Satan

Satan

The Summary Of His Life Up To The Present Day

Who Was Satan?

Common Noun: An Adversary
Proper Noun: Chief of the fallen spirits

Satan is a very powerful being as you will see in the list of his titles and roles below. The Hebrew word for Serpent in Genesis chapter 3 is nachash, which means a divine enchanter, a shining one. Satan is not the ugly horned being that we see pictures of but is majestic and can even take on the form as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Satan is the ruler of all other fallen angels and powers of the world (Eph. 2:2) but is also subject to God (ref. Job 1). The Lord God is in control of him and is more powerful then him, many places can be given one place would be Luke 4 especially verse 12, shows that the devil is subject to God.

His Titles And Roles

Devil:

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

The title given to Satan here is “devil” which simply means he is the accuser, the adversary.

Accuser of brethren

Revelation. 12: 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

You see here in verse 10 that Satan was the accuser of God’s people, the Christians. He was like the prosecutor in a court of law today. Continually trying to find fault with the accused -- the Christian. You see Satan filling this role in Jude 1:9 when he could accuse Moses of things and could be rebuked. Again in Zechariah 3:1. We see a court room setting. Of a scene of Joshua standing before God as the defendant, defending all of God’s people, and Satan as the accuser.

There is a song by a Christian singer named Ray Boltz who seems to get a grasp on Satan as the accuser yet Christ as the Justifier

Ac 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, Ro 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

The words go: “standing in the courtroom, when I heard “how do you plead!?“ the accuser of the brethren staring at me, he said we got your number, there is no escape, here are your transgressions, your failures and mistakes, he pointed to the corner where the scales of justice stood, I saw so many failures there, there was nothing good, but in that very moment when it seemed all hope was lost, I said I plead the blood of Jesus and the his death upon the cross….one drop of blood fell the scales, it covered my transgressions and all the times I failed.”

The name of the song is “One Drop Of Blood” on Ray Boltz’s album titled “No Greater Sacrifice”, get it and listen to it.

Adversary:

1 Peter 8 ¶ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Satan is the adversary -- the enemy of the Christian. Seeking out the Christian, attempting to find one that will turn away from God. Trying to find one that will ignore what God’s word will say and completely destroying the Christian.

He is an adversary that is like a lion. He just quietly sneaks up on you. The Christian may not even see the attack coming. It may be a tiny thing, like having something else to do then reading the Bible. Not going to a meeting, where God’s word is preached and taught, and then eventually it gets bigger and bigger, then he attacks like the roar of a lion as it pounces. Before the Christian knows it, they have sinned, they have gotten away from the Lord God.

Beelzebub:

Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Aramaic Origins would say it means “lord of the house”

Some believe this title is the same as “Baalzebub” the god of Ekron, which means the “lord of The Flies” or the “dung-god”

This verse and title here also tells us something. That Satan is the prince of the devils. Or The Ruler over all other fallen angel (demon).

Belial:

2 Corinthians. 6: 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

This title is used to show a complete opposite between Christ and Satan. There is no possibility of mingling together. So a Christian should have no fellowship with things that are sinful and speaks against Christianity and the things of God.

The word belial means: worthless or wicked

Deceiver Of The Whole World:

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The Title here is the deceiver of the whole world. Or in other words, he is the one who strays the whole world away from something. What would that be? -- Christ

The Great Dragon:

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The great dragon shows his great power and wickedness to God.

The Evil One:

Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Here is speaking about the gospel being preached to people. Once it is spoken, if one has confusion to understand it in anyway Satan the wicked one will come along and attempt to have them think about something else or forget what they heard, so that they will be distracted from the Word of God, and realize their need of the Saviour

Father Of Lies:

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Men of the world would rather listen to Satan and the teachings of Satan then of man. They make him as a god, he is the god of this world. People are more willing to obey him, try to lighten the seriousness of sin and listen to false teachings in class and in some churches.

Murderer:

John 8:44 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.

Some will try to claim he is a murderer because of Cain killing his brother, but this goes back even further. Because of him and the sin of Adam and Eve there has been death. Satan is a murderer, because of the temptation of Satan in the garden of Eden and the acceptance of it by Adam and Eve, death has fallen upon all men

Old Serpent:

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

It is saying here that it is the same serpent as from the beginning. -- From the garden of Eden. So in other words “the serpent from creation who was Satan”

Prince Of The Powers Of The Air:

Ephesians 2: 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Satan is the lord over all things of this world, including the fallen spirits as well. So if someone is enjoying all the pleasures of this world, they therefore are enjoying the things planned and set in place by the Prince of the Air -- Satan.

Tempter

1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.

We see here how Satan is considered the tempter. He is continually testing someone’s faith in Christ, to see how much they truly love him.

Satan’s Power

This is a very interesting subject and the whole while reading it, you will wonder “Why did God allow this to happen? Why did He not destroy Satan? Which will be answered in the next subject.

The Ability To Cause Sickness

Many will tell you, sickness is the cause of Satan and no one else. This is partially true, another thing that should be mentioned is that sometimes God causes sickness in an attempt to teach someone a lesson they need to learn. Other times people get sick for the simple fact we are a sinful creature, and lastly because Satan can cause sickness. We have no right to look at a person that is sick and pick any of these reasons and say “that’s why he/she is sick!”

Job 2: 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 ¶ So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

We see here that Satan has the ability to cause sickness, but one thing should be noticed here, God allowed it. God knew what He was doing. God allowed the sickness which Satan did to show Satan that Job was a man of God.

1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

We see here once again that a Christian that sins and is put out of the assembly, is left in the hands of Satan, which sickness can fall upon this person.

The Ability To Possess:

Matthew 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

The devil (as well as his demons) has the ability to enter into another person. Some of the characteristics of a person that becomes possessed are:

Abnormal strength: (Mark 5:3)
Sickness (mute): (Mark 9:17)
Sickness (blindness): (Matthew 12:22)
Sickness (convulsions): (Mark 9:18)
Foaming from the mouth, losing all strength: (Mark 9:18)
More then one demon inside the person: (Mark 5:9)
Uncontrollable Speech: (Luke 4: 33,34)
Crippled: (Luke 13:11)
Foretelling events, reading signs (stars etc…): (Acts 16:16)

The Ability To Change Someone’s Thinking:

When it comes to Christians, Satan and his demons can not possess them. Why? Because a Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. A Spirit is already residing within a Christian. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

With this said, it does not mean that Satan can not put thoughts into the mind of one of God’s people. That is one of his titles mentioned earlier -- The tempter.

We can see here:

1Chronicles 21:1 ¶ And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

We don’t see Satan entering and possessing David, but we see him provoking him, putting thoughts in his mind to sin. You can see this happening again in Acts 5:3.

Magical Ability

Satan is a very powerful being, there is a wide number of things that Satan can do, or have his followers of witchcraft, divination and other sorts of magic do for him, from the ability he gives them. We see this in Exodus:

Imitate creatures: (Exodus 7:12)
Make water undrinkable (Exodus 7:21,22)
Unordinary appearance of Frogs: (Exodus 8:6,7)
Summon Spirits: (1 Samuel 28:7)
Fortune Telling: (Acts 16:16)
Casting Spells: (2 Kings 21:6)

One thing that should be mentioned is that Satan can do nothing without God knowing it and God’s sovereign hand over all things. (1 Samuel 1:3, Job 2: 5,6)

Things Satan Can Not Do

Even though Satan is very powerful, due to the fact he is a created being, he is under God, he does have restrictions. Some of his restrictions are:

He can not create life: (Exodus 8:18)
He can not freely kill: (Job 2:6, Revelation 1:18)
He can not physically control Christians: (Luke 10:20) (Christians have faith in one more powerful -- God)

Satan is powerless when it comes to God, as we can see in Matthew 12:28. The Spirit of God, is more powerful then the demons. He has the ability to confine them, and control them.

A true story from Venezuela could be told by a man who was at one time a median dealing with the Spirit world. He spent a lot of time in the darkness of Satan’s power and communed with the spirits when he had problem. One day he had a huge problem and went to the spirits for guidance and help, his first answer he did not like so he asked for a higher spirit, upon receiving a different spirit, he still did not like the answer, so the cycle continued for a little while, and then once more he asked for another spirit. The spirit came, the man told him the situation, the spirit gave him the solution he could offer. The man still upset with the answer demanded an even higher spirit. This time his request was denied. Why? Because of the answer the spirit could give him next. “I’m sorry, the only spirit higher then me is the Holy Spirit.”

In North America, and parts of Europe, many people would read that story and be sceptical, due to the simple fact, Satanism is not as wide spread in these parts. But it is in Venezuela, and that man had Satan himself tell him that there was only one more powerful then he, and it was God.

When Was Satan Created?

Due to the fact God claims he is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (revelation 1:8). There can be no other before Him. So therefore it means all else was created. So when?

Some try to say that Satan was created before the foundation of the world, which has to be incorrect due to the fact that all things created by God was during the six days of creation. Colossians 1:16 has the invisible beings put into the same category with everything else that was created. Even though we are not given any clear cut information on this in scripture, logical conclusions can be drawn to point to a time period when Satan was created.

It would seem from Job 38:7, Satan was created within the first couple days of creation, this will be explained more in the next topic.

Some will say that Satan was created and fell (which will be touched on, in the next subject) due to the fact it states it in Isaiah 14:12-17. It doesn’t state that due to two reasons. The evidence in this topic and the conclusion of the evidence in the next topic.

When Did He Fall?

When exactly did Satan fall? Many will try to tell you that Satan fell before the foundation of the world. There are a number of problems with that thought. I will attempt to explain to you, when I feel that Satan fell from the glories of heaven.

Satan fell some time during or just after the completion of Creation. He could not have fallen before that because in Isaiah 14, we see his plan to exalt himself above the stars and clouds. He was planning to try and become as powerful as God. There were no clouds or stars before creation, so therefore that narrows it down a tiny bit, he did not fall before creation.

He could not have fallen during the early stages of creation due to Job 38 and verse 7

4 ¶ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The term “morning stars sang together” seems to best fit with Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Many claim the act of the morning stars singing together, seems to be speaking of the beginning of something, the beginning of the stars being in existence, which puts the Angels (Satan) before the creation of the Stars, but after the first day of creation.

It doesn’t appear that Satan fell before the creation of man, because his presence in the garden of Eden, did not seem to bother Adam and Eve. He seemed to have been trusted. As mentioned earlier the word nachash is not trying to say that Satan was a slimy snake, but a very majestic, beautiful being. Ezekial 28:12-15 clearly teaches as well that Satan was dwelling peacefully in the garden of Eden.There was also no reason why Angels could not have dwelled with Adam and Eve as well in the garden of Eden. First in fellowship then as guards once Adam and Even sinned (genesis 3:24)

Why Did He Sin?

Satan was rejoicing with all the other angels at the creation of the Stars etc… so why would he sin against God?

One reason as mentioned earlier was in Isaiah 14:
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Satan wanted more power. Another reason it would seem Satan fell was from pride, which may imply a designated place given to Satan 1 Timothy 3:6 would seem to tell us that the reason Satan fell was because of his pride.

Who Fell With Him?

We are not given clear indications of who fell with Satan and at one time, but it is very obvious angels did fall with him. 2 Peter 2:4 can speak of angels in the plural which seems to indicate that there were angels that fell.

We have two rebellions of angels in the Bible that we know about. One being the fall of Satan just after creation, then the next fall was in Genesis chapter 6, when the “sons of God” (angels) came down and sinned with the women of earth.

There were two known falls, just the judgment of each of the groups of angels were different, that will be touched on in a following topic, which will add more light to this subject as well.

In Luke 10 we have the disciples speaking about how they had power over devils (plural) and God refers them to his witnessing of Satan being cast out of heaven. He seems to be associating the entire evil realm with Satan at the fall.

Concerning the fall of angels. There seems to be a completely different one in Genesis 6

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 ¶ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 ¶ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

“sons of God” many times throughout scripture is speaking about angels. Here you see ones looking upon daughters of men (mankind) and found them fair. The went with the women and were judged for it as you will see in the next topic

Where Were They Condemned To?

In the bible we have two accounts of the confinement of Satan and his angels.

One being in 2 Peter

2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

The other being in Jude

Jude 6: And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

The angels and Satan can not be confined to hell and the lake of fire right now for a number or reasons. One being

In Revelations 20:9, we see Satan being cast into hell, which means he can not be there now.

Also once the thousand year reign of Christ begins, It mentions in Revelation 20:3, that Satan will be bound, but at the end loosed, which means to bind him, then he must be loose now.

The term “hell” in 2 Peter 2:4 is different then the word hell other places in the New Testament as Tartaroo, or from the word Tartaros

The fact that this term is different and that they are not confined yet to the lake of fire, that leaves one other possible place -- earth.

The proof we have for this is in Matthew 8:29, where the demons possessing men were afraid that Jesus Christ was coming to torment them before their time. In James 2:19, it tells us that the devils tremble at God, for judgment for them are coming.

Another piece of evidence that Satan and his demons are on this earth now is in Job chapter 1

7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

The term in the earth, is actually better translated to mean that he has been travelling on the earth, not confined to a certain spot. Walking up and down on it, simply means he is roaming. The Bible In Basic English translation could write it like this:

7 And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

Why Does God Allow Him To Do All This?

After reading this and reading the things Satan can do, and the fact God is over all, why would God allow this to happen? Why would God not destroy Satan in the garden of Eden?

The first part of the question could be: “Why did God not destroy Satan?”

First off, God can not destroy Satan, why?

In Luke 20:36, Christ is having a conversation with the people about ones that die. He tells them that they will live forever like the angels. What is Satan? A fallen angel.

When God created all living things in the days of Creation, he created them living creatures. A part of Him was put in them, to make them work, without the starting up by the creator the creatures would have never run. So to destroy them would be like destroying a part of him. So instead God has made a confinement for Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41)

The next question can be asked. “Why Does God Not Confine Satan Now Then?”

If Satan was confined now how much of a better place would it be?

Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Our mind and actions ourselves are keeping us from God, not Satan. If someone lands in hell it is not because of Satan, Satan has no role in that. Ones landing in hell is based solely on his/her decision on what he or she does with Christ -- The Saviour. (John 3:18)

Satan is tempting people as he has done sense the beginning. But we need to get a grasp on man’s free will. God is not making man listen to Satan, He is not making man ignore Satan. Ones that get in heaven will be able to fully thank God for His grace and love, and know they are there because they didn’t want to be in hell and that they’re there only because of what Christ did at Calvary.

Satan can cause problems, yes that is true, but every problem God provides a way out of if man is willing. He was in control when Job was tempted. He allowed David to make a decision when he was tempted. If a Christian sins, he or she is put out of the assembly, not to be harmed by Satan, but in an attempt to show them that the ways of the prince of this world and the ways of sin are not good.

God has given mankind enough time to repent of their sins. No one will be able to go before God and say. “I never got saved cause Satan tempted me too much!” No not at all, man has his own free will, and the attacks of Satan are never too strong that a person can’t get to Christ. For Christ is the all powerful one. Satan will have his time to reign on this earth during the years of the tribulation. But this will be after many many years of God calling to people to repent. Everything in this world has a time to come to an end, the wicked for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4) and earth itself (2 Peter 3:10). If not saved when the time of your life comes to an end which could be at any moment will you be ready? God tells us, “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Trust Christ today.

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