Rival Hierarchies

There are two opposing hierarchies, eternally at war. Good angels in alliance with God, and all saints, to promote all that is good; evil demons confederate with each other and all evil men, to work disaster and ruin, and f it were possible, supplant even the Al­mighty 1 A.T. Pierson

KING OF HELL?

IT IS A POPULAR BELIEF that as God is King of heaven, so Satan is king of hell. And that as heaven is the centre of God's administration, so Satan directs his nefarious operations from hell. But such a conception has no basis in Scrip­ture. Satan never aspired to be king of hell, but king of heaven. That is perfectly clear from the words expressed in his vaunting ambition. "I will ascend to heaven; . . I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14).

• A safe stronghold our God is still,
• A trusty shield and weapon;
• He'll help us clear from all the ill
• That hath us now o'ertaken.
• The ancient prince of hell
• Hath risen with purpose fell, Strong mail and craft of power
• Rival Hierarchies
• He weareth in this horn
• On earth is not his equal.
• Martin Luther
• (Trans. Thomas Carlyle)

As has been said earlier, popular thought about the devil and his followers has taken its colour largely from medieval writings, especially those of Dante and Milton. The latter popularised the idea of Satan's reigning in hell, by naming that as his ambition. But that is the very opposite of the truth. Here are the words Milton put into Satan's mouth:

• The mind is its own place, and in itself
• Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
• What matter where, if I be still the same,
• And what I should be, all but less than He
• Whom Thunder has made greater? Here at least
• We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
• Here for His envy, will not drive us hence;
• Here we may reign secure, andin my choice
• To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell.
• Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Paradise Lost

There is nothing in the Revelation or in any other part of Scripture to support such a view Nowhere does it state that Satan is in hell in this present age. He is "the god of this age" and "the prince of the power of the air"-this is his domain and the sphere of his operations in this age. Not until its consummation will he be cast into hell. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss... . And when the thousand years are completed. . . . the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:1-3,7,10)

So there are no scriptural grounds for supposing that Satan rules as king of hell. He now has a temporary reign, but only as pretender and usurper-and not in hell. When at last he comes to hell, it will be as prisoner, not as king. Meanwhile, he does have a kingdom over which he exercises authority.

Two HIERARCHIES

Since the time Satan conspired to oust God from the throne of the universe, he himself has been ousted from his place of privilege and has set up a rival kingdom. The existence of those rival kingdoms is clearly recognised in Scripture.

And Satan also is divided against himself, how shallhis kingdom stand? (Luke 11:18, italics added) And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:29, italics added

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter intothe kingdom of God. [John 3:5, italics added

The subjects of the kingdom of God are those who acknowledge the Saviorhood and Lordship of Christ and have accepted His sovereignty The subjects of the king­dom of Satan are those who do not acknowledge Christ's Saviorhood and Lordship. They do not acknowledge His Kingship. Note that Satan is called "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31), but never "the king of this world." He maintains his claims only as a traitor and a usurper. His followers acknowledge him, whether consciously or unconsciously as "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Scion Is No Myth Rival Hierarchies

These two kingdoms are further contrasted as the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and trans­ferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13). Sin is characterized by darkness and death, righteousness by light and life.

In commissioning Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles, the risen Lord said, "But arise. . . for this purpose I have appeared to you.., to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to lightand from the dominion of Satan to God"(Acts 26:16,18, italics added). Paul iden­tifies that sphere of darkness as the domain of Satan's authority in which men are caught and held.

THE HIERARCHY OF SATAN

God's kingdom is so organized that His will is execut­ed through angels to whom He has delegated authority to rule and serve under Him. Each rank of angels has his assigned sphere and special responsibilities. Paul refers to gradations in these spirit beings: "thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities" (Colossians 1:16).

In imitating the kingdom of God, Satan organized his kingdom of darkness along similar lines. He works through gradations of the demons implicated with him in his fall. It appears some of those evil spirits have regional authority, for example, "prince of Persia" and "the prince of Greece" (Daniel 10:13,20).

Paul refers to evil spirits as "rulers," "powers," "world forces of this darkness," and "spiritual forces of wicked­ness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

Those terms were in common use in the angelology of Paul's day It is likely he used current terms to assert the su­premacy of Christ over all possible existences, whether celestial or terrestrial. We may not be able to assign any exact significance to each of those terms, but some pos­sibilities seem appropriate:

Rulers may be princes in Satan's kingdom who have been assigned authority over specific regions and who work in the political realm.

Powers may signify evil spirits of energy and force who, at Satan's instigation, incite men to acts of vio­lence.

World forces of this darkness may indicate the evil spirits that foster sorcery, astrology, superstition, spiri­tism, idolatry, and so on, whose aim it is to keep men in spiritual darkness.

Spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies may be those spirits who invade the realm of religious expe­rience in the guise of angels of light and lure men from truth and holiness into corruption and wickedness.

Scripture presents a consistent picture of these two rival hierarchies as they wage truceless warfare. Since both God and Satan concentrate on men in an endeavor to win their loyalty and cooperation, the Christian finds himself at the center of a cunningly waged war. God and all the good angels are concerned with the highest good for man. Satan and his evil demons are allied with evil men to effect man's ruin. Between the two hierarchies is war to the death.

Satan knows his ultimate defeat is certain. And as he sees the rapidly approaching date of the execution of sentence already pronounced on him (Revelation 12:12), in great wrath he does all in his power to post­pone that event as long as possible.

Satan Is No Myth

Rival Hierarchies