Thursday, March 7, 2024

The origin of Satan and his companion, demons, devils is not explicitly told in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. Perhaps, there is 'No' and 'Never' have an original: it is very likely they are created and made by the Almighty God. As a result of his original status and authority, Satan has great power and dignity. But its speaks of the fall and later imprisonment of a group of angels. The group that participated in the fall apparently followed one of their own number, Satan. The fall occurred before God's Creation of the world, leaving Satan and his angels free to contaminate the human race with wickedness, villainous and diabolical in nature.  

Our inmost heart and yearnings of the love and quest for God is essentially the search for the full account and meaning of life. Would we not find that every heart and mind and soul in creation desires it. But there is ONE thing certain that our LIFE can never and be completely under our control. We desire life, truth and love, but do we find them in their plenitude on this earth? Do we carry within ourselves the energy, the force, and the power to realize them to the highest degree? Are we such masters and captains of our fate that we may give to ourselves an overflowing measure of these most precious of all gifts? We possess a fraction of life, a fraction of truth, and a fraction of love, but do we possess them in their fullness?  

The Hebrew word from which Satan comes sometimes refers to human enemies. "Give him a venal judge, find someone to frame the charge; let him be tried and found guilty, let his prayer be construed as a crime!" - Psalms 109:6-7 - Once it refers to the angel of God who opposed Balaam. "His going kindled the wrath of Yahweh and the angel of Yahweh took his stand on the road to bar his way. He was riding his donkey and his two servants were with him. Now the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing on the road, a drawn sword in his hand, and she turned off the road and made off across country. But Balaam beat her to turn her back on the road. The angel of Yahweh then took his stand on a narrow path among the vineyards, with a wall to the left. The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and brushed against the wall, grazing Balaam's foot. Balaam beat her again.

The angel of Yahweh moved and took up his stand in a place so narrow that there was no room to pass, right or left. When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam. Balaam flew into a rage and beat her with his stick.

Then Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, who said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you? Why beat me three times like this?' Balaam answered the donkey, 'Because you are playing the fool with me! If I have a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.' The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey, and have I not been your mount from your youth? In all this time, have I ever failed to serve you?' He answered, 'No'.

Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam. He saw the angel of Yahweh standing on the road, a drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down and fell prostrate on his face. And the angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Why did you beat your donkey three times like that? I myself had come to bar your way; while I am your road is blocked. The donkey saw me and turned aside from me three times. You are lucky she did turn aside, or I should have killed you by now, though I would have soared her.' Balaam answered the angel of Yahweh, 'I have sinned.' I did not know you were standing in my path. However, if you are angry with me, I will go back.' The angel of Yahweh answered Balaam, 'Go with these men, but only say what I tell you to say.' So Balaam went to the chiefs sent by Balak."  - Numbers 22:22-35 - 

But whenever this word (Satan) is used as a proper name in the Old Testament, it refers to the great superhuman enemy of God, human beings, all good. - Job - Chapter 1-2:1-13 - There was once a man in the land of Uz called Job: a sound and honest man who feared God and shunned evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him........... One day the Sons of God came to attend on Yahweh, and among them was Satan. So Yahweh said to Satan, 'Where have you been?' 'Round the earth,' Satan answered 'roaming about.' So Yahweh asked him, 'Did you notice my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth: a sound and honest man who fears God and shuns evil.' 'Yes,' Satan said 'but Job is not God-fearing for nothing, is he? Have you not put a wall round him and his house and all his domain? You have blessed all he undertakes, and his flocks throng the countryside. But stretch out your hand and lay a finger on his possessions: I warrant you, he will curse you to your face.' 'Very well,' Yahweh said to Satan 'all he has is in your power. But keep your hands off his person.' So Satan left the presence of Yahweh.

On the day when Job's sons and daughters were at their meal and drinking wine at their eldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job. 'Your oxen' he said... He had not finished speaking when another messenger arrived. 'The fire of God' he said 'has fallen from the heavens and burnt up all your sheep, and your shepherds too. I alone escaped to tell you.' He had not finished speaking when another messenger arrived 'The Chaldaeans,' he said 'three bands of them, have raided your camels and made off with them. Your servants they put to the sword: I alone escaped to tell you.' He had not finished speaking when another messenger arrived. 'Your sons and daughters' he said... when suddenly from the wilderness a gale sprang up,... They are dead: I alone escaped to tell you. Job rose and tore his gown and shaved his head. Then falling to the ground he worshipped and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return. Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back. Blessed be the name of Yahweh!'

In all this misfortune Job committed no sin nor offered any insult to God. Once again the Sons of God came to attend on Yahweh, and among them was Satan. So Yahweh said to Satan, 'Where have you been?' Round the earth,' he answered 'roaming about.'...... 'Very well,' Yahweh said to Satan 'he is in your power. But spare his life.' So Satan left the presence of Yahweh.... The news of all disasters that had fallen on Job came to the ears of three of his friends.............. II.  THE DIALOGUE - A. FIRST SERIES OF SPEECHES - Job 3:1-26 - Confidence in God - Job 4:1-21; 5:1-27 - Only the sufferer knows his own grief - Job 6:1-30; 7:1-21 - The unswerving course of God's justice - Job 8:1-22 - God's justice is above all law - Job 9:1-35; 10:1-22 - Job must acknowledge God's wisdom - 11:1-20 - God's wisdom is best seen in the dreadful works of his omnipotence - Job 12:1-25; 13:1-28; 14:1-22 - B. SECOND SERIES OF SPEECHES - Job 15:1-35 - The injustice of man and the justice of God - 16:1-22; 17:1-16 - Anger is powerless against the course of justice - Job 1:21 - Faith is its height is desertion - Job 19:1-29 - The course of justice admits of no exception - Job 20:1-29 - Facts give the lie - Job 21:1-34 - C. THIRD SERIES OF SPEECHES - God punishes only to vindicate justice - Job 22:1-30 - God is far off, and evil is victorious - Job 23:1-17; 24:1-25 - A hymn to God's omnipotence - Job 25:1-6; 26:1-14 - Bildad's words are empty - Job 1-4 - Job reaffirms his innocence while acknowledging God's power - Job 27:1-24 - D. A HYMN IN PRAISE OF WISDOM - Wisdom is beyond man's reach - Job 28:1-28 - E. CONCLUSION OF THE DIALOGUE - Job's lament and final defence - a. His former happiness - Job 29:1-20 - b. His present misery - Job 30:1-31 - Job's apologia - 31:1-40b - III. THE SPEECHES OF ELIHU - Elihu joins the discussion - Job 32:1-22 - Job's presumption - Job 33:1-33 - The three Sages have failed to justify God - Job 34:1-37 - God is not indifferent to what happens on earth - Job 35:1-16 - The real meaning of Job's sufferings - Job 36:1-33; 37:1-24 - IV. THE SPEECHES OF YAHWEH - First SPEECH - Job must bow to the creator's wisdom - Job 38:1-41; 39:1-30; 40:1-5 - SECOND SPEECH - God is master of the forces of evil - Job 1:27; 41:1-25 - Job's final answer - Job 42:1-17 - V. EPILOGUE - Yahweh rebukes the three Sages -

V. EPILOGUE - Yahweh rebukes the three Sages -

When Yahweh had said all this to Job, he turned to Eliphaz of Teman. 'I burn with anger against you and your two friends' he said 'for not speaking truthfully about me as my servant Job has done. So now find seven bullocks and seven rams, and take them back with you to my servant Job and offer a holocaust for yourselves, while Job, my servant, offers prayers for you. I will listen to him with favour and excuse your folly in not speaking of me properly as my servant Job as done.' Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah and Zophar of Naamath went away to do as Yahweh had ordered, and Yahweh listened to Job with favour.

Yahweh restored Job's fortunes, because he had prayed for his friends. More than that, Yahweh gave him double what he had before. And all his brothers and all his sisters and all his friends of former times came to see him and sat down at table with him. They showed him every sympathy, and comforted him for all the evils Yahweh had inflicted on him. Each of them gave him a silver coin, and each a gold ring. Yahweh blessed Job's new fortune even more than his first one. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters; his first daughter he called 'Turtledove', the second 'Cassia' and the third 'Mascara'. Throughout the land there were no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them inheritance rights like their brothers. 

After his trials, Job lived on until he was a hundred and forty years old, and saw his children and his children's children up to fourth generation. Then Job died, an old man and full of days. - Job 42:7-17 -

This use of the word also occurs frequently in the New Testament, for example; The devil offered the world to Jesus if He would worship him, but Jesus refused and replied, "Be off," Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone. Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him. - Luke 4:10-11 -

In the Old Testament, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 furnish a picture of Satan's original condition and the reasons for his loss of position. These passages were addressed originally to the kings of Babylon and Tyre. But in the long range implications, they were refer to Satan himself. They tell of an exalted angelic being, one of God's creatures who became proud and ambitious. He determined to take over the throne of God to himself. Hence, God removed him from his position of great dignity and honour. Building up upon this foundation - Revelation chapter 12 sketches the further stages in Satan's work of evil. In his fall from God's favor, Satan persuaded one third of the angels to join him in his rebellion.

How did you come to fall from the heavens,
Daystar, son of Dawn?
How did you come to be thrown to the ground,
you who enslaved the nations?
You who used to think to yourself,
"I will climb up to the heavens;
and higher than the stars of God
I will set my throne.
I will sit on the Mount of Assembly
in the recesses of the north.
I will climb to the top of thunderclouds,
I will rival the Most High."
What! Now you have fallen to Sheol
to the very bottom of the abyss! - Isaiah 14:12-15 -

The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, Son of man, raise a dirge over the king of Tyre. Say to him, The Lord Yahweh says this: You were once an exemplar of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty;
you were in Eden, in the Garden of God.
A thousand gems formed your mantle.
Sard, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx,
jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, emerald,
the gold of which your flutes and tambourines are made,
all were prepared on the day of your creation.

I had provided you with a guardian cherub;
you were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked amid red-hot coals.
Your behaviour was exemplary from the day of your creation
until the day when evil was first found in you.

Your busy trading
has filled you with violence and sin.
I have thrown you down from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub has destroyed you from amid the coals.
Your heart has grown swollen with pride
on account of your beauty.
You have corrupted your wisdom
owing to your splendour.
I have thrown you to the ground;
I have made you a spectacle for other kings.

By the immense number of your sins,
by the dishonesty of your trading,
you have defiled your sanctuaries.
I have brought fire out of you to consume you.
I have made you ashes on the ground
before the eyes of all who saw you.
Of the nations, all who know you
are lost in amazement over you.
You are an object of terror;
gone for ever. - Ezekiel 28:11-19 -

Throughout the Old Testament period Satan sought to destroy the messianic line. When the Messiah / Jesus Christ became a man [fully human] Satan tried to eliminate Him.

Demons, devils, evils, are force that opposes God and His work of righteousness in the world. They also creates and invokes disturbance to the harmonious order of the universe. But the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible make it plain that even the so called 'physical demons', physical devils', physical evils', are the result of a far more serious moral and spiritual evil that began with the "Fall" of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. - Genesis chapter 3 -

In other words: Demons, devils, evils, are fallen angels who joined the kingdom of Satan in rebellion against God. Since Satan fall, the adversary of God and His plan of righteousness and redemption in the world. Satan has opposed God's plan to establish His kingdom on earth. The first thing, Satan did was to influenced and tricked Eve, in order to use human being to establish his kingdom rather than God's kingdom.

The ultimate source of demon, devil, evil in the world is Satan, also called 'the Wicked one' or 'the Evil one.' Thus, these fallen angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and human beings, and Satan is his name, and devil is what he is - the accuser and deceiver. The Wicked one, Evil one, this phrase depicts the devil's fundamental nature, and he is the source of all evil and wickedness. The devil is people's worst enemy because he was a murderer from the beginning are strong words from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. - John 8:44 - Starting with Eve, the devil has attempted to deceive every living soul. Ironically, evil also comes from the hearts of human beings.

Jesus called the people to him again and said, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.'

When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questions him about the parable. He said to them, 'Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?' (Thus, he pronounced all foods cleans) And he went on, 'It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and made a man unclean.' - Mark 7:14-23 -

The earth grew corrupt in God's sight, and filled with violence. God contemplated the earth: it was corrupt, for corrupt were the ways of all flesh on the earth. God said to Noah, The end has come for all things of flesh; I have decided this, because the earth is full of violence of human's making and I will efface them from the earth. At the times, only part of the fallen angels took part in the wickedness at the time of the Flood...... - Genesis 6:1-13 -

As there were false prophets in the past history of our people, so you too will have your false teachers, who will insinuate their own disruptive views and disown the Master who purchased their freedom. They will destroy themselves very quickly; but there will be many who copy their shameful behaviour and the Way of Truth will be brought into disrepute on their account. They will eagerly try to buy you for themselves with insidious speeches, but for them the Condemnation, pronounced so long ago, is at its work already, and Destruction is not asleep.

When angels sinned, God did not spare them: he sent them down to the underworld and consigned them to the dark underground caves to be held there till the day of Judgment. Nor did he spare the world in ancient times: it was only Noah he saved, the preacher of righteousness, along with seven others, when he sent the Flood over a disobedient world. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, these too he condemned and reduced to ashes; he destroyed them completely, as a warning to anybody lacking reverence in the future; he rescued Lot, however, a holy man who had been sickened by the shameless way in which these vile people behaved - for that holy man, living among them, was outraged in his good soul by the crimes that he saw and heard of everyday. These are all examples of how the Lord can rescue the good man from the ordeal, and hold the wicked for their punishment until the day of Judgment, especially those who are governed by their corrupt bodily desires and have no respect for authority.

Next he will say to those on his left hand, Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.- Matthew 25:41 -

Such self-willed people with no reverence are not afraid of offending against the glorious ones, but the angels in their strength and power make no complaint or accusation against them in front of the Lord. All the same, these people who only insult anything that they do not understand are not reasoning beings, but simply animals born to be caught and killed, and they will quite certainly destroy themselves by their own work of destruction, and get their reward of evil for the evil that they do. They are unsightly blots on your society: men whose only object is dissipation all day long, and they amuse themselves deceiving you even when they are your guests at a meal; with their eyes always looking for adultery, men with an infinite capacity for sinning, they will seduce any soul which is at all unstable. Greed is the one lesson their minds have learnt. They are under a curse.

They have left the right path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam son of Beor, who thought he could profit best of sinning, until he was called to order for his faults. The dumb donkey put a stop to that prophet's madness when it talk like a man. People like this are dried up rivers, fogs swirling in the wind, and the dark underworld is the place reserved for them. With their high flown talk, which is all hollow, they tempt back the ones who have only just escaped from paganism, playing on their bodily desires with debaucheries. They may promise freedom but they themselves are slaves, slaves to corruption; because if anyone lets himself be dominated by anything, then he is a slave to it; and anyone who has escaped the pollution of the world once by coming to know our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, and then allows himself to be entangled by it a second time and mastered, will end up in a worse state than he began in. It would even have been better for him never to have learnt the way of holiness, than to know it and afterwards desert the holy rule that was entrusted to him. What he has done is exactly as the proverb rightly says: The dog goes back to his own vomit and: When the sow has been washed, it wallows in the mud. - 2 Peter 2:1-22 -

As a result of his original status and authority, Satan has great power and dignity. So great is his strength that Micheal the archangel viewed him as a foe too powerful to oppose. - Jude 9 - Satan's influence in worldly affairs is clearly revealed. - John 12:31 - Satan nature is malicious and exercises his evil power through demons too. A part of Satan continuing ambition to replace God is his passionate yearning to have others worship him. Since God has frustrated this desire and put down Satan's rebellion, he has become God's exact opposite. He is "the Wicked and Evil one" while God is "the Holy One." "The Compassionate One."

Satan leads people into sin by various means. Of the various methods used by Satan in carrying out his evil work, none is more characteristic than 'Temptation.' Along with his work of tempting mankind, Satan also delights in deception, and as a great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth.

These people are counterfeit apostles, they are dishonest workmen disguised as apostles of Christ. There is nothing unexpected about that; if Satan himself goes disguised as an angel of light, there is no need to be surprised when his servants, too, disguised themselves as the servants of righteousness. They will come to the end that they deserve. - 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 -

But Satan is destined to fail and be destroy in his continuing rebellion against God. His final defeat is explicitly told in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. The death of Christ on the cross, the resurrection of Christ is the basis for Satan's final defeat. - Luke 10:18; John 12:31; 20:10; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Revelation 12:7-9 - The final victory will come when Jesus Christ returns and Satan is cast into the burning lake of fire. This burning lake is the second death; and anybody whose name could not be found written in the book of life was thrown into the burning lake. - Revelation 20:1-15 -

And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him. - Revelation 12:7-9 -

Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the Abyss in his hand and an enormous chain. He overpowered the dragon, that primeval serpent which is the devil and Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. He threw him into Abyss, and shut the entrance and sealed it over him, to make sure he would not deceive the nations again until the thousand years had passed. At the end of that time he must be released, but only for a short while.

Then I saw some thrones, and I saw those who are given the power to be judges take their seats on them. I saw the souls of all who had been beheaded for having witnessed for Jesus and for having preached God's word, and those who refused to worship the beast or his statue and would not have the brand-mark on their foreheads or hands; they came to life, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection; the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. Happy and blessed are those who share in the first resurrection; the second death cannot affect them but they will be priests of God and of Christ and reign with him for a thousand years.

Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it. In his presence, earth and sky vanished, leaving no trace. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of his throne, while the book of life was opened, and others books opened which were the record of what they had done in their lives, by which the dead were judged.

The sea gave up all the dead who were in it; Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them; and everyone was judged according to the way in which he had lived. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the burning lake. This burning lake is the second death; and anybody whose name could not be found written in the book of life was thrown into the burning lake. - Revelation 20:1-15 -

Demons is another name for fallen angels who joined the kingdom of Satan in rebellion against God. The New Testament speaks of the fall and later imprisonment of a group of angels. The group that participated in the fall apparently followed one of their own number, Satan. The fall occurred before God's CREATION of the world, leaving Satan and his evil angels free to contaminate the human race with wickedness. - 1 Peter 3:19-20; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Genesis 3; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9 -

Only part of the fallen angels took part in the wickedness at the time of the Flood. - Genesis 6:1-4 - These were the ones who were imprisoned. God left the rest to try to undermine the cause of righteousness in the world. A symbolic view of this 'initial' fall appears in Revelation 12:3-4 where the dragon (a symbol for Satan) 'its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth' (a symbol for angels) Thus, Satan has his own angels, presumably these demons. - Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9 -

The Old Testament contains little information about demons because the Jews believed God's power was unlimited, infinity. The primitive status of the understanding of demons during this time is perhaps reflected in the way the Old Testament relates the fallen angels to God. It was a "distressing spirit from God" - 1 Samuel 16:15-16, 23 - that brought great distress to Saul the king. It was a 'lying spirit' from the Lord about whom Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, spoke. - 1 Kings 22:21-23 -

Pagan worship is also related to demon activity in the Old Testament. Demons and devils delight in making heathen idols the focus of their activities. - Leviticus 17:7; Psalms 106:37 -

The New Testament accepts the Old Testament teaching about demons, evil spirit and advances the doctrine significantly. Demons are designated in a number of different ways in the New Testament. Quite frequently they are called 'unclean spirits'. Another descriptive phrase for them is 'wicked or evil spirit'. Apostle/Saint Paul calls them 'deceiving spirits'. Apostle/Saint John refers to 'the spirit of falsehood or error' and in Revelation it is refers to 'demons spirit'. Satan himself is never referred to as a demon, is the one called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek and he was a fallen angelic leader. Legion is probably a collective name for a group of demons, devils and evil one rather than the name of a single one. - Matthew 10:1; Mark 5:9, 6:7; Luke 7:21, 8:30; Acts 19:11-12; 1 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 9:11, 16:14 -

A prime purpose of Jesus' earthly ministry was to overcome the power of Satan. This included His conquest of the demonic realm. This explains the fierce conflict between Jesus and these demons, devils, evil and unclean spirits while He was on earth or in the world. - Matthew 12:25-29; Mark 3:23-30; Luke 11:17-23to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devils, since the devil was a sinner from the beginning. It was to undo all that the devil has done that the Son of God appeared. - 1 John 3:8 -

Yet Jesus' enemies accused Him of being in alliance with Satan kingdom. The same accusation was made against His forerunner, John the Baptist. But Jesus' works of goodness and righteousness showed that these claims were false and not true.

Following the resurrection of Jesus and His return to heaven, these demonic principalities and powers have continued their warfare against those who are His apostles, disciples, believers and followers. In all certainty, Satan and his allies will finally be overthrown by God. After Christ Jesus returns, the devil and his angels will be defeated and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is a doom with which demons are quite familiar. God will be the ultimate victory in this conflict which has been going on since the beginning of time. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ had already won and overcome death [the Satan] through His Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and by sending the Holy Spirit to dwells among His chosen one and allows us [the baptized] to be in His Presence through the institution of 'The Holy Eucharist'.

'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ,' he said, "the Son of the living God". Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. - Matthew 16:16-18 -

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39 -

Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with strength of his power. Put God's armour on so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics. For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle but against the Sovereignty and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens. That is why you must rely on God's armour or you will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens or have enough resources to hold your ground. - Ephesians 6:10-13 -

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive all the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilise them for war. His armies will be as many as the sands of the sea; they will come swarming over the entire country and besiege the camp of the saints which is the city that God loves. But the fire will come down on them from heaven and consume them. Then the devil who misled them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet are, and their torture will not stop, day or night, forever and ever. - Revelation 20:7-10 -

Satan refers to the great opposer, adversary of God and man; the personal name of the devil, meaning 'slanderer', 'the wicked one', 'false accuser', 'the great deceiver' or 'the tempter'. Many peoples may ask, Why is there evil?

God created us through Love and for Love. To love, then, is the nature of being human. But love is free. I cannot force you to love me and vice versa. You must freely respond to the invitation of love before there is love between you and I or God. Evil or sin is the refusal to love for which we have been made. Evil destroys. Love creates. Hence, the whole history of salvation hinges on God's call to us to love as He loves us. "This my Commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" says Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In summary: for Christians, suffering is neither good or evil. It is Man's reaction to suffering that is good or evil.

Some people have trouble admitting the existence of such an enemy as Satan. But his presence and activity are necessary to explain the problems of evil and suffering. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible makes it plain that Satan exists and that his main work is to oppose the rule of God in the affairs of man through lies and deceit. Many wonder why God would allow Satan, this great embodiment of evil to exist in His creation. The fact is: - Job - Chapter 1-2:1-13 - God allows it to show that evil and wrongdoing do not provide the key to the ultimate meaning of life which man/woman so desperately desires.

Devil is the main title for the fallen angelic being who is the supreme enemy of God and human beings. Satan is his name and devil is what he is - the deceiver and accuser. The term comes from a Greek word that means "a false witness" or "malicious accuser". Several descriptive phrases applied to the devil in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible - New Testament, point out the nature of his evil and wicked personality and the extend of his evil deeds. 

In the spiritual war, Christians are more stronger and portent through the Lord Jesus Christ. They have the protection needed to withstand devil and evil assaults. The devil tempts but God provides not only way of escape but will eventually thrash and destroy them. The devil always tries to take advantage of people but he will flee if fought. We should not fear the devil, for Jesus is more powerful than this deceiving prince and princess of the demons. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ had overcome death through His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension.

Starting with Eve, the devil has attempted to deceive every living soul. Evil men/women operating under the power of the evil one will continue to deceive. He was a murderer from the beginning are strong words from the lip of our Lord Jesus Christ. The devil killed Abel and the prophets and he wanted to kill Jesus before His time. You are well aware, then, that anybody who tries live in devotion to Christ Jesus is certain to be attacked; while these wicked impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.

In other words, the Antichrist is a false prophet and evil being who will set himself up against Christ Jesus and the people of God in the last days before the Second Coming. Saint/Apostle John wrote that several antichrists existed already in his day, false teachers, false prophets who denied the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Antichrist's primary work is deception which is also characterizes Satan in its attempts to undermine the work of God in the world. Satan's deception began in the Garden of Eden and will continue until the end of time. - Genesis chapter 3 -

Although the Apostle/Saint Paul does not use the term Antichrist, he surely had the Antichrist in mind when he wrote of the great apostasy or falling away, that would occur before the return of Christ Jesus. The Antichrist is also called the lawless one who empowered and inspired by Satan, will lead the final rebellion against God, but will be destroyed at the coming of the Lord Jesus. Saint Paul urges believers to stand firm in the faith and not to be deceived by the Antichrist who will display 'all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders'. - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, 2:9-10 -

The work of Satan through the Antichrist is clearly rooted in the prophecies of Daniel. Daniel spoke of a dreadful beast with ten horns and one little horn. The Ancient of Days will kill the beast and throw it in the fire. Then, according to prophet Daniel, one like the Son of Man will receive the everlasting kingdom. - Daniel 7:7-14 -

The enemy of God, the devil, the Beast, the Antichrist, form a kind of unholy trinity, and the false prophets counterfeiting the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. After much wickedness and suffering has been loosed against Christ Jesus and His people, the satanic rebellion will be crushed by the power of God. The beast or antichrist will speak arrogant, boastful words; and he will be aided by False Prophets who will make the entire earth worship him and receive his mark. Those who worship the Antichrist will experience severe and certain doom through the wrath of God. The Antichrist makes war against Christ and His army but he is captured and is "cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone". He is later joined by the Devil; together they "will be tormented day and night forever and ever".

Then I saw another angel, flying high overhead, sent to announce the Good News of eternity to all who live on the earth, every nation, race, language and tribe. He was calling, 'Fear God and praise him because the time has come for him to sit in judgment; worship the maker of heaven and earth and sea and every water-spring'. A second angel followed him, calling, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, Babylon which gave the whole world the wine of God's anger to drink'. A third angel followed, shouting aloud, 'All those who worship the beast and his statue or have had themselves branded on the hand or forehead, will be made to drink the wine of God's fury which is ready, undiluted, in his cup of anger; in fire and brimstone they will be tortured in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb and the smoke of their torture will go up forever and ever. There will be no respite, night or day, for those who worshipped the beast or its statue or accepted branding with its name'. This is why there must be constancy in the saints who keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say to me, 'Write down: Happy are those who die in the Lord! Happy indeed, the Spirit says; now they can rest forever after their work since their good deeds go with them. - Revelation 14:6-13 -

Then I saw the beast, with all the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight the rider and his army. But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf and by them had deceived all who had been branded with the mark of the beast and worshipped his statue. These two were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. All the rest were killed by the sword of the rider which came out of his mouth and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. - Revelation 19:19-21 -

The second battle of the End. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive all the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilise them for war. His armies will be as many as the sands of the sea; they will come swarming over the entire country and besiege the camp of the saints which is the city that God loves. But fire will come down on them from heaven and consume them. The the devil, who misled them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their torture will not stop, day or night, forever and ever. - Revelation 20:7-10 -

The main reason the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible discusses the Antichrist is not to encourage idle speculation but to warn the faithful and believers not to be misled by Satan or Devil deceit.
 
                                              
                               - Why Jesus speaks in parables - Matthew 13:10-17 -
The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by Me. But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it. 
  
                              - The parable of the sower explained - Matthew 13:18-23 - 
'You, therefore, are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trail come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the words, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.'

                             - How to pray. The Lord's / God's Prayer - Matthew 23:7-15 -
                                                                 Our Father in heaven,
                                                                 may your name be held holy,
                                                                 your kingdom come,
                                                                 your will be done,
                                                                 on earth as in heaven.
                                                                 Give us today our daily bread.
                                                                 And forgive us our debts,
                                                                 as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
                                                                 And do not put us to the test,
                                                                 but save us from the evil one.

Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either. Amen!

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  


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