sion of the same idea is found in the Epistle to the He- brews, where the death of Ciirist is spoken of as intend- ed to baffle (KarapyHi') "him that hath the power (to /cparot) of death, that is, the devil;" for death is evi- dently regarded as the " wages of sin," and the power of death as inseparable from the power of corruption. Nor is this truth only expressed directly and formally ; it meets us again and again in passages simply practi- cal, taken for granted as already familiar (see Kom. xvi, 20; 2 Cor. ii, ll ; 1 Thess. ii, 18; 2 Thess. ii, 9: 1 Tim. V, 15). The Bible does not shrink from putting the fact of Satanic influence over tlie soul before us in plain and terrible certainty.
Yet, at the same time, it is to be observed that its language is very far from countenancing, even fur a mo- ment, the horrors of the Manichiean theory. The in- fluence of Satan is always s|)oken of as temporary anil limited, subordinated to the divine counsel, and broken by the incarnate Son of God. It is brought out visibly, in the form of possession, in the earthly life of our Lord, only in order that it may give the opportunity of his triimiph. As for himself, so for his redeemed ones, it is true that " God shall bruise Satan under their feet short- ly" (Kom. xvi, 20; comp. (ien. iii, 15). Nor is this all, for the history of the book of Job shows plainly, what is elsewhere constantly implied, that satanic influence is permitted in order to be overnded to good, to teach hu- mility, and therefore faith. The mystery of the exist- ence of evil is left unexplained; but its jiresent subordi- nation and future extinction are familiar truths. So accordingly, on the other hand, his power is spoken of as capable of being resisted by the will of man, when aided by the grace of God. " Pesist the devil and he will flee from you" is the constant language of Scripture (James iv, 7). It is indeed a power to which "place" or opportunity " is given" only by the consent of man's will (Eph. iv, 27). It is probably to be traced most distinctly in the power of evil habit — a power real, but not irresistible, created by previous sin, and by every successive act of sin riveted more closely upon the soul. It is a power which cannot act directly and openly, but needs craft and dissimulation in order to get advantage over man by entangling the will. The " wiles" (Eph. vi, 1 1), the " devices" (2 Cor. ii, 11), the " snare" (1 Tim. iii, 7 ; vi, 9 ; 2 Tim. ii, 26) " of the devil" are expres- sions which indicate the indirect and umiatural charac- ter of the power of evil. It is therefore urged as a rea- son for "soberness and vigilance" (1 Pet. v, 8), for the careful use of the " whole armor of God" (Eph. vi, 10- 17) ; but it is never allowed to obscure the supremacy of God's grace, or to disturb the iimer peace of the Chris- tian. " He that is born of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not" (1 John v, 18).
Besides his own direct influence, the Scriptures dis- close to us the fact that Satan is the leader of a host of evil spirits, or angels, who share his evil work, and for whom the " everlasting Are is prepared" (Matt, xxv, 41). Of their origin and fall we kilow no more than of his, for they cannot be the same as the fallen and imprisoned angels of 2 Pet. ii. 4, and Jude (> ; but one passage (Matt, xii, 24-26) identities tliem distincth' with the i^ai/ioj'io (A. V. " devils") who had power to possess the souls of men. The Jews there speak of a Beel/ebub (BtsX^E- /3oi''X), "a prince of the da-mons," whom they identify with, or symbolize by, the idol of Ekron, the "god of flies" [see Bkki-zebi'hJ, and by whose power they ac- cuse our Lord of casting out dicmons. His answer is, "How can Satan cast out Satan?" The inference is clear that Satan is Beelzebub, and therefore the da;mons are "the angels of the devil;" and this inference is strengthened by Acts x, 38, in which Peter describes the possessed as KaTacwaaTtvoficiovt: viro rov Aiafio- \ov ; and by Luke x, 18, in which the mastery over the demons is connected by our Lord with the "fall of Satan from heaven," and tlicir power included by him in the "power of the enemy" (roii ix^pov ; comp. Matt, xiii, 39). For their nature, see Daemon. They
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are mostly spoken of in Scripture in reference to posses- sion; but in Eph. vi, V2 they are described in various lights, as " principalities" {df)x"i)^ " powers" (f^onaint), "rulers of the darl^ness of this world," and "spiritual powers of wickedness in heavenly places" (or " things") (ja TTVu'iiariKa tTiq TTOvi]piag tv roit," iTrovfUiinotc) ; and in all as '' wrestling" against the soul of man. The same reference is made less explicitly in Kom. viii, 38 and Col. ii, 15. In Kev. xii, 7-9 they are spoken of as fighting with "the dragon, the old serpent called the devil and Satan," against " Michael and his angels," and as cast out of heaven with their chiefs. Taking all these passages togetlier, we tind them sharing the enmity to God and man implied in the name and nature of Satan; but their power and action are but little dwelt upon in comparison with his. That there is against us a power of spiritual wickedness is a truth which we need to know, and a mystery which only revelation can dis- close; but whether it is exercised by few or by many is a matter of comparative indifference.