Who Is Satan?
The many forms of the devil in the Bible
Wood engraving by Gustave Doré depicting Dante’s Inferno, Canto XXXIV, in which Dante and Virgil encounter Satan in the Ninth Circle of Hell.
From the most comical of cartoons to the most grotesque of gargoyles, the majority of the population today can immediately recognize an image of the devil. But does our modern conception of Satan have any resemblance to the devil in the Bible? Just who is Satan? Is this horned, red-skinned monster with a pitchfork ruling hell truly the great enemy of God envisioned by the writers of the Biblical texts?
The short answer: no, not really.
In the Hebrew Bible, YHWH’s greatest enemies are not fallen angels commanding armies of demons, nor even the gods of other nations, but, rather, human beings. It isn’t the devil that spreads evil across the face of creation—it is mankind. Other than human beings, YHWH has no nemesis, nor are there malevolent spiritual forces not under his authority. YHWH is ultimately a god of justice. He is behind the good and the bad, behind the blessings and the curses. It is within this divine court of justice and retribution that Satan has his origins.
The Hebrew word śāṭān, meaning “accuser” or “adversary,” occurs several times throughout the Hebrew Bible and refers to enemies both human and celestial alike. When referring to the celestial adversary, the word is typically accompanied by the definite article. He is ha-satan—the Accuser—and it is a job description rather than a proper name. From the Accuser’s appearances in the Books of Job and Zechariah, it seems that the job entails calling attention to the unworthiness of mankind. The Accuser is essentially the prosecuting attorney of the divine court of YHWH, and part of his job includes collecting evidence to prove his cases. With this bit of knowledge in mind, it isn’t difficult to envision the various “outcries against sin,” such as that against Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20–21), as the voice of the Accuser.
It is difficult to determine at which point in Israel’s history the Accuser began to take on a much more sinister role in the Israelite/Jewish belief structure, or how heaven’s great prosecutor became the prince of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). It is certainly easy to make the connection between Israel’s time in exile and the likely influence of the cosmic dualism of Persian religion.1 However, even within books written well after the return from foreign lands, the Accuser is still a self-righteous lawyer. Though if 1 Chronicles 21:1 is any indication,2 they began to believe the Accuser wasn’t above getting his hands dirty.
It is perfectly clear, however, that by the first century C.E., Judaism developed a belief in the divine forces of darkness doing battle against the forces of light. This can be seen within the New Testament and other extra-Biblical writings such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are likely several factors that inspired these developments, including the influence of Persian, as well as Hellenistic, religions.
If there was an army of evil spiritual forces making war on the righteous, they had to have a commander. It is at this time that the impersonal and lofty Accuser began to acquire the various names and titles that have filled the writings of western civilization for 2,000 years. The Greek word diabolos (from which “devil” is derived), meaning “slanderer,” comes from a verb that means “to hurl” (i.e., accusations).
Diabolos was typically used as the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew śāṭān (in the Septuagint version of Job, for example), though it was not uncommon to simply transliterate the word into the Greek satanas (1 Kings 11:14). Other names used for the leader of the forces of evil at this time include Maśṭēmāh, which means “hatred” (1QM 13:4, 11; Jubilees 10:8), and Belial, a popular name among the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which means “worthless” or “corrupt.” “Children of Belial” (Hebrew: bene-belial) was a typical phrase used to describe evil people in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Deuteronomy 13:13; 1 Samuel 1:16; 2 Chronicles 13:7, etc.). If someone were searching for a name that personified evil in the Hebrew Bible, it would be Belial, not Satan. Interesting enough, the name only occurs once in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:15), as Paul’s stark contrast to Christ.
It is also in this period that we begin to see the development of the tradition of equating the talking serpent in the Garden of Eden with Satan (Life of Adam and Eve xi–xvii).
Etruscan fresco of Typhon from the Tomba del Tifone in Tarquinia, Italy, c. third century B.C.E. According to Greek mythology, the montrous Titan Typhon battled the mighty Zeus, who bound his foe in the dark depths of Tartarus to bring about a new era of peace.
Satan’s role in the New Testament, though highly expanded, has much more in common with the Accuser of the Hebrew Bible than the commander of the armies of darkness that is typically portrayed in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Even though he is given such lofty titles as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), “father of lies” (John 8:44), “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), “ruler of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), and Beelzebul, “ruler of the demons” (Matthew 10:25; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15), Satan is essentially treated as nothing more than a glorified prison warden who has been corrupted by his own power. Throughout the Gospels, Satan’s “kingdom” is never considered to be a burning underworld full of the tormented dead, but, rather, is equated with the bondage of sin and the curses brought upon humanity for acts of unrighteousness. According to Jesus (Matthew 12:29; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21–22), a “strong man” (Satan) must be bound in order to plunder his house for treasures (humans), and it is clear he viewed his ministry and that of his disciples within this context. All other references to Satan in the New Testament, including those in Revelation, reflect this struggle for spiritual freedom.
Over the course of several centuries of influence from many different cultures, the defeated Accuser of the Christians would go on to appropriate aspects of various divine enemies (Typhon, Hades, Ahriman, Hela, to name but a few) to become the complex mythological monster that was thrown out of heaven at the beginning of time to rule the fiery underworld and torment the souls of the damned. Such a character makes for great movies and Halloween costumes, but would have been virtually unknown to anyone in Biblical times.
Notes
1. Adherents to Zoroastrianism believed in the ongoing battle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu (known in later periods as Ormazd and Ahriman), the good creator god of light and order and the evil god of chaos and darkness.
2. Compare the earlier version of the story in 2 Samuel 24 in which YHWH himself is the one who incites David to sin.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on November 10, 2016.
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LAKE OF FIRE
This expression occurs only in the book of Revelation and is clearly symbolic. The Bible gives its own explanation and definition of the symbol by stating: “This means the second death, the lake of fire.”—Re 20:14; 21:8.
The symbolic quality of the lake of fire is further evident from the context of references to it in the book of Revelation. Death is said to be hurled into this lake of fire. (Re 19:20; 20:14) Death obviously cannot be literally burned. Moreover, the Devil, an invisible spirit creature, is thrown into the lake. Being spirit, he cannot be hurt by literal fire.—Re 20:10; compare Ex 3:2 and Jg 13:20.
Since the lake of fire represents “the second death” and since Revelation 20:14 says that both “death and Hades” are to be cast into it, it is evident that the lake cannot represent the death man has inherited from Adam (Ro 5:12), nor does it refer to Hades (Sheol). It must, therefore, be symbolic of another kind of death, one that is without reversal, for the record nowhere speaks of the “lake” as giving up those in it, as do Adamic death and Hades (Sheol). (Re 20:13) Thus, those not found written in “the book of life,” unrepentant opposers of God’s sovereignty, are hurled into the lake of fire, meaning eternal destruction, or the second death.—Re 20:15.
While the foregoing texts make evident the symbolic quality of the lake of fire, it has been used by some persons to support belief in a literal place of fire and torment. Revelation 20:10 has been appealed to, because it speaks of the Devil, the wild beast, and the false prophet as being “tormented day and night forever and ever” in the lake of fire. However, this cannot refer to actual conscious torment. Those thrown into the lake of fire undergo “the second death.” (Re 20:14) In death there is no consciousness and, hence, no feeling of pain or suffering.—Ec 9:5.
In the Scriptures fiery torment is associated with destruction and death. For example, in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures the word for torment (baʹsa·nos) is several times used with reference to punishment by death. (Eze 3:20; 32:24, 30) Similarly, concerning Babylon the Great, the book of Revelation says, “the kings of the earth . . . will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment [Gr., ba·sa·ni·smouʹ].” (Re 18:9, 10) As to the meaning of the torment, an angel later explains: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again.” (Re 18:21) So, fiery torment here is parallel with destruction, and in the case of Babylon the Great, it is everlasting destruction.—Compare Re 17:16; 18:8, 15-17, 19.
Therefore, those who are ‘tormented forever’ (from Gr., ba·sa·niʹzo) in the lake of fire undergo “second death” from which there is no resurrection. The related Greek word ba·sa·ni·stesʹ is translated ‘jailer’ in Matthew 18:34. (RS, NW, ED; compare vs 30.) Thus those hurled into the lake of fire will be held under restraint, or “jailed,” in death throughout eternity. https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002669#h=7
In Isaiah 14:12, it is a cherub that is being addressed as that spiritual ruler who was the de facto unseen King of Babylon, whom also was active and mature in the Garden of Eden thousands of years before (cf. Ezekiel 28:13-15 ). He moves to rule over chief kingdoms through means of violence.
This particular individual cherub is labeled in Isaiah 14:12 as Helel, the “shining one”. The Syriac Peshitta uses Aylel, and the Septuagint uses Heosphoros to translate Helel. Because the Syriac uses a proper name, and “dawn-bringer” in the LXX sounds much like one, we have adopted the labeling of he who is both the spiritual King of Babylon and Tyre, or the world system in general, as Lucifer.
So who is Lucifer? In the Akkadian, the cognate from which the Hebrew “helel’ was derived is “ellu”, which holds the simple definition of: something or some event that is ”bright” (regarding a presence and brilliance of light).
The Arabic Semitic, which leans on the Hebrew, phonetically uses “halla” to equivocate the Hebrew root word “halal”; both mean “to shine brightly”. From “halla” we get “allah”, and the identity of whom Muslims worship…the “shining one” whom the Christians must call Lucifer, and the Devil: he who exalts himself as if GOD (Isaiah 14:13-14), but is destined for humility and punishment (Isaiah 14:15; Matthew 25:41).
Jesus Christ, in the only true and trustworthy Holy book called the Bible, warns:
“The thief
[the Devil, the shining Cherub that once walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire in Heaven until he self-exalted himself and stole trust from others in heaven – Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:14]
cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
–and —
“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.” (John 8:44)
But still, this does not DESCRIBE the individual Cherub who is a 4 faced 6 winged creature. Some confuse Satan with angels, even as they do not know the difference between a Watcher and a Cherub or a Cherub from a Seraph in the vicinity of GOD’s throne.
In Psalm 104:4, we read the elemental difference:
“He makes His angels –winds,
and His ministers — a fire of flame.” [Translation mine]
In that passage, we find that the origin of the Angels and Seraphims were not entirely Creatio Ex Nihilo (created out of nothing). Angels not only have the ministerial capacity of creating or controlling winds or gusts that affect humanity and this Creation, but their origins were likely in their being created from winds (the breath of GOD) also. When Jesus commanded the winds with “Peace, be still” in Mark 4:39, He was not only fulfilling the passage of Psalm 107:29-30 to reveal His identity as YHVeH, commander of the angels, the Heavenly host.
“Through the manifest WORD of YHVeH the heavens were made,
and by the Breath of His Mouth all the armies of the heavenly hosts.”
(Psalm 33:6 – translation mine)
Instantly, Jesus was obeyed and all was calm, and very quickly the 12 disciples with Jesus found themselves transported to their desired haven. The same formula of Psalm 104:4 cited above also applies to the Seraphims. Seraphims are not only also, but primarily known to most by their designation as the Cherubims (four faced, one on each side of the head, and six winged creatures). These have a ministry of creating or controlling fire, and were likely first created from fire.
At the Creation of Physical man, we find GOD breathing into one vessel of clay made a living being of flesh with a single soul (Genesis 2:7 in the Hebrew), and imparting the yod or a sliver of the soul of G-D Himself to make that one eternal with “souls”. “YHVeH Messiah the breath of our nostrils” (Lamentations 4:20), the LORD Christ, created Adam our first father to be a Father or co-Origin of all humanity.
Prior to the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, in Heaven or the heavenlies, GOD breathed, and the wind was formed; and out of the wind, created He the Angels by the spoken word. GOD generated flame from Himself, and fire was formed; and out of the fire, by the spoken word, created He the Seraphim. Whether that “flame” had “heat” to it, I don’t know…because the Seraphim are “spirit beings”, and “heat” is a physical property that was only made manifest with the creation of this physical Universe by GOD (it seems to me). And to that end, by a Lake of Fire Satan and his angels who follow him will be destroyed by the second death.
The Seraphim by physical description in detail that we know of are before the Throne of the Father (e.g., Ezekiel 1:4-14; Revelation 4:6-8), and 4 chosen ones are about His Throne, are both for an example, and also for a hidden mystery of revealing the eternality of the ministry of the CROSS of Jesus Christ and its centrality to time and the existence of all Creation and this Universe. In Job, the angels are referred to as “sons of GOD” and the Cherubim / seraphim are designated as ”morning stars” or should we say as Isaiah famously quotes the LORD,
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”
Isaiah 14:12
In effect, even as the pre-incarnate Jesus / Yeshua as YHVeH off-springed the soul of Adam and was spiritually the source and in effect fathered the human race by the breath of His mouth into a animal vessel made of material substance, so also He did the same after a fashion in fathering (by the breath of His mouth) not only all Creation, by all angels and cherubim (including he who fell away and became Satan) also. Because we see that GOD in and by His very nature both offers free will and intervenes as according to His own free will and in part the free will requests of those He created, a timeline and a set of wide boundaries for all His Creation was established, and because Adam allowed communication and intervention and interaction with the envious cherub who also fell prior to and then later permanently at the Garden of Eden and spiritually died after a fashion there along with his two victims also, because Adam fell by means of what seems to be apathetic passivity to be swayed and just go along by free-will in being a victim to Satan, our time and connection is so intertwined to the confines of influence set by what happened in the Garden of Eden that our state of sin is rooted in a chronic bent nature to unconsciously or consciously to just about always repeat that same flaw.
One more thing in regard to Job 38:7, as that verse tells us that the Cherubim sang, while the Angels shouted for joy. Fire sings, and the wind shouts. To sing like an angel is biblically to sing like you shout (or perhaps flat and off key). When someone sings like a cherub, that is perhaps like one alone, part of two, three, or even 4 singing in perfection.
Again, the Seraphim and Cherubim, it is to be remembered, are the same creature. The designation of “the Seraphim” is used primarily for us to distinguish the 4 living creatures who are Cherubim about the Throne of the Father, from any other Cherub, including Satan / Lucifer / the Devil.
Unlike the paintings of the cherubs in Western Art, cherubs are NOT baby-faced kids with little wings flying about wearing nothing but a diaper loincloth. Seraphs or Cherubs are the fiery winged priests of Heaven. They are the Levites and the Kohenim. They are the Ministers of GOD. These creatures sing praises to G-D the Father, and walk in the midst of the sea with stones of fire, which is before the Father’s Throne (Revelation 4:6; Ezekiel 28:14, 16). The function of the Cherubim is likened as to that of being the Levites of Heaven. But our attention, in order to see that the Cross is ever before the Throne of the Father, focuses on the 4 Cherubim/Seraphim about the Throne of the Father. Now, it is written,
“And this (was) how they looked:
the likeness of a man (was) to them.
4 faces (were) to each, and 4 wings to each of them.
Their feet (were) the feet of straightness,
and the sole of their feet (was) like the sole of a foot of a calf;
and they shone out in sparkling brilliance, like the color of burnished copper.
And the hands of a man from under their wings on the 4 of their sides;
their faces and their wings were to the 4 of them.
Joining each one to the other, (was) their wings.
They did not turn in their going.
Each one (set) their face (of a man) toward the front as they went.
The likeness of their faces:
the face of a man,
and the face of a lion on the right to the 4 of them,
and the face of an ox on the left to the 4 of them,
and the face of an eagle [to the rearward of their heads]
to the 4 of them….”
(Ezekiel 1:5b-10, translation mine)
Thus, is the Gospel of the Cross ever before the Throne of the Father, through the faces of the 4 Living Creatures.
——————–Rear —————-
——————–Man—————–
——————————————
—————————————–
—-Right———Center————-Left
—–Ox——————————Lion
—————-of the FATHER————
——————————————
——————————————
——————-Front——————
——————-Eagle——————
Surrounding the Throne of the Father, as He looks to the Cherub on His right, He sees the face of an Ox — that of the servant and slave. The Ox slave gives his back to man who tills the field. The Ox slave hauls the cart of man, who travels with his goods from the field to the place of market. The Ox slave performs the will of his master.
As the Father looks straight on, directly in front of Him, He sees the face of the Eagle — the symbol of the Heavenly, in both its goal and its design / creation. The eagle makes its nest in high places. Its home is in the bosom of the heights, the skies, or the heavens. It descends to the ground, and ascends again to the great heights from which it came. Its ability to see even small details from the heights of the heavenlies is part of its fame.
As the Father looks or is all knowingly aware of the face beholding Him from behind the Throne, the cherub’s face is the face of man. The height of the face is probably only to the height of the Father’s chest, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled of He who is hidden in the bosom of the Father, is thereby demonstrated by type. Without seeing and hearing what the Father says, even from within, this one can or simply will do nothing. He is to be revealed as after the likeness or similitude of one beholding the face of the Father.
As the Father looks to the left, He sees on the Cherub, the face of a lion. The lion is representative of one who stakes out a domain, and rules over it.
Therefore, without getting into minutiae detail, we see the ministry of YHVeH Messiah:
—————Man——————–
———-Ox———Lion————-
————–Eagle——————-
Eternity past —– Present “tense” existence —–Eternity Future
The ox falls —– man is exalted as the eagle —–the Lion of Judah rules
Death———————-Resurrection———-New Heavens & New Earth
The Servant who like an Ox falls and in the Resurrection as Lion, rules.
The Son of Man who is humble shall be exalted in the Image of the Father ( hence the location of this face being both before and behind the back) like the Eagle.
Thus, the Ministry of the Cross of Jesus is the centerpiece of the intent of all Creation, and the reason for the existence of Creation, and is thus the centerpiece of all TIME and SPACE in the Design of the Father, as spoken into existence by the Son, and Care-taken by the Holy Spirit.
So if you really want to know who Satan is and what he looks like and what he is about…read and believe the Holy Bible, and excogitate what the Scriptures say, because the Bible is GOD’s one great tool of communication of the reality of things as they really are with YOU.
Most of criticism of Mr. Drummond’s article cites New Testament passages. The fact is that whole books of the Old Testament say nothing of Satan. In addition, many passages which many cite as allusions could just as well be literal about figures such as the Prince of Tyre (Ezekiel – sometimes a prince of Tyre is a prince of Tyre) or a celestial body ( Lucifer in KJV Isaiah 14:12). On this one I’ll defer to John Calvin’s commentaries on scripture, writing sometime between 1540 and 1555 nearly 500 years ago:
—————————-
12.”How art thou fallen from heaven!” Isaiah proceeds with the discourse which he had formerly begun as personating the dead, and concludes that the tyrant differs in no respect from other men, though his object was to lead men to believe that he was some god. He employs an elegant metaphor, by comparing him to Lucifer, and calls him the Son of the Dawn; (220) and that on account of his splendor and brightness with which he shone above others. The exposition of this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan, has arisen from ignorance; for the context plainly shows that these statements must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians. But when passages of Scripture are taken up at random, and no attention is paid to the context, we need not wonder that mistakes of this kind frequently arise. Yet it was an instance of very gross ignorance, to imagine that Lucifer was the king of devils, and that the Prophet gave him this name. But as these inventions have no probability whatever, let us pass by them as useless fables.
—–
Sometimes I notice that the same contemporary people who assert otherwise profess to be of the same movement he founded.
Yes this is David responding to the other David. The torment spoken of in Revelation 20:10 refers to being jailed in death for ever and ever: obviously you can’t, literally, torment spirit creatures, such as the angels, which are described as being messengers made into spirits and flames of fire, Hebrew 1:7.
Rather, in the biblical sense, your jailer is your tormentor: this means Satan and his demons will be jailed (tormented) in death for ever, no parole.
The sentence given to Satan, and all those who appose God, sets a precedent like smoke that lingers on forever, even after the fire goes out, Revelation 14:11.
Satan is not only an Enemy of GOD,but also an enemy of man,Satan plans to uproot Holiness from mankind with misunderstanding.Satan is not evil itself,but a prisoner of sin,just as all who sin are prisoners to it,So Satan in rebellion and pride,turned against GOD,an became an entity of Evil and Sin,which is an adversary to GOD and HIS HANDWORK
Educative. Thanks so much for the providing insight into who or what satan truly is.
I’m awe-stricken by the profound mystical discourse by commentator Brian (#12) which I believe to be accurate based on what I’ve read from various sources and as for the quote from Isaiah 14:12 I have to agree with commentator Wes (#13) that here the scripture should be placed within the proper context with this being an allusion to the fall of the Neo-Assyrian emperor Sargon Ii. The winged sun disk was the icon of the official state-god Asshur but in times past this emblem had an 8 pointed star with wings instead of a solar disk, which was the official seal of King Saushtator of the Mitanni Empire during the 15th century B.C.E. The 8 pointed star is the emblem of the Sumerian goddess Inanna, the Akkadian Ishtar, so the term “son of the dawn” may be a referance to the goddess in the aspect of the planet Venus as the morning star. The Habor River Valley was once host to the Biblical Patriarchs who would become known as Hebrews, and this designation was derived from the word “Hebrew” as meaning “from beyond” which originally pertained to people who migrated from the Habor region across the Euphrates River to settle in lands south as did the Patriarch Jacob when he fled from his exploitive uncle Laban in Paddam Aram to the region of Gilead. The Assyrian Empire kept records of people who be became Hebrews by leaving the Habor River region because they felt unduly over-taxed and singled out because of their religious affiliaton. Hence the tradition of Abraham being persecuted by Nimrod because he refused to worship the official state-sponsored gods in a Ziggurat-structured social tier system (or, if you prefer, the “corporate ladder”).
I am taken aback by this comment you made
Notes#2 Compare the earlier version of the story in 2 Samuel 24 in which YHWH himself is the one who incites David to sin.
James 1:13
God’s permission, but Satan’s suggestion
2 Samuel 24:1
And again. The history in this chapter precedes 2Sa 23, by Figure of speech Hysterologia (App-6). See note on 23. i. the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. He moved-He suffered him to be moved. By He-brew idiom (and also by modern usage) a person is said to do that which he permits to be done. Here we have the historical fact. In 1Ch_21:1 we have the real fact from the Divine standpoint. Here the exoteric, in 1Ch_21:1 the esoteric. For examples, see Exo_4:21; Exo_5:22. Jer_4:10. Eze_14:9; Eze_20:25. Mat_11:25; Mat_13:11. Rom_9:18; Rom_11:7, Rom_11:8; 2Th_2:11. God’s permission, but Satan’s suggestion (Jam_1:13, Jam_1:14); or, yasath may be taken impersonally, “David was moved”.
Thanks for the article. Based on my research, Satan makes a grand entrance in the New Testament. I talk about this in my new publication. In “Opposing Forces,” I trace the history of the Devil and evil in general and how they changed over time. Click the link below.
https://www.amazon.com/Opposing-Forces-Metaphysical-Between-Progress/dp/1541393120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500517071&sr=8-1&keywords=albert%20ramos
Definitely don’t agree with your view of who Satan is.
History of Satan – Where did he come from?
The history of Satan is described in the Bible in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19. These two biblical passages also reference the king of Babylon, the King of Tyre, and the spiritual power behind the kings.
What caused Satan to be cast from Heaven? He fell because of pride that originated from his desire to be God instead of a servant of God. Satan was the highest of all the angels, but he wasn’t happy. He desired to be God and rule the universe. God cast Satan out of heaven as a fallen angel.
History of Satan – Who is he?
Satan is often caricatured as a red-horned, trident-raising cartoon villain; no wonder people question the history of Satan. His existence, however, is not based on fantasy. It’s verified in the same book that narrates Jesus’ life and death (Genesis 3:1-16, Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11).
Christians believe Satan acts as leader of the fallen angels. These demons, existing in the invisible spirit realm yet affecting our physical world, rebelled against God, but are ultimately under His control. Satan masquerades as an “angel of light,” deceiving humans just as he deceived Eve in the beginning (Genesis 3).
Jesus Himself testified of Satan’s existence. During His ministry, He personally faced temptation from the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), cast out demons possessing people (Luke 8:27-33), and defeated the evil one and his legion of demon angels at the cross. Christ also helped us understand the ongoing, spiritual war between God and Satan, good and evil (Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:17-20).
With Jesus Christ on our side, we need not fear Satan’s limited power (Hebrew 2:14-15). We ought to be wise, however, in resisting his tactics:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
History of Satan – What is his place now?
Throughout the history of Satan, evil has been his identity because he is directly opposite God’s character. God’s holy standard found in the Bible exposes evil. If not relying on its truth, we can easily error:
One error is denying Satan’s existence
Another mistake is fearfully focusing on Satan rather than on Christ Jesus who overcame him
Others outright worship Satan, preferring the darkness of evil rather than light that reveals sin (John 3:19; 2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
Any of these approaches please the devil. He wants us denying, fearing, obeying, or worshiping him. Unless we follow the trustworthy source, the Bible, he’ll deceive us (Ephesians 6:10-11).
History of Satan – Satan’s seduction versus reality
In our scientific, rational age, spiritual beliefs are scorned as myth. Satan, however, doesn’t mind those who rebuff the reality of fallen angels or demons. By masking himself, he can tempt and deceive people without blame. The wise will never forget that Satan and demons, determined to deceive humans, are fighting real battles and wars against heavenly angels.
Satan compels or entices his prey to follow him whether they realize it or not. Maybe they are simply ignorant and confused. Many would rather believe human theory than obey divine revelation and natural law. Whether blind, bound, or brazenly willing, they join Satan for a doomed destiny. They condemn themselves to eternity in hell.
While Satan is more powerful than we humans, God doesn’t leave us defenseless (Ephesians 6:10-11). At the Lord’s rebuke, Satan and his demons shudder and flee (James 2:19; Jude 1:9). When Jesus Christ died, He overcame them (Colossians 2:15). Only in the authority of Jesus does anyone have power to stand against the devil. Those saved from sin by Jesus’ death on the cross are protected; those who are not saved from Satan’s power perish with him (John 3:16; 1 Peter 5:8-10).