It is said that when Alexander the Great conquered and captured a king of India named Porus, Alexander asked the defeated monarch how he would like to be treated.
“Like a king,” was the answer. Alexander then asked Porus if he had any additional requests.
Porus said he did not, “for everything is comprehended in the word king.” Alexander was so impressed by this answer that he restored Porus’s lands to him.
King Porus certainly understood the power and respect that a king is supposed to command, and he knew that in his day being the ruler of a land carried the ultimate respect and authority. The king was right. In the ancient world, authority rested in the hands of basically a few people who followed very narrow and clearly defined lines. It may have been less than an ideal situation, but in an ancient monarchy everyone knew his role and place, and what was expected of him. In other words, the world functioned by authority.
The angelic world functions by the principle of authority too. The various ranks of angels suggest that they are organized in a hierarchy to carry out the program of their King, Jesus Christ.
The Bible mentions several ranks of angels. Michael is called “the archangel,” but there was originally one angel who ranked even higher in authority than Michael, and that was Lucifer. This name appears in the King James Version of Isaiah 14:12, while in the New American Standard Bible it is translated as “star of the morning.” This is Satan, who was created as the leader of all the angels. The Devil’s power is still so great that even Michael backed off when disputing with him about the body of Moses, and could only say, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9).
Besides the archangel, we read of the cherubim, an order of angels who form an “inner circle” with access to God’s throne. They are charged with keeping the unholy away from the holy. Cherubim were placed at the entrance to the garden of Eden to keep Adam and Eve from returning after they sinned (Genesis 3:24). The mercy seat, the lid on the ark of the covenant, was guarded by two golden cherubim; and the “four living beings” of Ezekiel 1:5 are later identified as cherubim in Ezekiel 10:15.
It’s interesting that Satan was called the “anointed cherub” before his rebellion and fall (Ezekiel 28:14, 16). He was the most powerful of the cherubim, which explains the great power he retained after he was expelled from heaven.
Another order of angels is the seraphim, who are engaged in nonstop worship and praise of God. We read about them in Isaiah chapter 6, worshiping God and purifying Isaiah by touching his lips with coal from God’s altar.
The demonic world is also arranged for the exercise of authority. Satan is the master of the fallen angels, who all carry out his bidding. The Bible doesn’t have a lot to say about demonic organization, but what it says is significant. Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle in spiritual warfare is “against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Whatever their rank, demons are under the unquestioning command of Satan. To the Jewish leaders who accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan, Jesus said, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:26). Hell’s forces are completely committed to the Devil’s agenda.
As the spiritual world is organized around a principle of hierarchy and authority, the structures and organizations of the physical world are a reflection of this pattern. An important verse relating to this is Colossians 1:16, where Paul wrote: “For by Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Therefore, with the angels, we will continue to function under authority, both in heaven and on earth.
As we noted above, Michael the archangel had to defer to the authority of Satan in their dispute over the body of Moses. The angels understand the importance of authority.
Jude 9 is not only a good illustration of authority in the spiritual world, but it provides a good place to discuss and dispel a misunderstanding that many people have about authority in the spiritual world. There is this common idea afloat that God and Satan are archrivals on more or less the same footing, battling to see who will be the ultimate victor.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Satan’s counterpart in the spiritual realm is the archangel Michael, not God. God has no counterpart. God is the Creator; Satan is His creation—who was created good but chose to rebel. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. Satan has none of these attributes. That’s why he has to work through demons. There is absolutely no question about the outcome of the cosmic battle between the forces of God and the forces of evil. God has Satan on a short leash, and He will pull the Devil in once and for all whenever He is ready.
So don’t ever attribute to Satan and his demons more power or authority than they possess. Since you and I are neither God nor angels, we will only be successful in defeating the Devil to the degree that we are living under God’s authority. We will be placed in situations where it will take more than the power of positive thinking to get us out. We’re going to need divine intervention and authority, which means we have to be under authority.
The story of Jesus and the Roman centurion who sought his help (Matthew 8:5–13) is a great example of this principle operating in the human realm. Jesus was in Capernaum when a centurion came to Him, asking the teacher to heal one of his servants
We don’t have room to quote the entire passage, but I want you to notice verse 9. Jesus said He would come with the centurion, but this leader of soldiers understood the importance of authority to the degree that he realized that all Jesus had to do was speak the word. How did the centurion know this? Because he said to Jesus, “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
Jesus was astounded by this Gentile Roman’s faith in Him as expressed in his understanding of the principle of authority. The man got his request too—Jesus healed his servant.
When you are under authority, you realize that you are not big enough or strong enough to handle things on your own. But so many times we go about doing our thing, and then when we get into trouble, we ask God to show up with His angels and bail us out.
But that’s not how authority works. Our attitude toward the authority of God is often like our attitude toward authority figures like the police. We want the police to come when we’re in trouble to protect us and catch the bad guys, but we don’t want to see them when we’re breaking the speed limit and get caught in their radar. Then it’s too late to plead our innocence and promise we’ll never do it again. The nature of authority is that once you step out from under it, you cannot claim its protection and help.
The centurion in Capernaum had never had a Bible study on authority, but he understood the importance of this principle by which his own life was structured.
One of the primary ways that angels get their job done is through people.
Now don’t misunderstand here. I’m not saying that angels work through people the same way the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit indwells us, while the angels are God’s messengers—and His staff, who deliver His message (e.g., Gabriel with Mary [Luke 1:26–27]) and execute His will and plan.
But having said that, we see throughout Scripture that angels are very active in the lives of God’s people. The book of Acts records that an angel freed the apostles, and then Peter, on two separate occasions (see 5:19 and 12:7–11).
Similarly the fallen angels, Satan and his demonic host, also work through people. This is clear from the many passages in the Gospels where we see demons afflicting people or even motivating people like the religious leaders in Matthew 12 to accuse Jesus and blaspheme God. False human teachers are not just making up lies by themselves. They are Satan’s mouthpieces energized by his demons.
By the way, the existence and persuasive talk of false teachers is a good reason we need to be spiritually alert and not buy into everything we hear. The Bible says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). In fact, the world is so deceived by Satan that John said, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
Sometimes Christians look at the activity of the demonic world and the authority Satan has and ask, “Why does God allow Satan to operate? Why didn’t God just blast Satan and the demons out of existence when they rebelled against Him?”
The reason is that in His infinite wisdom, God decided that He was going to win the cosmic spiritual battle against Satan not by exercising His sovereign power and wiping Satan out with one word, but instead through the seed of a lesser creature called man.
Ultimately, Jesus Christ—the Son of God and son of Mary, both fully God and fully man—sealed the fate of Satan. We’ll read more about that in the next chapter, but you and I must know that through Christ and His power living through us, we too can defeat Satan and his demons in the day-to-day struggles of life.
We see spiritual warfare in our world because when Satan’s attempted overthrow of God didn’t work, he set about to corrupt the seed of mankind. But God said to Satan, “Because you thought you could win this war through My lesser creation, man, I am going to use this lesser creature to defeat you by showing you that even a lesser creature who is obedient to Me is greater than a superior being who rebels against Me.”
That’s a heavy concept, so maybe an example will help. A popular story line in many films, especially those in the world of sports, is the story of some brilliant coach who takes a collection of misfits and molds them into a powerful team. He then goes out and beats other teams who have better players and should be superior to his team.
That’s the idea here. And since humans are the focal point of spiritual warfare on earth, it should not surprise us to see angels and demons intensely interested and involved in human affairs.
According to Daniel 12:1, the archangel Michael is the special guardian and protector of Israel, which helps to explain why Israel has been victorious time and again over vastly superior forces in the nation’s struggle for existence. The reason Israel will never be wiped off the map is that it’s not just about who is fighting on earth. The reason is also an archangel whom God has charged with making sure no one destroys His chosen people.
The reason the people of God will win the battle in spiritual warfare is that Christ has already won the war on the cross and in His resurrection. Besides that, God is in sovereign control over all of His creation and has already drawn a line that Satan cannot cross.
The best example I know of this is the life of Job. This holy and righteous man was subjected to suffering that is beyond anything we can understand. Yet the Bible says that what was happening to Job was the result of a spiritual confrontation and contest between God and Satan.
Even if you know the story, I encourage you to read Job 1:1–2:10. The contest began when God pointed to Job as a shining example of an upright man. Satan countered, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” (Job 1:9–10). In other words, “God, Job knows a good deal when he sees one. But let me take what he has and he will curse You to Your face” (v. 11, my paraphrase).
So everything Job had was taken away, and eventually he had nothing left but his very life. It’s significant, though, that twice in this amazing story God told Satan he could go so far, and no further.
First, God said to Satan, “All that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him” (Job 1:12). And then later, God said, “He is in your power, only spare his life” (2:6). Satan couldn’t move beyond the permission God gave him.
You may be saying about now, “Tony, is this supposed to be comforting? I’m glad God is in control, but it looks to me like Satan can still mess up a whole lot of stuff in my life.”
Well, first of all, I doubt if any of us ever have suffered or ever will suffer like Job. But don’t miss the point that Job understood. Even in the depths of his suffering, Job refused to take himself out from under the authority of God in his life. Even his wife told him to curse God and die (2:9), but Job understood that he was part of something bigger, and he determined that he was not going to be a casualty in the warfare raging around him. He knew that God could turn it all around, and he remained under God’s authority and was vindicated.
That’s the challenge for us in the spiritual warfare we face today. Let’s remain under God’s authority and await His vindication.