Lately I’ve been running across a lot of false teachings concerning all types of Biblical doctrine. Most of the time these teachings come from Arnold Murray’s group at Shepherd’s Chapel. There were a few statements made during the end of his show when viewer questions are answered. Normally I just ignore these things, but I feel it is necessary to address them.
Both he and his son Dennis teach that Satan has already been bound, but his spirit is still roaming the earth. Lets address the first and most important problem with this doctrine, and that is it has absolutely no scriptural basis. There is no verse in the Bible that says Satan’s body is bound, but his spirit can roam the earth. What would be the point? The Bible itself is very clear that Satan is free to roam the earth.
- “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years…” – Revelation 20:2
This verse addresses two things wrong with the theory of Satan’s spirit roaming the earth. The first is that Satan was “that old serpent” in the Garden of Eden. Nowhere in Genesis 3 is it implied that it was really Satan’s spirit in the garden. The second point is that Satan is not bound until the return of Christ. There is no mention of a spiritual binding. Another aspect to this false teaching is that Michael is restraining Satan at this time, but the Bible teaches the exact opposite.
- “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” – Jude 1:9
What kind of dispute could Michael possibly be having with Satan over the body of Moses if Satan was already bound? Again, the Bible makes no reference to a separation of a physical body and Satan’s spirit. Just as in Job 1 and 2, Satan seems free to roam the earth as he pleases.
- “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” – Job 2:1
In Job, Satan comes with the other angels to present himself to God. He and God have a conversation that leads to Satan telling God that he was roaming the earth. Once again, no mention of his body being separate from his spirit.
- “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” – 1 Peter 5:8
Peter stated that Satan is still walking around. He did not speak of this in a past sense, but in the present. Not only that, there is once again no speaking of his spirit being separated from his body. Finally, let’s look at a couple more difficult verses that are the hardest to get past.
- “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him… And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:7-9, 17
The most important thing to understand about this section is that there is a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and twelve stars on her head. She gives birth to a son that is caught up to heaven and is then persecuted by the Dragon. The woman represents Israel. The Bible specifically tells us that this women is Israel in Genesis 37:9. Joseph explains his dream to Jacob who interprets the dream as the following:
- Sun – Jacob
- Moon – Rachel
- Stars – His twelve sons
This is the entire nation of Israel. Many people teach that it is really the Church, but the problem is that this woman in Revelation is pregnant and gives birth to a son. The problem is that the Church is depicted in scripture as a virgin and never gives birth to anything. The man child is usually accepted to be Christ, which presents another problem to the theory of this woman representing the Church. The Church does not give birth to Christ, but Christ gives birth to the Church. Because the Dragon fails to destroy Christ he tries to destroy the woman and her seed. Some believe that this may represent a coming holocaust. Daniel confirms that this yet future event will be the time that Michael makes his stand against Satan.
- “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” – Daniel 12:1
Revelation covers the period of the last seven years of human history. The Old Testament refers to this as “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7)and Jesus refers to the last 3.5 years as “Great Tribulation” (Matthew 23:21). Keep in mind that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel in Genesis 32:38. This is that time that Daniel prophesies that Michael will stand up for Israel. My question to Arnold Murray and his son is this:
- Where in the Bible or “in the manuscripts”, as they usually say to avoid the question, can we find the verse that tells us Satan’s body is bound while his spirit roams the earth.
Neither the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or English makes any reference to Satan’s spirit being separated from his body. This is one of those manmade theories that cannot be supported by the Bible.
- “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” – Acts 17:11
The Bible warns us to search the scriptures daily, not just accept what the person on T.V. is telling us. That also includes your pastor at your church. Don’t be taken in by false teachings and be very careful around those that change the Bible to fit their believe vs. changing their belief to fit the Bible.
Angels, Demons, Demonic Possession, Spiritual Perspective, God, Jesus, Bible, Genesis 6, Giants, Days of Noah, The Omega Hour, Bro. BJ, L.A. Marzulli, Guy Malone, Chuck Missler, Alien Abduction, UFO, Flying Saucer, hybrid, Joe Jordan, Van Smith, Russ Dizdar, Chris White, YHWH, YHVH
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Welcome to my personal website. My name is Minister Dante Fortson and as you may know, I'm one of the few black Ministers that will touch the subject of the supernatural from a Christian perspective. Please feel free to browse the site and leave your comments. Thanks for visiting.
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