The Challenge: Provide one passage in the Bible which clearly attributes the power over weather, earthquakes, natural disasters, or natural phenomena to Satan rather than to the father god of the Hebrew Bible.
You say these natural disasters are the work of Satan rather than the Wrath of God or simply natural phenomena independent of supernatural powers ... prove it in verse.
Some observations with regard to the challenge:
1) The Book of Job is a special case where God appears to have permitted Satan to afflict Job, and that Satan could not have afflicted Job without God's consent. So, don't go to Job for the answer ... Job does not show that Satan has the power over natural phenomena.
2) While the Christian Bible (John 12:31; 2 Chr 4:4; and Eph 6:12) sometimes refers to Satan as the prince of this world (a nomiker that seems to confuse Christians with regard to Satan's inherent powers), the precise powers enjoyed in connection with his royal title are nowhere specified in the Bible. Prove me wrong, Lysimachus, but only by providing verses that specify Satan's precise powers, not generalities and suppositions by daydreaming psuedo-scholars.
3) I'll give you this: Only one passage, Hebrews 2:14, says Satan HAD (past tense) the "power of death," but that refers to Jesus having conquered death as Christ. So, that's no longer a power that Satan enjoys according to your Book.
4) So, who is it, according to the Bible, that has these powers over natural phenomena?
a) God is omnipotent, He can do anything (Gen 17:1, 18:4. Ex 6:3, Job 42:2, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, Rev 19:6)
b) God created everything (Gen 1, Prov 26:10, Eph 3:9, Rev 4:11)
c) Oh, by the way, God created evil (Isa 45:7, Amos 3:6, Lam 3:38).
d) God controls the rain (Deut 11:14-17 & 28:12, Job 5:10, Matt 5:54, James 5:17-18)
e) God controls lightening Ps 97:4).
f) God controls thunder, snow, whirlwinds, cold, frost, floods, and clouds, to the extent that He can "make them do whatever He commands upon the face of the earth." (Job 37:2-13, Job 28:10-11, Ps 107:25 & 29, Nahum 1:3-4).
g) God causes hailstones and tempests (Isa 30:30).
h) God causes earthquakes and mountains to be tossed about (Job 9:5 & 28:9, Ps 18:7, 77:16, and 97:3, Isa 2:19, 24:20 &29:6, Jer 10:10, Nahum 1:5, Heb 12:26, Ezek 38:20).
The list goes on, and includes plagues, locusts, famine, and death in general.
Why does He cause cause human suffering, according to the Bible (not according to lame fantasies of the wishful thinkers)? Well, apparently so His great works can be demonstrated to humans (Isa 30:20, Ezek 38:16 & 23, John 9:1-9). (
http://home.teleport.com/~packham/disaster.htm << source for most of text above)
Now, what is interesting with regard to all these fantastic theories proposed by Endtimers thus far in the two threads (Is Tsunami the Wrath of God & Is Something Wrong With Mother Earth) is that instead of inflicting death and destruction on the innocent to whisk them up to Paradise as the wackoes are claiming, God supposedly promises the faithful that His imposed natural disasters and evil will not befall them.
The faithful are protected against flood and fire (Isa 43:2), against evil and harm (2 Thess 3:3, 1 Pet 3:13). God is a shield for the faithful (Deut 33:27, 2 Chron 16:9, Ps 3:3, 4:8, 78:53, 91:11, 119:117 & 145:20, Prov 29:25 & 30:5, Dan 6:22, Zeph 3:17).
So, Lysimachus, again, the Challenge:
Provide one verse in the Hebrew or Christian Bible that assigns Satan a precise power over a natural phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, or other natural disasters. No personal theories please. No fantastic speculation or pious rants. Just cite the verse.
Regards, Abshalom
This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-13-2005 17:36 AM
This message has been edited by Abshalom, 01-13-2005 17:56 AM
™ Version 4.2
