>>5118707

Part 1 of 5 re Ruler of This World

The belief that Satan rules this world is wrong! This is error commonly taught about how to read 2 Cor. 4:4!

2 Cor. 4:-4, " 4 in whom the god of this age did blind the minds of the unbelieving, that there doth not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;" (Young's)

Many people claim that the "god of this age", or as KJV translates it, "god of this world" in 2 Cor. 4:4 above refers to Satan. This verse is being misconstrued, twisted, and incorrectly taught. Perspective is required. Who was speaking? Paul. To whom was he speaking? The followers of Christ who lived in Corinth in the 1st century AD. TIME FRAME: Written approx. 55 - 58 AD! Under the World Power of the Roman Empire under the rule of CAESAR NERO!

Our Father in Heaven is God, with a capital G, specifically YHWH; as given to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15, meaning "I AM THAT WHICH I AM" (YLT)

Job 41:11, "Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine." (KJV)

There is no other God (Is. 45:18; Mark 12:32; 1 Cor. 8:4), as no one else created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is therein. (Col. 1:16, Eph 3:9, Rev. 10:6) Therefore, the use of the word "god" in verse 4, with a lower case "g", indicates something or someone who is not our Creator, but some other soul or being or object.

>>5118707

Part 2 of 5 re: Ruler of This World

Nowhere in the scripture, nowhere in God's holy word does the Holy Spirit ever refer to Satan, the Adversary, as a "god". The word "god" in 2 Cor. 4:4 is "theos" (Strong's 2316), and has four possible meanings:

1. a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities

2. the Godhead, trinity

a. God the Father, the first person in the trinity

b. Christ, the second person of the trinity

c. Holy Spirit, the third person in the trinity

1. spoken of the only and true God

a. refers to the things of God

b. his counsels, interests, things due to him

1. whatever can in any respect be likened unto God, or resemble him in any way

a. God's representative or viceregent

1. of magistrates and judges

Reasoning from the subject or context of the verse, the word used in 2 Cor 4:4 is not referring to the Godhead (2), nor to the things of God (3), nor to something likened unto God (4) So, that leaves the first meaning…. a general name of deities or divinities.

Next, the word "age" or "world" in verse 4. KJV often translates the Greek word "aion" or "age" as "world." This is misleading, as it leaves out the time element indicated by "age". An age, or an era is a time period, & includes the people living at the time, their living conditions, their economy, their mindsets, beliefs, earthly rulers, principalities, kingdoms, etc. The word "world" does not only mean just the physical earth on which we live.

So, the "god of this age" of 2 Cor. 4:4 above refers to a soul or being who was claiming to be a deity, and was blinding the lost, preventing them from seeing the truth of the gospel of Christ during the time period in which 2 Corinthians was written.

What being or soul was calling himself "god" in the first century A.D at the time of the writing of 2 Corinthians? The Caesars of Rome named themselves gods. The Caesar who ruled at the time of the writing of 2 Corinthians was Nero. Nero reigned from 54 A.D. to 68 A.D., and was instrumental in carrying out the wishes of the Sanhedrin counsel in Jerusalem of persecuting the Christians.

>>5118707

Part 3 of 5 re: Ruler of This World:

Both Nero and the Jews worked hand-in-glove for a time, before the Jews defied and angered Rome. Their concerted efforts of persecution were preventing many from accepting the gospel of Christ. Their acts of terror against the people blinded the people from the truth of the word of God, preventing their full freedom to turn to Christ, and scaring them away.

While their actions were works of Satan, because all lies are of Satan (John 8:44), it is incorrect to conclude that Satan, or the Adversary, is the "god of this age" in 2 Cor 4:4. Our Heavenly Father has never abdicated his authority and power over His creation. He is God in heaven and in and on earth. (Ex. 19:5; Job 41:11; Col 1:16)

From Eph 2:1-3: "1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (KJV)

The time frame is again "the course of this world" or as Young's translates it, "the age of this world". He references their time period again, the first century A.D. Who was the prince of the power of the air in the first century A.D?

"the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" had an immediate application to that age of the 1st cent. AD. The prince of the power of the air, or "the ruler of the authority of the air" (YLT) was that spirit of man that was operating, working evil during the first century A.D.

>>5118707

Part 4 of 5 re: Rule of This World:

Confirmed by Eph. 6:12, "because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;" (YLT)

From OT prophetic figurative language, "heavenly places" were the ruling nations and palaces of the rulers. The same heavenly places defined in Eph 3:9-10 as places of the principalities and rulers which were to know the "manifold wisdom of God" by the church which Christ established. (Click more stories above to see more discussion in previous post "Heaven And Earth Have Passed Away)

Eph 6:12 is not speaking of evil working in Heaven above. The ruler, or prince of the power of the air in Eph 2:2 is the same as the "world-rulers of the darkness of this age" of Eph 6:12. Principalities and authorities are men. World-rulers are men; specifically the men that ruled during the dark times of that age in the first century A.D.

So, the spirit of man that then worked in the children of disobedience was not a disembodied, unseen being. It was a man who ruled, and was working evil and influencing the evil ones, the children of disobedience, in the first century A.D.

When Satan told Jesus (Matt. 4:8-9) that he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, that did not mean that the Adversary ruled all the kingdoms of the world. God did not say those words; Satan said them. Satan lies!

The Holy Spirit recorded the Adversary's words, but remember that the Adversary lies. The truth is not in him. (John 8:44). The Holy Spirit accurately recorded the words that men and Satan spoke, but that does not mean that God spoke them, or gave authority for them, or that their words were true.

If Satan had the rule and power of any of the kingdoms of the earth, it is only because of the evil and wicked men who allowed his power to fill that empty vacuum where righteous and good men refused to take a stand. Whenever God's people do not stand against evil, evil men will take over and rule. As evil men are governed by their passions and lusts and greed, then Satan has power to use them.

Matt. 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

>>5118707

Part 5 of 5 re: Ruler of This World

John 14:30, just before His capture and crucifixion Jesus said, "I will no more talk much with you, for the ruler of this world doth come, and in me he hath nothing;"

Jesus did not say "the Adversary", which Adversary the KJV renders most often as "Satan". He said "the ruler of this world…" The world, the economy, the system in which Christ appeared and was manifested during the first century A.D. was that in which Jerusalem and Judah were governed and ruled by the old Roman empire. The Sanhedrin counsel had authority only as far as the Roman governors allowed them.

During the same conversation, as Jesus continues to instruct His disciples, he says in John 15:11, " and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world hath been judged."

Again, "the ruler of this world", not the Adversary, but the power that ruled over the people during the first century A.D. The one who ruled was seated in Rome, and gave limited ruling authority to the governors of the ten provinces of Rome, in which Jerusalem and Judah were captives. The Sanhedrin counsel, the Sadducees, scribes and Pharisees ruled over Jerusalem and the Jews according to their practices as far as they were allowed by Rome, but all within the governance of Rome.

It was Judas who led the officers of the chief priests and Pharisees to capture Jesus in the garden, and the officers delivered Him up to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the chief priest of the Sanhedrin. (Matt. 26:57; Mark 14:53; Luke 22:54; John 18) Annas then had Jesus delivered into the hall of Caiaphas, who subsequently turned Him over to the Roman governor, Pilate, in his praetorium, his official residence. It was the verdict of the Sanhedrin counsel which condemned Jesus, even though Pilate said it was not a death penalty under Roman law.

So, was "the ruler of this world" referred to in the gospel of John, at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, the high priest Caiaphas, whom Jesus pronounced judgment upon (Matt. 26:64). Or, was it Pilate who tried to wash his hands of the matter, or was it Caesar who ruled over Rome, or all of them? Most probably, all of them, as they all participated in the crucifixion of Christ.

The ruler referred to in Paul's writing in 2 Cor. 4:4 was that ruler in power at the time of the writing of the book… that ruler was NERO.

2 Cor. 4:4 does not refer to Satan, and does not mean that God gave Satan the rule of this earth. God is not letting Satan rule over us. We are letting evil rule when we do not stand against them and for YHVH!

>>5119281

"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Rom 12:5

"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 1 Cor. 12:27

Body of Christ = members of His "ecclesia", His assembly or congregation

Body of Moses = OT congregation of Israel

>>5119310

Jude 1:9 was not speaking about the Adversary wanting Moses' physical, literal body at his death. The Adversary wanted the entire congregation of the Israelite camp when they built that golden calf.

>>5119333

Excerpt from Benson Commentary on Jude 1:9,

" the apostle here seems to allude to Zechariah 3:1, where we read of Joshua the high-priest, (representing the Jewish people,) standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him; and the Lord, namely, by his angel, saying unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee: and inasmuch as the subject of that contention, between the angel and Satan, was the restoration of the Jewish Church and state, Baxter thinks that by the body of Moses here may be meant the Jewish constitution, civil and religious, which Moses had established. An interpretation which Macknight seems to countenance; “Michael is spoken of as one of the chief angels, who took care of the Israelites as a nation. He may therefore have been the angel of the Lord, before whom Joshua, the high-priest, is said, (Zechariah 3:1) to have stood, Satan being at his right hand to resist him, namely, in his design of restoring the Jewish Church and state, called by Jude, the body of Moses, just as the Christian Church is called by Paul, the body of Christ.” "

Source: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jude/1-9.htm