Editor’s Note: This article is written by zealfortruth.org contributor Chris Austere.
On January 22, 2002 President George W. Bush gave his first State of the Union Address in the post-9/11 world. In his speech, he identified the nations of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as an “axis of evil”. Bush’s comments did not come without criticism. Former U.S. Secretary of State under President Clinton, Madeline Albright called the president’s assessment of the three nations as “a big mistake.” Other critics said such a comment only heightened existing tensions between the nations.
There are some dangers in making political arguments revolving around the concept of good and evil. Such arguments have a tendency to oversimplify complex situations. They assume that one group is totally right and the other group is totally wrong. Rarely, if ever, is that the case.
The Bible’s Case
Politics aside, the Bible does address the question of evil influence in governments. For the purposes of this article we will restrict our discussion to what is presented in the scriptures. Let us first examine this experience recorded in the tenth chapter of the book of Daniel (KJV):
10And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Notice in verse 13 the angelic messenger tells Daniel that he was withstood by the prince of the kingdom of Persia. Was he saying a mere human resisted him? Some contend that the prince of the Persian kingdom was of satanic origin who sought to hinder the effectiveness of Daniel’s prayer.
Another passage of scripture worth mentioning is found in the fourth chapter of Luke. This is an account of Jesus’ temptation by Satan.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Some have argued that Satan really did not have control over the kingdoms that he showed Jesus, and therefore Satan could not give him what he did not have possession of. However, more understanding about Satan’s power is revealed in the epistles. In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth he calls Satan “the god of this age,” and says he has the ability to blind the minds of those who do not believe the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). In Ephesians 2:2 Paul refers to Satan as “the prince of the power of the air”. The admonition given by Paul to the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 6:11,12) provides further insight.
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Paul seems to be saying that flesh and blood is just the agent whereby Satan puts his schemes into practice. The governmental principalities, powers, and rulers are often the tool of their spiritual counterparts.
Typically, “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world” is understood to mean Satan and his SPIRITUAL minions, not actual human rulers or governments. Changing that interpretation is taking the verse out of its original meaning and context.
If Satan is the god of this age Chris’ point is still valid, even though I most agree with you on that passage. The “spiritual wickedness in high places” phrase is interesting though.
“Typically, “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world” is understood to mean Satan and his SPIRITUAL minions, not actual human rulers or governments. Changing that interpretation is taking the verse out of its original meaning and context.”
Darius, I did not mean to suggest that the text is speaking of “actual human rulers or governments.” I simply pointed out that there is a scriptural principle that these “spiritual minion”, as you called them, influence governing bodies.
I’ve always thought the “prince” in v. 13 was some kind of evil demon, and “Michael” was an angel. A couple translations even put it that way.
Is that what you meant, or do you mean that the prince referred to in the verse was a human ruler run by a demon? Or ?
Here is some random thing I found:
I hate to think of a ruler of any nation completely controlled by Satan, but there are one or two current nation leaders that one might wonder about.
Thainamu,
I think the commentary you quoted is basically correct. However, I think if we look at the complete context of the book of Daniel, we see that a lot of the resistance the Hebrews faced was due to King Nebachudnezzer. So I think it is obvious that there was some satanic influence. I DO NOT think that any government is completely controlled by Satan. That sounds like the Calvinist idea of “total depravity”, which I don’t think scripture supports. The literal reign of Anti-Christ is the only instance in which governments will be under complete satanic dominion. Humans have a will, and that will can be influenced by God or the Devil by way of angelic or demonic messengers. Having said that, I have no doubt that the government of any given nation can be, is, and has been under the influence of messengers from both kingdoms - the U.S. included.
The important thing to understand is this: both the will of God and the will of Satan is accomplished on the earth through human beings. We have the choice of yielding our members for the purposes of righteousness or unrighteousness (Romans 6:13). However, those who remain in the kingdom of darkness are obviously more susceptible to demonic influence. This does not mean that a Christian is automatically immune to being used an instrument of unrighteousness, hence Romans 6:13. Remember what Jesus said to Simon Peter, his own disciple? He said, “Get behind me, Satan!” - indicating that Peter had yielded his tongue as a member of unrighteousness when he contradicted Jesus (Matthew 16:23).