In our last segment, we explored the state of the nations in the Old Testament era. We saw that the nations lived in darkness without Yahweh, warring against Yahweh’s people and worshipping false gods. These abominations eventually lead the Nation of Israel to practice deplorable things in contrast to God’s standards found in His law. We also observed that a promise was made to the nations that one day a light would dawn and that they would be recipients of the blessings brought by God’s Messiah. In this segment, we will turn our attention to the state of the nations during the advent of Christ and also during the time of His apostles.
While the Old Testament reveals to its readers the darkness that the nations were under, we get a clearer picture of their dire circumstance when we examine the New Testament. We are introduced to the behind the scenes look at why the nations are living in darkness. Under the Old Testament, we were presented with physical realities but under the New Testament, the veil is taken away and the true cause is uncovered for their religious darkness.
One of the primary items that the New Testament exposes is the fact that, in the time of Christ and the apostles, the Devil had a very good grip on the nations and his kingdom firmly ruled over them. The apostle Paul clearly relates this to us in his second letter to the Corinthians:
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (age) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
The scripture refers to Satan as a “god”, not of the entire world, but of this age. He blinds the mind of the unbelieving nations by leading them to focus upon the things of this age which are evil (Galatians 1:4) and full of godless speculations (1 Corinthians 1:20). The wisdom of God was hidden from its rulers, and, in return, they were perishing (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). So, behind the darkness of the nations was the spirit of the devil ruling over them. They were in bondage to him with little hope of being freed from his grip.
But will this hold on the nations and Satan disallowing the nations from seeing the light of Christ continue on forever? By no means! According to the scriptures, a new reign would come to conquer the enemy’s kingdom and free the nations. The enemy’s Kingdom will not prevail over the Messiah’s reign. Satan’s supremacy in this world is described in scripture as a kingdom, one that is being plundered by the Kingdom of Christ. In Colossians we read:
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (Colossians 1:13)[1]
So, there are technically two kingdoms in this world, one of darkness and one of the Son’s. When Christ’s kingdom burst forth in history, and began its invasion, it was the beginning of the end of the kingdom of Satan and his hold upon the nations. It was the time when they would be freed from his clutches and the doors of the kingdom of God would be open to them through the gospel of grace.
The Initial Defeat
One of the key problems with interpreting the New Testament is that sometimes we want to make blanket statements about the condition in that day. So, when we read texts that Satan is the god of this world and that his kingdom is extensive, we tend to think that this will always be the case in history. We don’t imagine that with the spread of the gospel, this could possibly change.
The previous texts we examined addressed the status of the apostle’s mission during that period. But there seems to be an indicator that something was going to change in that predicament. The New Testament speaks of the enemy being decisively defeated. It at least implies that a takeover was taking place even in the day of the apostles and one that wouldn’t simply end with the death of the apostles. A significant overthrow of the enemy at the coming of Christ and His Kingdom was only the beginning of a long war and an eventual victory.
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. (Matthew 12:28-29)
In this text, note that the Pharisees were attributing Jesus’ miracle of casting out a demon to Beelzebub after the demon possessed man called Jesus the Son of David. Jesus rebukes these religious leaders by arguing that the Lord of demons wouldn’t cast out his demonic minions since his house would be divided and weaken his position of power. In contrast, Jesus claims that He was casting out demons by the Spirit of God and this was a sign that the Kingdom of God was present among them. Christ is contrasting two kingdoms, that of Satan and that of God. The Kingdom of God and the claim of the demon possessed man, demonstrates that David’s kingdom had come in Jesus. It was right there in front of them through what they were witnessing. The result is the coming of the Messiah’s kingdom is that the Stronger Man (Jesus) binds the strong man and plunders his house. He has come to defeat him and take what was his. He attacks the kingdom of Satan and ties him up, then rescues the captives in it (Isaiah 49:24-25).
The Fallen Foe
Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:17-19)
In the gospel of Luke, the seventy sent out to deliver the message of the Kingdom returned amazed at the power that was given to them. They were able to even force demons to obey them. The Lord responds to their enthusiasm by stating that He saw Satan fall from heaven, like lightning. This might seem like a bizarre response, but the seventy understood it. It was demonstrating that the Kingdom of Christ had come to extinguish Satan’s rule. This text is an allusion to Isaiah 14:12: How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! The Jews in Jesus’ day interpreted the final fall of Satan like the flash of lightning to the earth. This time of his defeat had come in their day!
The Cast Out Despot
We get a clearer picture of the result of the fall of Satan’s Kingdom ensuing in the freedom of the nations in John 12:
Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:30-32)
John 12 provides insight into the process by which the diminishing and defeat of Satan is manifested in relation to the nations. At this point, the Greeks (Gentiles) had arrived seeking Jesus (v.20) which prompted Him to say that the hour had arrived for Him to be glorified (v.23). Those surrounding Him heard an audible response come from heaven testifying to those in front of Him. Vs.31-32 explain the magnitude of the coming of the Greeks. Their arrival led to three significant outcomes: (1) the judgment of the world began, (2) the ruler of this world was to be cast out, and (3) He would draw all people (families and nations) to Himself. The ruler of this world (Satan) is cast out once Jesus is lifted up, which is probably not a reference to the cross, but to his glorification (Isaiah 52:13). This is the beginning of the dethroning of Satan. Jesus’s enthronement will draw all peoples, those of the nations (non-Jews) to Himself much like we see in Isaiah 2:2-4. He didn’t simply draw them to Himself, however, but drew them away from the enemy. This would be the justice that the nations had been waiting for brought in by the Jewish Messiah.
The Nations Turning Away From The Enemies Dominion
As we’ve seen, at the beginning of the apostle’s ministry, most of the Jews and the nations are under the dominion of Satan. God’s intention however was not that it should remain this way.
But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ (Acts 26:16-18)
When Jesus appeared to Paul, He ascribed to him the work of a witness and minister (v.16). That ministry would entail being sent to both Jews and Gentiles with a purpose to open their eyes. The result is reminiscent of the promises of light to come in darkness. But Paul also states that the outcome of their preaching will turn them from the dominion of Satan to God’s. The mission of the apostle Paul was to proclaim the gospel to the world. This gospel will provide them with the forgiveness of sins, and from their righteous standing before God through that salvation received, they will turn from death into life, from the rule of Satan to the rule of God, from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of God.
Once again, we turn to Colossians 1:13-14 where we read:
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Writing to a primarily Gentile church, Paul continues this theme of turning from darkness to light, from one kingdom to another. Also, here we have language similar to our previous texts. The plundering of the strong man’s house is a rescue and there is a transfer to another reality/rule, through the redemption of sin, which the apostle is writing to this church.
The Destruction of Death
In Hebrews, the writer explains in a very real sense how the devil was defeated. To defeat this enemy was to strip him of his power. We read in Hebrews Chapter 2:
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
By Jesus taking on flesh and defeating death in His resurrection, the devil could no longer lay hold of an individual who had believed because death would no longer bring fear. Truly He came to destroy the work of the Devil (1 John 3:8) and his defeat is for all humankind, all those in Adam, whether Jew of Gentile. If death and sin are conquered, then what power does Satan have over people?
The Bound Dragon
Another text that lends to the turning of the nations away from the rule of Satan is in Revelation chapter 20. While somewhat debated, I still feel lends to the understanding of the freeing of the nations from the grip of Satan.
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. (Revelation 20:2-3)
If the nations were in bondage, and part of the Devil’s kingdom, then for the gospel to go to the nations, the Devil would need to be bound. He would need to be prevented from deceiving them and from eradicating the church with those very nations. His deception would need to be relinquished so that he could no longer mislead the nations in preventing the gospel from going forth. The thousand years would seem to largely consist of this period and why many see this text as symbolizing the church age. One of the ways that we can approach this is to demonstrate that the restraint put upon him is not total but limited to deceiving the nations. The nations that are in darkness will no longer be deceived from preventing the gospel to spread among them.
Crushing Satan’s Head
The grip that the devil has over the nations was being loosened even in the first century. Paul exhorts the believers in Rome to be patient in their tribulations. He writes:
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:20)
We will see later that God is going to put all of Christ’s enemies under His feet, and in this text, God will crush Satan under the feet of the believers in Rome. Crushing might be related to Genesis 3:15 and the crushing of the serpent by the seed of the woman. The defeat of the devil is promised to a church in the mightiest empire in the world during the first century, a nation that the devil had a heavy hand upon.
The promised blessing of Abraham to the nations arrived and in return the process of expanding this blessing began to take place. The light would shine upon them, and the salvation of the Lord would spread from Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:9). The nations would be freed from the blindness of the enemy, and the kingdom of the Son would begin it’s plundering, not in a sudden takeover, but a gradual growth of the kingdom, like yeast going through a loaf or a small mustard seed growing into a large tree.
[1] While some argue that the term “power” here denotes a hold, it can also be translated as a jurisdiction or a rule. It is in contrast to the kingdom of the Son, which technically is a different jurisdiction.
The Moncton Herald 