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•Does the Bible say Satan rules hell?•By Joshua AdamsI believed this picture for years without ever asking where it came from.God rules heaven.Satan rules hell.God sits on His throne above while Satan sits on another throne below, surrounded by demons and tormenting the people sent there.There's only one problem.I can't find that kingdom anywhere in Scripture.I can find Satan called:"The prince of this world." John 12:31."The god of this world." 2 Corinthians 4:4."The prince of the power of the air." Ephesians 2:2.But "king of hell"?Show me the verse.Because when Scripture actually talks about Satan and final punishment, something very different happens.Jesus says:"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41.Prepared FOR him.Not GIVEN to him.Not RULED by him.Prepared for him.That should immediately change the picture in your head.Then Revelation tells us what eventually happens:"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone." Revelation 20:10.Cast into it.And what happens after Satan arrives?Does he take his throne?Does he begin ruling?Does he torment everyone else?Keep reading:"and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."Satan isn't the tormentor in that verse.He's among the tormented.The place we've spent generations portraying as Satan's headquarters is connected in Scripture to his judgment.And Satan isn't even described as sitting there right now.Peter says:"Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8.Job 1:7 records Satan saying he had been:"going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."So why do we picture him sitting underground on a throne?Even the demons understood their future better than some modern Christians do.When they encountered Jesus, they cried:"Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Matthew 8:29.Before the time.They knew judgment was coming.They knew Jesus had authority over them.And notice something else.Jesus never presents Satan as God's equal opposite.After His resurrection Christ declares:"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18.ALL power.Christianity isn't a cosmic chess match between two equal kings.God on one throne.Satan on another.Good kingdom versus evil kingdom.Waiting to see who wins.Satan is a creature.God is Creator.Satan tempts.God judges.Satan deceives.Christ reigns.Satan's destination isn't a throne.It's judgment.That's why Revelation doesn't end with Satan reigning over the wicked.It ends with Satan defeated.Jesus doesn't warn us that Satan will sentence mankind either.He says:"Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28.The Judge isn't Satan.We've accidentally promoted the devil.We gave him a kingdom Scripture doesn't give him.We gave him a throne Scripture doesn't give him.We made him the ruler of a place Scripture describes as part of his own punishment.And then we repeated the picture so often that eventually it started sounding biblical.That's how tradition works when nobody checks it.So don't believe me.Open your Bible.Search for "king of hell."Search for Satan ruling hell.Search for demons running hell.Then read Matthew 25:41.Read Matthew 8:29.Read 1 Peter 5:8.Read Revelation 20:10.And ask yourself how much of the picture in your head came from Scripture...and how much came from somewhere else.Because if Satan is the ruler of hell, there is one question somebody needs to answer:Why does the Bible describe him being thrown into it as punishment?Maybe Satan isn't the king of hell.Maybe we crowned him ourselves.#BibleStudy #Hell #Satan #Jesus #BibleTruth