Greetings!
Is there authentic theology in Satan needing permission to afflict/sift?
There are 47 primary Biblical passages that most readers consider the most disturbing regarding Satan's involvement with humanity but…there are three that stand out above the others.
ONE:
“
The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."
(Job 1:7-8)
TWO:
“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!”
(2 Corinthians 12:7)
THREE:
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat…”
(Luke 22:31)
In all three primary examples, we have a common denominator. All three men, Job, Paul, and Peter, had significant roles as leaders within the Holy Scriptures and as founders of the authentic Church. Satan knew this. Secondly, all three leaders had flesh issues that needed addressing. God knew this. Since "
no evil comes from God
,” God makes use of existing evil to remove evil – unknown or otherwise. The irony, this only works in righteous men - men and women that God has pre-knowledge of the outcome before the affliction is applied. In all other humans, it promotes more of the same. We find over 1,000 references of God afflicting His enemies by making use OF His primary enemy – Satan.
One of the great mysteries, why would Satan afflict his followers? First of all, he is mandated to do so. Secondly, he is so self-centered that he doesn't care about people, they're pawns on a game-board. Finally, he will strike his own to prevent the possibility of his followers from discovering Jesus Christ. If this happens, people will be able to resist him.
It is a problematic theology for believers to process that our God orders Satan around like a master with his dog. It's more difficult for the children of God to understand that Satan needs permission to
steal, kill, and destroy. These
three words clearly define what Satan did to Job and his family. If you're in the mood to refute this, you will need to rewrite Job chapter one and re-submit it to God for revisionism.
Our wake-up call
is to embrace the fact that God uses Satan to activate redemption for His children. Check this out.
“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
(1 Corinthians 5:5)
Is Paul speaking as if he's insane? Or…is there a more profound Truth being revealed? Like, the purpose of this evil creature?
There is another powerful depictive of God making use of the enemy. Warning, this is another one of the least preached and practiced passages. Even though I implore you to read the full chapter – here is the punchline.
“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
(Romans 1:22-27)
Excuse me.
Whose decision was this? Who is the master of these degrading passions? And why would the sovereign God of the Universe and beyond turn a people over to Satan, fulling knowing they will sin all the more? Is God covertly supporting degrading passions like lesbianism and homosexuality? Excellent questions with simple answers. One, He is God. Two, Satan is an object of use to discipline the people. In short, Satan is the "rod" of God's discipline.
Discipline is not directly associated with sin. Discipline comes from
making one a disciple.
So…what are the dangers of “Christians” rebuking Satan? They might be rebuking the hand of the Lord. Remember when Michael refused to rebuke Satan? Don’t forget. Michael is the archangel of all warfare.
“But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
(Jude 1:9)
How arrogant are we?
A "believer" can rebuke Satan all day long, but if Satan is under orders to do what he is doing, they’re spitting in the wind. If Satan is under permission to sift the believer, the Lord will continue to use him to cause the Bride of Christ to
submit therefore to God, resist Satan, and he will flee from you.
(James 4:7) The disciple becomes a better disciple. Rebuking and resisting are two different animals. Rebuking should never be our objective. Submitting unto God should be. Resistance creates strength. Rebuking bypasses testing.
There are two kinds of permission granted to Satan.
GENERALIZED PERMISSION:
The first, permission granted in the Garden of Eden – BEFORE the fall. Before the fall of humanity, Satan was on a short leash. God put Satan in the garden, placed the Tree of Knowledge in the center of the garden, assigned him to THAT tree, set Satan up with limited freedom - all to tempt Eve. Does this sound like a random God who is not in control over His enemy? Did God ask for Satan's permission before He cast him out of Heaven? Did God seek Satan's input before confining him to a single tree? Are you kidding!
God doesn't ask permission from anyone – spirit or human. God's method is high-control and completely permission-based by making use of a pre-mission, which is the Hebrew root word for permission. Satan's short leash was limited to a tiny worldview. Keep in mind that Satan could not populate culture with sin until he was able to convert the populous to the "sin-nature." Once he was able to do that, he would have the freedom to multiply his limited permission-based freedom for global impact. The odd, but powerful and not so hidden Truth here, Satan expanded his permission-based plan by gaining permission from Adam and Eve. Yes, you read that correctly. Since Adam and Eve were the perfect reflections of the Us, their choice became Satan's permission. Without their choice, Satan would be impotent today. With their choice, generalized global permission became active and alive.
SPECIFIC PERMISSION:
Through proof text throughout the Old and New Testaments, we read stories of God coming up with the plan to use Satan to sift purposefully. People, in general, might act like idiots, but Satan knows he needs permission to afflict – as in the case with Peter specifically.
"
Satan has demanded permission to sift you
."
Why is this doctrinal revelation painful for "Christians" to understand or accept? Satan gets it and uses it effectively.
The answer?
The people of this generation no longer understand what authority is, how it's used, and the power that comes with permission granted by authorities. Why would the people honor this revelation? They live in a "Christian" culture that independently proclaims what God means by what God says. They no longer appeal to Him as the authority to rebuke Satan and others, they take on the task themselves functioning as "god,” while claiming to know the True God. Hum…what’s that definition of idiot again?
We live in a society where the average believer touts
name it, claim it, stab it, and slab it.
This lifestyle is not only found in the Prosperity Gospel circles but mainstream Christianity. The world is filled with humans, saved or not, who need to survive by refuting negativity. It's a shame, though. God started the whole of the world with the permission-based counter-culture of negativity, rooted in the Tree of Knowledge. Why? Because He is God. Nobody knows the full range of God's goals for Satan. Nobody understands His infinite purpose of using His enemy. But…one thing we can see, if our eyes are open, He strategically uses the world, our flesh and the devil for His good. Don't fret. He's not done. Satan's final punishment is yet to come, and all those who adopted his original violation -
You too can be like God
.
“And they came upon the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
(Revelation 20:9-10)
How’s that for negativity?
Until the above day arrives, God will continue to use Satan to admonish His people, lead the unsaved to Christ, and remind the humble that our God is sovereign. The majority of the Church today seems to think that God's work with the devil is finished. If that was the case, the unfolding of the book of Revelation is for not. While few "believers" would step forward and say this, the lion's share tends to live as if it is finished. At this juncture, the only thing that is "finished" is the finished work of the Cross. As for the finished work of Satan, well, that is still upon us.
“He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
(Revelation 22:20-21)
