because it’s given unto him and then, in verse 27, it’s obviously taken away from him: [27] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

“But the point is Satan hasn’t had it for 6,000 years. That’s given to him for a very specific reason according to God’s purpose.

*****

“First, let’s look at Satan being a prince. The second definition of a ‘prince’ in the 1828 Webster Dictionary says, ‘A sovereign in a certain territory; one who has the government of a particular state or territory, but holds of a superior to whom he owes certain services.’

“Is the prince there the ultimate authority, or is someone else? The prince is an intermediate position. I'm not saying it’s not a significant position, but it’s not the ultimate position.

"The third definition of a prince is that it’s 'the son or king of an emperor.' So can there be more than one prince in a kingdom? There can be many. They have authority that’s defined in some fashion, but whatever authority they hold is accountable to a greater power.

“So when Satan is the prince the power of the air, or he’s the prince of this world, or he’s one of the principalities and powers, it tells you he has authority, but what is it telling you at the exact same time? He doesn’t have ultimate authority.

*****

"This is fascinating. Genesis 6:1-2 says, [1] And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
[2] That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

“The ‘sons of God’ there are fallen angels. They are angels who have left their first estate. What’s the reason angels cohabit with women to produce giants? Genesis 3:16.

"God says to the serpent, ‘You’re going to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, but the seed of the woman is going to crush your head.’ So Satan says, ‘Thank you for that piece of information. You’ve now told me where the attack is coming from so I can now try to prevent it from occurring.'

“Genesis 6 is the satanic response to what the Lord had said in Genesis 3. What Genesis 3 tells you is that even the fallen angels can be referred to as ‘the sons of God.’ What was one of the definitions of a prince? It’s ‘the son of a king.’ So is it reasonable to refer to an angelic authority as a prince? Yeah.

“Daniel 6:1 says, ‘It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom.’ A prince is a meaningful role, but it’s nothing like a king. In fact, in this kingdom there were at least 120 princes. There’s a lot more than that, I believe, in the heavenly kingdom God has.

“The mere fact that Satan is referred to as a ‘prince’ tells you that he’s actually not running things! He’s one of MANY and he accounts to someone.

*****

“Daniel 9:25 says, [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

“You see it’s Messiah the Prince with a capital ‘P’? Who’s that? Jesus Christ. Is He maybe different from other princes? Yeah, He’s the Prince of princes. He’s the King of kings. He’s the Lord of lords. When it says he’s Messiah the Prince, He’s a prince like no other.

"Verse 26: [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

“In these two verses you have the Lord Jesus Christ and you have Satan and they’re both princes, but they are different princes, aren’t they?

*****

“As I said before, people get the idea from II Corinthians 4:4 that Satan’s obviously running things, but that’s a misunderstanding of what the word ‘god’ is. Philippians 3:18 says, ‘For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)'

“If that verse is true, that means people’s bellies are gods. That doesn’t mean their bellies are running the universe. The word ‘god’ doesn’t mean that you’re running the universe. The word ‘god’ is a reference to the fact of something that’s being worshipped. Some people make idols of stone, wood and so on. Those wooden or stone gods don’t do anything. You see the point?

“When II Corinthians 4:4 says Satan is ‘the god of this world,’ it doesn’t mean he owns the earth, because, as Psalms 24 says, [1] The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

“What the verse tells you is the world worships Satan and that’s entirely different. The world worships a lot of things it shouldn’t that may or may not have any power. So the fact that he’s the god of this world doesn’t mean that he’s running things.

*****

"What about the fact that Satan has kingdoms? Daniel 10:13 says, ‘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.’

“In the passage, Daniel prays and doesn’t get an answer for a period of time—three weeks. The prince of the kingdom of Persia is not a man, it’s an angelic authority. God sends Gabriel to deliver a message to Daniel but the prince says, ‘Hey, you can’t come in,’ so Gabriel’s stuck there and can’t get through. So what happens? Michael, one of the chief princes, comes over and says, ‘Do we have a problem here?’ and the prince of Persia says, ‘Oh, okay, you can go.’

“What does that tell you about the prince of Persia? He’s inferior to Michael, isn’t he? The prince had authority to say to Gabriel, ‘You can’t come in,’ except then Gabriel went to his supervisor.

“My point is, what happens with these angelic princes, or devilish princes, as the case may be, is they have some authority, but you understand it’s a limited authority and they can be overruled and that’s exactly what happened to the prince of Persia.

“When Satan says he has the kingdoms of this world, well, he’s right in a fashion. The prince of Persia reported to Satan and so did the prince of Grecia. God had delegated authority in the universe, so there were principalities and powers that had authority over them.

“When Satan offers those to the Lord Jesus Christ, he can offer them in the sense that Satan currently controls them and has influence over them. But there’s the bottom line, folks. That authority he has, No. 1, he’s still accountable to God and, No. 2, Jesus Christ is polite and doesn’t say this to Satan, but when Jesus Christ wants those kingdoms, what’s He going to do? He’s going to take them and He’s not going to ask for permission!”