What is the Kingdom of Satan? Matthew 12:26

Question

Matthew 12:22-28 (ESV):

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Verse 26 reveals the existence of the Kingdom of Satan. What is the Kingdom of Satan?

Answer 1

The simplest way to understand the "Kingdom of Satan" (Luke 11:18, Matt 12:26, Mark 3:26etc) is as the opposite of the "Kingdom of God" (Luke 17:20, 12:28, Acts 8:12, etc). That is, the kingdom of Satan includes the kingdoms of this world etc, as we see this contrast often.

• Col 1:13 - He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son
• John 18:36 - Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."
• Rev 11:15 - Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
• John 12:31 - Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.
• John 8:23 - Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
• Eph 5:5 - For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

... and so forth.

Answer 2

This Kingdom of Satan is equivalent to the Kingdom of Darkness. It consists of:

1. Principalities
2. Powers
3. Rulers of the darkness of this world
4. Spiritual wickedness in high places

Eph. 6:12

Answer 3

First - the word ‘kingdom’ comes from the Greek ‘basileia’. And the meaning of this is crucial in assisting understanding. It means “authority”, that is … ‘not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom’.

So Satan’s ‘kingdom’ is only like an earthly kingdom in respect to the line(s) of authority. Namely, the top of that ‘line’.

We see a clear view of Satan’s ‘kingdom’ in Revelation 12.

REV 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

Here we see that some heavenly entities have angels under them. That’s a ‘key’ point to grasp. Next we need to consider a Hebraic description head and tail. The concept of ‘head and tail’ is embedded in the culture. The ‘head’ does the deciding, then the ‘tail’ merely follows.

So Jesus reference to a divided Kingdom is symbolic of a tail having no head. And a tail can’t do anything (to achieve a purpose) at all without a head. So now where we see ….

REV 12:4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

We can know that by him (Satan) falling from heaven, he ‘took’ his tail with him, as the ‘tail’ always follows the head - it has to, they are essentially one.

So Satan’s ‘kingdom’ is a reference to his authority - authority over those spiritual entities that are under him. And that’s clearly what Jesus was referring to.

Answer 4

Satan himself spoke of his kingdom to Jesus in Luke 4:

5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Obviously, the Kingdom of Satan has a king which is Satan himself. Further, it is not a democracy. He could singularly decide to give it to anyone.

Since these are words of Satan, we need to balance them with the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The Kingdom of Satan is an invisible domain consisting of powerful human people as well as demonic personalities behind these people.

This kingdom has only one ultimate will, i.e., the will of Satan. Every subject must obey his will according to Jesus; otherwise, this kingdom cannot stand.