The Principality of Death

The principality of death is the first principality of Satan and the objective of this principality is to cause mankind to live in fear of death and, as such, serve death. Its attendant power is the spirit of death (also known as Samael (or Sammael) or simply, Death), and he has at his disposal one captain—murder—and all lower ranking principalities and powers like hate, antichrist, covetousness, witchcraft, hypocrisy, rebellion, sedition, entrepreneurship, idolatry, tradition, rejection, lying, disobedience, fear, capitalism, lust, sorcery, confusion, emulation, judgment, bitterness, haughtiness, etc. to use to fulfill his mission. Death is the chief prince in Satan's organization and rules over hell (also called the pit, the bottomless pit, the grave, the prison, hades in Greek, or sheol in Hebrew). Death and hell are both holding places for the unrighteous dead: "death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" (Revelation 20:13); Death transfers its dead to hell after three days. Hell should not be confused with the place of torment: the lake of fire and brimstone (the second death). "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27); so the unrighteous dead are not being tormented in hell as some believe; they are "asleep" awaiting their trial. It is after their trial on the day of judgment that they are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone to "be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

Adam and Eve's fall brought mankind under a curse of death: "thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Satan knew that if he could convince Adam and Eve to sin, they and all mankind would fall under his dominion. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? ... For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:16, 20-21, 23). Hence, his premeditated "killing" of Adam and Eve led Jesus to declare, "He was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). Satan, the prince of the power of death, has dominion over mankind until they are freed from his grasp by being born again and eventually, through righteousness, becoming sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14-15). The fear of death causes us to be in bondage to death. Said another way, the fear of death causes mankind to inadvertently live to please death, or rather, him that has the power death: the devil. The fear of death may be masked as one or more other fears: fear of abandonment, fear of rejection, fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of confrontation, or fear of harm. Thus, the reverse of Proverbs 8:13 rings true: the fear of death is to love evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth. "Death challenges us to live life as fully and as creatively as we can."²⁰ Death whispers insistently "let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die" (Isaiah 22:13). Death wants us to believe that death is final and inescapable, however, "unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death" (Psalm 68:20).

Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20)

Death is defined as both "the destroyer of life" and "permanent cessation" of life; however, Jesus came "that [we] might have [eternal] life" (John 10:10) and, by the resurrection of Jesus, death is now simply a temporary cessation of life: "them which are asleep" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Though the unrighteous dead are held in hell by Death, the dead in Christ bypass Death and hell and are "present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8) upon their death. Tradition holds that the dead in Christ are in heaven; however, this presents a problem (see "Rapture & Heaven"). The "heaven" tradition is referring to is really new Jerusalem with its "twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass" (Revelation 21:21). There are no dead in new Jerusalem since the inhabitants of new Jerusalem are all those resurrected unto life. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6). The dead in Christ are "in heaven" only so much as heaven is the temporary holding place of the souls of those that sleep in Jesus; it is this heaven that passes away (Revelation 21:1). These souls will not be "alive" until they are resurrected on the last day: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:14-16).

The fear of the Lord should cause Christians to live to please God: "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death" (Proverbs 14:27). "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15). Our reverence for the Lord should cause us to diligently seek to fully bind ourselves to him through wisdom and righteousness: "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name" (Psalm 86:11).

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:1-5)

Unfortunately, many Christians will not pass the test stated in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. ... Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:1, 11-12). For it is by wisdom that we find life, however, "he that sinneth against [wisdom] wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate [wisdom] love death" (Proverbs 8:36). Those that have squandered their free gift (Romans 5:18; Romans 6:23) will, instead of life eternal with the Lord, be resurrected only to spend eternity in damnation: death scores a victory. "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The fear of God should culminate in us putting on "charity, which is the bond of perfectness" (Colossians 3:14) and being "conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). The joy for those Christians "that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" (Ephesians 6:24) is that Satan and both forms of death have been overcome: "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:17-18). As prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 14:12-15) and confirmed by John, Satan (and all his devils) will be exiled into his own prison for a season: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season" (Revelation 20:1-3). Eventually, Satan (and all his devils), Death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ... And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Revelation 20:10, 14). All those that are in bondage through fear of death and all those that reject God through fear of death (Luke 21:25-26) will likewise suffer in the lake of fire and brimstone. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Conclusion

The principality of death entrenched as a strong hold works to cause the infected person to live in fear of death. Death also begets a strong hold for the spirit of murder by which the infected person learns to worship death through hate and killing. "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15). From the principality of disobedience to the principality of antichrist, Satan is working to inculcate mankind into its own ways, however, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). After all, Satan "savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matthew 16:23). Mankind has chosen death over life; they "have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves" (Isaiah 28:15). But thus says the Lord, "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye" (Ezekiel 18:31-32).

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