Revival/Reformation (4)

Reformation Reports

Table of Contents (Scroll down to view all)

1. The Continual Coming of Jesus (7)

2. The Continual Coming of Jesus (8)

3. The Continual Coming of Jesus (9)

4. The Kingdom Within vs the Kingdom Among

5. The Millennial Reign

6. Who Satan is Not

7. Who Satan Is

The Continual Coming of Jesus (7)

By Lanny Swaim

And when he [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven: This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Acts 1:9-11

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Luke 21:27

My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you.

Galatians 4:19 AMP

In our last teaching we looked at The Mount of Olives being split in half, determining that occurrence to be a historical event rather than a future event.

In this teaching we will focus on the cloud of Acts 1:9-11 and Luke 21:27.

In both these scripture references, the Greek word for cloud is nephele, which literally means a water vapor cloud, unlike the cloud spoken of in Hebrews 12:1. The Greek word there is nephos, indicating a metaphoric use of the word, cloud; a great cloud of witnesses.

However, there is the possibility and indication that even though the word for cloud in Acts 1:9 and Luke 21:27 was literally a water vapor cloud, it may have been used metaphorically there as well. I believe this is confirmed by the fact that several other places in the Bible use water vapor clouds metaphorically.

If that is in fact the case, at Jesus’ ascension He was received by the great cloud of witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 12:1, and His return will be in a great cloud of witnesses.

I believe this to be the case. And I believe this is what the apostle Paul had in mind when he spoke of Jesus being fully/completely and permanently formed in believers.

We all know that Jesus took up residence in us when we were initially born again. But Paul indicates there is a process of Jesus being fully formed in us; fully indwelling us with the fulness of His character and power.

This is how Jesus will return to rule the world as King of kings and Lord of lords. Think about what the terms King of kings and Lord of lords actually mean. These terms indicate that He will rule in and through a people He has completely indwelled with His character and power.

This is part of the continual coming of Jesus.

There is no second coming of Jesus. Only a continual coming.

Many, perhaps most believers are missing His coming today just as most of the Jews missed His coming as the Son of Man when He was born in Bethlehem.

But, glory to God, there is a remnant who is beginning to see and walk in the reality of His continual coming.

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

The Continual Coming of Jesus (8)

By Lanny Swaim

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

Isaiah 28:9-10

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Daniel 2:44-45 (emphasis added) (Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream)

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:22-24

The coming of Jesus, which has been a continual reality since the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8) until the present time and on into the future, is about His superimposing Himself into creation, bringing all of creation to completion/perfection, not in the sense of bringing it to an end, but instead bringing it to an ongoing completion/perfection, being overwritten by eternity; this being made possible by The Kingdom of God coming in/on Earth as in Heaven.

Daniel 2:44-45 (above) is a picture of this.

While the iron, brass, clay, silver and gold in Daniel 2:45 represents specific kingdoms, the implication is that Jesus will set up a kingdom that will supersede not only these five kingdoms but all the nations of the earth.

I find it very interesting that Jesus’ kingdom will come into existence not after these kings, but in the days of these kings. This implies that the nations of the world aren’t going away, but instead will be overwritten by The Kingdom of God.

Revelation 11:15 is a prophetic scripture that confirms this reality.

The kingdoms [nations] of this world are become the kingdoms [Kingdom] of our Lord [Jesus], and of his Christ [the Body of Christ]; and he shall reign for ever and ever [in and through His people].

While much of the Church is looking for Jesus to come back in the flesh and rule the world from Jerusalem, Jesus is preparing a people to rule by revealing the workings of His Kingdom to them. These people, who at the present time are only a remnant within the Church, are taking their rightful positions in the politics and societies of the world, implementing The Kingdom of God precept by precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, until the stone that the builders rejected becomes the capstone.

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

The Continual Coming of Jesus (9)

By Lanny Swaim

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

The Book of Revelation is not the revelation of the end-times, as many have interpreted it to be. Verse one of chapter one clearly says it is The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Actually, the term end-times, as we have already determined, cannot be found in the Bible. The Bible does speak of last days, but that must be put in the context of 2 Peter 3:8.

Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

There is a parallel between the seven days of creation and the seven thousand years the Bible focuses on.

On The Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended on about 120 believers in an upper room in Jerusalem, Peter said they were in the last days (see Acts 2:17). Actually, they were in the fifth day, which is the latter part of the week.

Using the Gregorian calendar, which I believe God has made provision for, we are now in the seventh day (millennium), which is also the third day of the Church.

In Luke 13:32 Jesus said:

Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

He wasn’t talking about the third day after the crucifixion when He walked out of the tomb. His body was not perfected even though it had become immortal. He still had the scars of the crucifixion in His hands, feet and side.

So when will His body be perfected? In the third day of the Church.

As we have now crossed the threshold of the third day of the Church, which is the seventh day of/since creation, there is a remnant of believers who are getting a glimpse of the perfection that awaits us all. Many of us have been severely tested and tried, giving us a taste of that perfection as we have come through the tests and trails as overcomers.

We are a firstfruits company, trailblazers and pilgrims, paving the way for many more to follow until all of creation becomes God’s original intent, perfect and complete.

We are coming to an understanding that we will eventually be filled with all the fulness of the Godhead, mature and complete in Him, which is His continual coming in a people, ultimately filling all of creation with Himself.

My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you.

Galatians 4:19 AMP

This is our destiny, fully mature and complete, with His character fully formed in us.

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.

Jude 14

As we have previously studied, the Greek word translated as with is en, and should have been translated in.

He is and will be fully formed in a people in this seventh day (millennium) of/since creation, which is the third day (millennium) of the Church, enabling the Church to become experientially holy and without blemish, not having spot, wrinkle or any such thing, a glorious, unified Church, taking her place as the Lord’s Ekklesia (Greek for Church meaning a governing/legislative body), literally bringing the Kingdom of God in/on Earth as in Heaven.

This is the ultimate purpose of the Lord’s continual coming, and why we must understand His coming is continual.

Surely, without a doubt, we were born for such a time as this.

All glory to God!

The Kingdom Within vs The Kingdom Among

By Lanny Swaim

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, low there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luke 17:20-21 (emphasis added)

The Greek word for within is entos, and can be also translated as among or in the midst of. The Amplified Bible makes the above scripture reference much clearer.

Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display: nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ Or, ‘There it is.’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence].”

We must remember that Jesus was speaking to Pharisees in this scripture reference. Because of the Pharisees’ ritualistic, religious stance, obviously the Kingdom of God did not reside in them. So Jesus wouldn’t have been saying to them that the Kingdom resided in them. Instead, He was saying that the Kingdom was among them or in the midst of them, without their recognizing its presence.

It has been thought that within is the correct translation, giving the assumption that the Kingdom is completely spiritual and in no way visible and certainly not political. But if the correct translation is among or in the midst of instead of within, that changes the way we recognize and understand the Kingdom, and it’s manifestation in the earth.

After all, Jesus did teach His disciples to pray that His Kingdom would come in earth as in Heaven (see Matthew 6:10 & Luke 11:2).

The apostle Paul informs us in Ephesians 2:22 that we, The Body of Christ, are corporately a habitation of God through the Spirit. We are indwelled by the Godhead. Therefore, I suppose you could say that The Kingdom of God lives within us. But God doesn’t just live in us, He lives in and through us, establishing the Kingdom in Earth as in Heaven.

We are the vehicle through which the Kingdom is manifesting throughout the earth, in every aspect of mankind’s involvement in the earth. Because of us, the Kingdom is among all the inhabitants of the earth, in the midst of all the goings on of the earth.

And as we step up to the plate, so to speak, more and more becoming the Lord’s Ekklesia (Greek for Church, meaning a governing/legislative body), the presence of the Kingdom in the world will literally change the world, bringing about the ultimate and complete fulfillment of Revelation 11:15:

The kingdoms [nations] of this world are become the kingdoms [Kingdom] of our Lord [Jesus], and of his Christ [the Body of Christ]. And he [we] shall reign for ever and ever.

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

The Millennial Reign

By Lanny Swaim

I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:1-2, 6

John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ is not a chronological order of events nor is it the revelation of so called end-times, a term we have already established cannot be found in the Bible.

Revelation 19:10 informs us that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

A few years ago I was in an incredible meeting in York, Pennsylvania and it was prophesied in that meeting that prophecy was no longer going be perceived as someone standing up and saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” but that we are going to become prophecy.

As Christ is fully formed in us (see Galatians 4:19 AMP), our lives will become a testimony of who Jesus is, revealing His character, authority and power, as He lives His life in us and through us; the result being His testimony will become our testimony, one and the same as we will experientially become one and the same with Him.

When people see us, they will see Him.

This is not something we accomplish by changing our behavior, it is who we are because He indwells us and that is changing our behavior.

As His testimony becomes our testimony, with His testimony being the spirit of prophecy, we will literally become the spirit of prophecy.

While prophecy does sometimes reveal future events, that only happens in the context of prophecy revealing Jesus.

Positionally we are already there, but as we experientially walk this out, Satan is finished. Actually, when Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished,” the devil lost all the power and authority he may have appeared to have.

The only reason he appears to have any power and authority on Earth is because Christians don’t realize he was completely defeated two thousand years ago.

But the time will come when the Lord’s Ekklesia (Greek for Church meaning a governing/legislative body) will walk in this revelation and reality, diminishing the devil's power and influence on Earth.

Will this be a literal thousand years, as Revelation 20:2 states? I don’t know.

But this I do know: If Christians had been walking in the knowledge of who we are in Christ and who He is in us, the devil would have been locked away for the past two thousand years.

Perhaps the reason Revelation 20:2&6 speaks of a thousand years is because it has to do with revelation coming forth during this seventh day/millennium since creation, which is the third day/millennium of the Ekklesia.

Maybe the thousand years of Revelation 20:2&6 is not a literal thousand years but takes place during a literal thousand years. I’m not ready to say that is revelation to me. It could simply be speculation on my part. But in any case, I think it is worth considering.

Regardless, there is coming a time when our realization of who we are in Christ and who He is in us will literally change the world.

And that, saints of God, is our destiny.

The term Millennial Reign or Kingdom Reign as it is sometimes called, is not in the Bible, but is probably taken from the thousand years of Revelation 20:2&6.

But the important thing is that we understand what is occurring, rather than exactly when it will occur.

Having said that, I must say again, surely we were born for such a time as this!

Who Satan is Not

By Lanny Swaim

I have Quaker ancestry on both sides of my family. Recently I attended a Quaker meeting and before the meeting, I met the pastor for the first time. As we were briefly getting acquainted, he told me he had grown up a Universalist. I asked him how a Universalist becomes a Quaker pastor. He didn’t really answer my question but then told me that between being a Universalist and a Quaker, for a while he had been involved in a Pentecostal church. He then told me that the reason he left the Pentecostal church was because they focused on and talked about the devil more than God. I nodded in agreement with him but the meeting was about to start and our conversation ended there.

We give the devil too much credit. Jesus either defeated him at the time of the crucifixion or He did not.

Some scripture is misinterpreted or mistranslated to mean Satan or the devil when in fact it is not about him at all. While the entire Bible is true, not all of it can be taken literally. Much of it is written as allegory (a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one), as metaphor (a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable), or as a parable (much of Jesus’ teaching was in parables).

Also some scripture has been mistranslated, changed or added to.

Matthew 17:21 is a good example of this. In the two verses preceding verse 21 the disciples came to Jesus because they were unable to cast a demon out of someone, asking Him why they were unsuccessful. In verse 20 He told them they were unable to cast the demon out because of their unbelief. Then in verse 21 the KJV says:

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

However, verse 21 is not in the oldest manuscripts. Somewhere along the way, it was added.

Casting out demons does not require prayer and fasting, it only requires belief.

We can’t just read the Bible, we must study the Bible.

Satan is not Lucifer or the Anointed Cherub:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15

That thou [Israel] shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon…

Isaiah 14:4 (emphasis added)

Isaiah 14:4 sets the stage for the rest of the chapter, especially 14:12-15.

Verse 4 makes it clear that this chapter is about the king of Babylon, who at that time was Nebuchadnezzar. It is not about Satan, as has been taught by many people for many years.

Lucifer in verse twelve is translated from the Hebrew for light-bringer or shining one. The translators of the Latin Vulgate made up the proper name Lucifer and the King James translators didn’t change it. Other translations ran with it as well.

This is the only place in the Bible that the proper name, Lucifer, appears. It was never Satan’s name, but instead a made up name.

People who believe Satan was once an angel named Lucifer tend to believe he was also at one time an angel in Heaven, and base that belief on Ezekiel 28:14-15:

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Verse 13 describes him as being in Eden, and verse 12 tells us who this person was.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (emphasis added)

There are several reasons why this portion of scripture cannot be about Satan.

The prophecy is historically accurate and applies to events that happened in Ezekiel’s time.
The prophecy is addressed to the king of Tyrus (Tyre), not to Satan.
The king of Tyre is referred to as the anointed cherub who covers. Satan is never referred to anywhere in the Bible as a cherub.
There is no evidence in the Bible that Satan ever tried to become like God or exalt his throne above God’s throne.
Even further back in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel in verse 2, we are clearly told that this chapter is about the king of Tyre and not about Satan.

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. (emphasis added)

Satan is not the thief:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…

John 10:10 (emphasis added)

A thorough study of the verses preceding and following John 10:10 makes it clear that the thief in this verse is not the devil/Satan but the hireling, who Jesus is comparing to the Pharisees.

If it is the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy then he could be considered an enemy. But those who come to steal, kill and destroy were in Jesus time the Pharisees and in today’s Church are the clergy, who go by various titles and teach a false gospel.

I’m not saying that all the clergy teaches a false gospel, but many do, emphasizing The Old Covenant rather than The New Covenant.

Satan is not our enemy:

Nowhere in scripture is the devil/Satan referred to as the enemy. Peter calls him our adversary (see 1 Peter 5:8) but I’ve searched and can’t find anywhere in the Bible where he is actually called our enemy.

…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…

1 Peter 5:8 (emphasis added)

While adversary and enemy are similar in meaning, they are not exactly the same. Adversary is primarily a legal term. Satan is the accuser (adversary) of the brethren (see Revelation 12:10). In Job we find him coming before God questioning Job’s loyalty to God.

The word devour in 1 Peter 5:8 actually means to drink or swallow. So as the accuser or adversary of the brethren, Satan attempts by legal argument to swallow up believers.

By using our authority based on The New Covenant and the finished work of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion, Satan is no match for us from a legal standpoint.

An enemy, on the other hand, is someone who is coming against someone else to literally destroy or kill them, such as in a military battle. An enemy is not defeated in a legal battle, but instead in a war battle, where each side is trying to kill the other side.

The devil is not trying to kill us outright even though John 8:44 calls him a murderer, but is rather trying to defeat us legally, which he could do under The Old Covenant, but cannot do under The New Covenant, unless we see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant. So the only way he can kill us is to deceive us, as he did Eve.

So to give Satan any credit as an enemy, is to see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant.

Terminology matters, and to call Satan our enemy is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to us being overcomers and advancing The Kingdom of God/Heaven on/in earth as in Heaven.

There is a fairly well-known prophetic person I follow who has understanding of the transition taking place in the Church and in the world, and of the adversity many believers are experiencing due to that transition.

Like many prophetic voices speaking out at this time, he is still advising those dealing with this adversity to stand against “the enemy,” instead of teaching them to rest in and trust in the Lord to see them through the transition and the adversity caused by the transition, which is not an attack from “the enemy” but instead a process we must go through in order to overcome.

Struggling with this transition and the adversity it causes is due to a wrong mindset and wrong terminology. I often say, our greatest enemy is not the devil but the thing that sits on our shoulders (our head/mind).

We overcome our adversary by knowing who we are in Christ Jesus and who He is in us. As He is, so are we in this world (see 1 John 4:17). Our adversary is no match for Jesus, and he is no match for us.

Satan is not the god of the earth:

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1

2 Corinthians 4:4 speaks of the god of this world, speaking of the evil world system, not the earth itself.

The world system will eventually line up with God’s ownership of the earth.

Where did Satan come from:

Satan was never an angel in Heaven named Lucifer, and therefore was never cast out of Heaven. When Jesus said in Luke 10:18 that He saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven, He was simply referring to the fact that the disciples had overcome him by using the authority Jesus had invested in them.

God created Satan to be the devil.

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isaiah 54:16

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is on me, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 54:17

I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7

Without Satan and evil to come against us, there would be nothing to overcome. When we overcome, the process of overcoming does a work in us making us like God in character, which cannot be created but must be developed.

Satan and evil are God’s instrument to mature us. God created Satan to be the waster that destroys that which is not of Him, not the individuals who operate in that which is not of Him.

Satan is God’s agent, kept on a short leash, to mature/perfect/complete us for such a time as this!

Smith Wigglesworth was a great healing evangelist in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. One of my favorite stories about him is that one night he was awakened to find Satan himself standing in the corner of his bedroom. Wigglesworth said, “Oh, it’s only you.” He then turned over and went back to sleep.

I’ve spent much of my life as a Christian fighting Satan, not realizing he has no authority over me, and therefore is no threat to me.

Again, he is either defeated or not. And I can assure you, he is defeated.

Because he is defeated, we are not fighting for victory, we are reigning with Jesus from the position of victory.

Amen.

Who Satan Is

By Lanny Swaim

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isaiah 54:16

In our last Reformation Report we studied who Satan is not. If you missed that or would like to review it, go to my website, click on Reformation Report at the top of any page, and scroll down to Reformation Report (4).

As we studied in that last Reformation Report, Satan was never an angel in Heaven named Lucifer, and therefore was never cast out of Heaven. God created Satan to be the devil. And Satan is no threat to us, as we find in the verse following Isaiah 54:16 (above).

Isaiah 54:17

Not only did God create Satan to be the devil, He also created evil. I remember when I first found this verse in the Bible. I had a hard time accepting it, and yet, there is was in Isaiah.

I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7

Under the New Covenant, Satan and evil are God’s instruments to mature us. God created Satan to be the waster that destroys that which is not of Him, not the individuals who operate in that which is not of Him.

Satan is God’s agent, kept on a short leash, to mature/perfect/complete us for such a time as this!

There are several passages in The Ethiopian Bible that confirm this.

When over hundreds of years the Bible accepted by Protestants, Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians today was reduced to 66 books, The Ethiopian Bible remained intact. Even books such as Genesis in The Ethiopian Bible have much more detail than our Bible does.

I highly recommend owning a copy and reading The Ethiopian Bible.

While Lucifer was a made up name and never the name of Satan, The Ethiopian Bible does give us a proper name for the devil.

The Book of Jubilees gives an account of much that Genesis and Exodus also give an account of. In Jubilees, after Noah’s flood, when most of the evil spirits known as the Nephilim were locked away, unable to influence or come against mankind, Satan is identified as Mastema. The flood had destroyed all the children of the angels who had taken women as wives, but their spirits remained.

And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said, ‘Lord, creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them harken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I will not be able to execute the powers of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.’ And He [God] said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.’

Jubilees 10:7-9

Then Jubilees 10:11 describes Mastema as Satan.

In our Bible, Satan is described as the accuser or adversary of the brethren (see Revelation 12:10/1 Peter 5:8). In Jubilees, the 17th chapter, we find Mastema coming before God concerning Abraham, much like he came before God concerning Job.

And it came to pass in the seventh week, in the seventh year thereof, in the first month of this jubilee, on the twelfth of this month, there were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in all that He [God] told him, and that he loved the Lord, and that in every affliction he was faithful. And the prince Mastema came and said before God, ‘Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights in him above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he will do this command, and Thou wilt know if he is faithful in everything wherein Thou dost try him.’

Jubilees 17:15-16

There are also places in The Ethiopian Bible that attribute certain acts to Mastema, which our Bible attributes to God.

In Exodus 4:24-26 is the account of God nearly killing Moses because he had not circumcised his son. The Book of Jubilees attributes this act to Mastema.

(We should note that the Book of Jubilees was given to Moses by an angel of the presence, who speaks of himself in the first person in Jubilees. In the following verses he also speaks of himself in the third person. Jubilees names several orders of angels, the highest being angels of sanctification and angels of the presence.)

Thou thyself [Moses] knowest what he [the angel of the presence] spake unto thee on Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Egypt on the way when thou didst meet him at the lodging-place. Did he not with all his power seek to slay thee and deliver the Egyptians out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians?

Jubilees 48:2-3

In the narrative of the plagues God sent on Egypt as Moses was trying to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go into the wilderness (in Exodus in our Bible), we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart after each plague, but Jubilees attributes that hardening of Pharaoh’s heart to Mastema.

It appears that God was using Mastema to set Pharaoh up for destruction.

Jubilees 48:12 & 15-18 gives Mastema credit for convincing the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites into the wilderness and to the Red Sea.

And on the fourteenth day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the seventeenth and on the eighteenth the prince Mastema was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he might not accuse them. And on the nineteenth we [angels] let them loose that they might help the Egyptians and pursue the children of Israel. And he hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device was devised by the Lord our God that He might smite the Egyptians and cast them into the sea.

Jubilees 48:15-18

While we often use Satan as a proper name, the Hebrew that translates as satan is actually more of a title than a name; that title meaning accuser or adversary. A comparison is the title used in a court of law in The United States, prosecutor or prosecuting attorney.

The Book of Enoch uses the term satan in the plural; satans, seeming to apply it to demons rather than one individual spirit.

Reading our Bible, I have often wondered how the demonic kingdom works and how it came to be. Jubilees clears up all those questions.

There are arguments as to why Jubilees wasn’t included in our Bible, but I am convinced it should have been; a truth the Ethiopians have known for centuries.

Mastema is the Satan, with many satans functioning under him.

But the good news is, Jesus defeated him at the cross. Actually, he has always had only limited power at the discretion of God.

And yet, at times it appears he oversteps the boundaries God has placed on him and does severe harm to individuals, even believers. In our next Reformation Report, we’ll look at why this possibility exists and how it can be dealt with.