Introducing Evil Powers

Yahweh—“God of gods”

Heavenly Powers Earthly Powers
Leviathan
Rebellious powers, including,
Darkness
The Sea/Yom
Waters

Sun—ruler of day
Moon and stars—rulers of night------------------------------------Priests of the
Sun, moon and stars

Satan/Devil/Beelzebul/God of this age--------Leviathan
Death/Sheol/The Destroyer
Evil Spirits/demons
National Powers/gods (E.g. Prince of Persia; King of Tyre;
Baal, Ra, Ashereth, mammon, etc) -------------à “The nations”
Evil Spirits /demons governments,
Religious leaders,teachers,
spouses, fathers


What are evil powers?
These are authorities in heaven that have rule over certain areas with two distinctives: they try to punish or harm human beings and they have at one time or another rebelled against Yahweh, God of gods (John 8:44; Job 1; Revelation 12:7-8). Since Yahweh has given reign of the earth to humans—rather than them— these powers hate humans and attempt to circumvent Yahweh’s plan and will (Psalm 8). However, despite their bad intentions, these powers are still under submission to Yahweh and must do as He says or else they will lose their positions and be destroyed (Psalm 82; . In the end, it says in Scripture, they will lose their positions when Yahweh is ready to depose them.

Who is Leviathan?
He is the ancient serpent who fought against Yahweh with the darkness and the waters before the events in Genesis 1 (Psalm 74:12-17). Although Leviathan has been tamed by Yahweh, he is still dangerous and a threat (Job 41:1-34). On the final day, Leviathan will be killed (Isaiah 27:1). Leviathan might be the same as Satan (Revelation 12).

Who are the rebellious powers?
There are many lesser powers who fought Yahweh with Leviathan and who are still very dangerous—the sea (called Yom by name), the darkness and the waters. In Genesis 1, Yahweh is punishing the waters and the darkness for their participation in Leviathan’s rebellion. They remain in strict submission to Yahweh and do as he commands (Psalm 77:15-20; Psalm 18:9-15). However, they are fundamentally still rebellious and they will be destroyed on the last day (Revelation 21:1, 22:5).

What about the sun, moon and stars?
In the Bible, these lights stand for powers in heaven that rule over the day and night (Genesis 1; Psalm 136:9). These powers are evil and they smite humans (Psalm 121:6). They are punished for their unrighteous activity on earth (Joel 3:15) and will eventually be lowered and exiled (Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 60:19-20)

Who is Satan?
“Satan” is not a name, but a position in God’s heavenly realm. “Satan” translated means “Accuser” or, possibly, “Prosecutor”. The Satan is the one who has the job of accusing people of their sins. Satan from the beginning hated human beings and wanted to destroy them, probably because humans hold the authority that Satan himself wanted to have (John 8:44). Satan’s plan to murder humans is this: first he lies to them that sin before Yahweh will grant them peace and exaltation (Genesis 3, John 8:44). Thus he is called “the devil” or “the liar.” If the human doesn’t believe Satan’s lies, then Satan causes difficulties or problems to come to the human to encourage him to find his salvation in someone other than Yahweh (Job 1-2; Mark 4:16-17). For this reason, Satan is called “the tester” (Matthew 4:3; I Thessalonians 3:5) Then, when the human is caught in sin, Satan accuses the human of sin before Yahweh (Revelation 12:10). In this way, he gets Yahweh to punish His own appointed rulers. Satan is also the ruler of his realm, and so he is called the “god of this age”—for his realm includes death and the whole of humanity (Hebrews 2:14). He is also identified with Leviathan in Scripture (Rev. 12:9)

In what way is Death a power?
Death is both a realm and a ruler. Sheol or “the pit” are the names of the realm where the dead dwell and Death/Sheol or the Destroyer is the name of the power that rules over it. Anyone who sins or rebels against Yahweh in any way is condemned to live in Sheol, and (almost) everyone who dies goes there (Psalm 9:17; Job 24:19). This means that all of humanity, every member of which has rebelled against Yahweh at one point or another, is under the rule of Death (Romans 5:12-14). Death is also allowed to punish nations or cities that rebel against Yahweh. He is the Destroyer who went through Egypt, taking all of their firstborn (Exodus 12:23). On the last day, death, an enemy of God, will be destroyed (I Corinthians 15:26; Rev. 20:14)

In what way is Sin a power?
Sin is an act of rebellion in opposition to God’s rule. But there are also powers of sin that control people because they have sinned (Romans 5:12-14). These powers of sin are demons and they have the right to rule and to punish any human who sins. They do this under submission of the power of Death, who eventually will take the human under their control. The powers of sin inflict the human with misery, both earthly and spiritual as punishment for their sin—including some sicknesses, some afflictions, some mental health disorders and some attacks by other nations (Luke 13:16; Mark 9:17-18).

How are the national gods evil?
The national powers or gods (explained in part 1) are evil because: a. They allow—even encourage— humans to worship them. b. They act in excessive violence toward their people and other nations; c. They attempt to take control over what is not their right; and d. They allow their human counterparts to rule unjustly against the poor or righteous. These national gods will be destroyed one by one according to their sins and in the end they will all be destroyed.

Who are the nations?
The nations are anyone unfaithful to Yahweh that wields authority over others. It could be a national ruler, a city ruler, a religious ruler or a family ruler. These rulers are appointed by God and rightfully uses the authority they have (Romans 13:1-5). However, in the end, they will be punished by Yahweh if they harm the poor or the righteous unjustly. (Psalm 82) In the meantime, Yahweh allows Satan and the national gods to use the nations to fight, control and destroy any who sin—whether another nation, a criminal, a disobedient child, etc. Yahweh also hands his people over to the nations if his people are in sin (Judges 2). Yahweh punishes these rulers if they fail to acknowledge Him or if they oppress those whom they rule over (Daniel 4:19-27; Acts 12:19-23)

How are we to respond to the evil powers?
1. We do not disrespect their authority
Jude 8-10—Those who disrespect angelic authority—even evil powers—are called false teachers.

2. Outside of Jesus, we are powerless against their authority
Acts 19:13-16. There is no authority over any power apart from Jesus, who grants us authority over the powers of heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 10:19)

3. We resist any evil spiritual authority
When a spirit in the realm of Satan attempts to attack us, if we have Jesus’ authority, we can resist them—that is, rebel against their authority. They have no authority over us if we are in Jesus. (I John 2:13-14; Ephesians 6:11-13). We are not to place ourselves under the authority of an evil one in any way.

4. We do not rebel against human authority in any way
We are not to rebel against human beings whom Yahweh rightfully appointed us to honor and obey. Only if a human ruler tells us to do something opposed to the will of God can we refuse to submit to them. Otherwise, if we disobey a human ruler, we are disobeying God’s rightful authority. (Matthew 5:38-42; Romans 13:1-7)

5. We can plunder the possessions of evil spiritual powers.
Genesis 1:28; Mark 3:27. We are to take possession of the earth from the evil ones. Should there be people in agony under the oppression of evil spirits, we are to set them free by the authority and power of Jesus. Luke 10:19.

6. The evil one will attack us with all the resources at his disposal.
While under submission to Jesus we can command the evil spirits, we cannot do so with the human counterparts submitting to evil spirits. Satan will use all he has to attack us. If we are susceptible to evil spirits he will attack us that way. If not, then he will attack us through humans—our families or authorities. If we fight against Satan, he will attack us and try to kill us. (Rev. 12:17; Matthew 10:25:34-38)