THAT the science and philosophy of this “enlightened age,” should deny the personality of Satan, will excite no surprise in the minds of those who draw their wisdom from the word of God, which, under the Spirit’s teaching, enables them to prove all things, and makes them “wiser than the ancients.”
Modern infidelity has decided that the existence of an evil being is but a myth of the dark ages, is nothing more, indeed, than the evil principle in man which becomes dominant when the higher intellectual or moral qualities of the mind are in abeyance; but if we ask, Whence comes this evil principle? we receive no answer. The infidel admits its existence, but cannot trace it to its source; professing himself to be wise, he becomes a fool, and his mind is darkened.
But “the entrance of Thy Word giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple;” and God has taken care that in that Word the action and character of the old serpent should be laid bare from the beginning.
We are not told, nor is it necessary that we should know, when it was that Satan fell (Comp. {vi 21169-21177}Ezek. 28:11-19).― “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the Lord tells Job (chap. 38:7) that when He laid the foundations of the earth, all the sons of God shouted for joy; but when man first appeared on the scene, Satan was there with his temptations, and he fell. In this temptation Satan is called “the serpent,” a designation by which he is ever after distinguished. Paul fears for the Corinthian saints, lest, as the serpent beguiled Eve, their minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor. 11:3). Again, in Rev. 12:9, he appears as “that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,” and, chap. 20:2, an angel “lays hold on the dragon, that old serpent,” and binds him; and lastly, chap. 20:10, he is cast into the lake of fire, to be tormented forever. What sense would there be in casting an evil principle into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever?
In the scriptures of the Old Testament, the old serpent appears prominently on three distinct occasions besides that recorded in Gen. 3. In Job 1 and 2, he accuses the patriarch in Jehovah’s presence. Again, he stood up against Israel (1 Chron. 21:1), and provoked David to number them. Then he is seen as the adversary of the high-priest ({vi 22914-22915}Zech. 3:1, 2); and when the Lord Jesus was born, “the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” (Rev. 12:4). Herod, instigated by the devil, “was exceeding wroth,” and, in his rage, slew the young children of Bethlehem; but the infant Jesus was away in Egypt. When the Lord enters upon His ministry, the devil confronts and tempts Him in the wilderness; and his failure there, were there no other proof, exposes the senseless folly of the infidel theory which affirms the devil to be nothing more than an evil principle, or bad conscience, which torments its possessor. In Christ there was no evil principle― “in Him was no sin;” He came triumphantly out of the temptation, and, for the first time, Satan was defeated. Very different was the case of Judas, “Satan entered into him,” and energized him to carry out the thought that had found too ready entrance into his heart ({vi 26633-26658}John 13:2-27).
In the instances we have here noticed, Satan acts personally, but this is not his usual mode: he employs hidden agencies―demons subordinate to his authority; human instruments too―men who unconsciously and unsuspectingly yield themselves to the influence of the mysterious motive-power, and are thus lead captive by him. Almost every book of the Old Testament furnishes abundant evidence of the existence and prevalence of the exercise of satanic deception. Again and again we read of magicians, enchanters, astrologers, wizards, diviners, soothsayers, necromancers or consulters with the dead, and those who had familiar spirits; and of all such it is written, “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death.” (Lev. 20:27).
As early as the time of Joseph, magicians, or sorcerers, or diviners, were known in Egypt (Gen. 41:8 and 44:5, 15). And afterward, when Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh, Jannes and Jam tires feared not to withstand them (2 Tim. 3:8). Aaron’s rod became a serpent, “and the magicians of Egypt did the same with their enchantments―they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents, BUT Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” Here was a fair trial of power between God and Satan, and after a manner that left no opening for sleight of hand on the magicians’ part; and who would dare to affirm that Aaron was acting the part of a clever conjuror? It was as though Satan had challenged God to a trial of skill and was put to shame.
But other miracles followed.―The waters were turned to blood, and the magicians did the same with their enchantments. Moses brought up frogs, so did the magicians; but when the dust became lice, Satan was foiled; “the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring up lice, but THEY COULD NOT,” and were forced to admit that this was “the finger of God.” It is interesting to remark here that there are two things in which satanic power utterly falls short of divine.
First, the magicians could not produce life. They attempted to turn the dust into lice, but could not. Divine creative power alone can give life: Satan can neither create nor annihilate; he can only imitate.
Second, the magicians could not undo their own plagues. Pharaoh was obliged to seek the intervention of Moses in order to the removal of the frogs and flies, etc. Solemn truth, that neither man nor Satan can undo his own mischief! But “for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
Although Satan cannot give life, and he knows it, he has yet in reserve a masterpiece of deception, with which he will deceive the world in the time of the end; this will be a counterfeit impartation of life to the image of the beast.― “And he hath power to give life to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Rev. 13:15).
The witch of Endor was what she professed to be. She well understood and practiced her dark art. No doubt she used incantations, but there was no trickery or juggling. She dealt with a familiar spirit, or demon, who, at her call, personated those she might wish to call up. She was simply a necromancer, or professional consulter of the dead. When Samuel was called up, divine interposition set aside the personation of the prophet by a demon, and God Himself through Samuel, had something to say to Saul.
But clearer and more abundant evidence is afforded in the New Testament. Everywhere the Lord met with those who were possessed of devils; they knew Him, and at His word they were cast out. Some, when they saw Him, cried out, “Art Thou come to torment us before the time?” Others besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep (the abyss, or bottomless pit―the place where evil is shut up and chained, 2 Peter 2:4), but that they might enter into the swine; and the whole herd perished―about two thousand. In this latter case, a legion had possessed the man; in others, one only; out of Mary Magdalene seven were cast. These demons spoke, using the human voice and tongue as mediums, but the speaker was the demon.
On the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost; the disciples spake with tongues and prophesied; and thenceforth Satan, without abandoning his older devices, took up a new line of action by counterfeiting the operations of the Holy Spirit: Simon the sorcerer ({vi 27186;27196}Acts 8:9,19), and the damsel at Philippi (Acts 16:16), may be instanced. The latter possessed a spirit of divination, and brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. She had literally a spirit of python, or serpent; and it is significant that the Hebrew word for “serpent” (nahghash) is the same as for “enchantment” ―an unmistakable indication of its satanic origin. The celebrated oracle of Delphi was originally called “Typho,” from “Typhon,” the Egyptian name for the evil genius. Its pythoness or priestess was called “Pythea,” who with whatever amount of deception which might have been practiced for gain, was undoubtedly possessed with a spirit of Python or satanic inspiration. Falling into a state of wild phrensy, she gave oracular replies, generally ambiguous, to the inquiries which, from all quarters, were made by kings, generals, statesmen, and others, who believed her to be the medium of communication between the gods and men.
The danger to which even the assemblies of Christians were and still are exposed may be inferred from the fact of a special gift conferred upon some by the Holy Ghost, namely, “the discerning of spirits” (1 Cor. 12:10), or the ability to discern between the communications of the Holy Ghost and the teachings or doctrines of seducing spirits or demons, concerning which “the Spirit speaks expressly,” “that in the latter times some would give heed to such” (1 Tim. 4:1).
Thus far, then, we have seen that the Old-Testament scripture, in one unbroken chain of evidence, testifies to the prevalence of witchcraft in its many varied forms from the time of Moses to the birth of the Lord Jesus; and the Gospel, Acts, and Epistles supply still more striking evidence of its widespread existence from that period to the time of His appearing in glory―that is to say, throughout the whole of the present dispensation. The short period that will elapse between the rapture of the Church and His return to take the kingdom will be marked by more fearful manifestations of satanic power than the world has ever yet witnessed; but before considering this last terrible epoch, it may be well to notice a common difficulty and objection.
It is the fashion of the day to deny the existence of witchcraft, and belief in it is branded as the height of ignorance and superstition. This is exactly what Satan wants. He does not “spread the snare in the sight of any bird.”
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were marked by a religious belief in witchcraft, which ran to such extremes in Europe and America that it might truly be called a witchcraft mania. Under certain statutes passed in the reign of Henry VII., witchcraft was declared to be a capital offense; and under Elizabeth and James 1, the law became still more severe. Besides numerous executions of individuals, we find wholesale murders in abundance. In 1612, twelve persons were condemned and executed at once at Lancaster; and in 1613, many more in the same county. Hence the notoriety of the “Lancashire witches.” In 1634, nineteen in Lancashire, and soon after sixteen at Yarmouth, and fifteen at Chelmsford. In 1645-6, sixty persons perished in Suffolk, and nearly as many more at Huntingdon.
Barrington, who wrote on the statute of Henry VI., estimates the total number of executions in England on this charge at thirty thousand! In Scotland, the law was carried out with still greater rigor; the year 1722 witnessed the last execution there of more than four thousand. In Germany, more than a hundred thousand individuals are said to have perished. In 1515, in the space of three months, five hundred witches were burned in Geneva; and in one year, in the diocese of Como, one thousand were executed. In America, the extirpation of witches was carried out with still more determined zeal. No one’s life was safe for a single day. If anyone had a grudge against another―if anyone had seen a white cat run up the chimney―had felt the pricking of pins―if the cattle cast their calves, or the fowls refused to lay―if the cartwheels stuck fast in the mire at a certain evil spot, or whatever else might befall, it was only necessary to charge some unfriendly neighbor with witchcraft, and the accused had small chance of acquittal. There was but one way of security, and that was to turn accuser. But at length society took alarm, and the game of witchcraft in its grosser form was ended. Judges refused to convict, and charges were no longer made. It had, however, been a marvelous success in the hands of the archenemy of mankind. Thousands of innocent persons had perished, and people began to be angry with themselves for having been so strangely deceived. The tide of public opinion turned in an opposite direction, and the philosophy of the day decided that satanic power was a delusion, and witchcraft a relic of the dark ages. Sir Walter Scott wrote on “Demonology and Witchcraft.” His arguments were feeble and illogical; and it would seem that he was conscious of this as the difficulty of the subject opened out before him. “Leaving,” he says, “the further discussion of this dark and difficult question to those whose studies have qualified them to give judgment on so obscure a subject, it so far appears that the witch of Endor was a mere fortuneteller.” How powerless is man to unravel that which the Spirit of God alone can make plain.
Under cover of this sudden and complete revulsion of the public mind, Satan was prepared to make his attacks from new and unsuspected quarters. He had succeeded in discrediting the very existence of evil spirits; he had lulled the world into a false security, and the cry was, “Peace, peace.” His plans for the next campaign were drawn up with the skill of an experienced strategist, and a subtlety with which the wisdom of a fallen world was unable to cope.
The old sorcery was again brought forward in a new and scientific garb, suited to the requirements of an advanced state of civilization.
In 1772, a physician of Vienna, Frederic Anthony Mesmer, was gaining notoriety by his adoption of magnetism as a curative agent. He was assisted in his experiments by a coadjutor of the unenviable name of Father Hell, a Romish priest, from whom he was said to have received his first instructions. Under their joint investigations a new power was developed which was designated, ANIMAL MAGNETISM. It was essential, in order to a satisfactory development of this power, that those who were operated upon should unreservedly resign themselves to the will of the operator. The body was then affected with a kind of sleep, while the mental powers were developed with unwonted and supernatural activity. Objects far distant could be seen and correctly described; they could examine the internal viscera of patients, and for this purpose assisted physicians in their diagnosis; they could speak languages with which they were previously unacquainted; the body could be placed in a state of rigidity and kept in that condition till released by a wave of the operator’s hand. And here it may be remarked that in some of the recorded miracles of so-called saints in the church of Rome there is something that looks exceedingly like mesmerism. It is thought, by many who have investigated such matters, that mesmerism had long been known and practiced by the Romish priesthood, and the supposition is borne out by weighty evidence.
Mesmer was acquiring an immense fortune by his practice; but Hell, either from disappointment in not receiving a fair share of the profits, or chagrin that the secret should have slipped out of the hands of the priests, quarreled violently with Mesmer, and they parted. Mesmer died in 1815, after having practiced in Paris, London and other capitals of Europe.
Animal Magnetism, as it was still called, was taken up by many of the faculty, and occupied the attention of the leading philosophers of the day, but they were all perplexed. Some accounted for it one way, some another, but all differed. Faraday investigated, but could make nothing of it; and both he and many others, in order to save their consistency, affirmed it to be a delusion. Still the fact was there, and numerous witnesses of unquestionable veracity testified to the existence and manifestation of some occult power by which supernatural effects were produced. But if philosophers were outwitted, those who drew their wisdom from above could trace the mystery to its source; the agency was that of a demon.
Other manifestations soon followed―tables and other heavy bodies were moved with unseen hands; the law of gravitation was reversed; inanimate objects obeyed the will of the operator, and the new discovery furnished amusement for evening parties.
It was next found that this mysterious power was also endowed with intelligence. Sounds were heard, words were spelled out by letters, and communications were opened with the spirit-world. Questions were put and answered, and demons were ready at hand to personate departed friends; inquiries were made as to the happiness of spirits in the separate state, and the answers were highly satisfactory. It was ascertained, too, that there was no place of eternal punishment, but that the spirits of the departed entered at once into different degrees of bliss according to their merits. Thus at the close of this nineteenth century we have witnessed a return to pagan darkness and dealing with “familiar spirits.” “Babylon the Great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Conjurors, charlatans, and impostors found a lucrative way of deceiving the public by clever imitations of the mysterious power. In some cases the imposture was detected, and both that and the reality were ridiculed. Sometimes the mode of manifestation was explained; but either way, the unwary were thrown off their guard, and under cover of this clever ruse real spiritualism could be carried on by those who were entangled in its meshes. The counterfeits had thrown dust in the eyes of skeptics and infidels, who denounced the whole as a humbug.
Thus, as in the case of the witchcraft mania, counterfeits had answered the purpose of deception as well as realities; and it must be remembered that every counterfeit proves the existence of a reality; the bad sovereign is the proof that there is a good one somewhere.
Man, lifted up in pride of heart, considers himself competent to detect and reject all that will not bear the light of science, forgetting that it is written of these last days that “darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people.” The existence of witchcraft at the present moment, as well as throughout the whole of the present dispensation, is peremptorily decided by the inspired and unerring word of God; and those who deny its existence are not aware, we would hope, that they at the same time deny the authority of Scripture. “If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” If they will not believe the truth, strong delusion will come upon them that they shall believe a lie; and when the Beast comes upon the scene, they are ready to receive his mark. The false prophet (Rev. 13) will be one possessed of wonderful attainments―a combination of all that fallen man values most. “He doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men;” (Clever deception by electricity, the skeptics will say) he will also give life (or breath) to the image of the Beast, and cause to be killed those who refuse to worship him―those who take heed to the divine record, which lays bare the wiles of that old serpent the devil.
Were there no other scripture than Gal. 5:20 that alone would be sufficient to prove the existence of witchcraft as truly as that of hatred, drunkenness, adultery, etc., named in the same catalog as works of the flesh. It is said (Rev. 9:21), “They repented not of their sorceries; and of Babylon” (Rev. 18:23), “By they sorceries were all nations deceived.” Sorcerers are said to have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8), and “without the city are sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers,” etc. The action of demons is repeatedly noted in Scripture. We have, “Seducing spirits and doctrines [or teachings] of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1), and, “They are the spirits of devils, working miracles.” (Rev. 16:14). Mark the expression, “spirits of devils.” “Babylon has become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit” (Rev. 18:2).
The world is ripe for the manifestation of the man of sin, (2 Thess. 2:9) “whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.” Satan resists the truth more successfully by imitation than by open opposition. Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses by imitation, turning their rods into serpents as he had done. The imitation was clever, but satanic: Pharaoh was deceived, and his heart hardened. The very devils who deceive man, themselves believe and tremble: man denies the truth and does not tremble! He assumes that the less is competent to judge the greater.
Dr. Carpenter affirms that spiritualism has no claim to investigation by scientific men, ―that it is at variance with all-natural laws, and cannot be tested by any acknowledged process, ―that, in short, it is humbug. Dr. C. is evidently unconscious of the position in which this candid admission lands him. He brings the light of science to bear upon certain strange phenomena, and discovers that they are “at variance with all natural laws.”
Does he admit or deny the possibility of a supernatural? He finds himself confronted and perplexed by a mysterious something which sets at naught the wisdom of the philosopher, and, to save consistency, boldly declares that whatever lies beyond the natural laws, with which he is familiar, or which is beyond the reach of present scientific research, is humbug―a name which the temerity of human knowledge gives to whatever is beyond its power of comprehension. Ignorance assumes the office of judge, and decides with the self-confidence natural to it. “The world by wisdom knew not God.” The philosophers of Paul’s day decided that there was no resurrection; the rationalists of the present day explain away the miracles of our Lord by scientific reasoning. Denying supernatural power, they are led captive by Satan at his will. “Signs and lying wonders” are to mark the closing days of this dispensation, now near at hand.
May He who alone is able to grant unto His saints a spirit of deep reverence for and subjection to His own blessed Word, that they may be “kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.”
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly,”