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Originally Posted by IDon'tKnow
I recently started to consider these verses What struck me was the fact that Satan and his kingdom is one. My natural concept from being in the LC is that when Satan rebelled against God thus entering into division thus he should have divided and divided and divided, Yet here we are are now at least 5000 years after Satan's initial rebellion (could be billions of years for all I know), and he and his rebellion is still one. I think that this should show us that oneness isn't necessarily something of God, Satan and his kingdom also have their own oneness, This is almost certainly a different sort of oneness to God's but it is a oneness all the same..
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I respectfully disagree. God is one, but Satan is "anti-one", or "pro-scattering". Satan is "division" and "confusion". When Jesus said, "A house divided cannot stand", He was foretelling the downfall of Satan's house, because it is in fact divided. Satan's house cannot stand before God. Satan's house, his kingdom, is unable to maintain coherence, because at its heart is turmoil and chaos and bedlam. There is no peace there.
So I read Jesus' statement differently. You say it is proof that Satan's house is one; I say it points to the fall of the house in question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IDon'tKnow
... here we notice that all the people in there rebellion against God were one to build a great structure, and this great structure was even to be the source of there oneness, but the Lord came in to divide them...
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In Babel they were united for a time, but eventually this unity was sundered. Note that this fall of commonality came not from without, but from within. God sowed confusion into their speech, so that they could not understand each other.
Any Satanic "oneness", or commonality of purpose, is only temporary, only an illusion, and is eventually broken. I have mentioned this before, but look at the oneness in Revelation 13. No one is able to buy or sell anything unless they have the mark of the name of the beast (v.17). Anyone who doesn't worship the image of the beast is killed (v.15). This is an enforced oneness,
externally derived by threats. "Do as I say or I will crush you."
Human governments run by this kind of oneness. Remember the peace treaty of the antichrist with Israel? It is based on a piece of paper, which is useless, because there is no peace in his heart. So the signed parchement of "oneness" is a sham, and eventually it is exposed. The antichrist breaks the treaty after 3 1/2 years and invades Israel. (Daniel 9:27, see also Revelation 13:5). So it is with all externally derived "treaties" among men. There is no peace within, so they have to make speeches and sign documents, all of which are shown eventually to be worthless. The only peace is the peace within, the oneness with God found by acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. I recognize no other peace, nor oneness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IDon'tKnow
... Lastly I looked at the case of Jeroboam's dividing to take ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is of particular interest to me because recently this was used as an example for why it is never okay to divide, It's leading to the golden calves, and the different places of worship, and whatnot. The point of this is that when we see oneness we should not automatically assume that it is of God. Furthermore when we see division we should not automatically assume that it is of Satan. We need to realise that the important thing is not the oneness itself but who we are one with.
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When Jesus spoke to the demon-posessed man in the Gadarenes, he said, "Who are you?" The man answered "Legion, for we are many". The many spirits within this man were only temporarily united for the purpose of confounding God's expression in humankind. But there was no intrinsic oneness there. It was "each demon for himself"...when Jesus cast them out into the hogs the whole herd rushed down into the water and perished. You can see the turmoil when the pigs got infected. "Every pig for himself", and they all were destroyed.
The example of Jeroboam I am not too familiar with, and thus am not able to comment either way. But thank you for raising it; I will try to become more familiar with the significance of this story.
In sum, I would hold that Satan's only "oneness" is that of blind and stubborn opposition to the kingdom of God. But beyond that there is only confusion, and destruction. There is no oneness, no unity there.