Demonic, False Religions, and Lies

The discussion concerning my post from last week entitled, "Demonic, Discernment, and the Body of Christ" has been interesting.  I think it is wise to follow up on that post to clarify what I take to be a Biblical perspective on spiritual warfare, the demonic, false religions, and cultural lies.  

Let me begin by saying that I know some will immediately tune out the discussion.  They may have been taught that there is no such thing as supernatural evil.  They also may be have been taught that all the NT talk about evil forces really means cultural structures and forces that oppress the poor and weak.  I propose that both of these ideas, though popular in some circles, misunderstand the dynamics of the spiritual world.

In fact, one reason in the West that we that we do not see more outright spiritual and personal evil in the form of open demonic activity is the very nature of the fallen spiritual world.  It is vital for the all to understand that spiritual fallenness and personal evil occur along and in the fault-lines of the world, the flesh, and the devil.  Each of these dimensions of fallenness interact with the others even as each is distinct.

We do not see more open demonic activity because our world system and the flesh have been so corrupted by perverse evil that open demonic activity is not needed to keep people from believing in Christ.  In fact, if there were more open demonic activity, the fear of the supernatural world would drive many to Christ as their only hope.  

The following is a post from last year concerning the OT perspective on the demonic and spiritual warfare.  It is not a perfect fit to answer some of the questions and comments I have received, but it is a good start for a proper explanation.

Jesus' teaching concerning spiritual warfare flows naturally out of the Old Testament background in which He was brought up, instructed, and lived.  If He would have taught something foreign from this background, His Jewish hearers would have rejected Him immediately.  Thus, it is important that we understand the OT background concerning spiritual warfare.

I could begin in Genesis, but I will instead begin in what many believe to be the oldest book in the bible, the book of Job.  This book portrays an active understanding of the spiritual realm.  It also gives an early glimpse into the OT teaching concerning spiritual warfare.

Job begins with an introduction of a godly and blessed man.  Job is the most respected man in the East.  He has 10 children (7 boys and 3 girls), and great amounts of livestock and riches.  He does all he can to nurture his relationship with God, and he understands his covenantal responsibilities by sacrificing offerings for his children, just in case they have sinned (Job 1:1-5).  In other words, Job is the most righteous man on earth at this time!

Now the story gets interesting.  "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them." (vs. 6)  The Hebrew reads, "sons of God" instead of angels.  From this, we know that Satan is in the same category of creation as the angels.  He is not human nor God, but a spirit being.  Furthermore, the Lord talks with Satan, "Where have you come from."  Satan replies, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  A couple of points can be drawn from this brief passage.  

First, Satan was and perhaps is allowed into the presence of God.  As a created spirit being, God still uses Satan and his demons to do His will.  I honestly cannot understand this, but I take it as true since we find it in scripture.  Second, Satan is allowed by God to roam the earth.  In fact Jesus calls him The prince of this world" in John 12:31.

So as to illustrate these observations are not isolated to the book of Job, an interesting parallel to these ideas can be found in both 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 18.  Here, the prophet Micaiah comes before the King Ahab with the command to give a good report about Ahab going off to war.  Ahab does not want him to make the report because Micaiah never says anything good about him.  Yet, Micaiah is brought forth and he tells of an interesting vision.

He proclaims that he saw into the throne room of heaven.  There he witnessed the Lord asking, "Who will entice Ahab into attacking Romoth Gilead and going to his death there?" (1 Kings 22: 20; 2 Chr. 18: 20)  In reply the spirits answered, "One suggested this, and another that.  Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, "I will entice him."  "By what means?" said the Lord.  "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets," he said.  "You will succeed in enticing him," said the Lord.  "Go and do it." The rest, as they say, is history.  Ahab goes off to war, and he is killed.  We never hear what happened to Micaiah.  

In this vision, the spirit that promises to be a lying spirit is not a good angel.  God does not lie, but Satan is declared by Jesus to be the Father of lies (John 8:44).  This spirit was an evil spirit, known as a demon, that the Lord uses to do His will, which is to lead Ahab to his death.  

So what does this mean?  First, Satan and demons are used by God to bring about His will.  Second, Satan and his demons manifest in lies and in false religious movements and teachings (2 Cor. 11:14 states that Satan masquerades as an angel of light).  I would suggest that these teachings will always appeal to our fallen human nature.  Thus, they will often match exactly what we want to hear!  The purpose of these lies from the evil one's perspective is always the destruction of the individual or people, while God uses it to bring about His purposes.  

We live in a day and age where there is no tolerance nor interest in knowing Truth.  In fact, our entire world system proclaims that we cannot know true Truth, as Francis Schaeffer used to call it.  This fallen system proclaims that each of us as individuals must discover and make our own truth since all truth is relative.  This is exactly the type of lie Satan spins.  It diminishes the glory of God by elevating the self.  It leads to individual and corporate destruction.

Unfortunately, the Church has adopted many of these same ideas.  There is little interest in most bible believing churches in studying true Truth.  We want a salvation message and something to lift us through the week, but we do not like the hard work of forming a Christian worldview.  Many of us lack even the skills to learn how to think critically and carefully through scripture.  We also lack the desire to learn these skills.  In other words, we are ripe for a fall into our individual and corporate destruction through believing good sounding religious lies.

This post is getting rather long, so I will conclude here with several questions.  Does what you believe promote fear of the future?  If it does, then it is not of God.  Does what you believe promote the attitude that Truth and the study of God's word is really not that important?  If it does, it may not be corrupt yet, but this view will lead to corruption, evil, and separation from the body of Christ.  Finally, what are you doing to promote a deeper understanding of God and His word?  How are you developing the skills to understand God's word as well as a prayer life to grow you in intimacy with the Father?

I know there is much more to say about this passage in Job, but I have to end today and pick up on it later!