Many people in this world do not believe in the devil. But even more people do believe in the devil—yet don’t realize what great and frightening power he has! This is a strong statement, but it is true. If you stop and think about some key biblical verses about Satan, you will be shocked by the extent of his power in our world. God says that Satan has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9). He also calls the devil “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” which means the whole world worships him. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
If Satan can do all that, he must have tremendous power. Isaiah 14:12 describes the fall of the devil from his status as an archangel, “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” Who today really believes that Satan has the power to crush nations, or lay nations low, or enslave nations? Do you believe Satan has power like that? And think about this: If he can do that to the nations, what can he do to you?
Daniel 12:4 shows that this prophetic book was written for “the time of the end.” In verse 9, the angel speaking to the prophet says, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end.” This prophecy was recorded some 2,500 years ago. For two and a half millennia, its meaning has been closed up and sealed. But we are living in the time of the end today, and God has unsealed this prophecy! He has revealed its meaning. What a thrill and a wonder to be able to understand this prophecy. Satan is always ferociously fighting to keep God’s Word sealed.
Daniel recorded how Satan even fought to prevent the book from being recorded in the first place! God had given the prophecy to Gabriel—one of three archangels, the highest-ranking angels, mentioned in the Bible—to deliver to Daniel. But as Gabriel was delivering the book to Daniel, he was attacked by Satan the devil! In Daniel’s prophecy, Gabriel is recorded as saying, “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.” (Daniel 10:13).
This “prince of the kingdom of Persia” is the devil. Only he has such power to be able to fight against Gabriel! The Bible shows that Satan had been Lucifer, another of those three great and powerful archangels, before he rebelled and became God’s adversary. He still has tremendous power. When he fought Gabriel, Gabriel had to call on another archangel, Michael, to come and help him. Clearly, Satan has awesome power. Gabriel and Michael are the most powerful beings in the universe except for God the Father and Jesus Christ—and yet Satan was there fighting against them very effectively.
God made the archangels do the fighting against this former archangel, and they did eventually defeat him. Why is Satan called “the prince of the kingdom of Persia”? The kingdom of Persia in this prophecy is the world-ruling Medo-Persian Empire, which has been written about at length in history books. Satan is called the prince of Persia because he had that much control over that world-ruling empire! Satan does get control over world-ruling empires. People may scoff at that idea, but it is the truth.
Daniel continues, “Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” (Daniel 10:14). In fact, it wasn’t even unsealed for another 2,500 years! Gabriel was delivering the prophetic message of this very book of Daniel, and he told Daniel it would explain what would happen to “your people” in the latter days. Daniel was from the tribe of Judah of the nation of Israel. This prophecy is for the end-time nations that descended from the biblical nation of Israel! Why would Satan fight so hard to stop this message? He obviously sees the great value of the book of Daniel and wants to thwart God’s purpose by stamping it out!
Satan is alive today, and he still hates the book of Daniel. If he would fight so hard to prevent the book of Daniel from ever being written, what do you think he would do today when God has revealed this book and what it means for us in the latter days? Don’t you think he would fight even harder to stop this book today? Of course he would! That’s the way Satan operates. He is a spirit, and he is alive, and he hates anybody who talks about these prophecies of the end—because they describe how his works are about to be destroyed. If you understand what this means, you realize that you cannot hang on to this truth unless you are willing to fight and conquer the devil! Ephesians 6:12 describes how God’s people are locked in battle with spiritual wickedness and powers in high places on Earth! “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Most people read over such scriptures and don’t believe them—or, if they do, they certainly don’t act like it.
After Gabriel delivered this prophecy, he went back to fighting the prince of Persia. But he first warned Daniel that “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come” (Daniel 10:20). As this verse makes clear, Satan was not also called the “prince of Greece” at this time. This is referring to Alexander the Great, of the Greco-Macedonian Empire, who was about to come on the scene. Satan hadn’t yet gotten control of Alexander, but you can be sure Satan was going to viciously fight for all the power God would allow him to have! After all, God had prophesied he would come, and Satan wanted to stop those prophecies from being fulfilled! The devil worked to help the Medo-Persian Empire continue just to thwart God’s Bible prophecies. That effort failed. God has a master plan, and He’s not going to let this ex-archangel stop that. Just as God prophesied, Alexander’s empire conquered the Medo-Persian Empire.
Lange’s Commentary says that the book of Daniel was actually written right around the time Alexander was rising in power and the Persian Empire was beginning to fall, and there was a great clash between the two. Though Satan couldn’t stop that prophecy from happening, he did eventually get control of Alexander as well. We know that because the Bible says all of those great world-ruling Gentile empires were heavily influenced by Satan. He has guided them and even controlled them in many cases. So
Satan probably would have been called the prince of Greece, or of the Greco-Macedonian Empire, at a later time. If we don’t recognize just how great Satan’s power really is, how could we possibly avoid being deceived—or worse—by that great being?
Think again about the sequence of events revealed in this passage in Daniel. Satan attacked God’s Work—Gabriel’s message to Daniel—and then he went back to the kings of Persia. Satan knows what is most important on this Earth: God’s Work! God’s message—God’s revelation. Satan always attacks God’s Work first! Then he goes back to the kings of the Earth and does all he can to influence them or even control them. That is how he operates.
Ezekiel 28:12 says, “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” This is an interesting verse because it starts out talking about a king, and then it starts talking about a being “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” That’s not talking about a human king. It’s talking about Lucifer, who became Satan the devil. In this verse, Satan and “the king” are used interchangeably. What does that mean? It means that Satan was really the king of Tyre! “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.” (verse 14).
God Himself gave Lucifer a position right over His throne, as a covering cherub! He was right there with God, probably the most powerful of the three archangels the Bible mentions. Later, God sent him to rule the Earth, and put one third of the angels under his authority. It was after that point that Lucifer turned to evil. “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.” (verse 15). Lucifer wouldn’t submit to the law and government of God! Verse 16 goes on to say “Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.”
Do you believe these scriptures? Most people do not. And the Bible explains why: It’s because Satan rules this world and has deceived the whole world! That is why there is so much confusion in this world. That is why it is such a dangerous world. When Satan rebelled against God, he started a war. That left the Earth and the universe “without form, and void,” a state of waste and decay—a state God never created (Genesis 1:2, Isaiah 45:18). The passage in Ezekiel continues, “All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” (Ezekiel 28:19). God describes Satan as “a terror.” He is really the one behind all the violence and terrorism and evil in our world today!
Can we win the “war against Satan” without God on our side? No we cannot. Satan is too strong and powerful. It is also clear, if you know Satan, that you will get nowhere trying to win that war through negotiation. Satan is the king of terror! Anyone who thinks he can be overcome without a real war is completely ignorant of just how powerful the devil is! That is the clear message of the Bible. But if you tried to explain that to a scholar in this world, he would say that was nonsense. The good news is, Satan’s power will come to an end. As verse 19 says, “All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Revelation 13 provides one of the Bible’s most vivid descriptions of Satan’s power. Here is a vision the Apostle John received of a beast, representing a political power that has dominated human history. “The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.” (verse 1) This is a frightening world power! This beast represents the Roman Empire, which started in 31 b.c. This world-ruling empire absorbed all the empires that preceded it and occupied their territory. Compare verse 2 with Daniel 7, and you see the components of those other empires: the head of the lion, like the Babylonian Empire; the legs of the bear, like the Persian Empire; the swiftness, cunning and cruelty of the leopard, which symbolized Alexander’s Greco-Macedonian Empire. Its seven heads include all seven of the heads of the four beasts described in Daniel 7.
Daniel likened those other empires to animals on Earth. But this beast cannot be described in such simple terms. It is so dreadful, there’s no beast on Earth like it! Verse 2 concludes, “the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” This is why this political beast has “the name of blasphemy”—because it is empowered by Satan! He hates God and speaks blasphemy against God all the time! (verses 5-6) What influence Satan has! This is why we have never had peace in this world. Men don’t know why we can’t have peace—but the Bible makes it clear. “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.” (verse 3) That is when the Roman Empire was defeated in a.d. 476. But that was not the end of this beast! After that deadly wound was healed, the Roman Empire surfaced in various forms down through the ages even to our present day! It is a religion-political combine that is the most dreadful beast that has ever been!
In fact, it has been resurrected six times, and the seventh and final resurrection of this beast is occurring right now! The whole world wondered after this beast! This is talking specifically about the very last of the resurrections of the Roman Empire. This power is rising right now on the world scene! You need to understand that. Look at John’s prophecy of what we are about to see: “People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” (verse 4). People will actually worship the dragon! This will be a combine of “church and state.” It will become the most frightening beast this world has ever experienced—a superpower of superpowers. Nothing will change these prophecies. We can’t wish them away. We must face reality!
Verse 5 shows “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.” Jesus Christ is going to return and will conquer it! We must respect how great Satan’s power is, and realize that only God can conquer it. Satan will do all he can to conquer us, and God wants us to draw on His power to conquer Satan instead. All those who are called during this present age must do so. The Bible tells us how to protect ourselves from the devil very effectively. We must learn how to overcome Satan. If we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us (James 4:7). God will show us how to conquer. God assures us in His Word that we can conquer Satan. And He shows us how. With God on your side, you won’t have to fear the devil. You will always be a step ahead of him. Those who do conquer and overcome the devil enjoy the kind of successful, happy, abundant lives that God wants all of us to live!
Why won’t mankind listen to God? Why won’t they quit worshiping the devil and heeding his message, and refusing to hear God’s message? You can turn your life around. You can conquer any problem that comes your way—if you will just obey what God tells you to do. That is the best thing you could ever do in your life.
Satan was an angel created by God who turned against God’s authority (Isaiah 14:13) and became the head of a kingdom of evil spirits called demons, his “angels” (Matthew 25:41). His power both in the heavenly realm and on earth is great and should not be underestimated. However, while Satan and his forces are formidable enemies, Jesus Christ crushed Satan’s power, fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. The cross of Christ won the victory (John 12:31) “and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:11), and Jesus will one day destroy Satan’s power completely and purify creation. (2 Peter 3:10)
Satan’s power has repute in the spiritual realm (Jude 1:9), where he has limited access to the presence of God (Job 1:6). The book of Job provides insight into the relationship between God and Satan. In Job 1:6-12, Satan stands before God and reports that he has been “walking up and down” on the earth (verse 7). God asks Satan if he has considered godly Job, and Satan immediately accuses Job of insincerity—he only loves God for the blessings God gives. “Stretch out your hand,” Satan says, “and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face” (verse 11). God grants Satan permission to affect Job’s possessions and family, but not his person, and Satan leaves. In Job 2, Satan comes again into God’s presence and is, this time, permitted to affect Job’s personal health.
This is an important passage because it shows Satan’s place in the spiritual realm. He is able to accuse God’s people in His very presence, and Jude 1:9 shows that even Michael the archangel needs the Lord’s help in overcoming him. However, Satan is obviously restrained from enacting his full fury; he is still a created being under God, and his power is limited.
Job 1 also reveals that Satan does enact evil and cause direct harm on the earth. The most well-known and important of his actions on earth occurred in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3 tells of Satan’s temptation of Eve, the “mother of all the living” (verse 20), and her subsequent first sin. It was this act, and that of Eve’s husband Adam, that brought sin into the world, and it is the reason all humankind must be redeemed from sin in order to be with God.
One day, Jesus met a woman who had been “crippled by a spirit for eighteen years” (Luke 13:11). Jesus attributes the infirmity to Satan, who had kept her “bound” (verse 16). Satan’s power was real, but it was easily overcome by our Lord: “He put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God” (verse 13). Jesus’ miracle was a clear demonstration of His authority over Satan.
Since his instigation of evil on earth, Satan has been named the “prince,” “god,” or “ruler” of this world (John 14:30; John 12:31; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13). He is the enemy of God and truth (Matthew 13:24-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12), and he does everything he can to tempt individuals (Genesis 3; Luke 22:31; 1 Timothy 3:7) and larger groups of people (1 Thessalonians 3:5; Revelation 2:10). He “leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). Satan accomplishes this by various means, including appealing to man’s pride (1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Corinthians 4:6), interfering with the transmission of truth (Matthew 13:18-22, 38-39), and placing false believers within the church (1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Revelation 2:9; 3:9). In John 8:44, Jesus says that Satan “is a liar and the father of it.”
God still grants Satan some authority in this world, which means that his power is not yet completely broken—except in one area: his power of death. Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus came as a man to die in order to “destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil,” a power Satan had held “from the beginning” (John 8:44). The salvation Jesus provides has released us from Satan’s stranglehold. Death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55).
The Bible says that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), and we must “be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Yet Christians have a great hope, for Jesus Christ (John 16:33) and our faith in Him (1 John 5:4) have overcome Satan’s evil. “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
China - in His image 