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when sin and death entered into the world, and the other at 'the end' when
God shall be all in all. It is not without interest that we note the way in
which paradidomi was used in classical Greek. It was used for 'handing down'
something to posterity. It was also used for delivering up someone as an
hostage, or for handing over a kingdom to one's son, and these ideas are not
entirely absent from the first occurrence of the word, which is found in the
record of the temptation in Luke 4:6:
'And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him
all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said
unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for
That is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou
therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine' (Luke 4:5 -7).
This astonishing claim was not questioned or denied by the Saviour, and must
therefore be admitted as true.
Adam's 'transgression' is in the Greek of Romans 5:14 parabasis 'to
step aside'.
Adam's 'disobedience' is in the Greek of Romans 5:19 parakoe 'to hear
aside'.
Adam's 'offence' is in the Greek of Romans 5:15 paraptoma 'to fall
aside'.
Adam's failure allowed the law to 'enter', Romans 5:20 pareiserchomai
'to come in beside'. 'The idea of stealth being implied' Galatians
2:4. (Dr. Bullinger's Lexicon).
Paristano and paristemi, 'yield', is used in Romans 6:13, all of which
suggest that when Adam yielded to the temptation of the Serpent, and fell
aside, he allowed a door to be left unguarded, through which:
'Sin entered into the world, and death by sin ... death reigned ... sin
hath reigned' ... (Rom. 5:12,14,17,21).
We have no adequate knowledge to permit us to speculate as to why Satan
was not immediately destroyed and his fell work eradicated. What we do
perceive is that from the moment that Adam stepped aside, Satan stepped in,
and it appears from Ephesians 4:27 that any fall aside from the path of truth
and integrity 'gives place to the Devil'. Nebuchadnezzar was neither holy
nor righteous, yet upon Israel's defection 'The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of
Judah into his hand' and Daniel said to him, 'Thou, O king, art a king of
kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength
and glory' and the king himself was taught a severe lesson so that he too
learned the lesson that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men 'and
giveth it to whomsoever He will' (Dan. 1:2; 2:37; 4:32).
Satan has two significant titles. He is called 'The Prince of the
power (or authority) of the air', 'the Prince of this world' and 'the Prince
of the devils' (Eph. 2:2; John 12:31; Matt. 9:34), and 'the god of this world
(or age)' (2 Cor. 4:4). Satan claimed that 'the kingdoms of this world' had
been delivered unto him, together with their 'authority' and 'glory'.
If we are right in believing that the Greek word oikoumene is the
prophetic earth, as ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and
extending from Gibraltar to the Indus (see the article, The Prophetic Earth
page 189), then the Satanic kingdom will be limited to that area. This does
not alter the universality of sin and death which has entered into the world,