Demonology

1. Does the devil exist?

Yes, the devil exists. The Scripture attests to the devil’s existence. We can’t say precisely how long he has been existing, but we can say that the devil came into being before man. At the beginning he was a holy heavenly being, but afterward, because of his pride, he became corrupted and he became what he is now and many angels went with him, who are called “his angels” (Revelation 12:7). And because of his rebellion he was expelled from the paradise of God. Here is what the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Ezekiel say about his fall: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [literally ‘Day Star’], son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15); “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more” (Ezekiel 28:12-19). I would like to point out that even though the above mentioned words of Isaiah refer to the king of Babylon and the words of Ezekiel to the king of Tyrus, there are good reasons to suppose that they can be applied to the origin of Satan.

The devil has various names: ‘Satan’ (which means ‘adversary’), ‘the old serpent’, ‘the accuser of our brethren’, ‘the enemy’, ‘the wicked one’, ‘the tempter’, ‘the prince of the power of the air’, ‘Beelzebub’ which means ‘lord of the flies’, and ‘the prince of demons’. As you can see, his names show that he is a very wicked and insidious being.

Among the wicked things the devil does are the following ones: he kills, for he was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44); he tempts, for he tempted Jesus Christ to sin but Jesus did not sin (Matthew 4:1-11) and he tempts us to do evil things (1 Peter 5:8); he takes away the Word from the hearts of many people who hear the Word that they cannot believe and be saved (Matthew 13:19; Luke 8:12); he accuses the sons of God (Revelation 12:10) before God day and night; sometimes he hinders the sons of God from doing what pleases God (1 Thessalonians 2:18), and he afflicts them with diseases (Job 2:7), which happens only when God allows him to strike them with diseases.

The Word of God states that Jesus Christ, through His death, destroyed the devil, that had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Jesus overcame the strong man (this is one of the names of the devil) and now He is able to snatch them out of his hands (Matthew 12:29), who are under his power.

We also, as disciples of Christ, have overcome the devil. We have overcome him by the blood of Jesus Christ (He shed His blood on the cross of Calvary) and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11; 1 John 2:14). Therefore we are not afraid of the devil. When he attacks us we face him courageously, but not with carnal weapons or with our own weapons, but with the weapons of God, and we are sure that through them we will be able to stand against his wiles (Ephesians 6:10-18).

The devil, even though he was defeated by Christ, is still free to do what he wants on the earth, but the hour is coming in which he will be punished as he deserves. When Jesus returns, he will be bound a thousand years that he should deceive the nations no more, and after that he will be loosed a little season and finally cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).

To Christ Jesus, who overcame the devil and destroyed all his works, be the glory now and forevermore. Amen.

Back