This post is going to be a unique one in my series on miracles because most of the miracles we talk about showcase God having mastery over the physical creation. However, this topic is unique because there isn’t anything physical about spiritual forces. God has rule and mastery over the angelic hosts of heaven and the demonic forces of hell. Angels and demons are created beings; however, they exist on a spiritual dimension rather than the physical dimensions we operate in. Yet, they also can interact in the physical realm.
The angelic hosts are often described as stars due to their brightness, their glory, and their power. They are not creatures to be trifled with. Ezekiel 1 describes the Throne of God on some kind of chariot with wheels full of eyes. The passage also describes some of the seraphim which have six wings and four faces: one each of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. If that confuses you, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. These are powerful creatures which in their own power could readily rule or destroy the entire world. Yet, they submit to every word and command God gives.
When Jesus was arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, good old foot-in-mouth Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Jesus rebukes him and told Peter He had 12 legions of angels at His command and if He chose, He could call them to rescue Him. A legion is about 6,000 soldiers, so we are talking about 72,000 angels if not more. Jesus has command of them all.
Elisha had a view of the hosts of heaven as well. When he kept telling the king of Israel where the Syrians were moving, the king of Syria got frustrated to the point where he sent his army to hunt down one man, Elisha, so he could go about his war with Israel. Elisha’s servant woke up to see the army surrounding the village and Elisha didn’t even blink an eye. He instead asked God to open the eyes of his servant and when that happened, the servant saw the chariots of heaven surrounding the Syrians. They were rescued.
But not all the spiritual beings are good. Scripture indicates that when Satan fell, he took 1/3 of the angels with him. That’s some impressive skills of deception. Those angels had seen God and knew of His glory, His goodness, and His power, yet they sided with Lucifer in his rebellion. Demons have been going after man since creation, yet it is critical to note that none of them can force any person to do anything. The serpent didn’t hold Eve down and make her eat the fruit; he simply told her a simple lie and let her make the choice for herself.
Yet when people start following and listening to the advice demons offer, slowly but surely their own will erodes away. There is a legitimate thing called “demon possession,” when a demon takes control of a person’s body. But such possession only takes place with permission from said person. I used to watch some “haunting” shows a number of years ago, and one thing I noticed through all the possession stories and hauntings, there had to be some sort of invitation for them to be there. And to rebuke said invitation, it takes an authority higher than the one that set it up, or that authority had to be broken.
Jesus understood the authority issues regarding demons. He drove one out of a boy who was thought to be an epileptic in modern terms. Whether that was truly a medical condition for this case or the demon gave him symptoms of epilepsy is irrelevant. What is clear is that Scripture identifies the seizures as being from a demonic source. The disciples could not drive it out and yet at one word, Jesus did. Jesus had command over even the demons.
Earlier when Jesus met a demoniac, who could not be chained and lived among the tombs, the demons knew who He was and Jesus cast them out. They went into a flock of pigs and drove them into the lake to drown. Jesus had command over them. The demons had to ask permission to stick around.
There are two Old Testament accounts of how well God has control over the spiritual forces. In one instance, God summoned the angelic hosts to have one of them incite King Ahab to go to war where he could be killed. A lying spirit said he would tell Ahab’s false prophets about the success he would have, and God said that would work. So here we see God will employ even the demons to do the work He wants do.
In the other account, God and Satan had a squabble over Job. In fact, it was God who brought Job to Satan’s attention. Yet, God would not let Satan touch certain things. At first it was Job’s person: Satan could steal his wealth, houses, and family, but not his body. Then Satan could take his health, but not his life. Job passed the test, which lasted for only about a week, by not sinning with his lips against God. Everything that was stolen was restored above and beyond what he originally had.
I, too, have dealt with demonic forces. In one instance, I was wrapping up my short career at a local grocery store, witnessing to a co-worker, and in the process I stirred up a demonic stronghold in his life. That story usually takes me about an hour to tell in proper detail, but long story short, I could sense that God restrained it from physically attacking me. It very well could have and I was not interested in being another of Sceva’s seven sons. Yet, God also did not allow me to drive it out either. I don’t know why. I can only suppose that part of the issue was my co-worker did not want it out.
In another instance a couple years after this, I told that story to some friends during a retreat and that very night, I heard some animal growls near my room. At first, I thought it was someone snoring, but it was distinctly animal-like. After a few minutes, I realized what it was so I cast it out in the name of Jesus and it went dead silent. When I told my friends about that night in the morning, they reported hearing the same sounds at the same time. We were in different buildings.
God is ruler over the spiritual forces. We need not fear the demonic hosts of hell, though we should not take them lightly either. Everything is under the command of the Lord including both angels and demons. Next week, I look into how God has mastery over biological life: plants and animals.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
0 comments:
Post a Comment