CHAPTER XIII
BIBLICAL DEMONOLOGY AND DELIVERANCE
THE STUDY OF Biblical demonology reveals the important fact, that, although Scripture is remarkably reserved on some aspects of demonological thought, yet it is found to be strikingly full and detailed on some other phases of the topic. For example, in the examination of the question of the origin and the identity of demons, Scriptural reserve shows that the consideration of practical moment is not whence they came, nor precisely who they are, but that they actually do exist and that they are wicked and deleterious; they are pernicious enemies, to be ceaselessly resisted, and no "believer dare say he is exempt from peril."' In like manner, the Bible displays a noteworthy reticence in regard to such questions, involving deity and demonism, as the following: How can demonism be consistent with the goodness and wisdom of God? Why did God create beings He foreknew would sin, and be eternally doomed? If, at the outset, the universe was without sin, why did not God keep it so for all time? And, if Satan and demons are the chief cause of misery and sin, why does not God immediately remove them to some place where they can no longer perpetrate their mischief?2 But again, Scriptural reticence reveals that, while these questions involve admittedly great difficulties for finite creatures, at the best of immature spirituality and circumscribed vision and exposed to the ravages of human sin and ignorance, they are by no means questions of primary import for faith and life, and practical godliness, and, hence, are developed only in the barest outline.
In contrast, however, the subject of deliverance from Satan and demons and of immunity from their incessant and baleful attacks-so vitally and indispensably practical to man's temporal and eternal welfare-fittingly receives full and detailed treatment, not only being accorded large space and prominence on the sacred page, but also calling forth God's vast, gracious, and all efficacious redemptive plans and purposes in Christ.
A. DEMONOLOGY AND THE NEED FOR DELIVERANCE
From whatever angle Biblical demonology is approached, whether it be the existence, the identity, the origin, the numbers, or the organization of the demons, Scripture lays pre-eminent and continual stress upon one central fact: man requires deliverance and protection from these malignant and destructive creatures. No phase of the subject accentuates this urgent and inescapable need more than that dealing with the essential wicked and unclean nature of demons, and especially the irretrievable and abandoned character of their corruption.
1. DEMONISM AND THEDOCTRINE OF CONFIRMED DEPRAVITY
If, perchance, there were some faint prospect held out that Satan and the demons might some day repent of their wickedness, or some feeble hope entertained that eventually they might realize their folly and turn from their lawlessness, then need for protection and release from their disastrous machinations might not appear to be so urgent or imperative and the finished work of Christ might not seem to be so completely indispensable. But the Bible offers no such vain prospect or empty hope. Not only are Satan and his demon-helpers portrayed as utterly incorrigible, confirmed in depravity, and destined for the eternal flames of Gehenna (Matt. 25:41), but those from the human family, who follow in their lawless train and refuse God's provided way of deliverance through Christ, must suffer the same inevitable fate. The doctrine of confirmed depravity loses any aspect of singularity or unusualness when contemplated in the light of common every-day events noticed in the natural history of transgression. It is a matter of frequent observation that a sinful tendency, long indulged, becomes a fixed habit, and a fixed habit, in the course of time, becomes an unalterable destiny. When Satan and the demons yielded to temptation in their primeval defection, and became sinners, a tendency to sin, which had not previously existed, resulted. This corrupt disposition would remain forever, unless provision were made to overcome it. But it is apparent that such provisions could not be made, nor remedial agencies prove availing, so long as rebellion and a state of unrepentance continued in the hearts of the sinners.
Moreover, in the case of angelic offenders, repentance and reformation were all the more unlikely, even in the initial stages of their lawlessness, because of their deliberate, willful, and intelligent transgression in the face of the full glow of light, and the unobscured recognition of the divine goodness and perfection. This greater privilege, as wise and powerful direct creations of God, and the consequent greater responsibility involved in their fall, are doubtless prime factors in their incorrigibility and irretrievable moral and spiritual obliquity. The added fact that Satan and demons are sinners of long standing contributes further reason for the overwhelming probabilities that there will be no reformation. The advanced stages in the career of the drunkard, the gambler, and the libertine, for example, offer a similar parallel; long continuance in evil-doing seems to seal the sinner's doom. But the comparison is imperfect, for the rich grace of God (Rom. 5:20) abounds in Christ, who died to repair the damage done by Satan and his demons in the human family; and often, by virtue of the finished work of Christ, even such abandoned characters are rescued and saved as special tokens of divine love. On the other hand, the case seems quite otherwise among angelic offenders, wherein the sin and the doom of Satan and demons fall under a code of universal laws, upon the maintenance and execution of which depend the safety and permanency of the moral universe. Then, too, the special heinous and destructive character of Satan and the demons is evident, not only in the facts of their wicked and lawless nature, but also in their aggressive activity in deceiving and harming others and in winning over as many deluded adherents as possible to their God-hating and God-opposing program. In this is evidenced their deadly nature. They are not passively wicked, as if they were in a state of sullen and peevish inaction, morosely sulking under the restraints of detested divine omnipotence. But, on the contrary, they are militantly malevolent, seemingly, completely obsessed with insane optimism and the blind delusion that eventually their cause must triumph and God's program be overturned.
2. DEMONS AND THE FACT OF HUMAN PERIL
It is startling enough to realize that there are such wicked and destructive beings as Satan and demons abroad in the world, who are not only irretrievably confirmed in wickedness themselves, but assiduously bent on confirming others in the same condition. But when it is apprehended that these emissaries of evil, these malicious agents of darkness, are concentrating their energies and directing their attacks upon the human family as their target, the fact is truly appalling. Man's peril is grave. He must go down in disgraceful defeat, and be completely despoiled and ruined forever, unless he takes advantage of the salvation so graciously provided in Christ. The precise reason why Satanic and demonic hatred is directed so relentlessly against man is wrapped in mystery.
(I dont see it that way. We at least are given a chance to get to where Satan was expelled from, and I think that has a lot to do with the Satanic and Demonic Hatred aimed at men.)
It may be that Satan and certain angels were given the suzerainty over the earth when it was primevally created, and that it was in that high position of responsibility and trust that Satan first obtruded his will against the will of God (Isa. 14:12-14), bringing divine judgment and chaos upon this sphere (Gen. 1:2).
("...and certain angels"
If this explanation is true, it would account for Satan's jealousy and temptation of Edenic man (Gen.3:1-6), who was given dominion over the renewed globe (Gen. 1:28), as well as justify Satan's claim that this world belongs to him (Matt.4:8-9), and would furnish, in addition, a valuable commentary on why he is waging such a persistent war against God to retain his usurped possession of the earth.
(Makes sense, pretty compelling argument.)
Whatever may be the ultimate reason for Satan's implacable hostility toward the human family, it is certain that man, through his fall, lost his sovereignty over the earth to the usurper, and was thus alienated from his Creator. To repair the damage instigated and wrought by Satan, the Logos, the image of the invisible God, left the bosom of the Father (John 1:1, 14), took upon Himself humanity (Phil. 2:5-7), and wrought redemption, not only for man's salvation (Col. 1:14; II Cor. 5:21), but for the earth's deliverance as well (Matt. 13:44; Eph. 1:14; Rev. 5:1-10). Therefore, Satan and the demons tried, in every possible way, to tempt or to kill Christ, in order that there might not be the shedding of blood, according to the Scriptures (Matt. 2:16; 4:1-11; Luke 4:29; 22:3,44).
("Satan and the demons tried, in every possible way..."
Including (but not mentioned here)
the mingling of the blood lines.
Which explains:
"Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations"
Genesis 6:9 and a host of other verses.
Romans 5:17
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one (Adam);
much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
The bloodline had to go from Adam to Christ,
Satan knew it, so why wouldn't he try and interrupt it?)
The same intense opposition, shown against Christ, is manifested against all believers united to Him, and who are one "in Him" (Eph. 6:10, 12).
"Israel, moreover, as God's elect nation, in whom He is to consummate His plan on the earth, is marked as a special target for diabolic fury (Rev. 12:13-17). Those whom Satan alienated and turned from God when he seduced the human race, he holds with a fierce and tenacious grip, and relentlessly fights to keep them from cleansing salvation provided in Christ (Col. 1:13-14; II Tim. 2:26). No one in the human family, whether saint or sinner, is exempt from Satan's incessant attacks, and salvation and safety are to be found only in the blood of Christ (Rev. 12:11). Temporal and eternal ruin must inevitably be the portion of all who do not avail themselves of the divinely provided way of escape (Rev. 20:15).
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