Is it true that Satan and his crew rule over hell?
If you look at cartoons of the devil, often times he and his demonic army are pictured ruling over hell, taunting and torturing lost sinners with their pitchforks. I don't know where this idea came from, but it is dead wrong. Maybe it came from a few obscure passages that refer to some demons who are in hell right now.
"And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." Jude v. 6
"...God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment." 2 Peter 2:5
It seems that there were a group of angels that rebelled with Satan and at some point did something so evil, so unheard of, that God put them into hell earlier than the other demons. As a matter of fact, they are there right now even as you read these words. They are not ruling over hell. Hell is ruling over them. They are in a dark dungeon, locked in chains waiting for the judgment day.
Here are two more reasons why we know Satan is not ruling over hell right now:
The devil is operating in the atmosphere of earth not the flames of hell.
The Bible calls Satan "the ruler of the kingdom of the air" in Ephesians 2:2. He has the ability to zoom back and forth across this planet through the air and do his wicked deeds while accomplishing his twisted plan. When God asked Satan where he had been in Job chapter one Satan responded by saying, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Satan is on the loose on the earth, not ruling in hell.
Someday Satan and his followers will be cast into hell for good.
The Bible talks about a day when Satan and all of his demonic followers will be cast into hell for good, "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" Revelation 20:10. When Satan is thrown into the lake of fire he will be too busy burning to rule anything.
