Calvary Road Baptist Church
“A Survey Of Satanic & Demonic Warfare In Second Chronicles”
Second Chronicles
Our Satanic and Demonic warfare survey brings us to the book of Second Chronicles. Recall that
“The book of 2 Chronicles was originally included with l Chronicles. Ezra, the generally accepted author for the book restates the history of Israel and Judah as it related to the people’s spiritual condition. Covering a period from 971 to 586 B.C. or about 385 years, this book opens with Solomon enthroned in splendor and closes with the beginning of Judah’s seventy years of captivity and the decree of King Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem (536 B.C.). After describing the accession of Solomon, a detailed account is given of the building and dedication of the temple in Jerusalem (l-9).
In this record of the royal house and history of Judah, the fall from the greatness of David and Solomon’s reigns is clear. Revivals had occurred under five of the eight best kings-Asa (chap. 15), Jehoshaphat (20), Joash (23-24), Hezekiah (29-31), and Josiah (35) yet formalism, apostasy, and spiritual neglect increased throughout Judah. The revivals that took place never lasted long because those kings who were right with God raised children who became evil idolaters (e.g., Hezekiah and Manasseh).
After King Josiah’s death in about 610 B.C., the four evil kings (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah) sealed the nation’s fate with their disobedience. The Babylonians, in three invasions which began the seventy years of captivity (36:20-21 and Jer. 25), carried away large numbers of Israelites and destroyed Jerusalem (606 B.C., 597 B.C., and 586 B.C.).
The book closes with practically the same words that open Ezra, ending the seventy years of captivity in 536 B.C.
Only chapters 7 and 8, recording Solomon’s prayer and the Lord’s appearance to the king after the temple’s dedication, contain conditional prophecies about Israel’s future disobedience and fall. Yet there is a suggestion of the perpetual preciousness of the temple area (7:15-16).
The 37 separate predictions are mostly already fulfilled or concerned with typology. Of 882 verses, 268, or 31 percent, are predictive in nature.[1]
As we did in First Chronicles, let us take note of those verses in Second Chronicles that reveal Satanic and/or Demonic activities and influence.
Second Chronicles 1.3:
“So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.”
In this and the previous verse, we see that Solomon spoke to the captains and judges, the governors and chief of the fathers, to go with him to Gibeon. Solomon seems to have begun his reign with this public display of piety to visit what might have served for a time as the location of God’s altar. But let us also note the possibility that this is an early spiritual compromise in his life, owing to the many times in the Old Testament when high places were devoted to idolatrous worship.
New to my understanding is the existence of a small tent referred to in Exodus as “the tent of meeting” where Moses would meet with God before the tabernacle was constructed. Until I studied to prepare for this message, I had not recognized that the tent of meeting was distinct from the tabernacle and that it had been constructed before the tabernacle was fabricated.
It is possible that the tent of meeting survived the centuries from Moses to Solomon and that young King Solomon, according to this verse, met with men at Gibeon at the high place referred to.[2] In this instance, was the high place used for a legitimate purpose, but such high places were otherwise and generally used for illegitimate ends?[3] I think so.
Second Chronicles 7.20:
“Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.”
Observe that when the LORD appeared to Solomon one night and spoke to him, the passage that includes Second Chronicles 7.14 (“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray ....”) also includes this verse referring to “my land.”
Here are some other passages in which God refers to His land as His possession:
Isaiah 19.25:
“Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”
Jeremiah 2.7:
“And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.”
Jeremiah 16.18:
“And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.”
Ezekiel 38.16:
“And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.”
Joel 1.6:
“For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.”
Joel 3.2:
“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”
There are prophetic implications associated with God’s claim of what we think of as the Promised Land belonging in a significant way to God. We will learn later from Daniel concerning the spiritual struggle that involves control of Gentile regions by spirit beings.
Second Chronicles 10.2:
“And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.”
One might wonder what this verse has to do with Satanic activity and demonic influence. But a connection can be seen when two verses are considered together, this verse and a verse we will see in the next chapter.
To refresh your memory, Jeroboam is the man who led the rebellion of the ten northern tribes to separate from the united kingdom after the death of King Solomon and the accession of his son, Rehoboam, to the throne.
When we next see Jeroboam, he is doing despicable things at the bidding of foul spirits, things that influenced those in the ten tribes to the north to abandon their worship of the true God by replacing it with idolatry.
Where did Jeroboam learn the idolatry that he imposed upon the ten tribes? He learned it here, when he was in Egypt. One commentator writes,
“It is notable that goat worship was practiced in Egypt, that the Levitical legislation was given to regulate Israelite religion after the exodus from Egypt, and that Jeroboam’s attempts to set up an alternative to the Jerusalem cultus came after a period of exile in Egypt.”[4]
This is one of many examples in God’s Word of the effect on a person of being in close proximity to evil influences.
Second Chronicles 11.15:
“And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.”
The one who ordained these priests of idolatry was the same Rehoboam we took note of who was exiled in Egypt. When Solomon’s foolish son provoked the wrath of the ten tribes, it was this same Rehoboam who was ready to take advantage of Jeroboam’s folly and the Israelite’s rebellion to lead the breakaway and substitute false worship for genuine worship.
Notice that he used the high places so common to Gentile worship. The calves mentioned are a reminder of the golden calf Aaron fashioned for the Israelites while Moses was meeting with God atop Mount Sinai. And the word translated “devils” is the Hebrew word related to satyrs, he-goats, which became the focus of his idolatrous worship.[5]
Allow me to speculate about Rehoboam’s success in introducing idolatry to the new breakaway nation of Israel, comprised of the ten tribes. It involves, as I imagine it, pagan frenzy. The prescribed worship of God’s people under the Mosaic Law reveals it to be orderly, under control, respectful, and reverent. Based upon inwardly appreciated truths about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, proper worship resulted in outward expressions that resulted from an inner joy resulting from God’s covenant promises and blessings of His people.
Recall the time that David danced before the ark of the covenant while it was being relocated. He exhibited joy and delight that God was blessing him and his people so, but his dancing before the ark was not something done during worship, which would have been disrespectful. David’s actions revealed inner truth that was appropriately expressed with an outward display of joy and celebration in an appropriate manner. Only wicked wife, Michal, disapproved. I would suggest that Rehoboam’s success involved him introducing to the idolatrous worship of his new nation the pagan frenzy associated with the idolatrous practices he learned while exiled in Egypt, similar to what the children of Israel engaged in with the golden calf fashioned by Moses’ brother Aaron that Moses so heartily disapproved of. Why so?
Consider the direction. God’s approach to worship and spirituality involves internalizing truths, promises, and covenant relationships that are rightly appreciated and outwardly expressed. But the worship of God is always respectful, controlled, and reverent. God works from the inside out. Pagan frenzy of the Egyptian variety, and also of the Canaanite variety, and I would suggest also of the Pentecostal and Charismatic varieties, work from the outside in using stringed instruments and percussion to work up a frenzied state which is a counterfeit to real worship.
Pagan frenzy starts outwardly and seeks to work its way inward to penetrate and influence the soul, while genuine worship begins with the internalization of truths hidden in the heart that are apprehended and appreciated to be then outwardly expressed. Pagan frenzy, of the kind introduced by Jeroboam to the nation of Israel, produces a dopamine rush that substitutes for genuine worship. Genuine worship does not need and will not use percussion to produce a heavy rhythm that substitutes for joy. But if you are carnal, and have no heart for God or appetite for the things of God, pagan frenzy will seem to you to be an acceptable substitute. My opinion? Pagan frenzy is demonstrably demonic.
Second Chronicles 18.18-24:
18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.
19 And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
20 Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.
22 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.
23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?
24 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
We begin this part of the prophet Micaiah’s prophesy with verse 18, which is one of sixteen verses in the Hebrew Old Testament that makes reference to “the host of heaven,” with some of those passages identifying angels who do battle for the Lord.[6] “The Old Testament makes it clear that the members of God’s heavenly host are spirit beings - entities that, by nature, are not embodied, at least in the sense of our human experience of being physical in form. This spiritual nature is indicated in several passages.”[7]
How are we to explain this challenging passage, in which at first glance it appears that God dispatches a lying spirit to speak through the mouths of false prophets? This is very problematic since it relates to our conception of the holiness of God and His willingness to do only good. It is too much for us to grapple with at present, though I can recommend a discussion of the matter should you want to explore the issue more deeply.[8]
What is the takeaway from this passage? There are two possible takeaways. First, understand that even evil spirits are ultimately subject to God’s control. They can do nothing without His permission. Second, understand that no one has any sane hope of opposing God and experiencing victory in the long run. The outcome of this war, this spiritual conflict, was decided before it began.
Second Chronicles 28.3-4:
3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
This is a record of the practices of the Judean King Ahaz. Three accusations are leveled against him. “He burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnon,” which is what we know as the Valley of Hinnom, located on the south side of Jerusalem.[9] He “burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” And he made use of the high places to worship.
Imagine the mental progression that ends with this kind of behavior toward your own children, burning your babies alive. It begins with spiritual compromise, not steering clear of the high places, imagining yourself to be too sophisticated to be in any danger when not shunning what God tells you to shun. Eventually, these foul spirits that have played you like you are a trout hooked by a fly will land you.
Second Chronicles 32
We haven’t the time to read all of Second Chronicles 32, so allow me to review the chapter’s highlights. The Assyrians have overwhelmed Israel and have moved against the kingdom of Judah and good King Hezekiah.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent a man to speak to the men guarding the walls in defense of Jerusalem, who ridiculed King Hezekiah and the God of Israel. He argued that since the Assyrians had conquered other nations and their gods, who was the God of Israel to withstand them? So Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cried out to God for deliverance.
Verse 21 informs us the LORD heard their cry, answered their prayers, and delivered them from the Assyrians. How did He answer their prayers? He sent an angel who killed the Assyrians, and when the king of Assyria returned to his home his own sons slew him.
The Biblical record shows an undeniable spiritual component to this war between those two countries, with God deciding the outcome and making use of two godly men’s prayers to dispatch an angel to take care of business.
Second Chronicles 33
Again, I must summarize. Good King Hezekiah was succeeded in the fifteen extra years of life God gave to him by the twelve-year-old son he sired during those extra years, named Manasseh. Manasseh was even eviler than King Ahaz, 33.9-10:
9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
God dealt with Manasseh by sending the Assyrians back to Judah, at which time they took Manasseh prisoner, binding him and humiliating him. Notice what the Biblical record declares about this man who had been so committed to worshiping idols, and was so enslaved to demonic influences, in 33.12-13:
12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
It appears Manasseh repented of his sins and was converted. The rest of the chapter shows him to be a changed man. One lesson to learn from this? Isaiah 59.1:
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.”
Even a man as committed to foul spirits and rebellion against God as Manasseh was is not beyond the reach of God.
This brings to a close our survey of Satanic and demonic influence in Second Chronicles. We saw the rebellion of Jeroboam and his exile in Egypt, exposing him to idolatry and evil influences he made use of to hasten Israel’s destruction. We also saw kings of Judah, namely Ahaz and Manasseh, bring such profound wickedness to their kingdom that they were willing to burn alive their children to worship false gods and pay homage to foul spirits. And yet there are people who insist God’s people be open-minded and tolerant toward spiritual seduction and evil influences. Be as nice to people as you can be while sparing no room for compromise with the enemy in this spiritual warfare.
Although Judah was carried off to seventy years of Babylonian captivity, God seemed to say to His people, “You want idolatry? I will give you so much idolatry you will choke on it.” And never since then have the Jewish people, for all their other sins, had an appetite for idols.
The good news? We can take heart from two events in Second Chronicles. First, God’s answer to the prayers of good King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah to dispatch an angel to rescue Judah from the Assyrians. God can do that anytime He wants. Never forget that. God alone governs the rise and fall of nations.
Individually, we can be heartened by God’s dealings with the wickedest king Judah ever had, a man so loathsome he murdered his children. But in his affliction, he repented, and it seems God had mercy on him. Truly, God’s mercies, they fail not.
You have never known a sinner worse than Manasseh. You can never be a sinner as malevolent and loathsome as Manasseh was. Yet God delivered him. Amen? God forgave him. And God will forgive you if you turn from your sins and trust Christ as your Savior.
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[1] Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, (AMG Publishers, 2000), page 472.
[2] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering The Supernatural Worldview Of The Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), pages 173-174, note 8: See chapter 18 for the “name theology” of the Old Testament. The whole subject of the tabernacle is not without problems. Before the tabernacle was constructed (Exod 35-40), Moses would meet with Yahweh in a small tent called “the tent of meeting.” Though some scholars take the tent of meeting and the tabernacle as the same structure, Exod 33:7-11 has the tent of meeting in existence prior to the tabernacle. The issue is actually complicated, as the phrase “tent of meeting” is at times clearly used with respect to the tabernacle (e.g., Exod 21:2!; 28:43; 30:26) and at other times clearly not. Passages such as Exod 33:7-11 provide several indications that the tent of meeting was distinct from the tabernacle: ( l) The passage itself appears in Exodus before the construction of the tabernacle; (2) one man (Moses) could construct the tent, unlike the much larger tabernacle, which took scores of workers to tear down, erect, and transport; (3) the tent of meeting was outside the camp, unlike the tabernacle, which was in the middle of the camp; (4) the tent of meeting was guarded and maintained by a single person; (5) there is no indication that the tent of meeting was a place of sacrifice, or that the ark of the covenant was kept in it. The solution is apparently that, prior to the tabernacle, there was a “tent of meeting” where Yahweh “lived” and would meet Moses. Either that tent structure was moved inside the tabernacle as the holy of holies or (more coherently) the tented holy of holies became a new “tent of meeting” after the tabernacle’s construction. However, certain passages in the historical books inform us that there was a “tent of meeting” after the tabernacle was in existence (1 Sam 2:22; 2 Chr 1:3; l Kgs 8:4). Whether these passages describe a still-extant “original” tent of meeting or a tent structure that housed holy objects during the chaos of the period of the judges and the separation of the ark of the covenant from the tabernacle is a matter of debate.
[3]Nu 23:3; 1Sa 9:12-14, 19, 25; 10:5, 13; 1Ki 3:4; 11:7; 2Ki 23:15; 1Ch 16:39; 21:29; 2Ch 1:3, 13; Isa 16:12; Eze 16:24-25, 31, 39; 20:29; 43:7; Mic 1:3
[4] Sydney H. T. Page, Powers Of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan & Demons, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), page 71.
[5] Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter W. Van der Horst, editors, Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Second Extensively Revised Edition, 1999), pages 732-733.
[6] Archie T. Wright, The Origin Of Evil Spirits, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, Revised Edition 2015), page 104.
[7] Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What The Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), page 2.
[8] Page, pages 78-80.
[9] Heiser, The Unseen Realm, pages 228-231.
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