The Archons and Satan

According to our Christian Bible, the archons are the rulers (archontōn) who Paul said had no eye to see, no ear to hear, and no heart to imagine that Jesus was who he claimed to be. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). 

They are the chief priests (archiereis) and rulers (archontes) who delivered Jesus up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him (Luke 24:20). 

The ruler (archonta) of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the (Ephesians 2:2), Beelzeboul, and the prince (archonti) of the demons (Luke 11:15).

The phrase “god of this world” (or “god of this age”) indicates that Satan is the major influence on the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes, and views of the majority of people. His influence also encompasses the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. 

The thoughts, ideas, speculations, and false religions of the world are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions.

Satan is also called the "prince of the power of the air" in Ephesians 2:2. He is the "ruler of this world" in John 12:31. These titles and many more signify Satan’s capabilities. To say, for example, that Satan is the "prince of the power of the air" is to signify that in some way he rules over the world and the people in it.

This is not to say that he rules the world completely; God is still sovereign. But it does mean that God, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed Satan to operate in this world within the boundaries God has set for him. 

When the Bible says Satan has power over the world, we must remember that God has given him dominion over unbelievers only. Believers are no longer under the rule of Satan (Colossians 1:13). 

Unbelievers, on the other hand, are caught "in the snare of the devil" (2 Timothy 2:26), lie in the "power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19), and are in bondage to Satan (Ephesians 2:2).

So, when the Bible says that Satan is the "god of this world," it is not saying that he has ultimate authority. It is conveying the idea that Satan rules over the unbelieving world in a specific way.

 In 2 Corinthians 4:4, the unbeliever follows Satan’s agenda: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." 

Satan’s scheme includes promoting false philosophies in the world—philosophies that blind the unbeliever to the truth of the Gospel. Satan’s philosophies are the fortresses in which people are imprisoned, and they must be set free by Christ.

An example of one such false philosophy is the belief that man can earn God’s favor by a certain act or acts. In almost every false religion, meriting God’s favor or earning eternal life is a predominant theme. 

Earning salvation by works, however, is contrary to biblical revelation. Man cannot work to earn God’s favor; eternal life is a free gift (see Ephesians 2:8-9). And that free gift is available through Jesus Christ and Him alone (John 3:16; 14:6). You may ask why mankind does not simply receive the free gift of salvation (John 1:12).

 The answer is that Satan—the god of this world—has tempted mankind to follow his pride instead. Satan sets the agenda, the unbelieving world follows, and mankind continues to be deceived. It is no wonder that Scripture calls Satan a liar (John 8:44).

Satan or 'the Satan' is a figure that appears in Jewish religious thought, stretching right back to a pre-history in which it is likely that the Jews were not wholly monotheistic. 

Indeed, if you look at the Book of Job, the existence of the Heavenly Court is a pale imitation of a Pantheon of gods, an attempt at reconciling the two systems as Judaism became wholly monotheistic. 

You can think of it like the author saying, 'yes, there's only one God, there's always been only one God, and all these other God-like figures in our religious history are just God's servants.’

In Job, Satan is a servant of God whom God uses to prove Job is righteous. He does his job, and then he disappears. Later Jewish and Christian texts, searching for a way to talk about and personify evil, use Satan as an illustration, which becomes conflated with many other characters and ideas about demons, angels, and Hell.

 The long process eventually ends up with this 'Devil' character that has very little basis in text, but everyone still just takes it as a fact. You could spend your whole life studying that and still only understand a portion of it, but that's the basics.

Yaldabaoth, Lord of the Archons, is based on quite a different idea. It/He is found primarily in the Gnostic tradition. 

If you don't know what that is, it's basically a Hellenistic ('Greek-ish) Jewish system of philosophical/religious belief, which states that the true and highest God is totally unknown to us, and our present reality is an evil prison created by a manifestation of God's ignorance.

The ignorant shadow of God that imprisoned our divine spirits is sometimes called the demiurge which comes from the Greek for 'artist' or 'maker'. In some Gnostic sects, the demiurge is actually a council of seven angels or Archons of which the leader is named Yaldabaoth.

For the video, click here