Reconciling the SPE (2) Listeners and Followers

To understand how the spiritual powers of evil will be reconciled to God, we need to understand their nature and how they fell. Most spirits, like the angels, are listeners and followers. They were created by God to hear, obey and do. The angels listen and obey the voice of God. They sometimes hear and obey the voice of his people.

Angels are not moral beings, like humans. They are listeners and doers. They listen to anyone with real authority that is near to them. They recognise authority, like the Roman soldier who talked with Jesus. When they hear a voice with authority, they obey.

When the angels were created, they all obeyed the voice of God. They did what the Holy Spirit commanded them to do.

A few angels are archangels (arche = ruling; angelos = messenger). They are ruling angels with the ability to instruct other angels. Michael is the name of one who serves God (Jude 1:9). I am not sure why God needed them, because the Holy Spirit can speak to an angel and tell it God’s will. I presume that he needed archangels to control large groups of angels working together on tasks needing concentrated power and structure.

The bad spirits that gained control when Satan led the angels on earth into a rebellion against God, were probably archangels, used to organising and controlling other angels. Only a few spirits revolted against God. They had special roles and knowledge of what was happening.

They said, “We did all the work creating the world, while God just sat and talked. Why should he control it, when we made it”? A few of them decided to take control of the earth they had helped create.

Only a few spirits rebelled against God. Once Satan had tricked Adam and Eve, he and a few of his powerful mates could claim legitimate authority over the earth. They took on new roles as Death, Wrath, Destruction, Beast, and False Prophet. They worked together but also struggled with each other for power.

The spirits that led the rebellion tricked Adam and Eve into giving them authority over the earth. The other spirits that stopped serving God must remain in contact with the earth to have a place to operate. They are listeners and followers, so they obey anyone with authority over the place where they are operating. They naturally obey the ruling spirits who seized authority over the earth.