open source theology

The Satanic power that will manifest itself politically in opposition to the church in the form of the beast (Rev.13:7) is the same power that holds sway through sickness and demonic possession over the lives of ordinary Jews in the Gospels. Jesus tells the Pharisees that the casting out of demons by the Spirit of God is a sign that ‘the kingdom of God has come upon you’ (Matt.12:25-28). The coming of the kingdom of God is equated with the metaphor of binding the strongman in order to plunder his house (29), which appears to correspond to, or at least anticipate, the binding and imprisonment of Satan in the pit at the start of the thousand years of Christ’s reign (Rev.20:1-3). When the returning disciples declared that ‘even the demons are subject to us in your name’, Jesus assured them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven’ (Lk.10:17-18). The imagery of plundering the house of a strongman is prefigured in Isaiah 49:24-25 with reference to the rescue of Israel from her oppressors: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.” The allusion reinforces the political dimension to Jesus’ statement. The struggle with Satan is not a universal conflict: it is a struggle – we might almost say a localized struggle – for the religious and spiritual freedom of the people of God.