Relevant Verses: 1 Kings 18; Deut 32; 1 Cor 10; Isa 44; Rev 12; Job 1,2

Theme: “Rules of Engagement”

Leading Question: Does the Bible make clear that in the cosmic conflict God sets limitations on himself and on humans?

We will return to the question of “limits.” But let us begin where the official study guide begins, at the confrontation on Mt. Carmel. Here is the narrative as found in 1 Kings 18:19-40:

1 Kings 18:19-40: 20 So Ahab sent to all the Israelites and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23 Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood but put no fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 Then they cried aloud, and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29 As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me,” and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; 32 with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33 Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time, 35 so that the water ran all around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
36 At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” 40 Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” Then they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and killed them there.

Several features from this narrative are jarring to our modern Christian ears, including Elijah’s violent slaughter of the 450 prophets of Baal. But the point that the official study guide makes is that the “idolatry” of the people is not simply the worship of idols of wood or stone, but the worship of real demons. And the official study guide quotes Deuteronomy 32:17: “They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known, to new ones recently arrived, whom your ancestors had not feared.”

The official study guide adds to that passage, another one from 1 Corinthians 10:20: “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons” (NKJV).

The official study guide makes this striking statement: “Behind the false ‘gods’ of the nations, then, were actually demons in disguise. This means, then, that all of the text of Scripture dealing with idolatry and the foreign gods are ‘cosmic conflict’ texts.”

Question: Is it possible that the mockery against idols of wood and stone, as described in such passages as Isaiah 44:9-20, has led us to overlook the real demonic element in idol worship?

The Cosmic Conflict Invades Heaven Again. As we have noted already, the “cosmic conflict” originated in heaven. Daniel 10 reminds us that the battle still rages in heavenly circles. In Daniel 10:1-14, the battle between Michael and the “prince” of Persia is very much alive

Daniel 10:1-14: In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true, and it concerned a great conflict. He understood the word, having received understanding in the vision.
2 At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks. 3 I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris), 5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude. 7 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength left me, and my complexion grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength. 9 When I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a trance, face to the ground.
10 But then a hand touched me and roused me to my hands and knees. 11 He said to me, “Daniel, greatly beloved, pay attention to the words that I am going to speak to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” So while he was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 He said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia 14 and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days. For there is a further vision for those days.”

In short, in Daniel’s day, the “cosmic conflict” was till active in the heavenly realms. And thus we return to the “rules of engagement,” where God imposes certain limitations on himself and on the forces of evil, until the “time is fulfilled.”

In Revelation, the work of the dragon/Satan clearly has to work within divinely-given limitations. The point is made most clearly in Revelation 12:12: “Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”

Job. As noted earlier, Satan is only explicit in chapters 1 and 2 in Job. But in the remainder of Job it is clear that God has invoked certain “rules of engagement” which Satan is not allowed to exceed. This is clear from Job 1:12 and 2:3-6:

Job 1:12: The Lord said to the accuser, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So the accuser went out from the presence of the Lord.


Job 2:3-6: The Lord said to the accuser, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.” 4 Then the accuser answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that the man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 The Lord said to the accuser, “Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

Question: Do these additional insights about the limits which God imposes on himself and on others makes it easier to understand the implications of the “cosmic conflict”?