My Beloved Brother Steve continues:
The Two Kingdoms – The Kingdom of Darkness
The kingdom of darkness works differently. Although its members have been created with many of the exterior capabilities of the Father’s Image, they possess none of His Likeness (Nature and Character). This leaves the kingdom of darkness without Elohim Class Authority since everything it does is done independently from and thus in opposition to the Father. However, because its leader is an aspiring sovereign, he still has his own set of decrees that he works tirelessly to enforce and fulfill so he, too, can be like God. (Isaiah 14)
As we’ve discussed, Satan is a created being who can only use what already exists to do his work. So, everything in his kingdom mimics the Kingdom of God. The highest prize in his realm, then, is to rule by his side. This is reserved for the one who delivers to him total control of the world and with it total control of mankind. This, by the way, is what the devil offered to Jesus in the wilderness temptation if He would only agree to bow down and worship him. (Matthew 4:9)
Satan’s kingdom is primarily an Angelic Class realm. The Arché Order of the Angelic Class is the highest order in his realm next to him. There are 12 of them and they make up his ruling class. To each of these Archés Satan has allotted a period of time to rule his kingdom to achieve the mission of delivering to him total control of the world. Eleven have failed.
In 1960, a transfer of power occurred in Satan’s kingdom. The Spirit of War had failed to achieve the mission within the allotted time and so its rule was terminated. Astarte, the spirit known during the time of Baal as the Queen of Heaven and today by its human namesake, Jezebel, assumed the throne. This spirit is the last of Satan’s 12 Archés.
The risk Satan saw from a distance at the beginning of his march against God’s Throne, but calculated he could hedge through what he thought was his infallible Leverage Strategy is now upon him. He and his realm have now arrived at its last stand with Astarte being their last hope. If this spirit fails, Satan fails and his kingdom falls.
The Superior King (Jesus) has backed the inferior king (Satan) into a corner. And, the desperation of his all-or-nothing position is heaping untold pressure on him, Astarte and his entire kingdom; the effects of which are becoming increasingly visible in his realm. This desperation is intensified by 3 inescapable realities that confront Satan at every turn:
First, Astarte is the most hated and feared Arché in his kingdom. This is why this spirit was chosen last to rule his realm. It has already alienated one of the most powerful spirits in his kingdom – the Spirit of War – and even Satan, himself, fears and distrusts her.
In Astarte’s original state, its role was to promote chastity and devotion to God and His Kingdom, but now she is known as the Harlot. This makes Astarte incapable of being faithful to anyone except to her own faithless self, which in turn makes her incapable of either trusting or being trusted by any, including Satan.
Second, Michael the Archangel cast Satan and his cohorts out of the heavens and to the earth that operates in time and space. This has confined Satan to little time, which means he knows he is running out of time.
Third, Jesus is using God’s Man to put Satan in check as He plays His masterful game of multidimensional chess against Satan and his kingdom. On the one hand, Satan needs full access to Man’s Elohim Class Authority to compete with Jesus’ All Authority.
On the other hand, to release Man’s Elohim Class Authority in the measure now
required to compete with Jesus and The Transfer means Satan must allow Man’s authority to be disclosed to him, which Satan has kept hidden since the day of Adam’s transaction.
This puts Satan in check because it exposes him to an intolerable risk. He knows better than we do that his is an inferior class kingdom; that his is only an Angelic Class realm; that it only holds Ministering Class Authority; and that it must support the rule and execute the wishes of the Elohim Class in the spiritual realm, which puts all of his schemes in jeopardy, including his Scarcity and Pandemic strategies.
So, to allow God’s Man to see his Elohim Class Authority risks everything. It risks Man discovering whom he actually is and what he has been created to do from the beginning. It risks Man choosing to rule WITH Jesus in every aspect of life and business instead of remaining as a slave in Satan’s realm. It risks collapsing everything that Satan has built through a single decision by God’s Man to accept Jesus’ invitation to learn to see as He sees.
The walls are closing in. Fissures are forming and growing in the foundations of his ruling systems; infighting is erupting within his ruling class with greater frequency and antagonism sending shockwaves and producing instability throughout his realm; he hates and fears Astarte; his rank and file are in a panic; and The Transfer is advancing with unimpeded force.
This is the position Satan now finds himself in. The inferior king (Satan) is in check and he is panicked. And the frantic, delusional chaos that is everywhere around us is screaming his desperation and terror to those who can hear it, as Jesus uses Satan’s own words and Leverage Strategy against him.
“From out of your own mouth and to the outcome of its opposition to Me, will I separate and decide your judgment you evil, hurtful and morally culpable slave. . .” (Luke 19:22)
The Setting
The Spiritual Landscape of a long fought war changes over the course of the conflict as the war progresses, conditions change, and strategies are mobilized and accomplished.
Jesus describes the fluid nature of war in an exchange He had with the religious leaders of that day. Their religious orthodoxy had so encased them in darkness that they had no idea what the Kingdom of God was about let alone what was actually going on. So, to correct their misconceptions, Jesus told them a war parable to help them see as He saw:
“While listening to these things, Jesus added a parable for the purpose of laying the argument to rest. . . because they held the opinion that the kingdom of God was ready and sure to appear immediately.
“So He said, ‘A man of noble race was going to depart to a far distant country to aggressively lay hold of and seize a kingdom for himself and return. “ ‘And he summoned ten of his bond-slaves who had no ownership rights of their own and gave to them ten minas, saying to them to lay the argument to rest, “Do business, make gain and manage profitably in the realm in which I come and go.”
“ ‘But his citizens hated him, and renouncing their choice they afterwards sent a delegation with a defined mission, saying and laying the argument to rest, “We desire what is best for us that this man not reign over us.”
“ ‘And having aggressively laid hold of the kingdom, conditions emerged for his return and so he said, laying the argument to rest, “Call out to these servants of mine who have no ownership rights of their own to whom I gave the silver, in order that I might know by personal experience what had been gained through their trading.” ’ “ (Luke 19:11 – 15)
Through these 5 paragraphs, Jesus laid out for the religious leaders (and for us) the setting of the war that’s being waged between the two kingdoms, including the players who are involved, the choices they are making, the consequences those choices are producing, and the war’s inalterable outcome – that the nobleman is going “to aggressively lay hold of and seize a kingdom for himself and return.”
What’s fascinating about this parable is that it gives the flip side to His Luke 14 war parable. In that parable Jesus gives the inferior king’s perspective of the conflict while in this parable He gives the Superior King’s perspective:
A man of noble birth (Jesus, the Superior King) was making final preparations before departing (via the cross) to a far distant country (the spiritual domain of darkness).
The (Superior King’s) mission was to aggressively seize (by spiritual conquest) a kingdom (of darkness) for himself (the Kingdom of God) and then return. Before leaving, the nobleman (Superior King) calls his servants together to give them what they do not have on their own – financial resources (minas/silver/money) that operate in physical time and space. He then charges them to take those resources to, “Do business, make gain and manage profitably in the realm in which I come and go.”
So, wherever they saw him “coming and going” they were to do business and manage profitably WITH Him. This divided the responsibilities for engaging the war between himself and his servants. He would focus his efforts on the far distant country (the spiritual realm) while they would focus their efforts back home (in the earthly realm) using the material resources he had given them. This would fully provision both dimensions, as heaven and earth would engage the conflict together under the Superior King’s Reign.
Not all of His citizens would buy into His plan. Although they would take His money (resources), some would decide that it was better for them to serve their own interests than to live under the Superior King’s Reign. This choice would align them with the inferior king who would then leverage them as a weapon to oppose the Superior King.
There would be other citizens who would choose to accept the inferior king’s propaganda about the Superior King – that he was a severe and evil man. Once accepted, the inferior king would leverage them, as well, by getting them to “hold in reserve” the Superior King’s money in a “head cloth for the dead” that would neutralize the King’s resources thus removing them as a threat. (Vv. 20, 21)
Although each player was free to exercise his or her choice, none of his or her choices altered the outcome. Upon completing His mission, the Superior King then called His servants to give Him an account of their participation. Some chose to act faithfully – full of faith (WITH Him) and produced abundantly. They were rewarded. Some did not and, as a consequence of their choice, suffered loss. (Vv. 24 – 26)
In every instance, the account of the party’s participation and the consequences that would follow was a direct result of their sovereign choice. And that choice determined not the outcome of the Nobleman’s mission but only the conditions under which they would experience the war and its results.
“Moreover, those enemies of Mine who are openly and irreconcilably hostile, and whose hatred is bent on inflicting personal harm, who did not want what was best for Me to reign over them as King, lead them here to this spot before Me and slay them.” (Luke 19:27)