The Devil & Demons: A Biblical Survey

Satan’s Original State (Ezekiel 28:12-17). “This passage is addressed to the king of Tyre, who symbolizes Satan; it provides us with insight into Satan’s state as created by God.”

• Satan was created full of wisdom and beauty (v. 12)
• He was given a place on God’s holy mountain (v. 14)
• He was created a holy and righteous being (v. 15)
• Pride in his heart was the beginning of his fall (v. 17)

Satan’s Rebellion and Fall (Isaiah 15:12-15)

• Lucifer sought to exalt himself to the position of God (v. 13-14)
• In his vanity, Lucifer declared, “I will make myself like the Most High.” It was this willful act of rebellion that caused him to fall and become the devil and Satan.

Satan’s Titles and Names

• He is called “Lucifer” (Isaiah 14:12), which means “light bearer.” In his fallen state, Satan comes as an angel of light to deceive the elect.
• The name “Satan” means “adversary” (Zech 3:1; 1 Peter 5:8). He is a constant relentless opponent.
• Satan is the “accuser” (Rev 12:10). Satan’s desire is to cause us to condemn ourselves. He wants to cause a believer to have a vagueness about what he has done wrong and seeks to keep him from knowing what to do about his sin. This is opposite to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts us of definite sins and shows us that through the shed blood of Christ there is cleansing and forgiveness.
• Satan is called the dragon (Rev 12:7). This pictures the baseness and fierceness of this enemy.
• “Devil” means “slanderer” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan likes nothing better than to defame and slander God’s own before others.
• Satan is called a murderer and a liar (John 8:44). He wants to murder believers and seeks to steal, kill, and destroy and to deceive us with his lies.
• Satan is the deceiver (Rev 20:10). In all ways he can, he wants to lead us to believe that which is not true.
• Satan is the “prince of this world” (John 12:31). Satan operates as a powerful manipulator in the affairs of the world.
• He is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). This may suggest that Satan’s realm of movement is in the atmosphere around the earth. Christ ascended through Satan’s very realm to display openly His victory.
• Satan is called the destroyer (Rev 9:11). Satan attempts to destroy all that is holy and precious to God.
• He is the temper (Matthew 4:3).
• Satan is the evil one (Matthew 13:38).
• Satan is the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4). He has blinded the minds of unbelievers.

Satan’s Power.

• Not even a saved believer can ignore Satan’s power to defeat him apart from God’s provided victory (Ephesians 6:11-12).
• Satan is the absolute sovereign over the realm of demons (Luke 11:14-18).
• Satan has a throne (Rev 2:13).
• Satan rules a kingdom (Matt 12:26).
• Satan subtly masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14-15).
• Satan has meeting places (Rev 2:9)
• Satan has power to oppose the mightiest of angels (Jude 9; Daniel 10:5, 12-13).
• Satan maneuvers and holds in bondage the realm of lost man (1 John 5:19).
• Satan’s power is limited only by the will of almighty God (Job 1:10-12).

Satan’s Sphere of Activity

• Satan still has access to heaven (Job 1:6, Rev 12:7-10).
• Satan’s particular field of operation is the earth (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8).

Satan’s Strategies

• Satan authored sin and continues to agitate man to sin (Genesis 3:1-6)
• Satan causes sickness and suffering (Acts 10:38)
• Satan has the power of death (Heb 2:14)
• Satan provides snares or traps for men (1 Timothy 3:7).
• Satan injects wicked purposes into man’s heart (John 13:2; Acts 5:3)
• Satan can personally enter and control a man (John 13:27)
• Satan seeks to take away the Word of God from our understanding (Mark 4:15)
• Satan places the false among God’s own (Matt 13:39)
• Satan attempts to torment God’s servants (Luke 22:31; 2 Corinthians 12:7)
• Satan can hinder God’s servants from carrying out their desires (1 Thess 2:18).
• Satan casts God’s servants into prison (Rev 2:10)
• Satan accuses believers before Christ (Rev 12:10)

Satan’s Destiny

• Satan is under the sentence of doom (Isa 14:15)
• Satan is under an unending curse (Genesis 3:14-15)

The Believer’s Victory over Satan.

• The triumph of Jesus Christ is the surety of the believer’s victory (Matt 4:1-11; Rom 5:12-19)
• Christ defeated Satan at the cross and has given that victory to all believers (1 John 3:8; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14-15)
• In Christ’s exaltation, the believer has the Savior’s victory imputed to him (Eph 1:19-23; cf. Eph 2:4-6, Hebrews 1:13, 1 Peter 3:22).
• Through God’s salvation, the believer is legally set free from Satan’s power (Acts 26:18; cf. Luke 10:17-20; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:13)
• Through his sanctified walk with God, the believer maintains his legally purchased freedom. He must yield to God and resist the devil (James 4:7; cf. 1 Peter 5:8-9); he must not give ground or foothold to Satan through fleshly sin (Ephesians 4:27); and he must put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

A Hierarchy of Demonic Activity as Evidenced in Ephesians 6:10-12. Satan is at the head; beneath him are (in descending order):

1. Principalities or Princes. “These powerful beings carry vast responsibility and power to guide the activities of Satan. [There are likely] different levels of authority among these princes. We gain insight into their working and power in the Old Testament incident recorded in Daniel 10 between the angelic messenger from God sent to speak to Daniel and the prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13). When the angelic messenger finally arrived after a three week delay, he explained that his delay was because of the prince of Persia’s resistance. Only after Michael the archangel came to do battle against this prince was the special angelic messenger able to complete his journey to Daniel. Does this not suggest that Satan has a prince over every nation whose responsibility it is to carry out Satan’s diabolical plans against that nation? Under him are other princes who guide the plans of Satan against the political structure, or the educational structure, or the entertainment structure of that nation.
2. Powers. “These are probably more numerous and somewhat less independent and powerful than the princes. Yet their name suggests very powerful activity which they are capable of addressing against believers.”
3. The Rulers of Darkness. “These beings are more numerous; yet they are the real workhorses on the command level. Their counterpart in the army might be the lieutenants and sergeants of our military forces. These rulers fo darkness have directly beneath them a vast and final level of beings called ‘spiritual wickedness’ or wicked spirits in high places.”
4. Wicked Spirits. “These [are likely] to be the demons so often mentioned during the earthly life of our Lord. These beings are multitudinous, so much so that a whole legion dwelt in one lone man, according to Mark 5:9.”