much that when earth's rightful Lord first came, in great humility, to make reconciliation for that iniquity of his creature, man,-Satan, exhibiting all the kingdoms of the world, could utter that fearful boast, "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it." Luke iv.6. His triumphant vaunt indeed was of short duration; for He, whom he dared to tempt, speedily cast him out of his earthly possessions, and stripped him too, of a more terrible prerogative; for the Son of God became partaker of flesh and blood, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 14, 15.

But beyond this, there is something that we cannot fathom: Satan is represented to us occasionally in situations far higher than a mere ruler of all the kingdoms of our earth could aspire to. Glimpses of a mysterious freedom of access to heavenly places are now and then afforded us ; and though men have undertaken to explain away by a system of types and figures what our enfeebled intellect cannot grasp, still we have the plain declarations of God's word, which it would be our higher wisdom to receive in its obvious meaning; and where we cannot comprehend, to lay our mouths in the dust, and silently adore.

The first of these instances occurs in the history of

Job; where it is said, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." Job i. 6, 7, and ii. 1, 2. This occurs twice. Again, Zechariah says, "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Zech. iii. 1, 2. Perfectly consistent with these views is the language of the Apocalypse; in a passage bearing so emphatically on our subject, that it must be given entire. "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 I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God, day and night. And they overcame him by the blood

of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea; for the Devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Rev. xii. 7-12. Whatever, and whenever this casting out may be, it does not appear to have taken place in Paul's time; for in writing to the Ephesians, he says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in heavenly places." Eph. vi. 12. So reads the margin of our authorized version; and Wiclif, in 1380, translates it,

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Agens spiritual thingis of wickednesse in hewinli thingis." The Geneva version, 1557, has it," Against spiritual wickednesses which are above; " and the Rhemish, 1582, "Against the spirituals of wickedness in the celestials." In this, as in other instances, a growing dimness of vision on our mysterious and awful subject, has perhaps biassed both translators and commentators to put a gloss on what they cannot easily reconcile with their established systems. There is yet another very remarkable passage belonging to this head. In the book of Daniel, we find a heavenly instructor coming to show the prophet what shall befal his people, the Jews, in the latter days, who thus expresses himself: "The prince of the kingdom of Persia

withstood me one and twenty days; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me." Dan. x. 13. And again he says, "Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I am gone forth, the prince of Grecia shall come.... and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince." Dan. x. 20, 21. It is not to be supposed that mere mortal kings were thus enabled to resist angels : we can but understand it of a certain authority exercised by these wicked spirits, these principalities, and powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world, over nations that, in the practice of idolatrous abominations, sacrificed unto devils, as the Apostle declares. We build no theory on these extraordinary declarations of the Most High: we merely point them out, and endeavour to show how they harmonize with other parts of the same immutable word.

Micaiah's vision is also observable. When adjured by the king to declare the truth of what the Lord had revealed concerning his projected enterprise, he thus disclosed it :-"I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his

And the Lord said, who

right hand and on his left. shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?

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And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth and do so." 1 Kings xxii. 19-22. This is repeated with scarcely any verbal variation in 2 Chron. xviii. 18 -21. We cannot suppose that the prophet of the Lord was at liberty to invent a fiction concerning the inhabitants of heaven; more especially as his warning was exactly fulfilled: neither can we reasonably suppose that a holy angel would volunteer to become a lying spirit, to mislead a sinner to his final ruin. The doom of Ahab had long been fixed: dogs were to lick his blood in the place where the innocent blood of the murdered Naboth had flowed; and his obstinate determination of going up to battle to Ramoth Gilead was the means of its fulfilment. Still he was warned: the conscientious Jehoshophat would not be satisfied unless a true prophet of the Lord was enquired of, after the encouragement given by Ahab's lying flatterers: and the whole device was then laid bare, though the wicked king rejected the merciful intimation, and committing the faithful messenger to prison, rushed open-eyed upon his own destruction.

One more instance of Satanic interference in matters far above our level, may be adduced. The Apostle Jude, when denouncing those who "speak evil of dignities," adds, "Yet Michael the archangel, when, contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of