James 2 vs 19 Demons not Atheists

It was a hot summer's day. In a large field of tall grass stood a single, very tall tree. A bird in the tree could see, at a distance, a stream. But he was a selfish bird, and didn't want to share the water with anyone. So to the field mice he called out, "There, I see water!" But sent them in wrong directions. Some mice became very skeptical and said, "No, there is no water. You are not fooling us. We can see clearly and all we see are tall grass, weeds & bushes." To this the bird responded, "Hey, its okay if you believe that there is no water."

Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet this is exactly the perspective relationship we humans have with demons. They are the bird that clearly knows there is a God. Whereas faithless mankind is like the field mice that believe in only what they can see-- the grasses, weeds, & bushes of this wicked system of things. Notice at James 2:19 what the inspired scriptures have to say about the demons knowledge: "You believe that there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder." 

Do you know what the word shudder means? It means to shake. But why would they shake?

GNT: The demons also believe—and tremble with fear.

AMP: ...the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!

Now ask yourself. Which of our senses usually causes this elevated degree of fear. Would you react this way if you smelled something? No, not likely. What if you heard something? Well, maybe if we heard a blood-curdling scream from another person, we might be alerted to a state of anxiety. What about if we touched something? Have you ever seen those suspense movies where the unsuspecting person feels something behind them with the hands? What is the next thing they do? They turn around and SEE, which always causes this hysterical fright.

So who or what have the demons seen that you & I haven't? Notice at Job 1:6 who it is that joins a meeting with God. Yes, at one time, before they became demons they were able to take their station before God. So all the demons, before their disobedience, had at one time or another seen Jehovah and his Master Worker, the one called Michael and later Jesus Christ.

But is it just seeing these two that causes fear? Are Jehovah & Jesus scary in appearance? Or is it something more? Why are the demons so frightened?

Mark 1:23-25. Also, at that immediate time there was in their synagogue a man under the power of an unclean spirit, and he shouted, 24 saying: “What have we to do with you, Jesus you Nazarene′? Did you come to destroy us? I know exactly who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked it, saying: “Be silent, and come on out of him!”
Yes, the demons know what is in store for them. To them, Jehovah & Jesus are the executioners.

Why then, if the demons themselves know without a doubt that Jehovah exists, do they promote atheism? Remember the little bird I mentioned? At Luke 12:13-20, Jesus tells of a man who is not rich toward God. He lived his life as if what he could see was all that existed. The end result is that he dies never having developed a relationship with his creator. Isn't that exactly what the demons would be most happy if we did? Indeed, they don't want us to find the spiritual water-source; they don't care if we die of spiritual dehydration. Atheism promotes the demons' agenda to destroy as many people as possible, getting them to live a selfish and flesh-pleasing way. At the same time, they laugh hilariously at us because they know godless mankind truly are fools for not seeing what is really happening. They are overjoyed at what is recorded at Ps.10:4: "The wicked one according to his superciliousness makes no search; All his ideas are: “There is no God.""

What can we do to protect & fortify our conviction? Paul admonished us to put on the complete suit of armor, which included the helmet of salvation. Yes, let us protect our head, our power of reason, from falsehoods by reading the Bible daily. This will help us to see through the grasses, weeds, and bushes so as to be refreshed with the "river of water of life."

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