Why is God letting Satan rule the world?

JohnB445 · Feb 25, 2019

I don't understand the purpose of this.

Satan is the tempter, the one who deceives the masses. And he is way to deceptive, extremely deceptive.

I do believe God is good, so I believe God gave man the ability to detect deception if he uses his mind to discern things. But some will claim that man does not have that capability which doesn't make much sense. To them God made man dumber than fallen angels that man has no way of even making right decisions or be able to detect deception, and it's basically good luck if he does make a good decision or avoid deception.

But man was made in the image of God, so that view seems skewed.

Other than that what's the point of God letting satan deceive people? People are going to hell because they have been deceived, there is no excuse.

It does keep me alert knowing there is an evil genius with a diabolical plan.

And it worries me if I am in a deception and can't detect it.

Imagine that, you are deceived and have no way of detecting it.

Halbhh · Feb 25, 2019

No one can take away those who Christ says are protected:

25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”

John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.

Who are the protected sheep? Those who listen to Him.

Romans 8 · Feb 25, 2019

Isaiah 55:8-9 New International Version (NIV)
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Gordon Wright · Feb 25, 2019

JohnB445 said:
I don't understand the purpose of this.

Satan is the tempter, the one who deceives the masses. And he is way to deceptive, extremely deceptive.

Satan seems to a group of related archetypes more than a single being. "My name is Legion, for we are many."

The Serpent is the tempter archetype. But the name Satan means "accuser." That archetype appears in Job. The Accuser is the one who wants God to hate us. Then there's Lucifer, who tempts us to the pride of partial knowledge. Lucifer has much more in common with the Serpent than does the Accuser.

The being that tempted Jesus in the wilderness is a derivative of the Serpent. This is the Prince of This World, the god of settling for less than a Heavenly calling. He never tells a straight out lie, but he never tells the whole truth either. Like the Serpent, he deceives by selective omission.

The world is full of lies. Lies we tell ourselves. Lies we tell each other. Culture itself is brainwashing. But it all began with the selective omission by the Serpent. The knowledge of good and evil is not the same as the knowledge of right from wrong. To know that you are naked while not knowing how to weave cloth is not helpful.

The various manifestations of ultimate evil mislead by giving us a biased, lopsided version of the truth, mishandling the word of God. But the baldfaced, flat out lies? Humans invent those, inspired by the unbalanced versions of truth they have received. The demons trick us into doing the lying to ourselves. The Devil is the father of lies, but the human mind is the mother. Mankind is the womb in which lies are formed.

The ability to be deceived is part and parcel with free will. Do you wish to be without free will?

But to your immediate problem: detecting lies is a skill. There's no shortcut. It comes with time. It helps to get into the habit of taking nothing at face value, questioning everything. Always ask: "how do you know?" Always ask yourself: "does this even make sense?" Think everything through.

There are books out there about how to tell if someone is lying to you, but those methods are unreliable. Don't trust those. No shortcuts. Focus on detecting lies, not on detecting lairs.

Carl Emerson · Feb 25, 2019

JohnB445 said:
I don't understand the purpose of this.

Satan is the tempter, the one who deceives the masses. And he is way to deceptive, extremely deceptive.

I do believe God is good, so I believe God gave man the ability to detect deception if he uses his mind to discern things. But some will claim that man does not have that capability which doesn't make much sense. To them God made man dumber than fallen angels that man has no way of even making right decisions or be able to detect deception, and it's basically good luck if he does make a good decision or avoid deception.

But man was made in the image of God, so that view seems skewed.

Other than that what's the point of God letting satan deceive people? People are going to hell because they have been deceived, there is no excuse.

It does keep me alert knowing there is an evil genius with a diabolical plan.

And it worries me if I am in a deception and can't detect it.

Imagine that, you are deceived and have no way of detecting it.

You have some good questions...

Here are a few comments.

First off discernment is not a function of the mind, it is a God given ability of our spirit.

Satan wants to deny that man is made in His image and is no more than an animal. Note the dialogue between God and Satan in Job 1:6-

While God has given wisdom with His Holy spirit (Isaiah 11:2) Our real comfort is in His love for us, remember this from John 4:4.
"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world...."

Folks don't go to Hell because they have been deceived - they go to Hell because they have rejected Jesus.

You said... "And it worries me if I am in a deception and can't detect it.... Yes this is a valid concern and we will do well to pray often, that by His grace we will be free of deception. I have experienced this as Satan for a season deceived me and then made me blind to his deception. Only by His grace was I set free.

Lastly you ask why this situation has arisen... Fundamentally Satan was an angelic being with responsibilities and domain of influence in the created order before he rebelled against God pre. Eden. God entered into covenant with him before his fall and has not broken His side of the agreements made. That is why we have a powerful angelic influence flawed by Pride with a domain of influence. It should be noted however that Satans influence was greatly limited by the authority Jesus gave to the disciples and the early church... "And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning..." Luke 10:18

Would that the modern Church would again move in this authority as a witness to the world of Jesus' glorious reign.

Blessings,

Carl Emerson.

Tone · Feb 25, 2019

Psalms 119:105
"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

Proverbs 4:18-19
"The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over."

Tomm · Feb 25, 2019

JohnB445 said:
Why is God letting Satan rule the world?

The Fatima apparition (1917) story will give you the answer.
In short, it's our sins that are causing this.

JohnB445 · Feb 25, 2019

Gordon Wright said:
Satan seems to a group of related archetypes more than a single being. "My name is Legion, for we are many."

The Serpent is the tempter archetype. But the name Satan means "accuser." That archetype appears in Job. The Accuser is the one who wants God to hate us. Then there's Lucifer, who tempts us to the pride of partial knowledge. Lucifer has much more in common with the Serpent than does the Accuser.

The being that tempted Jesus in the wilderness is a derivative of the Serpent. This is the Prince of This World, the god of settling for less than a Heavenly calling. He never tells a straight out lie, but he never tells the whole truth either. Like the Serpent, he deceives by selective omission.

The world is full of lies. Lies we tell ourselves. Lies we tell each other. Culture itself is brainwashing. But it all began with the selective omission by the Serpent. The knowledge of good and evil is not the same as the knowledge of right from wrong. To know that you are naked while not knowing how to weave cloth is not helpful.

The various manifestations of ultimate evil mislead by giving us a biased, lopsided version of the truth, mishandling the word of God. But the baldfaced, flat out lies? Humans invent those, inspired by the unbalanced versions of truth they have received. The demons trick us into doing the lying to ourselves. The Devil is the father of lies, but the human mind is the mother. Mankind is the womb in which lies are formed.

The ability to be deceived is part and parcel with free will. Do you wish to be without free will?

Well our free will certainly comes with a heavy cost along with the capability to make errors. and those errors have consequences.

And as humans we must acquire knowledge, making us even more capable of making errors in ignorance.

But it is all part of our fallen nature.

Tone · Feb 25, 2019

"Why is God letting Satan rule the world?"

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
1 John 2:16

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of Yah lives forever.
1 John 2:17

When Yahshua spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

Because He is Eternal and Satan's reign is transient

dstamps · Feb 26, 2019

JohnB445 said:
I don't understand the purpose of this.

Satan is the tempter, the one who deceives the masses. And he is way to deceptive, extremely deceptive.

I do believe God is good, so I believe God gave man the ability to detect deception if he uses his mind to discern things. But some will claim that man does not have that capability which doesn't make much sense. To them God made man dumber than fallen angels that man has no way of even making right decisions or be able to detect deception, and it's basically good luck if he does make a good decision or avoid deception.

But man was made in the image of God, so that view seems skewed.

Other than that what's the point of God letting satan deceive people? People are going to hell because they have been deceived, there is no excuse.

It does keep me alert knowing there is an evil genius with a diabolical plan.

And it worries me if I am in a deception and can't detect it.

Imagine that, you are deceived and have no way of detecting it.

Matthew 13:24-30
The question is who is the enemy. Consider Man's self-serving nature. That nature creates all the problems attributed to 'Satan'.
Man was created to express the life of Christ--individually--and become the body of Christ - John 15
So what is the life in Man when they do not express the life of Christ? That false life is Christ's enemy, the supplanter. Therefore, the life Man calls 'Satan', lives in each person expressing the false life created by the self-serving nature. This makes him appear everywhere Man is.

Therefore, GOD can't destroy 'Satan' without destroying Man's freewill.

Think about it!

Romans 8 · Feb 26, 2019

JohnB445 said:
I don't understand the purpose of this.

Satan is the tempter, the one who deceives the masses. And he is way to deceptive, extremely deceptive.

I do believe God is good, so I believe God gave man the ability to detect deception if he uses his mind to discern things. But some will claim that man does not have that capability which doesn't make much sense. To them God made man dumber than fallen angels that man has no way of even making right decisions or be able to detect deception, and it's basically good luck if he does make a good decision or avoid deception.

But man was made in the image of God, so that view seems skewed.

Other than that what's the point of God letting satan deceive people? People are going to hell because they have been deceived, there is no excuse.

It does keep me alert knowing there is an evil genius with a diabolical plan.

And it worries me if I am in a deception and can't detect it.

Imagine that, you are deceived and have no way of detecting it.

I have played through this scenario multiple times in my head. Why would God put us here on earth to be attacked by an invisible enemy? And then burn us in hell for eternity if we fail the test?

For whatever reason, we're not supposed to know these answers. Is Satan simply playing a role along with his fallen angels? Were they also tempted as humans before they became angels in heaven? Is this temptation a requirement before "making it" into heaven? Is the lake of fire some sort of purification chamber as some universalists claim?

We could try and guess the answers until the cows comes home but nobody has the answers. Those answers weren't given to us on purpose. And probably the reason those answers weren't given is a huge part of our faith. I do believe His wisdom is higher than ours, and in Christianity, there are some things we probably cannot know, without God himself giving us revelation.

Many are called but few are chosen. It says in the Bible (can't remember which verse) that even people that have never known the name Jesus can still be saved because we are born with a spiritual compass inside us, and we can also sense that we were created. The rules are fair. Some people are in delusion because they ignore their inner compass to the point that they no longer hear its promptings. The bible says God will give you over to your sins if you continue sinning. And I believe this is what it means.

The only way to stay out of delusion is to obey His commandments and seek Him. The most tricky commandment of them all is false idols. Many people don't ever figure out what theirs is. The most difficult commandment to overcome (at least for most men) is lust.

We're in spiritual training with limited information. I think as we walk closer with God we may get revelation on some of this or maybe some kind of trust that transcends these kinds of thoughts and worries altogether.

bling · Feb 26, 2019

Satan has a purpose for being here or God would remove him.

Satan had a purpose in the Garden and he performed well.

We all think it would be wonderful to just be in a Garden scenario without satan around or a tree of knowledge, but God has shown us plus Adam and Eve that the garden was a lousy impossible place for humans to fulfill their objective.

Answer me this: Would you prefer to be in a place where your eternal close relationship with God was dependent on your personal ability to obey God (like the Garden) or in a place where your eternal close relationship with God was dependent on your just humbly accepting God’s charity (where you are today)?

This messed up world is the very best place and condition to help willing mature adults to fulfill their earthly objective.

As far as knowing if you are being deceived: to sin you first must quench the indwelling Holy Spirit and go it on your own. You can sin through deception, but it will not stop there because you are on your own, so you keep on sinning and wind up doing stuff you thought you would never ever do, which can bring you to your senses and allow you to repent. Looking back tells you when you first left on your own.

Satan throughs one bad thing at you which you might do, but there are thousands of good things to do before which the Spirit wants to be doing through you if you allow him. Quit trying to look for stuff to say “No” to doing because you will keep them on your mind and say “Yes” to the good stuff you know you can do with the Spirit.

PuerAzaelis · Feb 28, 2019

Carl Emerson said:
You have some good questions...

Indeed perhaps it is the only good question.

1213 · Feb 28, 2019

JohnB445 said:
...Other than that what's the point of God letting satan deceive people? People are going to hell because they have been deceived, there is no excuse. ..

I believe it is because that way we can see who are loyal to God and who are not. I think Satan gives only excuse for people to reject God, but the decision is always humans own and there is no one else to blame.

Hawkins · Mar 1, 2019

Both angels and humans are designed to live an eternal with God. They both have an eternal ID to continuously for them to be witnessed as who they are. We thus have an immortal soul serving as such an ID.

On the other hand, God is completely sin-incompatible. By sinning to break His Law simply means you have to leave Him. As a result, you are either with God and living inside His dwelling realm or you are outside His Kingdom (i.e., Kingdom of Heaven in its final state).

Revelation 22:15 (NIV2011)
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Outside of God's dwelling realm is literally a hell. In its final state it will be complete separation from God. It's a realm completely disconnected from the presence of God. Here it is expected that the most powerful and the most evil will rule. That is to say, in the end Satan will rule outside God's dwelling realm.

As for now planet earth acts like a filter used for an aquarium which is the final Heaven. Planet earth is of course outside God's dwelling realm ever since Adam was driven out of Eden. Earth is for all evil to be displayed openly (with angels and chosen saints as witnesses) and to be destroyed once and for all (through the final judgment).

Earth is also like a pool of iron beads and tin beads mixing up together, they are the weeds and wheat respectively. Satan acts more like a magnet who attracts the iron beads tightly to make them captive, which actually allows the tin beads (the righteous) to be told apart openly. Without Satan the process of identification may have to prolong.

Residential Bob · Mar 1, 2019

Satan does not rule the world; he was cast out of it (Jn 12:31).

Hawkins · Mar 1, 2019

Residential Bob said:
Satan does not rule the world; he was cast out of it (Jn 12:31).

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Residential Bob · Mar 1, 2019

Hawkins said:
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NLT)
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

John 12:31 (ESV)
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

Hawkins · Mar 1, 2019

Residential Bob said:
John 12:31 (ESV)
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

That's because salvation is provided by Jesus. It by no means says Satan lost his influence to this world.

So Satan has influence to this world or not? Please answer seriously!

JohnB445 · Mar 1, 2019

Hawkins said:
Both angels and humans are designed to live an eternal with God. They both have an eternal ID to continuously for them to be witnessed as who they are. We thus have an immortal soul serving as such an ID.

On the other hand, God is completely sin-incompatible. By sinning to break His Law simply means you have to leave Him. As a result, you are either with God and living inside His dwelling realm or you are outside His Kingdom (i.e., Kingdom of Heaven in its final state).

Revelation 22:15 (NIV2011)
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Outside of God's dwelling realm is literally a hell. In its final state it will be complete separation from God. It's a realm completely disconnected from the presence of God. Here it is expected that the most powerful and the most evil will rule. That is to say, in the end Satan will rule outside God's dwelling realm.

As for now planet earth acts like a filter used for an aquarium which is the final Heaven. Planet earth is of course outside God's dwelling realm ever since Adam was driven out of Eden. Earth is for all evil to be displayed openly (with angels and chosen saints as witnesses) and to be destroyed once and for all (through the final judgment).

Earth is also like a pool of iron beads and tin beads mixing up together, they are the weeds and wheat respectively. Satan acts more like a magnet who attracts the iron beads tightly to make them captive, which actually allows the tin beads (the righteous) to be told apart openly. Without Satan the process of identification may have to prolong.

That's the best explanation. Thanks

Why is God letting Satan rule the world?

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