Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



Concerning the ongoing battle between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness, you may also be interested in reading such articles as "The Children of Light: Are You One of Us?", as well as "Star Wars: The Real Battle Wages On!"

It should be mentioned, however, that in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula did not suffer from an aversion to sunlight. In fact, the infamous count was seen on a street in London during the daylight hours. Based on my personal research, the idea of Dracula being destroyed by sunlight was introduced in 1922's "Nosferatu", and caught on quickly in other movies after that. One other difference between Bram Stoker's Dracula and the ghoul Nosferatu is that while Dracula's victims turned into new vampires, Nosferatu's victims died instead due to their loss of blood.

However, assuming that he avoided sunlight, according to the legend of old, the only other way to destroy a vampire is by driving a wooden stake into his heart while he is at rest in his coffin. Here again we see a possible connection to the devilish deeds of Vlad III the Impaler. As I noted earlier, the devil has a propensity for corrupting Biblical truth, and twisting the Scriptures to fit his personal agenda. So, while vampires can be destroyed in this manner, at least according to the legend, what is more important is that the Word of God tells us that evil is ultimately destroyed as a direct result of Jesus Christ's intervention on a wooden Cross -- or stake -- as we see by the following verses:

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree."


"And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree."


"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."


"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."


Not only was our Lord hung on a tree, or wooden stake, but the Bible informs us that Jesus' Word is like a spiritual Sword -- yet another sharp pointed weapon -- which tries the hearts of men, and also divides the followers of the Light, from the followers of Darkness. For example, when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the Temple at Jerusalem in order to offer the customary offering that was mandated by the Mosaic Law -- see Leviticus 12:2-8 -- we are told that an old man by the name of Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit to prophesy over Jesus. Following are the words that Simeon spoke to Mary:

"And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."


Indeed, Christ's earthly Mission as the Suffering Servant would in years to come temporarily result in His own mother being hurt beyond all human endurance. We today can barely begin to imagine how much pain dear Mary must have felt as she helplessly watched as her beloved son was mocked, and became the object of intense ridicule and rejection, was persecuted, and was ultimately tortured and murdered by the unbelieving Jewish religious elders and their proxies; that is, Pontius Pilate and the Romans. As the Prophet Isaiah was inspired to write more than 2,500 years ago concerning the Suffering Servant:

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."


Many years later, once He had begun His final Ministry as an adult, Jesus echoed the words of Simeon when He confirmed that the words which He would speak, and the Divine Mission which He would fulfill, would result in a division between the sheep and the goats; not only in this life, but also in the day of Final Judgment, when we are told that body and Spirit will be divided asunder, as we see by the following verses:

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."


"Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."


"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law."


"Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him."


"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both."


"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"


"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."


"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God . . . And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."


In a symbolic sense, with His Death on the tree -- which some sources posit was a wooden stake with a T-bar on it -- Jesus drove a sword -- or stake -- into the very heart of death and evil; and He opened the way to Eternal Life for all of us. As I noted earlier, this He did, not through the selfish taking of blood, as in the legends of Dracula, Nosferatu, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt and other vampires, but rather through the voluntary giving of His own Blood, for the remission of the sins of the world. Following are some more verses for your personal consideration:

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."


"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"


"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."


"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."


The stark contrast between Dracula/Satan and Jesus Christ should now be very obvious to you. While Jesus is the Giver of Life, Dracula/Satan is the robber and destroyer of life. Satan inspires people to kill themselves, or each other, in as many ways as possible, and he has been quite successful at it, as we all know. Jesus freely offers us the Gift of Eternal Life through the Words of Truth which He speaks to our hearts through the pages of the Bible. It is indeed a free Gift, as the following verses clearly reveal:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."


"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."


"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness."


". . . freely ye have received, freely give."


"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"


"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."


"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."


In the previous verses from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul clearly identifies Satan as the one who had the power over death. Furthermore, Paul informs us that because of their fear of death, some people live in emotional and spiritual bondage their entire lives. If such people would simply accept the Word of God as being true, and believe in and accept the Sacrifice of Christ, not only would they be freed from this terrible lifelong torment, but they would also be freed from death itself. This does not mean that we won't someday experience death in our physical bodies; but it does mean that we have the promise of being resurrected to Eternal Life. Consider the following verse which again validate this point:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."


"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."


"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."


"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."


Contrary to God's promise of Everlasting Life as we find it described in the previous verses, just like Dracula, Satan also offers his own brand of "eternal life", in which he claims we too can live as gods; as we see by the following verse:

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."


Being the subtle deceiver that he is, we all know how that sad story ended. Adam and Eve fell for Satan's ruse; and as a result of their disobedience, not only did they not become as gods, but they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and sin and death were passed on to all men, as we see by these verses:

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"


"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."


The reason why so many people fall for this deception is because, just like Dracula, Satan does not allow us to see himself as he truly is. He does not allow people to really see his true nature. As I explain in my 1997 article called "Satan: Origin, Purpose and Future", in his original state at the time of his creation, Satan was one handsome devil, as we see by the following verses which are found in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel:

"Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."


Furthermore, as I point out in that same article, apparently, despite his fall from the Heavenly Realm, Satan still has the power to appear to us as an "angel of light", as the Apostle Paul informs us in this verse:

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."


In the previous verse, the word "transformed" is derived from the Greek word "metaschematizo". This word means to change the figure of, or to transform. The implication seems to be that the Devil possesses the ability to actually change his physical appearance, just as according to legend, vampires can morph into bats at will. Whether or not Satan is still a handsome creature, I really don't know. If we consider that he and other spiritual entities seem to possess the power to shape-shift, I suspect that if he still appears to humans on the Earth, then it seems obvious that he would endeavor to present himself as a wonderful, magnificent creature, just as the Apostle Paul states in the previous verse.

Let us not forget that for reasons which are not made fully clear to us in the Gospels, Mary and some of the Disciples failed to recognize Jesus following His Resurrection from the dead. This is made evident by verses such as the following where Mary encounters the risen Christ while she is weeping outside of His sepulchre. Exactly how is that Mary saw Jesus standing, and yet she did not recognize the man who she had known personally for several years?:

"But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master."


So concerning Satan, I can see no reason why certain people would still choose to worship that demon of darkness, unless he appears as a beautiful creature to them. I do not believe that any person in their right mind would purposely worship a hideous-looking monster. Naturally, I do not believe that the Devil looks anything like the cartoonish, cigar-smoking "hero" who's been made famous in the "Hellboy" movies. If he appears as anything -- assuming that he really appears to anyone at all -- it is more than likely as a manipulative, suave, handsome, but deadly, deal-making character. Satan certainly tried to make a deal with God when it came to the Patriarch Job; and he certainly offered some handsome deals to Jesus during those forty days that the Lord fasted in the wilderness of the Jordan River Valley.

So, because of this game of deception and smoke and mirrors that he plays, and because he knows how to exploit people's worries and fears -- such as the fear of death -- Satan has dragged a lot of people into his sinful lair. He knows that he cannot really offer his subjects eternal life, any more than Dracula, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt, Twilight's Edward Cullen or other vampires can. So instead, he offers them his brand of a materialistic heaven on Earth in which all of their selfish carnal desires can be met, if they will just bow down and worship him. Consider again what devilish deal-maker said to Jesus during those forty days:

"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. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."


Satan's idea of heaven on Earth is probably something akin to Las Vegas. If that den of fleshly lust and iniquity is your cup of tea, then you had better watch out; because as the Apostle John warns us in his first Epistle, it will all pass away someday, and you will be left with nothing but ashes between your teeth:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."


Jesus pointedly exposed Satan's true nature as a master liar, devilish deceiver, trickster, manipulator and murderer, when He reprimanded the Scribes and the Pharisees in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, when He said the following to those unbelieving children of hell:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


Indeed; Satan that old serpent lied to Adam and Eve; and he certainly prompted Cain when he flew into a jealous rage and slew his own righteous brother, Abel. Furthermore, the Devil has influenced countless people over the millennia to commit all manner of evil and abominable works, from deadly wars to murderous abortion.

Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.