On Satan’s Binding and Loosing

On Satan’s Binding and Loosing

By Dean E. Boelt 

There are at least two different senses in which the terms, binding and loosing are used in Scripture with regard to satanic activity. In Revelation 20:2-3 we read of Satan being bound for a thousand years, but afterwards he is loosed for a little season. 

There the Devil is restrained by the Lord God for an extended period of time so that he should no longer deceive the nations. But after this time period has passed the Divine restraints are lifted and the serpent is free, for a little season, to express himself more fully. 

In this apocalyptic language we have an interpretation of the restraint or outbreak, as the case may be, of wickedness and deception in the earth. In other words the principle to be seen here is this; wherever wickedness is gaining ground and increasing in popularity among men, there the Devil has been loosed. 

In this sense there are times and places where the Devil is evidently bound and his influence greatly restrained, but there are also occasions and localities where he has been obviously loosed.  And so long as we remain in this present evil world, we are still in the domain where this kind of binding and loosing occurs intermittently and repeatedly. 

The other sense in which the term, binding, at least, is used is found in such places as Matthew 12:29 and Mark 3:27. “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” And as Christ did with this one who was “possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb” (Mt. 12:22), so He does with all today who believe and obey the gospel. He binds the strong man, 

Satan, so that the wicked one touches them not (cf. I Jn. 5:18).  That is to say, the old serpent does not have the power to effectively turn believing men and women away from the living God, to make them quit relying on Christ and cleaving to the Lord by overpowering them. Christ has bound the strong man! Praise be to His Name! 

The Devil can still tempt, seduce, and beguile, to be sure, but this will only prove to be effective where men and women have quit believing the record that God gave of His Son. [Such unbelieving ones are open season for Satan’s devices and delusions (cf. II Tim. 2:25-26)]. 

In conclusion then, let us “keep” ourselves “in the love of God” (Jude 21; cf. I Jn. 5:18), and give thanks that, in such keeping of ourselves, this “strong man,” who would turn us away from the God of our salvation, isbound and there is no intermittent or extended loosing of him in this sense.

 

What is Spiritual Babylon?

What is Spiritual Babylon?

First of all, let us clarify that we are using the expression "spiritual Babylon" to distinguish from the captivity into which Israel was carried. That captivity would become a shadow of a much greater captivity into which "souls of men" would be carried. In this captivity men would be stripped of much more fundamental freedoms than an earthly government could ever externally impose. We are speaking here of such things as freedom from a servile approach to serving God, freedom from fundamental religious error, freedom to enjoy and delight in the God that made them and redeemed them through the Lord Jesus Christ, freedom to love life, and see good days, as both the Psalmist and Peter affirmed. We are talking of being robbed of freedom to search the Scriptures daily in order to examine whether or not what is being taught and preached is in accordance with what is written. In the Babylonian captivity it is said of Ezekiel that he was "among the captives" (Ezek. 1:1), "among the exiles" (CJB), but in his soul he was not captive, for he was given to see "visions of God". In the other Babylon, to which we are referring, described more extensively in the Revelation, men are actually held captive in their souls, and consequently, in their bodies as well. [As a side note, consider that it is the same with the Apostle John, when he was exiled on the isle of Patmos "for the word of God". Though he was stripped of some superficial social freedoms, the most fundamental freedoms, which pertain to life and godliness, could not be taken away from him by men. Consider also that Paul wrote several of his epistles, that would sustain believers in centuries to come, in spite of being in prision, shackled to a chain.]

In Babylon there is a subtle servility that is imposed upon men, usually against their wills. But those who are begotten by the Jerusalem which is above (Gal. 4:26), (which are the same ones as the righteous, as those who are in Christ, as those who are believing on the Name of the Son of God, as those who are begotten again unto a living hope), serving God is their chiefest joy.

Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord (cf. Jer. 51:7). "The deceived and the deceiver" belong to Him (cf. Job 12:16). When men are not serious about taking what He has to offer, namely, an escape from the wrath to come, and the everlasting salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, which amount to being the "pearl of great price" (Mt. 13:46), God will choose the delusions in which men shall "fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken" (Isa. 28:13; cf. Isa. 66:4).

The God of Heaven holds out to insincere men a “golden cup” filled with abominations and filthiness (Rev. 17:4). From the earth perspective, which is as high as men in the flesh can ascend, this cup appears to be very attractive, and even to have worth. But this cup is filled with things which stir up the fierce anger of the Holy One, and when men partake of them, the God, “whose Name is Jealous” (Exod. 34:14), is given an additional just cause for rejecting them and condemning them. Not fair, some would reason? Not so, it is unreasonable beyond measure that men would not receive, and earnestly take for themselves, the great salvation that He initially held out to them.

Spiritual Babylon is "the mystery of iniquity" that was already at work in the first century (II Th. 2:7). It is the "second beast" mentioned in Revelation 13. There are two women identified in the book of the Revelation, one in chapter 12, and one in chapter 17 and 18. Babylon is the second woman. It is is a place, from which God's people are solemnly commanded to come out (Rev. 18:4), lest they be partarkers of the plagues that the God of Heaven will pour out upon it at the time appointed by Him.

Spiritual Babylon is the source of much of the wickedness that is in the world. It has "become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." (Rev. 18:2), It is a place of spiritual incarceration, where men are enslaved by the error that they have been taught. (Incidentally, error and false teaching are much like seeds that are planted in, and grow up in men's hearts. Initially, error may be embraced and it does not appear to have any damaging effect. But eventually, when the seeds of error and the lie begin to enlarge in men's hearts and experience, they will sense that they are living with a contradiction inside of them, a contradiction which often exceeding difficult to ignore and discard. It is only as men come to know the truth, that the truth may set them free.)

Babylon is religion that is uniquely adapted to "the old man" (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9), where the unregenerated part of man is not regarded as an enemy, and where it is free to "come as you are", to borrow a quaint expression. Babylon is religion that makes no provision for nourishing "the new man" which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.

Frequently those coming out of spiritual Babylon have attempted to make the best of an undesirable situation, not knowing the full scope of what Babylon was all about. "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed" (Jer. 51:9). She cannot be healed because the curse of God is upon her.

Babylon is a place that makes merchandise of the "souls of men" (Rev. 18:12-13). It is a place where earthly gain, and earthly benefits have eclipsed the absolute necessity of believing on Christ, seeking the things which are above, where Christ Jesus sitteth at the right hand of God, and counting all things as loss for winning Christ, and for knowing Christ, and the power of His resurrection. It is a religious environment where men may have a lucrative profession at the expense of the souls of other men. It is an environment where a man may get gain much like other men in the world, the only difference being that he "wears a rough garment to deceive" (Zech. 13:4).

Babylon is the world disguised as the church, or pretending to be the church. It is religion that has no need of God (Tim McCulfor). It is religion that is at home in this present evil world. It is religion that insists on maintaining a connection with this present evil world, and its ways. It is a stranger to the ways of God. It is religion that, at best, regards the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus as something to fall back (if it turns out to be true, as they imply by their manner of living). It is much the same as a "life insurance policy" which men keep tucked away until such a time as it is needed.

“The world is wedded to the church, and the church is wedded to the world, and the world is her wedded name” (Alfred Rehwinkel, in The Flood).