Is it Biblical to rebuke the devil?

Many believers think that they can make the devil flee from their lives by commanding him with authority. Is this Biblical?

The only one who rebuked the devil by speaking directly to his face is Jesus. Jesus rebuked the devil using the Word of God.

First of all, should Christians talk to the devil? We are supposed to resist the devil by meditating on the Word of God, not by talking to him. We should talk to Jesus and build our relationship with God, instead of talking to the devil. The closer you get to Jesus, the farther the devil moves from you. To get close to Jesus, we must spend time in prayer and meditating on God's Word.

Only Jesus can rebuke the devil. Our job is to take all our struggles to Jesus and soak ourselves in His Word. The devil can do nothing until God allows it. God allowed the devil to trouble Job, Paul and many other saints. God is in control and so we must only seek the mercy of our Lord Jesus to get anything right.

We see that even Michael the archangel said to the devil, "The Lord rebuke thee". Note that it is NOT "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus".

Jude 9

9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Zechariah 3:2

2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

We should also be careful not to use the Lord's name in vain. To add the phrase "in Jesus' name" is not a magic formula to get what you expect the devil to do.

Another passage to consider is Acts 19:15. This passage shows that God knows the heart and intentions behind the spoken words and deeds. It is dangerous to talk to the evil spirits and devil. 

Acts 19

13Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? "16And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

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