Satanology--Part 3

There are only nineteen direct references to Satan in the Old Testament Scriptures, and fourteen of them are found in Job 1 and 2, leaving only five in the remainder of the Old Testament (I Chr. 21:1; Ps. 109:6; Zech. 3:1, 2). This has been explained on the principle that where lights are brightest, shadows are darkest. Therefore, the complete revelation of God to man is necessary to show us the deepest depths of evil.

Satan came fully into view in the book of Job, one of the ancient books of the Old Testament. God asked Satan where he came from; and he replied, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (Job 1:7 NASB). God told Satan that Job was an upright man, one who feared God and turned away from evil. God asked Satan if he had considered his servant Job who is blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil (Job 1:8). Satan’s estimation of Job was altogether different: “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (v. 9 NASB). He estimated that Job’s character was superficial. He reasoned that if his outward circumstances were different, Job would be different; that underneath his garb of goodness lay impiety, which a change in circumstances would bring to light. Job designated himself as insignificant (Job 40:4) and of unclean lips. However, Job’s estimation of himself was not God’s estimation: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1 NASB).

The true character of Satan is manifested in the book of Job:

1. He has personal existence (Job 1:6, 7, 8, 9, 12; 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7). The personality of his existence is declared elsewhere in Scripture (Matt. 4:3; John 8:44; Acts 26:18; Eph. 6:12; I Thess. 3:5; II Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 12:10).

2. Satan is an intruder into the sacred: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6 NASB).

3. Satan is a vagrant, “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (Job 1:7 NASB). Since Satan is both zealous and homeless, he is zealous to live in the hearts of men through the agency of demons.

4. Satan is a slanderer of men to God and of God to men. His statement concerning Job is an illustration of the former: “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9 NASB). His encounter with Eve is an illustration of the latter: “Indeed, has God said…” (Gen. 3:1 NASB).

5. Satan is subject to God’s will: “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him” (Job 1:12 NASB). God drew the line for the Devil’s mistreatment of Job. Satan can do only what God allows.

The word of God names Satan as the originator of deception. He is the great impersonator. He impersonates God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the message of God, and God-called preachers. People in general want something academic or philosophical, but God in His providence has subjected us to what Scripture says not only about the great deceiver himself but also about some of his deceptions. Therefore, the more one knows what the Bible says about the chief deceiver, the easier he can detect the deceptions. The chief deceiver is called by various names: dragon, serpent, Devil, Satan, Apollyon, prince of this world, prince of the power of the air, god of this world, evil one, Beelzebub, etc. As an accuser, Satan is opposed to Jesus Christ as the great high Priest. As the liar, he is a liar from the beginning and the father of lies (John 8:44). As the false prophet, he is opposed to Christ as the true Prophet. As the usurper, he is opposed to Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Satan is now the god of this evil system: “…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (I John 5:19). He is the god of this age (Eph. 2:1-3). Satan deceives the whole evil world system. Jesus Christ spoke of him as the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11 NASB). The whole world that Satan deceives to destruction does not include every person in the world, but it does include the whole evil world system. Christians are in the world, but we are not of it. We have been saved out of it; therefore, we have nothing in common with it.

It has been said that no human hand would have drawn aside the veil to manifest such a skeleton hidden in the closet, especially since Satan’s manifestation dishonors God. Nevertheless, the Bible speaks of “the deep things of Satan,” a title that describes the character of such depths or mysteries (Rev. 2:24 NASB). As God has His mysteries, Satan has his depths. The depths of Satan differ from the depths of God. Satan seeks to conceal his mysteries, but God reveals His mysteries to His own by the Holy Spirit of regeneration. The interpretations of Biblical mysteries are always shorter than the mysteries themselves. For example, Nebuchadnezzar’s vision was a manifestation of himself in a mystery, but Daniel’s interpretation of it was short and to the point (Dan. 2:1-35; 4:4-25). On the other hand, the depths of Satan are short, but the interpretation is long. The teachings that John called “the deep things of Satan” in Revelation 2:24 (NASB) appear within the context of the conceits of sophisters of religion that differed “from the simplicity [haplotes—sincerity, liberality, or single-hearted devotion] and purity of devotion to Christ” (II Cor. 11:3 NASB).

Satan is the deceiver of deceivers, the cheater of cheaters, and the deluder of deluders. He entered the realm of human history for the purpose of deceiving. Eve was deceived by Satan’s subtlety. Three poison darts produced the deadly wound in Eve’s fall: Satan seduced her flesh to lust, her eyes to long for the forbidden, and her pride to covet what she saw (I John 2:15-17). The forbidden fruit was first exhibited as good for food, then as pleasant to the eyes, and then as desirable to make one wise if eaten. Satan was the first commentator unwilling to take God’s words as they stand, and Eve should have been on guard. She failed to consult her husband and leaned to her own discretion. Eve was the one deceived. Adam deliberately partook of the fruit, knowing the consequences. Satan proposed only a slight change. He added the negative word “not.” The amendment was accepted, and mankind was lost. Eve fell; Adam fell; and we all fell in Adam. Satan repeats that kind of commentary with every generation. He induced one foolish woman to accept his eisegesis. Now, he has theological professors throughout the world following his example. They are false teachers. Error knows no end.

Unregenerate men in this evil age endlessly wander farther and farther from the truth of Holy Scripture. However, the root of all this evil is the great deceiver himself, Satan. As God uses regenerate men for the conversion of others, Satan uses unregenerate men to deceive others. However, Satan cannot deceive the elect of God to their eternal destruction (Matt. 24:24). As Christians delight in converting others, wicked men delight in perverting others: “and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32 NASB). Where grace does not intervene, sin begets sin, blood touches blood, and murder begets murder (Hos. 4:1-11). Hosea described a time in history when converting agencies were restrained. The time will also come when restraints will be attempted on God’s men.

Self-will is in all unregenerate people, because Satan is the god of the evil world system made up of those who are strangers of grace (Eph. 2:1-3). The arrangement of the world is based on complete independence of God. Left to themselves, all men are unwilling to come to Christ because they are hostile toward God. Self-will makes men unreasonable and teaches them to turn the mirror to see themselves independent of all others. Therefore, every man does what is right in his own eyes. However, the sovereign God overrules the natural self-will of the elect and makes them willing in the day of His power. Although self-will reigns in the unregenerate, it does not reign in the regenerate.

Trying to explain away the evil one so long as the world is undeniably filled with evil ones is futile. This is the question that demands an answer: where is the seed from which so many evil ones have sprung? Where did the evil spirit come from that tempts, seduces, deceives, and prompts to rebellion? The mystery is as inexplicable as it is dreadful if man remains ignorant of a spiritual world beneath him and one above him. However, to learn that man’s transgression does not have the same consequence that was preceded by the original transgressor gives man hope in spite of his transgression.

What is the difference between the transgression of Satan and the transgression of man? Since Satan is a pure spirit being, his fall was one from which he could never rise. There is no redemption for Satan or the fallen angels, because there was no provision in grace for Satan’s transgression. Satan’s sin was self-originated; therefore, there is no hope of his recovery. On the other hand, man’s sin was not self-originated; therefore, he did not become a satan. Man was not made a pure spirit being. Since there was no representative responsibility with the spirit beings, God did not spare the angels that fell with Lucifer. (Read II Peter 2.) However, there was a representative responsibility with Adam. We sinned and fell in Adam, but God chose to save some from among mankind.

The last direct reference in the Old Testament to the chief deceiver is Zechariah 3:1-10. Zechariah described Joshua’s ministry in defense. Joshua ministered not in the priest’s robes but in filthy garments. If as Christians we do our duty, Satan is at our right hand to hinder us. When we do not do our duty, Satan is there to accuse us. Joshua did not plead his own cause. He answered by his counsel. The Lord rebuked Satan (Zech. 3:2). While Satan is at our right hand accusing us, we also have Jesus Christ sitting at the Father’s right hand pleading our case. Therefore, there is no doubt as to who will win our case, because greater is He who is in us than he who is the god of this age.

Satan is to be feared by all people, both saved and unsaved. The Christian fears him, but he does not fear that Satan will destroy him, because he is between the hand of the sovereign God and the hand of the crucified Savior. Nevertheless, the Devil can do many destructive things through the Christian. When Peter rebuked Christ, the Lord said, “Begone, Satan!” (Matt. 4:10 NASB). Jesus Christ declared that Satan has no power over Him: “…the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30 NASB). About the conflict of the cross Christ said, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out” (John 12:31 NASB). Even in the days of Christ’s rejection, He is Lord of all. To Peter, He said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31 NASB). To Peter, James, and John, the Lord said, “Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38 NASB). Moses spoke unadvisedly; Job cursed the day of his birth; Elijah feared Jezebel; and Peter renounced his Lord. Since there is a blemish in every duty we perform and a mixture in every character, our fearing Satan in the following ways is expedient:

1. We are to fear Satan as a lion (I Pet. 5:8). Peter was addressing the chosen of God (I Pet. 1:1; II Pet. 1:1), admonishing us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure. The first Epistle by Peter is filled with practical application of the Christian life. Having cast all our care on Christ, we are commanded to be self-controlled and alert because our adversary, the Devil, is walking about as a lion seeking who to devour.

2. Satan is to be feared more as a serpent: “I wish you would be patient with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are being patient with me. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a pure virgin to Christ; but I fear lest by any means, as the snake deceived Eve in his cleverness, that your minds should be seduced from the sincerity and purity of Christ. For indeed the one coming proclaims another Jesus whom we did not proclaim, or if you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or another gospel which you did not receive, you tolerate well with him” (II Cor. 11:1-4—translation). Paul went from expressing his godly jealousy for the Corinthians, who he gave in marriage to Christ, to his expression of fear lest they had been deceived through the cleverness of Satan. Paul’s great concern was the seduction of the minds of the Corinthians from single-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ. Satan’s cleverness as a snake is to be dreaded, because he knows more about our weaknesses than we do. We cannot meet him on his own terms; therefore, there is no alternative to putting on the whole armor of God.

3. We are to fear Satan most of all for fashioning himself as a minister of light (II Cor. 11:14). He does his most dastardly work through false teachers/preachers and apostles. (There are no apostles today. In order to be an apostle, one must have seen Jesus Christ in Person—Acts 1:22 and I Cor. 9:1.) Satan takes the form of an angel of light; otherwise, he could not deceive people. Consider those Satan used who are spoken of as being beautiful, strong, mighty, etc. (Study II Cor. 11:13-15.) He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). Satan is not at war with culture or prosperity. He wants to use people who are prosperous. His desire is for the glory of civilization to be satisfied with his reign. He fosters the religious spirit. Apart from religion, he knows he cannot attain his highest goal—the worship of himself. He is preparing the way for the Antichrist. Satan is willing to give many things that Christianity itself confers, minus devotion to the true and living God. He is an artist. He knows the value of truth; therefore, he stresses some things that are good until they eclipse the things that are bad. He is a liar (John 8:44).

The informed Christian is realistic. He is concerned for what is real or actual. Realism must be distinguished from the speculative, conjectural, or abstract. Some are optimistic when there is no basis for their optimism. An application of this is the deplorable state of Jerusalem and Israel’s refusal to trust the Lord during Zephaniah’s time of prophesying (Zeph. 3:1-8). Where some people are optimistic without basis, others are pessimistic, because they cannot see beyond the horizontal world system that naturally tends to evil. There is no book more pessimistic and optimistic than the Bible. Vast opposites are presented in the Bible—heaven and hell, light and darkness, truth and error, love and hate, etc. By God’s grace, we are both pessimistic and optimistic.

Christians thank God for grace that enables us to be realistic. We are not pessimistic, because we see the defeat and passing away of horizontal evil by the vertical power of the sovereign God of the universe. We do not optimize that the world system is becoming a better place in which to live, because we know “evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (II Tim. 3:13 NASB). We can expect nothing else, since the course of this world is governed by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). Let us lay aside our academic philosophical niceties and face the realism portrayed in God’s word.