Part 3 – Questions and Misunderstandings

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called How Does Satan and His Demons Operate Today?.

Can Satan Know Our Thoughts?  Nowhere in the Bible do we read of Satan knowing our thoughts. However, Satan can affect our thoughts with his “fiery darts” in the form of the corrupt thoughts that Paul calls “the mind” of “the flesh” (Eph. 2:3), trying to sidetrack us. Satan’s hope is to lead us astray, to sin in thought and deed. Paul said, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Eph. 6:16) and gird ourselves with the “truth” (Eph. 6:14) of God’s words given to us today through Paul, “THE apostle to the Gentiles.” (Rom 11:13).

Can Satan Physically Harm Us? Satan himself is not directly trying to harm us physically; his main goal is to harm us spiritually. We do know that unbelievers under Satan’s influence are very antagonistic toward Jesus Christ, His Word, and those sinners are more than willing to do Satan’s bidding. Throughout the book of Acts, Satan physically attacked the 12 Apostles of Israel, and the Apostle Paul and his associates, by having unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Gentiles imprison them, beat them, kill them, discredit their message, discourage them, et cetera (cf. Acts 4, 5, 7, 9, 12-14, 16-19, 21-25, and 26). Paul makes reference to being hindered from visiting the Roman believers (Rom. 1:13) and Satan “hindered” Paul from visiting the Thessalonian Christians at least twice (1Thes. 2:18). Satan might have accomplished this by using such corrupt political and/or religious leaders.

Satan mainly concentrates on trying to harm both God’s people and lost people, spiritually. Satan’s main goal was to destroy Israel, and he would do that by using false religion, pagan idolatry, corrupt priests and prophets (cf. Jer. 5:31). We today must be vigilant concerning Satan’s “wiles” (schemes); he will attack us with false, undispensational, doctrine as he did regarding Israel. Add this to the inherent “sin-nature in the flesh” (Rom 8:3) and there’s the source for deception and religious Christendom’s confusion.

What about the early Acts period when “the twelve” Apostles cast out demons? Many years ago, for a time, I had subscribed to some of the undispensational views of the Pentecostal theology and practice. Pentecostals typically believe the early Acts miracles at the hands of the 12 Apostles was about us Gentiles as well as the Jews and apply today. But this was a brief time when the 12 Apostles (not Paul) were offering “the kingdom” to Israel with evidence by these “signs and wonders” to add veracity to their offer of the Kingdom. But the record tells us Israel rejected the King and His kingdom yet again by the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 and Israel has fallen and been blinded and set aside for a time (Rom 11:10-11, 25). Part of the Pentecostal view and understanding was that we should be able to cast out demon spirits that sometimes had made saved and unsaved to become obsessive, sinful, or odd in unacceptable ways. So, they would say “you have a spirit of hate,” or “a spirit of lust,” or “a spirit of unforgiveness,” etc.

This would lead to foolish attempts to exorcise or cast out the demon spirit in “the name of Jesus.” Actually, these characteristics only describe the inherent fallen “sin-nature in the flesh” that is in all men so long as we live in flesh bodies… they’re not of demon spirits. In effect, they try to do the impossible, to cast out “Sin in the flesh.” We who know the truth of Paul’s grace gospel and revelation of the cross is the only source victory over “Sin in the flesh.” We know our victory over the sinful flesh comes by faith in His cross-work. By His cross, we died to Sin (Rom. 6:3-4, 6-7), setting us free from the power of “Sin in the flesh.” Ongoing faith in His cross renders the Sin-nature powerless… for those who daily trust Christ’s cross-work for them. Of course, there are situations of mental defect due to sickness, aging or physiological causes, which cannot be cast out, but the Lord is able to heal and sometimes will… in accord with His will.

The truth is that the believers during this day “dispensation of the grace of God” are secure in Christ, being “sealed with the Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). Nothing touches our lives except by the permission of our loving Father, for our learning. Thus, Paul asks in Romans 8:35-39, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Satan, as the accuser of the brethren is an individual who will use difficult circumstances of life to cause us to believe God does not love us. Satan will attempt to make us bitter and/or unforgiving, in order to divide Christians; he tried to do that in Corinth, which Paul warned against. Paul wrote; “To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2Cor. 2:10-11) While Satan will not physically harm us, he can use the spirit-nature of unforgiveness to cause us to harm others. Paul wrote; Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil (Eph. 4:26-27).

The Scriptures say that Lucifer, the proper name of Satan before his fall, was “the anointed cherub” that covered God’s throne in “the third heaven” (cf. Ez. 28:14, 16). Cherubim (plural) are the only spirit creatures that have wings. Lucifer was the fifth cherub around God’s throne, but after his fall, only four cherubim remained around God’s throne (cf. Ez. 1:5-28; 10:1-22; Rev. 4:6-9). In Job 1 and 2 we read about the angels, referred to as “sons of God,” presenting themselves to God for accountability. The Bible says that Satan came in among them and told God that he had been “walking to and fro in the earth” (Job 1:7; cf. Job 2:2). Obviously, Satan and the angels are meeting God in outer space, and Satan surely has the ability to travel between the earth and extraterrestrial locations. Keep in mind that Satan is a spirit being, so he cannot be seen with human eyes, he exists in a dimension outside of ours. Spirit creatures, both God’s angels and Satan’s fallen angels, have the ability to travel in ways we cannot fully understand. They’re not bound by speed, time, space, et cetera.

Satan and The Millennium: From time immemorial, humans have blamed the Devil whenever they have committed evil deeds. “The Devil made me do it” is a common excuse sinners use to shift the blame to someone other than themselves. As mentioned earlier, one of the prophecies associated with Jesus Christ’s Millennial Kingdom is that there will be no evil spirits in the land of Israel on the Earth.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. 2And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the (false) prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.” (Zech. 13:1-2)

Satan and his host of evil spirits will be confined in the bottomless pit during that 1,000-yr “Millennial Reign of Christ” (cf. Rev. 20:1-6). Those still in physical bodies in that day will see that by their “sin-nature in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3) that they may still oppose God, and this without Satan’s direct influence to tempt them to sin. This alone is enough to cause men to sin in the Millennial Kingdom. Thus, it is written that Christ will reign in the Kingdom with a “rod of iron” (Rev 12:5). “Sin in the flesh” is always near at hand.

Why is Satan to be released after the 1,000 years? Rev. 20:7-10 sheds light on the subject for us:

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet (already) are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Only believers will enter the Millennial Kingdom, however, those born of flesh during the 1,000-year kingdom must also make a clear decision to follow Jesus Christ or to follow Satan. In order to fully exercise their free will, God will release Satan at the end of the Millennium to see who of them will follow Satan to his doom and who will be faithful to Jesus Christ. This fulfills the purposes of God allowing Satan to exist in the first place; God did not destroy Satan when he fell into sin, but rather God uses Satan’s falsehood program to fit into His plan of allowing mankind free will choice. With Satan active, mankind has another choice to follow, rather than following the God of the Bible and His plan for creation.

Rev. 20:7-10 tells us Satan will deceive and gather “the nations (Gk. ethnos, Gentiles)” to come against the city of Jerusalem, at the end of the Millennium. But the “fire of God” will come down from heaven to “devour them.” The Lord God will have then used Satan to purge the kingdom of unbelievers, so that only believers remain and go into the eternal kingdom on the “New Earth.”

Having served God’s purposes, Satan, will then follow the Antichrist, and false Prophet into “the lake of fire” and be “tormented day and night forever (Rev 20:10).