Does Satan “Own” the Governments of the World?

In this article I will examine the proposition that Satan has all of the governments (kingdoms) at his disposal (except the nation of Israel).  In particular, he can give them away to anybody he chooses.  The argument for this proposition is based partly on the Scripture passages concerning one of Satan’s three temptations of Jesus in the desert.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

Matt 4:7-10 (ESV)

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

Luke 4:5-8 (ESV)

Another part of the argument is based on the book of Daniel.  That part is beyond the scope of this article.  I will just focus on the temptation in desert. One could argue that the devil must have had the kingdoms of the world at his disposal when he tempted Jesus because otherwise it would be obvious that Jesus would have known if it was a lie. 

I reject this argument on several grounds.  First, at that time, Jesus did not have perfect knowledge.  For example, he did not know the day or the hour of his return.  (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32)  This is because Jesus lowered himself temporarily when he was born into this world.  (Hebrews 2:7-9) 

More importantly, the devil did not have perfect knowledge.  That is, even if Jesus knew that the devil not have the kingdoms, the devil may not have known that he knew it.  Although Satan is very smart, cunning, persistent, and skillful, he is also subject to being blinded by his own pride, anger and desperation.  Therefore he is willing to try anything to defeat God, even something that would seem to be quite irrational.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even if the devil had such authority at that time, that doesn’t mean that he has it now.  One could suggest that the testing of Job parallels (and perhaps foreshadows) this temptation of Jesus.  Satan had to ask permission from God to do the testing of Job. (Job 1:6-12) Perhaps the same thing occurred before the temptation of Jesus.  Perhaps the kingdoms of the world were given to Satan at that time, but only temporarily for the purpose of the temptation.  After all, Satan was also allowed to test Job with various afflictions, but only temporarily.

Romans 13:1-7 indicates that the governing authorities and rulers are “…God’s servant for good…” and therefore we should be subject to them.  It is very hard to reconcile this if all governments are under the control of Satan. 

Furthermore, Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18) Note that in this passage, the Greek word for authority, ἐξουσία [1832], is the same that is used in Luke’s account of the devil’s temptation of Jesus above.  Hebrews 2:8 says, “Now in putting everything in subjection to him [Jesus], he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.”

All this is not to say that Satan does not have an influence on the governments of world.  Just like everything else in this fallen world, governments are broken and frequently do not function according to God’s purpose for them mentioned in Romans 13:1-7 and other NT passages.  There are many corrupt government officials and injustices in this present age. This is because Satan is “the god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4) and “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). 

But the devil’s influence is obviously limited at present.  God limits Satan’s ability to wreak havoc in the world depending on the time and place.  In general, in this present age, the more people turn their backs on God, the more control Satan is afforded.  Eventually Satan will be given full control over the kingdoms of the world (Revelation 13:7). But for now, he restrained at least to some degree (II Thessalonians 2:6).