Abide - Angels and Demons & The Minor Prophets

[Music] let's talk about the doctrine of angels and demons as it's presented in the scriptures and look let's be just very straightforward and honest about this to begin with we're talking about something that many many people in our modern age many well-educated people regard as pure superstition you may as well believe in the man in the moon or the cow that jumped over the moon as believed that something such as an angel or a demon as classically understood actually exist many modern people don't give even the smallest thought to the existence the actual existence of such beings you know this has been around for a long time i think it was uh really summarized well by that 20th century uh philosopher and theologian rudolph baltman he described this as what we need to do is go through a process of de-mythialization that religion is fine and all it just has all these superstitious things attached to it and of course part of the superstition attached to religion would be belief in supernatural beings spiritual beings that are somehow interacting with our actual world boltmann said this he said it's impossible to use electric lights and uh radio and also to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries and at the same time to believe in the new testament world of spirits and miracles you just can't combine the two you got to choose one or the other now i would disagree with that obviously and i would say let's go back to the bible now where there's some people who reject the idea of uh angelic beings or angelic spirits or demonic spirits altogether there's other people of course who seem to be obsessed with either angels or demons and what we want is we want a biblical balance there's some people who think that uh demons for example are responsible for everything and then there's other people think that demons don't exist and they're responsible for nothing what we want is a is a reasoned biblical understanding of these things but i'll tell you this the bible tells us that angels and demons are real and they impact our world i remember and i'm doing this from memory and just paraphrasing that there was an interview with one of the late justices of the supreme court uh antonin scalila and he was a devout roman catholic to my understanding and in one portion of the thing they were asking him about angels i think or maybe it was demons or something like that and the man interviewing him was absolutely astounded that uh justice scalia believed that these things were real i mean probably a little bit frightened by the idea here's a man sitting on the supreme court of the united states of america and he actually believes that angels and demons are real and so he phrased this question to to justice scalia and justice scalia's response was something that was astonishment return he said and i'm paraphrasing this what you don't think you're smarter than jesus christ do you which is an excellent way to phrase it i mean if jesus believed that angels and demons are real that should be a good starting force just for acknowledge the reality of these beings because jesus actually did and this is something that is actually featured in the gospels now i need you to follow with me on this part very carefully there is a class of beings that we can call angelic beings they're not divine beings that's the one god father son and holy spirit they are not human beings that's those of us in this room they're not animal beings like your dog or your pet turtle no these beings are angelic in their nature and this category of angelic beings includes faithful and fallen faithful we commonly call angels fallen we commonly call demons but what do you want to understand is to the best of our understanding biblically both angels and demons are angelic beings they are the same in their being in their essence it's just the demonic spirits are fallen the angelic spirits are not fallen they have not sinned they are faithful unto the lord again their same and their essential being but different sort of in their category so please keep that in mind as i speak throughout this thing now the bible uses two basic words to refer to angels although there's many different ways that they're referred to in the scripture in the hebrew there's a hebrew word malach and in greek there's the greek word angelos malach and angelos are the normal words in those languages for a messenger that's just it and in the bible i could point you to first kings chapter 19 verse 2. you don't have to turn there but in first kings 19 2 malak is clearly used of a human messenger not an angelic being uh in luke chapter 7 verse 24 angelos is classes angelon in the plural it's clearly used of human messengers so the words that we translate angel in the new testament and in the old testament they're basically just the words for messenger but by the context of their use most of the time not all the time but most of the time they're referring to these special angelic beings these beings that inhabit the spiritual world now the old testament calls angelic beings sons of god but that's in job chapter 1 job chapter 2 job chapter 38 also i believe in genesis chapter 6 verse 2 but that's another matter entirely some people claim that these sons of god are a different category of being all together i'm running the risk of making this confusing to you but i told you that there's divine being that's god i told you that there's angelic beings that's these angelic spirits i told you that there's human beings well some people would add an additional category of these i don't know junior divine beings the divine counsel the sons of god i want you know i i've looked into that pursuit i don't buy it i am unpersuaded i believe that when the scriptures use this idea of the sons of god that it's referring to angelic beings i think that's the best explanation that we have now there are certain angelic beings that are called cherubim cherubs cherubim being the plural a cherub being the singular when you think of a cherub please don't think of a fat baby with wings that's some weird medieval idea of a cherub or some kind of angelic thing of course cherubs or cherubim in the old testament are fearsome creatures let me read you a reference here uh genesis chapter 3 verse 24 it tells us that cherubim guard the way to the tree of life after adam's sin so he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life whether it's fascinating here i got to be careful they don't go off into rabbit trails but i cannot resist this particular one would you please notice there that first of all it's plural it's more than one chair of its cherubim and they were placed there with a flaming sword so no fat baby with wings you know this is a fearsome creature with a flaming sword and notice they were there to guard the way to the tree of life i've heard it suggested and i'm just offering here as i suggested that they weren't there to block assets access to the tree of life but to preserve access to the tree of life not that adam and eve and their descendants would eat of the tree of life but that's where they brought their sacrifices to this place where god had met with men it's an interesting thought but we know that cherubim were there guarding the way to the tree of life you also have references to cherubim in exodus where so much in the tabernacle was told to be made with the artistic designs of cherubim because there are cherubim in heaven first samuel chapter 4 verse 4 tells us that god is enthroned in the midst of cherubim in ezekiel chapter 10 ezekiel saw cherubim very prominently in his throat vision of the throne of god so a class of angelic beings is cherubim but then there's another class given to us or well i'll just say it's another class then i'll take that back later isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 says this in the first two verses in the year that king uzziah died i saw the lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple above it stood seraphim each one had six wings with two he covered his face with two he covered his feet and with two he flew now there are some people who say that cherubim and seraphim are two different kinds of beings you're talking about two different kinds of angelic beings i don't think so i think that seraphim is just another way of referring to the cherubim and let me explain to you why that word seraphim in the original hebrew simply means burning ones and we have descriptions of the cherubim in the old testament that is associated with fire so i think that they fit the description of burning ones seraphim is probably more a description of them cherubim is probably more of a title for them so we have cherubim slash seraphim slash look at this now revelation chapter 4 verses 6 through 8 i'll just tell you it to you in revelation chapter 4 these creatures that surround the throne of god are called living creatures that surround the throne of god what is it that they're called in the old king james version living beasts or something like that be something like that living creatures is a much better translation so we have this class of angelic beings cherubim slash seraphim slash living creatures from how they're presented they seem to be all descriptions of the same type of being now there's also a category of angelic beings known as an archangel this is a high-ranking angel who's first in line first thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16 tells us that it is an archangel who will announce the catching away of the church for their resurrection and then in jude chapter one there's only one chapter in jude chapter one verse nine describes michael as being an archangel we don't know if there's more than one maybe michael's the only archangel but that's just simply a prominent angel someone who's first in line and seemingly distinct from cherubim seraphim living creatures now the bible also speaks of angelic beings in categories such as thrones dominions principalities powers and authorities when you take a look at all these different passages by the way as always my notes will be made available to you isn't that right kevin and zach the notes will be made available to you so you can just follow down and take notes of all these but in romans chapter 8 verse 38 principalities and powers describe these spiritual beings in ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 principalities and powers describe these spiritual powers ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 principalities powers describe spiritual beings that are hostile to the cause of christ and then here in colossians chapter 1 verse 16 i'll show you this particular verse it says for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created through him and for him the best we can tell is that this gives four categories or classes or ranks or hierarchies of these spiritual beings you notice again what it said there it said describe them as thrones dominions principalities and powers i regard that as remarkable there that there are hierarchies and ranks and organizations of these spiritual beings whether they be faithful or fallen spiritual beings now by the way notice it's an important principle that i'll get to a little bit later this shows us very plainly that these beings exist only at the creation of god now to you and i who are the blessed inheritors of some 2000 years of christian civilization that sounds very natural okay well of course god created but i want you to understand that in the pre-christian world and in the non-christian world they regarded these spiritual beings as gods i i don't have any doubt that many of the legends of gods and divines that came up were really the responsibility of perhaps angelic or demonic beings and so these beings were regarded as god it's very important for a biblical perspective to say that god created these beings and he is above them all uh and then first peter chapter 3 verse 22 also mentions authorities and powers as describing spiritual beings so this indicates some kind of rank or hierarchy in addition the bible uses the phrases unclean spirit and evil spirit to refer to fallen angelic beings again i've done a fair amount of reading on this i've heard people try to make the case that there's something different between okay there can be a difference between a fallen angel a demon an unclean spirit an evil spirit you know maybe try to make four different kinds of okay i'll just tell you my understanding my biblical and other reading just leaves me no it's all referring to the same thing matter of fact answering one passage in particular in luke chapter 4 verse 33 it says now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon that seems to make it pretty clear if you're talking about an unclean spirit it's the same thing as a demon or in mark chapter 7 verse 25 an adversarial spirit is called an unclean spirit mark 7 25 for a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and she came and fell at his feet now what i find fascinating about that is in the parallel passage in matthew chapter 15 it is said of this girl that she was severely demon possessed so to be possessed by an unclean spirit is the same as being demon-possessed so again i i've done the reading on it i just i just don't buy it that these are describing different categories there are basic faithful and fallen angelic beings and the fallen ones go by variety names and the faithful one goes on by a variety of names now what is the nature of angelic beings what are they like well the bible tells us that angelic beings are spirit beings let me read you psalm 104 verse 4 who makes his angels spirits his ministers a flame of fire you know how fire sort of flickers and flits about you can't really get a hold of it but it's there it's it's material but it's not material that's kind of the idea these are spiritual beings or as hebrews 1 verse 14 says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation now these are both angelic beings and demonic beings these are beings that are essentially spirit in nature they're not normally visible or material but yet they interact with the material world with our world again i don't say this for dramatic effect though if it has a dramatic effect i don't mind i don't have any doubt that among us right now are angelic spirits and demonic spirits i i would think that the angelic spirits in a place like this are strong and in force and whatever spirit there may be of a demonic spirit at or near here that they have very little authority or power or presence in our midst but friends i don't say this to shock but i just there is a reality to the demonic realm one of my very closest and most trusted friends in ministry going back 40 years or more than 40 years actually there's a man named lance ralston he's the pastor of calvary chapel of oxnard uh and he and i are part of just a small group of guys we text each other a lot about ten days ago it was less than two weeks ago i get a text from lance to our little group of pastors and friends he says guys would you please get to praying we're dealing with a demon-possessed woman and so he kept us updated uh with texts and i actually spoke with him on the phone today because i want to get a little more information here's what happened there was a woman in her late 20s married and she was at their church i don't know if she was counseling with a pastor or something like that but she started showing the classic signs of demonic possession speaking in other voices strange erratic behavior unnatural strength and they dealt with this woman over seven hours to confront and to i don't know what the best word is expel these demonic powers and there is a real tangible difference in this woman testified to by anybody who knows her and especially her husband and lance said it was remarkable you know we we don't see a lot of this and look there's a reason maybe somebody asked that question i'll deal with it later why is it that we seem to see so much less demonic possession in our culture than we do in other places uh in in other cultures maybe uh more you know less developed cultures around if you want to use that term i think there's reasons for that but it's real and it happens and it comes up and praise the lord that my friend lance and the people there at the steps they knew what to do and they dealt with it and he said it was exhausting it was trying but we saw god really do a wonderful work so they're real they're spirit beings they are specifically created by jesus christ we saw that back at colossians chapter 1 verse 16. and the bible tells us that angels were created sometime before the creation of the world why do we know that because they witnessed the creation of the universe job chapter 38 verses 4 through 7 says this where were you when i laid the foundations of the earth this is what god's asking job tell me if you have understanding who determined its measurements surely you know or who stretched out the line upon it to what were its foundations fastened or who laid its cornerstones when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of god shouted for joy angels angelic beings were rejoicing when god created the universe so in some way we don't know exactly when they were created but they were created before the universe was created this order of angelic beings now how many angels are there we don't know we know there's a lot the bible uses the term the host of heaven to describe angels and a host in biblical thinking is a massive army that's in first kings 22 19. in daniel chapter 7 verse 10 angela angels in heaven are described with the term as being thousands upon thousands in other words beyond the ability to number but we know this as well that angels do not seem to reproduce themselves so it seems that there is and has been for as long as we know a settled number of angelic beings if more angelic beings are being created we don't know anything about it in matthew chapter 22 verse 30 jesus said that angels do not marry or reproduce now i will say this he was referring to faithful angels here he said for in the resurrection they neither marry or nor are given in marriages but are like the angels of god in heaven referring to how we will be in the resurrection and the bible also tells us that normally angels are invisible and can only be seen by special revelation do you remember in numbers chapter 22 now i don't know if numbers chapter 22 has an immediate correlation in your mind but you will as soon as i say this it's balaam and balaam had as he's riding his donkey had his way blocked by an angel of the lord but balaam could not see it but the donkey could donkey had more spiritual perception than balaam did you better believe he did if you want to get onto the story of balaam normally that angelic being was invisible now we see the same thing in uh second kings chapter 6 verse 17 where the servant of elijah could not see the surrounding angels until his eyes were supernaturally open this is what it says here and elisha prayed and said lord i pray open his eyes that he may see then the lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around elijah this was some kind of angelic army surrounding them so instead of being afraid instantly elisha and his servant were like hey we're good we've got angelic protection all around us you know you can go into stories of missionaries i think um uh john patton a missionary to the new hebrides it's written in his diary in in his uh biographies about how one night um the people to whom they came to bring the gospel to were very hostile towards them and uh surrounded their house and looked like they were gonna burn it down and kill all the occupants these missionaries who would come and minister to them but they never did and years later john patton uh inquired of them after they had come to christ hey how come you guys never burned down our house and he said didn't you see the men with flaming swords surrounding your house and john that no we didn't see him the guy said well we sure saw them so again um there's there's a a normal presence to angelic beings that they are among us and they're invisible by the way it's invisible for a good reason friends let's learn a lesson from this they're invisible because god does not want us to focus on angelic beings or demonic beings he just doesn't want us to do this and this is a great temptation people get distracted people get right god keeps them normally invisible for a reason he does not he wants us to be aware of what the bible says about them that's why we're doing this here tonight but he does not want them to be our obsession or focus so so please this teaching tonight is one part of hopefully a well-rounded understanding of theology god forbid that somebody listening to this here tonight either here or online or recorded later is somehow going to become an angel or demon freak just you know obsessed with them if you have you missed the mark just consider god has them normally invisible for a reason he doesn't want our focus to be upon them continuing on though we see that the bible tells us that angels can take on human appearance and form isn't this interesting hebrews chapter 13 verse 2 tells us do not forget to entertain strangers for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels you could talk a long time about that couldn't you i bet if we went around this room we could find stories of people who thought you know what i think i had an encounter with an angel and it's not because you know when they left your presence there were feathers on the ground or strange humps behind you know under their coat none of that kind of weirdness but you just hey you know what there was something about that encounter i really think that perhaps that person was an angel and you know what well doesn't hebrews 13 verse 2 tell us that this is a distinct possibility this could very well be so angels obviously only under god's purpose and plan to me it's unthinkable the idea that an angelic being could do this on their own initiative so i'm gonna assume i'm speaking as if i was an angel well you know i'm going to go uh pretend to be a human and go check it out and walk around don't tell god i don't want them to know yeah it would just never work like that they could only do such a thing under divine direction they are messengers and obedient messengers unto god the bible also tells us that some angels fly of course this is why uh commonly in medieval art uh angels are depicted with wings but daniel chapter 9 verse 21 describes an angel flying swiftly to daniel to bring him an answer to prayer revelation chapter 14 verse 2 verse 6 i should say tells us there's there's an angel who flies through the sky presenting the everlasting gospel so we don't necessarily think that's something they normally do but we have record of this in the bible and the bible also tells us that angels have or at least have had a will and a moral character some angels are described as holy and other angels are described as lying and sinning in other words angels have had at some time a moral choice to make matthew chapter 25 verse 31 when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him then he will sit on the throne of his glory now this implies me that there are some angelic beings who are not holy but there are some that are and we also have references such as john chapter 8 verse 44 tells us that satan sins by lying first john chapter 3 verse 8 tells us that the devil has lied and sinned from the beginning okay what would tell us this tells us that there has been at least in the past some time when angelic beings or spirits could choose now i would say that the most logical biblical conclusion to draw from this and again admittedly we're dealing with things that the scriptures don't tell us as much as we would prefer about but i would say that the time for choosing for angelic beings is over there was a time in the past perhaps before creation perhaps shortly after creation i would posit that it was after creation that angelic spirits had the privilege or the ability to choose be loyal and faithful to god or to be disloyal and unfaithful to god but now at this point god has fixed their choices and they can no longer choose now will this not be the truth same for us as humans there will come a time for us as human beings when the choices stop and the choices we have made in this life are set for eternity that point seems to have already passed for the angelic beings now i'm going to spend the rest of time talking about faithful angelic beings and then fallen angelic beings so what do faithful angelic beings do well first of all they continually praise and glorify god they do this mainly in heaven revelation chapter 5 shows us revelation chapter 7 shows us but they also do it sometimes on earth luke chapter 2 tells us about a time when the angels praised god on earth or at least in the sky at the earth in front of a audience of shepherds at the birth of jesus so sometimes they do it on earth mainly in heaven they praise and glorify god that's number one number two angels are agents of god's revelation now i don't think this is something that they often do but hebrews chapter 2 verse 2 tells us that god used angels to bring some of the revelation of the old covenant to moses apparently that law was delivered to moses by angels that's just what it says again hebrews chapter 2 verse 2. we also know that in a scripture i've already referenced revelation chapter 14 verse 6 that there will come a time when god will use an angel to present and it even uses the word to preach the everlasting gospel to humanity again that's revelation chapter 14 verse 6. we also know that not only are angels sometimes agents of god's revelation they are also sometimes agents of god's judgment second samuel chapter 24 verse 16 tells us that an angel brought judgment against jerusalem and second kings chapter 19 verse 35 tells us about a time when one angel from god slew the entire assyrian army that laid siege to jerusalem sometimes angels are instruments of god's judgment angels are special servants of god and they serve god's people matthew chapter 4 verse 11 tells us that angels ministered to jesus after he endured testing in the wilderness look at this it says then the devil left him and behold angels came and ministered to him and you know what jesus said to the angels he said hey you don't exist what are you doing here no of course jesus believed in angels luke chapter 22 verse 43 angels strengthened jesus in the garden of gethsemane we read of that then an angel appeared to him from heaven strengthening him brothers and sisters i don't even know what that means exactly how can an angel come and strengthen the messiah i don't know exactly but it happened we also know that hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 tells us that angels minister or serve those who will inherit salvation it says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation now i'm not asking you to raise your hand here this evening but just mentally do you believe you're one of those who will inherit salvation god has sent angelic beings to serve to assist you how does that work what does it mean i don't exactly know should you really care much about it i don't think so i certainly don't think you should say well you know i want to have a talk with my angel because i stubbed my toe last week and it really hurt and i don't know where my angel was look we don't know anything about guardian angels this is that but what we just know is that god has appointed angels to serve humanity especially those who will inherit salvation as an example of this in first kings chapter 19 we see that an angel served and helped elijah we see in psalm 34 verse 7 that angels were present with believers and helped them i'll give you one other thing and i should have put this in my note because i don't have the scripture reference at han but in one of the stories that jesus told about um uh a believer being taken to heaven it actually says that an angel carried his soul up to heaven now that sticks in my mind i wish i would have put in my notes because i could give you the chapter and verse for that but it sticks in my mind because i'm remembering something that charles spurgeon said about that he said listen don't make your angels angry because then they might bump your head when they take you to heaven so anyway that's just a funny remark that's virgin man but i also want to point this out angels also observe the conduct of the church first corinthians chapter 4 verse 9 tells us that believers specifically hear the apostles are on display to angelic beings paul wrote this for i think that god has displayed us the apostles last as men condemned to death for we have been made a spectacle to the world both to angels and to men now paul's talking specifically about the apostles in the first century but i think that the principle carries out especially because of what we see in first corinthians chapter 11 verse 10 that tells us that angels are present among believers in their gatherings and for that reason god's order in the church should be observed first corinthians 11 10 says for this woman for this reason the women ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels well that's remarkable isn't it angels are present and they care what's going on among the people of god and then first peter chapter 1 verse 12 tells us that angelic beings are interested in god's plan for humanity it says this to them it was revealed that not to themselves but to us they were ministering the things which have now been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven things which angels desire to look into angels are watching us they desire to look into the things of god now again i think an important verse to bring along with this and i didn't put this in my notes so i don't have it up on the screen but don't ever forget that ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 tells us that god is using the church to display and teach his wisdom to angelic beings principalities and powers that is a remarkable thing isn't it that is part of the purpose of the church that we would teach angelic beings principalities and powers about the wisdom of god by how god works in us hey when we're doing good as a church family it's like hey angels check this out you see the wisdom of god at work here when we're not doing well as a church family god brings some discipline some correction and god says look how i'm working out my wisdom in this church man i'm giving some spiritual spankings around here do you see that angels god is working in and through his church to display his wisdom to on looking angelic beings now there is one particular fallen angel that we're going to spend a little bit of time talking about and that is satan satan comes from a hebrew word that essentially means adversary and this particular being it's described as an individual in the scriptures he along with the other angels was created before uh the creation of the world by god again that's encompassed in colossians chapter 1 verse 16. very important friends satan is not a rival god i heard a preacher once do a presentation he was teaching about angels and demons and he did a little trick with the audience where he did something like this he said um okay what's the opposite of black somebody said white what's the opposite of hot and somebody said cold what's the opposite of uh near and somebody said far they said what's the opposite of god and about half the people in the congregation yelled out satan and they said whoa stop right there you could say that the opposite of hot is cold the opposite near as far but don't ever say that the opposite of god is satan because they are not opposites god has no opposite he is god reigning singular alone sovereign in the heavens satan is his created being it was a early church theologian maybe augustine i can't remember for sure he said this satan is god's ape what did he mean by that well in the classic consideration of an ape or a monkey they said two things about first of all you know he's just god's servant he just dug in the end what god wants him to do but another thing is that uh monkeys or apes in the ancient world were known for their mimicry all satan can do is imitate and twist what god has done but please friends don't ever forget satan is not the opposite of god if you want an opposite of satan go to michael the archangel he's a high-ranking faithful angel satan is the highest ranking uh fallen angel that would be a true opposite for satan now ezekiel chapter 28 verse 14 tells us that satan was a high ranking angel and anointed cherub who had privileged access to god's presence look at this verse you were the anointed cherub who covers i established you this is the lord speaking of course you were on the holy mountain of god you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones you had privileged access to the presence of god now verse 13 of ezekiel chapter 28 tells us that satan had access to the garden of eden that he was covered with radiant glory and in some sense had musical instruments prepared for him it says you were in eden the garden of god every precious stone was your covering the sardius topaz and diamond barrel onyx and jasper sapphire turquoise and emerald with gold the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created now it's on the basis of ezekiel chapter 28 verse 13 where it mentions those timbres and pipes and musical instruments that people say that satan was the worship leader in heaven okay the bible doesn't exactly say that it says that he was one of the cherubim that surrounded god's throne a high rank angel perhaps the highest ranking angel and we're also told that uh these this being satan had some association with musical instruments it's probably going a little too far to say that he was the worship leader in heaven but you can see where some people draw that conclusion out now in his state previous to his fall satan was an exalted and privileged being known as lucifer isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 says this 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 now there's debate among scholars as to whether lucifer is a name or a title it means day star or morningstar shining one it refers to a brightly shining object in the heavens what it tells us is that satan was a glorious radiant being whether lucifer was a name or a title we can't really say for sure but know this satan is called by many other titles or names in the bible i will give the scripture references you can look it up in the notes that will be made available to you but i'll just give you the names uh some of them by which satan is called he's called the devil which means accuser he's called the enemy he's called the tempter the wicked one the deceiver the father of lies a murderer the prince of the power of the air he's called the god of this age he's called the adversary he's called abaddon which means the destroying one he's called bezob which means lord of the flies he's called belial which means worthless or wicked and in revelation chapter 12 verse 3 he's called the great dragon now in some sense satan has fallen from heaven we saw that back at isaiah 14 12 where it says oh how you are fallen from heaven o lucifer son of the morning but there's another sense in which satan presently has access to god how do we know that well because um job chapter 1 presents satan as being in the presence of god and we also know that he is talked about as being the accuser of the brethren in revelation chapter 12 verse 10 who accuses the brethren before god day and night so there is some way in which satan has fallen from his status in heaven but he still has access to heaven but he also has access to earth what do i mean by that well here's a place that clearly says it i mean of course he has access to the earth because he tempted jesus on earth but first peter chapter 5 verse 8 says that satan walks about among believers in the world today he says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour so he's present in some way on the earth walking about and the condemnation of the devil came from his pride we find that in first timothy chapter 3 verse 6. it's especially seen in the five i will statements that are found in isaiah chapter 14 verses 13 and 14. let me read you this very dramatic this is satan expressing his pride and rejection of god in these five i will statements he says 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 farther sides of the north i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i will be like the most high is that almost the perfect distilling of pride to say against god i will i will i will you know it's been wisely said that at the end of it all there's basically two attitudes in all the universe there's saying to the lord your will be done and they're saying to the lord my will be done and satan was the embodiment of saying my will be done i will i will i will five times over and god basically said no you won't now we're not told the specific reason or occasion behind satan's sin of pride i'm going to speculate a little bit on it but i want you i'm speculating to some degree jewish traditions suggest that it was because he learned of god's plan to create a new kind of being divine being angelic being satan learned of god's plan to create a new kind of being what would be characteristic of this new kind of being well this new kind of being would be made in god's image yet they would be lower in status than angelic creatures that lower creature nevertheless angelic beings would be commanded to serve and some of those new order of beings would one day be elevated above angelic creatures now you could see if you were an angelic creature that might not sit right with you okay wait a minute i as an angelic creature i'm not made in the image of god which by the way the scriptures never tell us that angelic beings are made in the image of god i'm not making it but god you're going to create something that is made in your image in other words is more compatible with you i'll tell you this right off i believe that human beings can have a personal relationship with god in a way that angelic beings cannot because we are made in his image and angelic beings are not frankly i think angels that sometimes are jealous of that so you're going to make these human beings and they're going to be made in your image they're going to be lower than us but we have to serve them and one day they're going to be elevated above us that doesn't sound like a good deal to me now let me read to you from louis ginsburg's uh volumes the legends of the jews if you're interested this comes from volume 1 pages 62 through 64. i'll just read you this extended quote the extraordinary qualities with which adam was blessed physical and spiritual as well aroused the envy of the angels in particular satan was jealous of the first man and his evil thoughts finally led to his fall after adam had been endowed with a soul god invited all the angels to come and pay him reverence and homage satan the greatest of the angels in heaven refused to pay heed to the behest of god saying thou didst create us angels from the splendor of the shekinah and now thou just command us to cast ourselves down before the creature which you created out of the dust of the ground satan broke out wild outcries that reached the heavens and he refused to do homage unto adam as he had been bidden the host of angels led by him did likewise in spite of the urgent representations of michael satan replied if he breaks out and wrath against me i will exalt my throne above the stars of god i will be like the most high i just trust you i was not reading to you from the bible but from a collection of the legends of the jews compiled by a man named lewis ginsberg which compiled old rabbinic legends and traditions now the reason why i'm drawn to this speculation is because to me it explains much of satan's present strategy god says humanity is made in my image satan responds through encouraging sin and rebellion i want to deface the image of god in humanity i don't think satan can destroy the image of god in a person but i think he can vandalize it he can deface it god says angelic beings are to serve humanity satan responds i'm going to entice humanity into serving me god says human beings will be glorified and elevated above angelic beings satan responds i want to prevent as many human beings from this glorification and elevation as possible god says humans can be transformed into the image of my son and satan responds i want human beings to be more like me to me it explains a lot now what does satan do it do by the way we've got just about five more minutes hang on you guys have been doing amazingly well what does satan do well luke chapter 4 tells us that satan tempts he entices people to evil into disobedience second corinthians chapter 11 tells us that satan deceives often with harmless glorious appearances second corinthians 11 verse 14 describes as being an angel of light revelation chapter 12 verse 9 tells us that satan deceives the whole world second corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 tells us that satan blinds the minds of those who do not believe matter of fact first thessalonians chapter 2 verse 18 tells us that paul's work was in some way hindered by satan look at this verse paul says therefore we wanted to come to you even i paul time and again but satan hindered us now hold on with me here if you were to interview the apostle paul paul do you think this means that satan is mightier than god and that satan can stop god's purpose and hinder the work of god ultimately paul would probably answer back who are you and why you're asking me such a dumb question no satan's not mightier than god and ultimately satan can never hinder god's ultimate purpose but by human appearance and the way things just works is that while god has put us in a world that works by appearances it can certainly seem that in the immediate context satan hinders the work of god in some way again not ultimately of course not but at least in an immediate sense but i want you to understand this the work of satan is definitely limited by the power and the permission of god you see this in the book of job god put strict boundaries on what satan could and could not do you also see it in luke chapter 22 where jesus said something absolutely remarkable to peter he said peter satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat what a blood-curdling thing to hear from the lord but he says don't worry i've prayed for you and when you are restored go and strengthen my brethren in other words satan could not do whatever he pleased against peter or any of god's children god has satan on a leash friends ultimately satan only ends up serving the purposes of god now with a few minutes left before we take a break i just want to say some quick things about demonic spirits in general properly speaking there is one satan or devil but he has an army of spirits fallen angelic spirits that are loyal to him and serve his purposes you know in common christian way of speaking we often say things like you know satan was really hassling me or tempting me and honestly there's probably not a person in this room who's actually ever dealt with satan himself he's a singular being he's not omnipresent but there's a sense in which we do deal with satan because we deal with his downline we deal with the um uh unfolding hierarchy that descends from him it would be like this if you got a uh well the last couple years people got checks from the president from trump or biden trump sent me a check friend donald trump did not send you a check but ultimately he was responsible for it or at least played a significant part in it wanted to gain credit from it or biden or whoever you see so at the head of a hierarchy there's a sense in which things unfold under that hierarchy the word demon has the greek concept of an inferior deity in the new testament's always used as an evil spirit so there's one devil and many demons demons are not omniscient by the way i told you a little bit earlier about the encounter my friend lance ralston had with a uh you know a demon-possessed woman uh just in the last couple weeks i asked lance lance anything stand out to you about it he said david i learned this he said demons cannot read your mind because the demonic spirit spoke to lance from the woman making a claim uh well i'll just tell you what the demonic spirit said at least paraphrase the demonic spirit said uh i know you're afraid i see your fear and lance said at the moment the demon said that he was filled with perfect peace and assurance in the lord not a bit of fear in him and it just really stood out to lance this this demon can try to guess what i'm thinking but he can't actually read my mind because he doesn't know what i'm thinking um demons are called the angels of satan they belong to him in some sense look at matthew chapter 25 verse 41 it says then he will say to those on his left hand depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels now there's some sense in which these angelic fallen beings belong to say they're under his hierarchy many people believe that the third of the stars of heaven in revelation chapter 12 verse 4 describe one-third of the angelic creatures who rebelled with satan and these fallen angelic beings are what we consider to be demons now check this out if one third of the angels aligned with lucifer or satan when he fell what does that tell you about the proportion of faithful angels to fallen angels they outnumber them two to one plus we know that some of the fallen angels are imprisoned god has taken them out of action put them in the penalty box for another time now we also know that the demonic spirits that belong to satan are organized into ranks implying that they have intelligence organization and a hierarchy ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 says for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this age against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places in other words he's describing different categories of spiritual opponents that believers face demonic spirits you don't need to worry about oh wow was i just tempted by a principality or by a ruler of the darkness of this age i need to know you don't need to know this is what you need to know there's a hierarchy there's ranks they're organized they're organized and have limited resources therefore when a demonic spirit understands that he will not be successful he will no longer put his resources into a certain battle he will only battle as long as he feels maybe deceptively feels that he will be successful finally and we'll end with this demonic spirits have strategies that should be understood and resisted second corinthians chapter 2 verse 11 says this that satan has devices or strategies against us meant to take advantage of us that we should not be ignorant of second corinthians 2 11 lest satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices friends we walk a line when it comes to understand spiritual warfare the demonic realm around us we run a line a danger of erroring on the side of thinking that nothing has to do with demonic spirits or of believing that everything has to do with demonic spirits the bottom line is this is that we face three classic enemies in the christian life the world the flesh and the devil and we need wisdom from god to know at which point and where we are being attacked that we can stand strong that we can do what james tells us to do resist the devil and he will flee from you sometimes it's helpful to resist the devil with a brother or sister beside you hey would you help me resist the devil but i believe this that the bible's true and it says resist the devil and he will flee from you we just sometimes need the wisdom to know that this is a particular demonic attack we need the courage to stand against it in strength and we need the boldness to just say no this territory belongs to jesus christ and there's going to be no satanic influence or power or voice in this whatsoever now we're going to take a break and go to the second part here but i do this with a sense of guilt and here's the guilt even though i've tried to talk fast over the last hour and we've talked about a lot there's so much more that could be said about this i'm sure some of that will come to us in the questions and we'll deal with it then but i hope that this has been a beginning point for understanding angelic beings both faithful and fallen let's take a five-minute break and then we're going to come back and talk about the minor prophets break time now we're talking here about the minor prophets if you brought a bible okay here's here's my bible right here pretty thick book right this is what i want you to understand about the minor prophets and i'd never considered it in these terms before the minor prophets now they're not called minor because they were young uh they're not called minor because they're lesser it's just their books are smaller that's really it the major prophets isaiah jeremiah and then lamentations going along with jeremiah ezekiel daniel then we get into the minor prophets starting with hosea and going the 12 books all the way to malachi all of these prophets did their ministry in the later part of the period of the divided kingdom so if you put in your bible here okay big thick bible if you go from first excuse me second kings chapter 11 two second kings hold on here to the end of second kings see this much that's the historical era of the minor prophets the thickness of this page basically everything that takes place in the um minor prophet okay i need to make a distinction here excuse me let me backtrack 12 minor prophets the first nine are pre-exilic they happen before or right at the fall of jerusalem to the babylonians all of those nine minor prophets their work takes place in this thin section second kings chapter 11 through the end of second kings and that's kind of interesting isn't it that covers all the historical territory of the minor the first nine minor prophets the last three minor prophets uh that would be uh haggai zechariah and malachi they take place in an even shorter place ezra chapters 5 and 6 and nehemiah chapter 13. so the minor prophets don't span the entire history of israel they spent several hundred years of israel's history but it's really just that portion historically contained second kings chapter 11 to the end of second kings and then actually you could also say second chronicles chapter 26 through the end of second chronicles chapter 36 and i would divide the uh three excuse me the nine pre-exilic prophets minor prophets those nine into three categories you have the early ones that's before 830 bc that would just include obadiah and joel these guys ministered to the reigns of king johorem and joash of judah among some others joram and jehu of israel among a few others that's basically second kings 11 through 15. obadiah and joel although i have to tell you this is getting a little far in the ways there's some debate about the dating of obadiah i'm going with the earlier dating of obadiah if you want to argue about the dating of obadiah argue to your heart's extent i'll you can argue to a wall for all i care just doesn't matter we can talk about then there's so that's the early then there's the mid that's 782 to 690 bc there you have jonah hosea amos micah this is during the reigns of king uzziah and hezekiah of judah jeroboam the second hoshaya of israel there you're talking basically second kings 14 through 20 and second chronicles 27-32 and then you have the late minor prophets uh that's 650 to 609 bc you're talking about nahum zephaniah habakkuk these are during the reigns of manasseh josiah jehoiakim of judah uh the kingdom of israel had already fallen to the assyrians now that's the pre-exilic the nine pre-exilic minor prophets the three post-exilic minor prophets are all in the period described in ezra and nehemiah actually ezra chapters 5 and 6 and nehemiah chapter 13. that's after the exile after they were allowed to come back from babylon i also think it's interesting to note not just the general time period of the minor prophets but also to notice their geography what do i mean by that well micah joel zephaniah and habakkuk all spoke mainly to jerusalem judah the kingdom of judah amos and hosea mainly spoke to the northern kingdom the kingdom of israel jonah and nahum spoke about or to nineveh the capital city of the assyrian empire obadiah spoke to the and haggai zechariah and malachi all spoke to the returning exiles so if you put those in their categories and by the way as kevin and zach would immediately tell you yes these notes will be available for you um you'll want to see this and just take a look at this see understand the time framing and the uh geography of the minor prophets so let me just kind of click through them very quickly i'm going to give you just sort of a catch phrase for them read a sample verse from each one and just kind of give you an idea of the uh of each one hosea if i were to title hosea i would title it the prophet and the prostitute uh a sample verse from hosea is hosea chapter 11 verses 7 through 9. my people are bent on backsliding from me though they called him to the most high none at all exalt him how can i give you up ephraim how can i hand you over israel how can i make you like admira how can i set you like zebeleem these were places that were judged my heart churns within me my sympathy is stirred i will not execute the fierceness of my anger i will not again destroy ephraim for i am god and not man the holy one in your midst and i will not come with terror here god is promising restoration to israel after announcing so much judgment there in the prophet hosea hosea is the record of hosea's prophecies to the people of israel using the prophet's unfaithful wife as an illustration of israel's unfaithfulness to god and god's continued love to israel with promises of restoration that's a quick summary of hosea joel joel is known for its promises of judgment and its promises of restoration here's a key verse from joel joel chapter 2 verse 11 the lord gives voice before his army for his camp is very great for strong is the one who executes his word for the day of the lord is great and very terrible who can endure it yes the prophet joel speaks very powerfully of judgment that had come upon the people of god and would come upon in the day of the lord but then always including prophecies and promises of restoration it's so interesting to see this pattern the pattern is true in all of the prophets isaiah jeremiah ezekiel but it's especially prominent in the minor prophets because their books are shorter you kind of comprehend the book easier or more easily you see how god will announce his terrible judgment but it's like god can't help himself he has to give promises of restoration and he does so often you see that very prominently in joel amos these were promises to judge injustice and again to eventually bring restoration here's a key verse from joel aim excuse me from amos amos chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. hear this word that the lord has spoken against you o children of israel against the whole family which i brought up from the land of egypt saying you only have i known of all the families of the earth therefore i will punish you for all your iniquities that's kind of crazy isn't it i've specially chosen you therefore i'm going to punish you for your iniquities it wasn't always easy for the jewish people to be the chosen people and amos contains the prophecies of amos warning of god's coming judgment against israel and explaining the reasons for that judgment along with promises of restoration then we have one of the one chapter wonders among the prophets obadiah obadiah just one chapter and it's an interesting book it's a one chapter judgment on the it's the record of obadiah's prophecy against edom for their participation in and their celebration of israel's downfall also containing promises of restoration here's a key verse from obadiah obadiah chapter 1 verse 10 for violence against your brother jacob shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever by the way i'll just share this i see that we're clicking through this quickly enough this judgment pronounced on the is interesting i do a thursday afternoon uh question and answer live program on youtube at noon on thursdays and sometimes i get quite a number of black hebrew israelites who want to come on and fire questions at me and they often have to do with edom and who are the because the black hebrew israelites believe that all white people are the and that god is going to judge all the in their view and restore the true israelites who they regard as them uh to their true glory and so uh i've in my question answered just very directly dealt with this what happened to the well history tells us and the bible tells us that they were judged and they were just sort of lost to history incorporated into the surrounding peoples that's it end of story oh but man you should see some of these guys uh answer back well then i just take the excuse to preach the gospel to him when i can so anyway i'm glad that they tune in i can speak to them but uh obadiah is all about god's judgment on the then we have the book of jonah jonah is a little bit different among the prophets because the other prophets tend to give a classic um presentation of the prophetic through the prophetic pose jonah is a story it's a historical narrative about the prophet jonah and what he experienced it's kind of unique among the 12 minor prophets but of course he's the story of the disobedient and you would say grumpy prophet that god called to preach repentance to the ninevites and he was so bummed when they actually repented and god spared them that's the story of jonah here's a key verse in jonah jonah chapter four verse two so he prayed to the lord and said ah lord was not this what i said when i was still in my country therefore i fled previously to tarshish for i know that you are gracious and merciful god slow to anger and abundant loving-kindness one who relents from doing harm by the way that's what made jonah angry that god was merciful to the ninevites when they repented he wanted to see them judged so it's a interesting and funny book by the way did you see that just a couple weeks ago where a fisherman off the coast of um uh new england was swallowed by a whale and spit out again that's kind of fascinating to me isn't it didn't say about him being a prophet or anything but it's like wow there it is right there okay the next book we're talking about beyond jonah is micah micah spoke against empty religion and um his prophecies to both judah and israel warned of god's coming judgment of course also giving promises of restoration but it's really a plea to god's people for them to repent here's a key verse micah chapter 7 verse 18 who is a god like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy it's a wonderful promise there then we come to the prophet nahum this was the doom to come upon nineveh and the assyrians really nahum was written as a prophecy against nineveh the capital of assyria for their crimes against god and his people here's what it says nahum chapter 3 verses 5 6 and 7. behold i am against you says the lord of hosts i will lift your skirts over your face i will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame i will cast abominable filth upon you make you vile and make you a spectacle it shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee from you and say nineveh is laid waste who will bemoan her where shall i seek comforters for you so those three chapters contain a very strong statement of god's judgment against nineveh then we come to the prophet habakkuk habakkuk is a fascinating book it really describes for us in its three chapters the prophet who asked questions he asks questions to god and god gives them answers it's the record of those questions and god's reply especially regarding the judgment of god upon judah and it concludes with the chapter of praise and triumphant faith you know habakkuk's questions are great to god basically most of his questions have to deal with this okay god you say that judah is wicked and deserving of your judgment there's just one thing i don't understand god why are you using a nation like the babylonians who's even more wicked than us to be the instrument of our judgment why are you using them and god explains to habakkuk why do you want to know why well read the prophecy of habakkuk let me read you a verse here habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 behold the proud his soul is not upright in him but the just shall live by his faith then we have zephaniah zephaniah's three chapters speak of strong judgment but then an even stronger salvation that the lord has it's the record of god's coming judgment and wrath upon judah and jerusalem and actually the whole earth but then also containing the promises of god's restoration following judgment here's the key verse zephaniah chapter 2 verse 3 seek the lord all you meek of the earth who have upheld his justice seek righteousness seek humility it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the lord's anger in other words god's judgment's coming repent maybe he'll relent maybe he will spare you then we have the prophet haggai now we've left the nine uh pre-exilic prophets now we come to the three post-exilic prophets the ones who were after the babylonian exile haggai is really a book about resetting priorities before the lord um he's encouraging the people of god to prioritize the rebuilding of the temple following the babylonian exile with very rich promises of god's future blessing and glory here we go haggai chapter 2 verses 7 8-9 god says this and i will shake all nations and they shall come to the desire of all nations and i will fill this temple with glory says the lord of hosts the silver is mine and the gold is mine says the lord of hosts the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former says the lord of hosts and in this place i will give peace says the lord of hosts then we come to the prophet zechariah zechariah is a long book it actually contains 14 chapters it might be in length longer than even the book of daniel but since it's associated with these post-exilic prophets that's why it's included among the minor prophets it's really rich with visions of judgment and of the messiah so the major themes of it are repentance and restoration the rejection and then the reign of the messiah here's a key verse zechariah chapter 8 verse 3 thus says the lord i will return to zion and dwell in the midst of jerusalem jerusalem shall be called the city of truth the mountain of the lord of hosts the holy mountain again so this is the record of zechariah's prophecies with visions messages and burdens regarding the present state and the future glory of god's people with attention given to the future work of the messiah then finally the twelfth of our minor prophets the prophet malachi who confronted the compromising people of god the key verse here malachi chapter 2 verse 17 you have wearied the lord with your words yet you say in what way have we wearied him in that you say everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the lord and he delights in them or where is the god of justice i like how one man organized malachi he said that it was telling us about the care of god the complaint of god and the coming of god in its four chapters again that's just a very quick of these remarkable books the minor prophets look the minor prophets you will benefit from knowing the historical context so more than most books of the bible you'll benefit from a bible handbook or bible commentary in helping you just get a little bit of feel for the context but the strength and the power of their visions of their promises of judgment and restoration it's powerful and beautiful now this concludes the survey of the old testament next sunday deeper a by deeper that we get into we're going to start talking about the new testament let me conclude with this before we get on to the questions that zach's going to bring up to the front i want you to take a look at the last verse of the old testament malachi chapter 4 verse 6 the last verse of the old testament we read and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers paul's right they're beautiful isn't it not a beautiful thought but then notice the very last line lest i come and strike the earth with a curse the last line of the old testament speaks about god now i must admit this is in our english arrangement of the books of the bible the hebrew or jewish arrangement of the books of the hebrew scriptures is different but in the english or in the in the uh christian arrangement of it the last line of the ocean says lest i come and strike the earth with a curse gee i wonder what the last line of the new testament is revelation 22 21 the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all amen now please nobody get me wrong i'm not trying to say hebrew scripture is bad greek scripture is good no no never god's word to us is good and glorious i will say this that the true revelation of god's grace was not fully revealed until jesus christ revealed it as john says in the gospel of john the law came by moses and praise god for the law we need it but grace and truth came by jesus christ i think that's illustrated let's look at the last line of the old testament the last line of the new testament and that's a wonderful gift that god gives us [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, Abide, Angels and Demons & The Minor Prophets, angels, demons, minor prophets, ccsb, calvary chapel, calvary chapel santa barbara

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Length: 86min 58sec (5218 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 04 2021