What I am about to write about is going to sound like something out of a fiction novel (see image :) ). But I assure you, if you are a believer in the Son of God, and His Word (THE WORD), then it is hard, frightening, spiritual truth! Truth that God gives us plenty of information about through His followers; through the Apostles, through the disciples of Jesus, and straight from Jesus Himself.
But before I point out some of the hard truth already revealed to us in God's word... let me ask you something:
If you knew an impending danger were coming, and there was nothing you could do to stop it from coming, wouldn't you at least want to know if there was any way you could see it coming before it got here? Think of a large tornado in the prairies of Oklahoma, or the plains of Alabama. Think of the people who live far and away from everything, right in Tornado Alley. Do you think people out there would rather hear an alarm and be able to go out their door and see the tornado several miles away? Or do you think they'd rather have the freight train of a maelstrom bear down on their house in the middle of the night while they were sleeping, and the only warning they got was the storm siren that woke them up, right before their roof was ripped off?
Now that I've given you a way to visualize and apply the knowledge that will appear further into this post, let's talk about Satan. Who is he?
He's been known by other names. But the most traditional is 'the devil.'
1st Peter 5: 8 tells us that the devil prowls the earth like a lion, looking for someone to devour - so we should be "Alert and sober." So we at least know he's pretty dangerous. Now think about how a lion hunts, out on the Serengeti. When a lion prowls, the animals that fall prey to his attacks are usually the ones that didn't see him coming or know he was there... until it was too late. More on that as we go.
What is the devil? Quite simply, he is a fallen angel - the prince of the fallen angels. Check this out, from Ezekiel 28:
“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…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. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 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, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”
Looks like old Satan, a.k.a. Lucifer before he was cast out, was a creature of beauty and perfection. And the fact that he was beautiful wasn't lost on him; in fact, he was so proud of his beauty, that he became wicked and evil and violent. He was so proud that he wanted to be worshiped like God was, so God cast him out of Heaven. There is more on this in Isaiah:
“How you are fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”
So where is Satan now? Here is where we keep most of our focus, while also keeping the previously mentioned attributes in mind along the way. But in the book of Job, we are told that Satan presents himself to God, with other 'sons of God'... fallen angels. And Satan has an entire conversation with the Lord about God's faithful servant, Job. Job was obviously a man, and his story tells of family, and livestock, and property, and riches - so we know this is sometime after the fall of man with Adam and Eve, which means we know he has already been cast out of Heaven. Therefore we know that Satan's realm, at least at the time of Job, is right here on Earth. But although he might be here on Earth, is he always visible? Ah - now we're getting into some mystic sounding stuff, right? Stay with me.
But right there in Job, Ch. 1 verse 7, God asks Satan where he came from, and he answers "from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it." Hmmm, sounds to me like Satan has a bit of freedom to roam, as long as it isn't in Heaven. Of course, if you've read Revelation, you know that his freedom to roam is just temporary. But nevertheless, he gets around. But he is not omni-present. God can be and is omni-present, if He wants to be. Satan has many followers. According to Revelation, when he was cast out, he took one third of the angels with him. So it stands to reason that these followers, being so numerous, can also be in many places. The book of Matthew offers one story of the demon Legion. That poor little group of demons was cast into swine who drown in the sea... but I digress.
Now let's get back to if the devil is visible or not. Although there are accounts throughout history of people seeing evil spirits, or demons, or what people have called ghosts, or ghouls, and things like jinns - there are no accounts on record that tell us someone saw the devil, and said he looked like a cherubim. So if he were visible, or if he has appeared to other people in history, it wasn't in his original form. The accounts of Satan appearing to God and Jesus do not really give a physical description of Satan in those moments. When Jesus is tempted by the devil in the wilderness for forty days, it tells us he is with the wild animals, so the devil very well could have appeared to him as another animal, or perhaps a serpent again. When he appeared to Adam and Eve, we know he came in the form of a serpent. If the devil is visible, I venture to guess we don't really know exactly what he looks like. But that's the kicker, isn't it? Keep in mind, the Bible tells us Satan is the ultimate deceiver; John 8:44 says:
"When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Let's think about that for a second. Satan is the father of lies. Satan has a propensity for rebelling against God. Satan deceives. Satan is jealous of man (note how hard he tries to prove to God that Job isn't a worthy servant). Satan has followers everywhere on earth, to do his bidding, and he hates mankind. So I wonder, just wonder - how and what could he do to deceive mankind and ruin God's creation, the earth?
What if I told you that Satan might just corrupt man's ability to reason, and present him with 'alternatives' to the truth of God, and convince mankind to accept that alternative - rather than the Word of God? Ladies and gentlemen, the American education system and American pop culture at your service. Let's assume God doesn't exactly want us to think all of the known universe just happened by accident, by some random chance. Let's just pretend that God doesn't want for us to think human life is insignificant. Let's just pretend that God doesn't want us to just do what feels good, because hey - we only live once.
What if I told you that Satan wanted to convince man that he didn't exist, so that man might not be able to defend himself against Satan's attacks? How might he do that? How about, convincing man that he can define his own truth, for starters. You may not know this, but there have been many humans throughout the ages that figured out clever strategies of war and fighting, and self defense. Sung Tzu said, "Attack him where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected." If Satan convinces mankind that he doesn't exist, they'll certainly not be ready for him, and they won't even expect him when he finally does appear. He has found many ways to appear to us over the centuries, and the book of Revelation tells us he will definitely fully appear to all of mankind at the end of the age.
What if I told you that Satan wants us to displease God? If we define our own truth, and can come up with our own individual moral standards - what makes you think any of that would please our Father in Heaven? Satan uses temptations such as desire, pleasure, and pride to make us really consider doing more of what we want, and less of what God wants. How would he do such a thing?
Perhaps you've noticed our fascination with violence? Look at our movies. Look at our sports. Look at our fascination with evil villains in stories. Believe it or not, there are those that find great pleasure in committing violence against others.
Perhaps you've noticed our fascination with sex? Surely you've noticed the trend over the past half a century of incremental acceptance at all sexual deviance - from the scantily clad women in magazines, to the pornography industry, to the open acceptance and even government enabling of the desecration of the institute of marriage, to the denial of the truth of God's creation of God creating us all, male or female.
Perhaps you've noticed how people want more and more to make their own rules? When the media has convinced us to 'question everything'; when popular celebrities tell us to be our own person and just 'do you', when really they are suggesting do what feels good - with everything from sex to drugs to self-mutilation - yeah, maybe Satan has been a little busy.
What if I told you, Satan or some other demons have physically presented themselves in our world, with great and demonstrable power? What if I told you that world events that take shape, have been orchestrated and engineered by none other than Satan himself? Maybe you have heard of Adolph Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao. Maybe you have heard of...wait for it... THE ABORTION INDUSTRY. Hello people - we are talking about an entire business of sugar-coated child sacrifice and population control! You know who else was into child sacrifice? Pagans of old, Satan worshipers, druids, and followers of the occult... oh, and Planned Parenthood. Darn, I guess I better get back on track again-
What if I told you that Satan would try to convince mankind that he, himself, could become his own god? Ladies and gents, human progress in technology is pushing those boundaries. Artificial Intelligence, or A.I., is a very real, and one day achievable goal within their reach. If scientists eventually 'create' machines that can 'think' for themselves, or even develop a sense or self - what do you think those 'creators' will think of themselves? Wow - it is almost like Satan is trying to set us up to fall, just...like...he did.
What if I told you that Satan is planning on making a full manifestation of himself, in front of humanity, and reside as ruler of this kingdom? How do you suppose he could do that? What if I told you that some of the world's most brilliant scientists, are conducting scientific experiments every day, that test the physical properties of time, space, energy, and matter? What if I went a little further, and told you that their reasoning behind these tests are because they theorize that there is matter we cannot see, and perhaps even a whole dimension - we cannot see? Ladies and gentlemen, this is real; this is the world we live in. These things are really happening.
I am a Christian, I am a police officer, and I am a writer. What I challenge each of you to do with all this information I have written down (well, typed) is try to make connections with all this info. I dare you to connect it to everything YOU know. I dare you to see if you can connect the dots to events in world history, events in today's world, and anything scripture might teach us.
I don't know if you've noticed, but the Information Age has at least shown us how small our world has become. So now we are all aware of bad events when they happen, even while they are happening. Some may even suggest events such as riots in the streets and natural disasters and political power players achieving too much - are all accelerating. I cannot say for sure. Maybe it is a long time before the End of Days; it really isn't my place to put a timestamp on that. But at least, if we are approaching that point - if you are alert and sober of mind, and at least acknowledge the devil and his kingdom around you - you will at least be ready when Jesus returns, to make all things right again. Because When Jesus comes back, he will be the one that represents the tornado for Satan and his kingdom.
Yeah, I think I want to be ready for that.
Can I get an Amen?