Ministration of Angels

WE think that the testimony which has been presented has answered that oft-repeated, and sometimes perplexing, question, "Where did the devil come from?" Spiritualists, in particular, are just now making a great noise over this question. They say, "If there is a devil, God must have created him; but this is contrary to the goodness of God: therefore there is no devil." This objection falls to the ground when the facts in the case are known. Satan, like all the creatures of God, was created perfect. The Lord did not give him an evil nature any more than he did the other angels. It seems evident that every intelligent creature of God from the angels down to man, is placed on probation. With the consequences of disobedience set before them, they are given the power to do good or evil, and thus develop their character. This is right, just, and reasonable. Otherwise, as all would see at once, they would be nothing but mere machines. We could not conceive of an active, intelligent creature who could not do wrong if he chose to do so. The same principle which was carried out in the creation of man, was also in the creation of Satan. Man was made "very good," yea, "upright." He was given the power to obey or disobey. Was there anything here wrong or unjust on the part of God? No. Then all we have to do is to apply the same principle to Satan, and we can readily, reasonably, and scripturally, account for the existence of the devil.

Satan was tempted to be jealous of Jesus. He cherishes these feelings in his heart till at length he insinuates them to others. They sympathize with him, and thus strengthen his jealousy. He flatters himself that his beauty, his wisdom, his high position, and his great authority, will command attention and respect, and secure him from punishment, if he refuses obedience to Jesus as his superior. He concludes to make the trial; and if he succeeds, well; if not, he will submit. Probably he did not at first intend rebellion against God. But as is always the case, one wrong step leads to another, till at length he finds himself compelled to yield and be degraded, or sustain himself by force. Pride prompts him to persist; so he comes out in bold, hostile rebellion against Jesus and the Father. Now he has gone too far to retract, and pride pushes him on to ruin.

This we may suppose to have been the way that Satan fell. There is this difference between the fall of man and the fall of Satan: Man was deceived and beguiled into sin by a tempter; but no one deceived Satan. He knew full well that he was doing wrong. There was no excuse for him. So we find that man has a chance of repentance granted him, while Satan has none. He willfully sinned against God and the greatest light; and now, even though he repents, God cannot spare him without encouraging disobedience and rebellion in the rest of his subjects. Satan's exalted position will not save him. He has sinned, and he must be punished. The Lord has no pets. Whoever sins must suffer for it. Peter uses this as an illustration to show that if a person sin, no position, however exalted, will secure him from God's wrath. He says, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment," &c. 2 Pet. 2:4. Satan sinned; so he, with all his followers, must be cast out of Heaven.

SATAN A WANDERER.

When Satan and his angels were cast out of Heaven, where did they go? "They were cast into hell, of course," says one. When stated in full, this is popularly understood to mean as follows: When they were expelled from Heaven, the gates of hell were thrown open, and they were cast in there. This hell is a vast, bottomless pit of burning, scorching fire. This is inclosed in a mighty shell, somewhat as an egg is in its shell. These beings who, a short time since, were bright angels in Heaven, and "perfect in beauty," are now turned into all sorts of deformed, hideous shapes, and hobgoblins. Thenceforth this hell is their home. From these infernal regions they come out all black, grim, and horrid, with cloven feet, monkeys' tails, dragons' scales, and cattle's horns, to tempt the children of men!!! When wicked men die, these horrid monsters stand by with a fiendish grin, ready to take the damned soul and cast it into hell. There a legion of grim devils and shouting demons meet it with yells of hellish triumph. They immediately attack it with fire-brands, and thus torment it to all eternity!

Now to say nothing of reason and common sense, where is the scripture for all this? It is not in the word of God. This we will make good, shortly. But first let us reason about this a little. The Bible represents the devil as going to and fro in the earth to tempt men. Job 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:8. To do this, devils must have the power to go to and from hell whenever they wish. Now, if hell is such an awful place, why do they not stay away when they are once out of it? How is this? What do they go back for? What! deliberately and willingly go right into hell fire?! Reader, pause and think of this.

The fact of the matter is, there is no truth in this absurd theory. Its very form and features betray its heathen birth and papal nursing. All these hideous tales about the devil you will find in heathen mythology from whence they have been adopted by Christians. I believe they were first started by the devil himself, in order to conceal his real character, and thus better enable him to deceive men.

Satan, at his fall, retained his beauty, wisdom, and strength; and now applies all these to work wickedness and deceive the children of men. Paul says, "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." 2 Cor. 11:14. The devil is not a fool. He is wise, far-seeing, and cunning. He knows the power of beauty, wit, mirth, and pleasure to allure men into sin. It is with these that he generally comes to us.

But now to the question, To what place were Satan and his angels cast? Says the Lord, "I will cast thee [Satan] as profane out of the mountain of God." Eze. 28:16. Says Jesus, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven." Luke 10:18. Now we will let Peter tell us where he went: "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto Judgment." 2 Pet. 2:4. The word here rendered, "cast down to hell," is tartaroo, a verb, from which we have tartarus. Mr. Parkhurst in his Greek Lexicon, defines tartarus thus: "Tartarus in its proper, physical sense, is the condensed, solid, and immovable darkness which surrounds the material universe." Again: "Now, it appears from a passage in Lucian, that by tartaros was meant, in a physical sense, the bounds, or verge, of this material universe." From this we see that these angels were cast into the regions of space which surround the material universe. They were ejected from Heaven, and prohibited from dwelling in any part of the created universe. Thus they were cast out into the dark regions of space which surround the created worlds. Says Dr. Clarke, "Darkness bounds them on all sides." Says Peter, God "cast them down to tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness." Jude confirms this testimony. "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day." Verse 6. Says Paul, "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. 2:2.

Thus all these witnesses agree that the devil and his angels were cast into the space beyond the habitable parts of God's universe. It is manifest that it would be unjust, as well as unwise, to banish Satan to any planet inhabited by righteous beings, as he would seek to lead them astray. But there were no rebels in God's universe till Satan revolted. Hence he had to have a place expressly prepared for him, or be cast entirely out of the created universe. We have seen that God chose the latter. But, why did not God immediately destroy him—put him out of existence? Many reason that God is all-powerful, and that he might thus have prevented all the wickedness of this world, and the misery consequent upon it. With the same force we might ask why God did not immediately destroy Adam. Yet he did not. These persons seem to forget that God has other intelligent creatures besides mankind, and that they are influenced by reason and circumstances the same as men are. Perhaps the reason why Satan was not immediately destroyed was this: Up to his fall, he had been a pure, a holy, and an exalted, being. If God had destroyed him for his first offense, the other angels might have looked upon God as being severe and unmerciful. They might have thought that this holy angel had committed but a slight offense of which he would soon repent.

But now Satan has had a fair opportunity to fully develop his character and illustrate the awful consequences of sin and rebellion against God. All can now see that God will be just in putting him out of existence, and that even mercy demands that this should be done. This will now forever remain an example of God's mercy and justice, and of the awful consequences of sin. We, in our limited sphere, can see but a small part of God's design; hence we are sometimes inclined to question the wisdom of his works; whereas, if we could see the whole, and know the end from the beginning, as God does, it would materially alter our views. If at the beginning of the Southern Rebellion, Abraham Lincoln had raised a great army, contracted a large debt, crushed the rebels, and abolished slavery, a majority of the North would have exclaimed against him as a tyrant. But after he had suffered the rebellion to fully develop its hideous character, the North was ready to hold up his hands to do all this and more too, and then applaud him as a great and good man. This happily illustrates the dealings of God with Satan.

Then, instead of being cast directly into hell fire, the fallen angels are "reserved unto Judgment," at which time they will be cast into the fire prepared for them. Matt. 26:41; Rev. 20:10. The devils are not now in torment. "And, behold, they [the devils] cried out saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Matt. 8:29. Then when Jesus was here, the time to punish the fallen angels had not yet come. This harmonizes with the fact that devils are now among men whenever and wherever they choose to be, but tremble in view of their Judgment which is coming. James 2:19.