Aunty Jane
Well-Known Member
I have a very different perspective on that.....Not intending to be picky, but the rulership off this world was given to Satan by Adam. It was Adam who before the fall had 'dominion' over all the earth. All loving creatures and the earth itself was his realm. But when he and Eve surrendered their wills to the tempter, they also surrendered their sovereignty. They second Adam, Jesus, by refusing to sin and relinquish His will to Satan, won back the rulership on behalf of man, hence when the time comes, the meek shall inherit the earth.
By obeying satan and believing his lies, the first humans chose a different Sovereign to rule over them. But the earth’s rulership was only given to humans with God’s oversight. By leaving “the knowledge of good and evil” to their Creator, he would be fully involved in the exercise of their free will. It had boundaries that they were not to transgress. God asked for their willing obedience and warned them what disobedience would lead to.
We know what happened.....and when sin entered into the world and the devil was chuffed at his victory, God made a decision that put paid to the devil’s success.....he denied access to the “tree of life”. Without that, satan’s human worshippers would die and he would have to recruit more. As the human lifespan diminished, death came earlier (man was now decreed to live only 70 or 80 years) So the devil’s recruitment had to be constant so he would need others to assist him in turning the humans away from God. We know that he managed to take about a third of the angels with him into rebellion.
But as for the human race, with the help of his other recruits, satan introduced false worship...and it flourished. By turning the humans away from the true God and by and giving them many substitutes, satan managed to corrupt the natural desire in humans for worship, to obtain it for himself. Whatever worship went to false gods, went to the devil by default.
So when satan said that “all the kingdoms of the world” were his to give to whomever he wished (Luke 4:5-8) the only one who could authorise him to have that position was God himself. The earth was man’s domain, but rulership always belonged to God. Man was to have dominion over all the other living creatures on earth, but he was not given dominion over other humans. Man was to be subject to his Creator for all time to come. So you see why I have to disagree with your take on that?
The reason why God stepped back and gave rulership over to the devil was because he claimed to be the better ruler of mankind, suggesting that God was a liar and a bad ruler of questionable character. So satan was given opportunity to prove his case.....with little to no interference from God. What has human history proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? That satan is a failed loser who deserves the punishment that God has Promised to dish up to him and those who follow him. He knows his time is running out and he knows what awaits him and his cronies....so he has stepped up the pressure on humanity and at present we see the world struggling to return to any kind of normality.....we await what the scriptures tell us to expect at this time of the end. Those of little faith will not survive. (1 Peter 4:16-18) Those who have not chosen to serve God in the way that Jesus taught, will not fare well either. (Matthew 7:21-23)
Our decisions are ours to make.....