Jude articulates the Devil’s domain, “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6 ESV). Gloomy darkness shrouds the adversary and all his workers as a cloud, and they are chained to that shade; darkness is where they live—it is their abode.
There is no darkness in heaven, only light; thus, when Lucifer and his angels with him were cast out of heaven, their darkness invaded the earth, and darkness filled the air. Why the air and earth? Because that is where those shrouded in such presently live. We must understand that this darkness does not simply mean ‘lightless regions’ or areas void of visible light. The eternal darkness to which this Scripture [Jude 6] refers is essentially a moral darkness[1]—a moral, unrighteous darkness that ultimately degenerates into a literal eternal darkness. It must be known that its cause is not simply the absence of light but the lack of God, who is Light.
Yet we know practically that there is visible light on the earth. However, the moral darkness the adversary now operates in is the unrighteousness individuals practice outside of God’s Word. Hence, when one lives outside of Scripture, one lives in darkness.
This darkness was:
- • Spoken by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament,
- • “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you” (Isaiah 60:2 ESV);
- • Revived by Zacharias, the father of the ‘bridge prophet’ John, six months before Jesus was born,
- • “Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78, 79 ESV);
- • Defeated by Jesus,
- • “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12 ESV);
- • Confirmed again by Paul,
- • “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13 ESV).
- • Spoken by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament,
This darkness cannot be limited to that which fills the earth and air but that which is also in the hearts and lives of men:
- • “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19 ESV).
- • “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34 ESV).
Here is a spiritual point to the devil’s domain: whether outside or in, wherever there is darkness, the adversary has a right, and he either strolls or can choose to stroll in that dark place. With one who has yet to accept the light of Christ in salvation, the adversary strolls; with a believer who has the darkness of unconfessed and habitual sin in their life, the adversary can access. Remember, darkness is the devil’s shroud; where there is darkness, he is around. That makes the Lord’s statement so compelling, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me”[2] (John 14:30 ESV). Which, in turn, will offer the believer the same hope: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46 ESV)—and through the power of the blood will have no darkness remain in him.
We must remember that any darkness in our life is an area the adversary can wander…and we can be a slave to that closet darkness, even as a child of God.
Humble prayer opens any hidden closet door and lets in the Light that dispels the darkness inside. To disperse darkness, “we must be discerning of our hearts; we must walk humbly before our God.”[3]
Why walk in humility? Because it is the opposite of everything the adversary is—pride—and the antithesis of what God hates, “…Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate” (Proverbs 8:13 ESV). “God can never entrust His kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself.”[4]
Humble, repentant prayer that’s what put us in the Kingdom, and it’s what opens any door of closet darkness to defeat the devil’s domain!
