Understanding the Spiritual Conflict of Two Kingdoms: Light and Darkness
Yeshua said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25-26, NKJV).[i] Yeshua was speaking to the Jewish leaders in this verse, the Pharisees. But notice, He said, “every kingdom.” He was not just speaking of Israel.
There are two kingdoms in this world—the kingdom of light belonging to Yeshua and the kingdom of darkness under Satan’s dominion. In discerning this, however, we must not somehow believe that these are two equally opposing forces. This belief is called dualism and originates from Ancient Near East mythology. It exists in Pythagorean, Confucianism, Neoplatonism, and now Western Christian culture.[ii] These views are Hellenistic in nature and are antithetical to scripture and Hebraic thought. Why is that?
Satan is a created being, and he is nowhere close to equal with God. He has great power that God has given him, but his power is finite and is constrained.[iii] In the Hebrew tradition, Satan is ultimately subordinate to God, and he can do nothing unless God wills for it to happen.[iv] Even in the end, when Satan is given a kingdom for a short season,[v] God remains in control. As it is written, “For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled” (Revelation 17:17).
Satan’s greatest weapon has always been deception. He has other tools, but this, by far, is his most effective controlling influence. Yeshua called him a murderer and the father of lies.[vi] And Paul said, “For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). But there is no light, no truth in him. Satan is a dark angel. He has silenced the prophets who spoke God’s truth and continues to lie to humanity on many levels.
Paul warned us to take up the shield of faith in which we would be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.[vii] These fiery darts are Satan’s lies and deception, which we extinguish by believing God’s truth written in His word. Truth is God’s light that overcomes the darkness of our enemy. And let us remember that Satan cannot make us sin. Like our brother Job, He can only tempt us to do so with God’s permission. Therefore, it is written, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:13-15).
James is clear. Without the freedom to choose what is right over evil, there can be no moral accountability. God is vindicated, Satan remains God’s instrument of judgment, and we, humanity, created in the image of God, are held accountable and judged accordingly. Except for the blood of Christ, all would perish under God’s wrath.
Maimonides writes that the word “Satan” derives from the Hebrew root to “turn away,” meaning he turns people away from God. The term “HaSatan” (the Satan) in Hebrew translates as the one who resists or opposes God—the adversary.[viii] Therefore, Satan is regarded as a heavenly prosecutor and is called the accuser of our brethren.[ix]
In Greek Apollyon, he is also called Abaddon, meaning doom or destruction, and the archangel of the abyss. The Semitic root and verb Abbad means to perish. In Jewish mysticism, Satan is called Sama’el, the Great Demon and the one who rules over the demonic realm, the Sitra Achra, which means “the other side.”[x]
In Jewish thought, Satan is an agent or instrument of God, one the Lord uses to bring His Divine retributions and judgments. He is not an autonomous and equal force that is opposed to God. He is a created being. Therefore, he is viewed as God’s angel of judgment. This reinforces the Messianic understanding that all the judgments in the book of Revelation are orchestrated by Yeshua Himself. These include the four angels of destruction unleashed upon the earth. There is no distinction between the wrath of Satan and the wrath of God. They are the same, hence my belief in the church's pretribulation rapture, as we, the church, are not subject to God’s wrath or His condemnation.[xi]
We see God using Satan to judge Israel in the books of Second Samuel and First Chronicles. The Jewish people had committed evil in the Lord’s eyes, even under the Divine guise of a righteous leader—King David. We read, “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly” (1 Chronicles 21:1 & 7).
This story reveals a great paradox—a righteous king who serves a righteous God is moved by Satan, God’s adversary, to bring His moral judgment on a rebellious and sinful people. Comparably, God also used unrighteous kings to bring His righteous judgments upon the Jewish people. Therefore, it matters not who is our king. God always remains in control of everything; as it is written, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1).
Satan does, however, have a kingdom with limited authority.[xii] It is called the kingdom of darkness. Satan is the prince of the power of the air and the spirit of this world who now works in the sons of disobedience.[xiii] Yeshua spoke these harsh words against the Jewish leaders who rejected Him, saying, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8:44). We can only serve one king and one kingdom, as it is written, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).
There is a spiritual picture of Satan’s earthly kingdom when he took Yeshua up to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). This affirms that Satan, to a degree, has dominion over the kingdom of the earth—all of them.
Presently, Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.[xiv] While He forever makes intercession for us before the Father, defending us with His blood against the accuser of our souls, He will remain at this place until He soon returns to destroy Satan’s kingdom and establish his eternal one.[xv] Yeshua will then destroy both the spirits of darkness who dwell in the lower heavens and the sons of darkness who live on the earth below.
Yeshua said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (John 8:23). For us who are now in Christ, we are on assignment in the world. We are ambassadors of Christ, sojourning with Him and living in tents and temporary shelters, with nowhere to lay our heads or final permanent rest.[xvi] This world is not yet our home. Still, Yeshua said, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
Yeshua has prayed for our protection and not left us as orphans by sending us His Holy Spirit. Everywhere we go, we bring the Kingdom of God with us. But the Kingdom is not yet here on the earth. For now, the nations remain under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness. This includes Israel, the United States, and all the other countries. Also, the systems in place over the nations, such as our economic, political, social, education, and media, are under darkness.
Satan’s limited and temporary dominion does not preclude God’s sovereign and individually-directed Divine providence of His ongoing contact with His created beings.[xvii] As Yeshua said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The Lord sovereignly reestablished the nation of Israel in 1948. Did He also allow for this nation's formation when its founders made an, albeit fallible covenant with God to build the new free world on God’s rule of law found in our Judeo-Christian heritage? I believe so. Again, God has never left His throne, and Satan is merely His instrument.
But we need to understand what the Lord is currently allowing to unfold in this nation. America is deeply divided, and in the words of Yeshua, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.” Therefore, we need to ask the Lord: Are we seeing Your Divine judgments in the form of division, and will this division bring us to desolation if we do not repent as a nation? Quite likely.
America right now is divided over racial issues and political differences. And because dualistic philosophy is pervasive in western culture, many Christians see these conflicts as part of an ongoing battle between light and darkness. Those who attach themselves to Biblical values, such as protecting the lives of unborn children, are on the right side, and those who support abortion are on the dark side. This has led many conservative Christians to believe that the Republican Party somehow represents the light side and the Democrats the dark one.
However, let us take the time to read the Democratic Party platform. We might discover a more empathetic response to those in our society who have been oppressed and disenfranchised, including immigrants and minority communities. The Lord commanded Israel, saying, “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21).
In a satire I found on YouTube about the Republic Party, Jesus is seen carrying a young child in his arms, saying: “Whoever welcomes one of these little ones in my name, might be letting in a murderer or a drug.” Then he hands her off to another many, saying, “Let’s get her to a detention center.”
Now you might be saying to yourself, “that’s not an accurate portrayal of the Republican Party platform. But I quote from their platform, “Our immigration system must protect American working families and their wages, for citizens and legal immigrants alike, in a way that will improve the economy.” I do not believe this is what the Lord meant when He said, “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him.”
The platform's language is written to protect American citizens and legal immigrants, but more its primary focus is on safeguarding wages and improving the economy. How have we treated those who we classify as illegal or unwelcome? Certainly not according to God’s rule of law, and ironically, this segment of the platform is titled, “Immigration and the Rule of Law.” Migrant farm works have been exploited for decades in this nation for the benefit of consumers. Hypocrites we are.
While the Democratic Party is more empathetic towards immigrants, they have also adopted language that openly supports abortion and the murder of the unborn. Sadly, fifty-four percent of women who have had abortions in the United States profess to be Protestant or Catholic.[xviii] Thirty-seven percent said they attended church on a regular monthly basis.[xix]
This leaves Bible-believing Christians with a problem. Neither party truly represents the values of Christ’s Kingdom. While the United States is a comfortable and free nation to live in, it would be dangerous for us to elevate our constitution on par with the Bible or falsely believe we are now living in the Kingdom of God.
Going back to Yeshua's words, we should understand that all nations are presently under the dominion of darkness. Seeing the division in American, we should also conclude that Satan’s demonic forces are active in God’s judgment to humble this nation. One power is the spirit of greed and materialism, and the other is a secular humanist spirit that places our hope in government and science, not in our creator. The wake of this conflict will leave a path of destruction, and without national repentance and returning to the Lord, these spirits will bring us to complete desolation.
As Christians, our hope is not in anything of this world, for our Kingdom is not of it. As it is written, “’Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:26-29).
While this scripture speaks to the end of our age, we also know that these shakings will begin and intensify as we move closer to it, called birth pangs. Amid these difficulties, Yeshua gave us hope when He said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).
It is natural for us to fix what is broken, and this nation is reeling with dysfunction. There is tremendous deception on both sides, Republican and Democrat, who believe we can improve the world through government and science. Those who consider that conservative and maybe even Biblical laws will do the same. No so. Only the Spirit of God can save us, and the foundation must be built from the ground up, meaning, when the hearts of men and women return to the Lord, they will elect righteous leaders who will stand with Christ and govern according to His rule of Law, and not man’s.
We must continue to pray for our government leaders and all who are in authority,[xx] and we must understand God’s sovereignty over this nation—to bring His good blessings or His redemptive judgments. As it is written, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil” (Romans 13:1-3).
Let us not be distracted by the political changes occurring in the world, but let us steadfastly and with laser focus, keep the prize in our sight—to share the good news of the gospel and bring as many as are willing into the soon-coming Kingdom of God.[xxi] “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] Wikipedia.
[iii] 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
[iv] Kabbalistic/Hasidic and Christian traditions describe the forces of the holy and the demonic as locked in a struggle that will culminate in God’s eventual victory: MJL. Do Jews Believe in Satan? My Jewish Learning.
[v] Mark 13:20. Revelation 12:12.
[vi] John 8:44.
[vii] Ephesians 6:16.
[viii] Zechariah 3:1. Job 1:8-9, 2:3-7.
[ix] Revelation 12:10.
[x] Ibid. Do Jews Believe in Satan?
[xi] John 3:36. Romans 1:8, 8:1. Ephesians 5:6. Colossians 3:6. 1 Thessalonians 5:9.
[xii] Revelation 13:7, 16:10.
[xiii] Ephesians 2:2.
[xiv] Romans 8:34. Ephesians 1:20. Colossians 3:1. Hebrews 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2.
[xv] Hebrews 7:25.
[xvi] Matthew 8:20. 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, 5:20. 1 Peter 2:11.
[xvii] Ibid—Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 25.
[xviii] Jones, K. Rachel. People of All Religions Use Birth Control and Have Abortions. Guttmacher Institute.
[xix] Study of Women who have had an Abortion and Their Views on Church. LifeWay Research.
[xx] 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
[xxi] 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.