SCRIPTURES: 
Old Testament 
Gen. 6:1-4, Dt. 32:8-9, 1 Ki. 22:19-20, Jb. 1:6-7, Ps. 82, Ps. 89:6-7, Dn. 10:20-21 
New Testament 
Mt. 3:2, Mt. 4:17, Mt. 12:25-26, Mt. 28:18-20, Eph. 1:7-10, Eph. 3:1-21, Eph. 6:10-13, 1 Co. 4:9, Jude 6, Rev. 5:11

Tim Miller

Curse

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<li>Concept of “Kingdom” assumed from Hebrew Scriptures</li>
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1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 3:2, ESV)
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt. 4:17, ESV)

OT BACKGROUND

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<li>Satan’s kingdom</li>
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25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? (Mt. 12:25-26, ESV)
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<li>Some form of administration and organization</li>
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10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God…(Eph. 6:10-13, ESV)
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<li>The “sons of God”/principalities
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<li>The divine assembly/council</li>
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6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (“the angels” [NIV, NCV, following the LXX]; “the heavenly beings” [NRSV, TEV]; “the members of the heavenly court” [NLT]; Heb. binē haelōhīm) came to present themselves before the Lord (“had gathered around the LORD” [CEV]), and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” (Jb. 1:6-7, ESV)
19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne,  and the whole heavenly host  (“all the heavenly assembly” [NET]) was standing by Him at His right hand and at His left hand. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to march up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’  So one was saying this and another was saying that (“there were many suggestions” [NLT]). (1 Ki. 22:19-20, HCSB)
6 For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God, 7 a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all surrounding him (“than all who surround his throne” [NLT])? (Ps. 89:6-7, LEB)
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. (Rev. 5:11, HCSB)

WHO?

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<li>Original rebellion: Genesis 3</li>
<li>Rebellion at the Flood</li>
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1When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.  3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain  with  mankind forever,  because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim (“giants” [LXX]) were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men (“mighty warriors that were from ancient times, men of renown” [LEB]). (Gen. 6:1-4, HCSB)
6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling (“who did not keep their proper domain but abandoned their own  place of residence” [NET]; “who refused to keep to their own domain, but abandoned their own home” [BHT]), he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day (Jude 6, ESV; cf 2 Pt. 2:4)
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<li>According to Jewish tradition, demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim/giants.</li>
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“(β) Demons. These are, according to 1En. 16:1, the spirits which went forth from the souls of the giants who were the children of the fallen angels and the daughters of men. These demons were to work moral ruin on the earth without hindrance till the final judgement as disembodied spirits.”
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<li>In NT, demons=”unclean” spirits (e.g. Mk. 1:23); “evil” (e.g. Lk. 7:21); disembodied (e.g. M; 1:25); desire embodiment, seeking relief (Mt. 12:45); to be judged at the “appointed time” (Mt. 8:29, NIV); strong and fierce (see Mk. 5:4, Ac. 19:16)</li>
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<li>Nations divided at Babel</li>
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8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance (“assigned lands to the nations” [NLT]; “assigned nations their lands” [TEV]), when he divided mankind (Tower of Babel event; see Gen. 11), he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God (“he assigned to each nation a heavenly being” [TEV]; “he assigned a guardian angel to each of them” [CEV]). 9 But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage (“but Jacob’s descendants he chose for himself” [TEV]; “the LORD took his people as his share, the people of Jacob as his very own” [NCV]; “but the LORD himself takes care of Israel” [CEV]). (Dt. 32:8-9, ESV)
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<li>Rebellion at some point</li>
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1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?&#8230;4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked…6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince (ESV footnote: “Or fall as one man, O princes.”)” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations! (Ps. 82:1-2, 4, 6-8, ESV)
20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. (Dn. 10:20-21)

WHEN?

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<li>Who killed Jesus?
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<li>The Father (see, e.g. Is. 53:10; Jn. 3:16; Rm. 8:32; 2 Co. 5:21); Satan and the powers of darkness (see, e.g., Jn. 14:30-31; 1 Co. 2:8); Jesus lays down his own life (Jn. 10:17-18; hostile human beings, both Jew and Gentile (see, e.g., Mt. 20:19, Lk 24:20, Ac. 3:15).</li>
<li>Four levels of will, intention, planning, and wisdom all at work at the same time. This is complex. Whose wisdom will prevail? Whose plan and intention will prevail? They all act, but for different purposes and reasons. This is the theatre in which all of God’s people through history live out their faith: Noah, Job, Abraham, Joseph, David, the prophets, Jesus himself, the apostles, all of us.</li>
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9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle (Gk. theatron—in this context, “what one sees at a theater” [BDAG, 446, sv. theatron 2; “a show” [NCV]) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men (“angels and the people of this world just laugh at us” [CEV]). (1 Co. 4:9, NIV)
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<li>The Great Commission</li>
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18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (exalted above the powers [see, e.g. Eph. 1], and appointed as judge [see Ac. 17:31]). 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:18-20, NIV)
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<li>The multi-colored wisdom of God (for translator’s notes, see www.blessedhope.life)</li>
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7 in union with whom we have experienced deliverance through his blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, 8 in accordance with the riches of his gracious mercy and kindness, which he lavished on us along with all wisdom and understanding, 9 having made known to us the mystery of his will, in accordance with his glad decision (Gk. kata tēn eudokian autou), which he placed on public display (Gk. protithēmi: “to put before a (public) audience for consideration” [BSL, Eph. 1:9, sv) in the Messiah, 10 in order to tend to his plan of salvation when the appointed times had been completed, to put the whole creation under the authority of the Messiah, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, under him (Eph. 1:7-10, BHT)
1 With all this in mind (i.e. the contents of chps. 1 and 2), I, Paul, a prisoner because of my service to Messiah Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard about the stewardship, that is, the God-given assignment and authority, that was freely entrusted to me for your sake, 3 how it was by revelation that the mystery was made known to me, in accordance with what I have discussed above in brief (see Eph. 1). 4 When reading this, you will be able to perceive my understanding in the mystery about the Messiah, 5 which in previous generations was not made known to mankind as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow sharers in the promise in union with Messiah Jesus through the gospel (cf. Ps. 82:8), 7 of which I became a servant because of God’s gracious and merciful choice to commission me and put his power to work through me. 8 It was to me, the very least of all the saints, that this assignment was graciously entrusted: The task of proclaiming the unfathomable riches of the Messiah to the Gentiles, 9 and bringing light to all peoples concerning God’s plan of salvation, the mystery kept hidden for ages in the mind of God, who is of all things the Creator, 10 so that there may now be made known to the rulers and the authorities among the heavenly ones, through the assembly, the wisdom of God in all its many different colors, 11 according to the plan of the ages, which he accomplished in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord, 12 in union with whom we have the right to come before God confidently and without fear on the basis of faith in him. 13 That is why I ask God to keep me from giving up (or, “I ask you not to lose heart” [NET]; infinitive has no subject explicitly stated) in the midst of the trials and suffering I go through for your benefit, sufferings that mean glory for you.
14 With all this in mind, I kneel in prayer before the Father, 15 from whom is named every family in the heavens and on the earth, 16 asking him to strengthen you, out of the riches of his glory, with power, through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that the Messiah would dwell, through faith, so deeply in your minds and hearts that you are in love well rooted and firmly established. 18 I pray that you would be able to fully understand, together with all the saints, the width and length and height and depth of his wisdom and riches (or “of his love”), 19 and to know the love of the Messiah that indeed surpasses knowledge, and that you would be filled completely with the life and nature of God.
20 Now to the one who is able to do, according to the power that is at work within us, so much more than anything we can ask or imagine— 21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Messiah Jesus to all generations, into the age of the ages. Amen. (Eph. 3:1-21, BHT)
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<li>The mystery of suffering: some things to bear in mind in this difficult race
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<li>There is a historical context and story behind it. The nations wanted to worship false gods/the rebellious sons of God, and God gave them what they wanted. And in His sovereignty, He chose to let those powers actually rule over the peoples who turned to them. In other words, it is as if God said, “OK, you want those false gods? OK, I will give them to you, but take note: I’m going to let them actually rule you, and see how you like it. As for me, I will chose Abraham and his seed. And through Him I will make a way to bring you back.” So, in this sense, many of the horrendous things that people have suffered through the centuries are simply the consequence of God letting the nations have the spiritual rulers that they wanted. Now, however, in the gospel He is giving the nations a chance to come out from the kingdom of darkness.</li>
<li>Multiple actors, but different wills, plans, wisdoms, intentions, motives involved (see above discussion); what Satan means for evil, God means for good; many complex factors involved</li>
<li>As for believers, sometimes suffering is simply the result of our folly, other times it is to bring glory to God and provides a context for His wisdom to be displayed. Satan and the powers of the air may be used as the instrument of suffering in either case. Their intention is to harm and destroy us, but God’s intention is loving and redemptive. It must drive the powers crazy knowing that everything they do to us in malice and hatred is being used by God for our sanctification, to prepare us to take their place, and to bring other human beings out from under their grip. And that’s the point: No matter what they do to us, the superiority of God’s is demonstrated, and in the end those who embraced that wisdom will be vindicated. In this sense the powers can never harm us. Death is the worse they can do. In the end, we come up from the grave and rule the earth, and they go to the Lake of Fire.</li>
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2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds (only possible if we have understanding of the story), 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (Jm. 1:2-5, NIV)

WHY AND HOW?

Suppose that someone comes up to you and says, “Did you hear about what happened in Haiti? Why did this happen? Why are people there suffering so much? Did God do this to them?” In light of today’s lesson:
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<li>How might you answer them? </li>
<li>How might your answer differ if you are talking about believers versus unbelievers? </li>
<li>How might you use this as a launching pad to share the gospel with him or her?</li>
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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Jake Paurus

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Kingdom of Darkness Part 1

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Kingdom of Darkness Part 2

Kingdom of Darkness Part 3

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Wisdom Vindicated

God’s Day, God’s Summons Q&A/Discussion

What Makes Up a Kingdom Q&A/Discussion

Kingdom of Eden Part 2 / Q&A

In this session we will continue examining the Kingdom of Darkness, focusing especially on Genesis 3:15, which has been referred to by many believers over the centuries as the “first gospel.” We invite you to join us at this Emmaus Road Gathering as we ask God for strength and power to walk with Him faithfully through this age of darkness.