1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers in the world is undergoing the same sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Introduction
There is an old country song titled, "Devil Went Down to Georgia." In that song the devil travels to Georgia to capture a soul, and he ends up trying to win a guy's soul through a fiddle-playing competition. The guy ends up out-fiddling the devil, and Satan loses. In case you don't already know, that is actually not really the method we are given in Scripture for spiritual warfare. But what a lot of people do not know is that some of the most common ideas in the church about how to fight against Satan and demons are just as fictional as that song. There are numerous passages in Scripture that instruct us on how to carry out spiritual warfare, and today's text in 1 Peter is one of them. We have been studying verse by verse through the book of 1 Peter and we have arrived at the final two paragraphs of the letter.
The Enemy
Before signing off, Peter wants to give us a very important warning about a very real threat. That threat is described right there in verse 8 - your enemy the devil. We need to be on our guard against him because he is like a lion. So there are a few things we need to know. First, in what way is he like a lion? What, exactly, is the threat? What is Satan capable of doing to us?
And second, what does it look like to be on guard against him and to resist him? What is our method for fighting against an invisible, non-physical enemy? These are very important questions, because there is a great deal of confusion about what Satan is capable of, and how we go about doing battle with him. So let’s start with the first question - who is the devil, and what kinds of things does he do that threaten us?
Who Is the Devil?
A Person
First, understand that the devil is a person, not just some vague force out there or an abstract principle of evil. He has thoughts, he makes decisions, he has emotions. He develops strategies. He communicates with God. He uses logic and reason. He quotes Scripture. He tells lies. And someday he will be punished for his evil.
Powerful
So the devil is a person - but he is not human. He is a spirit. And he is immensely powerful, and extremely active in your life. I have heard preachers say that it is silly to think that you are being attacked by the devil, because he is not omnipresent so he cannot get around to everyone. But Peter says you do need to fight against the devil. It is true that Satan is not omnipresent. However he does command an army of demons who carry out his wishes. When the Allied forces fought against Hitler, how did they do it? By fighting against Hitler’s entire army. It is the same with fighting Satan - you have to deal with his army of demons. But he is the commander of those demons, so when we resist the demons we are fighting against Satan's purposes.
So it is not silly to think you are being attacked by the devil – it is biblical. According to Ephesians 4:27, every time you continue in unrepentant sin you are giving the devil a place in your life. According to 1 Corinthians 7:5, whenever a man or woman is tempted with lust because of a lack of fulfillment within the marriage, it is the devil who is at work. According to 2 Corinthians 11:2, when someone in a church will not forgive or holds a grudge, it is because the devil outwitted that person. And almost an entire chapter in Ephesians 6 is devoted to teaching every single Christian how to engage in war against the devil every day. Through his army of demons, the devil has his tentacles everywhere. Scripture calls him the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph.2:2), the god of this age (2 Co.4:4) and the ruler of this world (Jn.12:31).
1 John 5:19 the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
You can go into kings’ palaces, and you will find him there. You will find him in the workplace, the playground, the battlefield, the classroom - even in your home. Even in your prayer closet, he is there and he is on the attack. When a missionary penetrates to the interior jungles of some unknown people group, he finds that the devil arrived there long before him. There is no geographical way to escape him. His armies are everywhere.
And he is incredibly powerful. That is why Peter calls him a roaring lion. I actually had a lion roar at me once. I was at a zoo and someone took a picture of this big, male, African lion, and the flash irritated the lion. He put his ears back, and growled, and charged at the crowd and let out a roar that made dozens of people scream. And every one of us, including me, jumped back (even though there was glass between us and the lion). It was so scary, my heart was pounding, even though I was in no danger. Take the glass out of the picture and you have got what Peter is describing here. A roaring lion points to aggression and fierceness and overwhelming strength.
Vicious
And it also points to viciousness. Satan is not just powerful; he wants to use all that power to destroy you. Peter does not say the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may scratch... or bite - or even maul. He is seeking whom he may devour. It is the word “swallow” - the same word used to describe what the fish did to Jonah. Except when a lion swallows you, you are not still alive inside his stomach. He rips you apart first. It is a very graphic way to say that the devil wants to utterly destroy you.
Satan hates God and his goal in life is to ruin whatever God does. And God loves you and is doing a great work in saving you, and so Satan will do everything he can to spoil that. When you look at the human heart at its ugliest - Satan is worse than that.
What Does He Do?
Searches for Someone Off Guard
Peter says he is prowling around, seeking whom he may devour. Just like he was doing back in Job's day.
Job 1:7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."
He has to prowl around to find someone to devour because not everyone can be devoured. He already has unbelievers, but when it comes to believers, the only ones he can devour are the ones who are not keeping watch. And so Peter warns us - keep watch or be lunch.
Attacks with Suffering
So how does the devil devour a person? How does he destroy a Christian? A lot of ways. There are all kinds of methods Satan uses, but the one particular method Peter seems to have in mind in this context is suffering.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Peter has been talking about suffering all along, and he still has that in mind. Satan has a lot of ways he attacks you, and one of them is through suffering.
Revelation 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
The devil can arrange for you to be thrown into prison and suffer in all kinds of ways. He is the mastermind behind persecution. Satan is the one who orchestrates so much of the mistreatment and injustice that you suffer. The devil does all that to attack you.
He can also harm your body. In Luke 13, the devil made a woman crippled for 18 years. In Hebrews 2:14, it says Satan holds the power of death. Satan killed all of Job's children.
Suffering is a Tool, not the Goal
So Satan attacks us through suffering. Now - please do not misunderstand that. It is not that Satan’s goal is to make you feel pain. That is not his objective. In fact, very often Satan goes out of his way to make sure you feel pleasure. Sometimes he uses pleasure as his tool; other times pain; other times deception - lots of different tools he uses. But when he uses the tool of suffering, the goal is not just to make you suffer. The goal is to destroy you. Suffering cannot do that.
What can? Sin. Satan’s goal is to get you to sin. And suffering is just one of many tools he will use to accomplish that. If he can do that through pleasure, he is more than willing to give you pleasure. But very often he tries to do it through suffering. He brings suffering into your life and tempts you to respond to that suffering in a sinful way.
The reason it is so important to understand that, is because so often people think the suffering IS the attack, and so the more I suffer the more Satan wins. And therefore victory for me would be for the suffering to end. Something goes wrong - they get sick, car breaks down, pipes burst and flood the basement - and they say, “Satan is attacking me.” And their solution is to find relief from all the suffering. Once the suffering is over, they think the attack is over.
What Does it Look Like to Win?
That is dead wrong. Winning this battle is not an issue of elimination of difficulty.
Revelation 2:10 ...Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown.
How is their suffering resolved? They die! Satan throws you in prison unjustly, causes people to persecute you, and as a result you are killed, and God says, “Guess what? You just won.” Did you know you can be killed by the devil and win the battle? Winning does not necessarily mean you survive physically. The trial can go all the way to the point of you being killed. Winning or losing has to do not with whether you suffer or die, but how you suffer or die.
Satan’s goal is not for you to suffer; his goal is for you to sin. If you suffer and suffer and suffer and finally die from your suffering, but you keep trusting in God the whole time rather than responding in sinful ways, you win and Satan loses. Satan knows the best way to strike a blow at God is to get one of God's own children to turn against Him. What was Satan trying to accomplish with Job?
Job 1:11 strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
The goal was not just to make Job uncomfortable. It was to destroy Job by getting him to curse God.
Are Trials from God or Satan?
When people get confused and start thinking of suffering as the issue in spiritual warfare, they do not know what to do with passages that talk about suffering coming from God. They ask questions like, “How do I know if this particular suffering is from God or the devil?” Even in this section of Peter - just go back to the last few verses of chapter 4. In 1 Peter 4:17, Peter refers to their suffering as judgment from God beginning with God’s own household.
You see, it is not that some suffering comes from the devil to entice you to sin and other suffering comes from God to test and build your faith. All suffering is both. Who was the author of Job’s suffering? Scripture is clear - it was carried out by Satan, but it ultimately came from God (Job 42:11). All suffering comes from God.
Amos 3:6 When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
When you suffer, don’t ask, “Is this from God or Satan?” Ask, “What is God up to in this suffering and what is Satan up to? I need to understand what God desires to accomplish with it, so I can cooperate with that. And I need to understand what Satan is trying to accomplish so I can resist that.” The goal is not to end the suffering. The goal is to make sure the suffering produces what God desires rather than what Satan desires.
Real Danger
Is that even possible? Is it possible for Satan to devour a Christian? Aren't we protected? We are protected. The doctrine of our security in Christ is a wonderful and very important doctrine. We need to understand that doctrine in order to keep from becoming discouraged or disheartened or overwhelmed. But I think many people have twisted that doctrine into a fantasy that we are somehow untouchable. We can wander around the battlefield in a daze, and we are in no real danger. They think the Christian life is like a ride at Disneyland or something, where the monsters are plastic and they cannot really get to you. Nothing could be farther from the spirit of the New Testament.
There is a reason we have constant warnings all through the New Testament - “Watch out!’ “Be on your guard.” “Be careful.” “Be alert.” “Flee.”
God supplies protection, but the protection is not absolute - nor is it automatic. If the armor would automatically protect you just because you are a Christian, there would be no command to put it on. In Ephesians 6 we are told to put on armor. If you were on a ride alone with a police officer, and you were about to enter a building with him, and he hands you a bullet proof vest and says, "Here, put this on - you'll need it" - do you think that would get your attention? That is what Ephesians 6 is telling us with the spiritual armor. The only difference is the threat is a lot more serious than just bullets. If the mafia were after you, you would take that seriously, right? Wouldn’t you take some drastic measures to insure your safety if you knew some major crime family had put a price on your head? Our enemy is far more powerful than any crime boss, far more vicious, far more evil, and far more experienced in getting to people like you and me. If your concept of God's protection is such that you do not feel any need to be alert and on guard, your understanding of His protection is not only wrong, but dangerous. Peter is talking about being devoured here. It is a matter of spiritual life and death.
Satan's Can Only Destroy You if You Cooperate
"So if the devil is so powerful, why am I still held responsible for my sin? Isn't it the devil's fault?"
Very often people try to absolve themselves - or at least reduce their guilt a little bit, by pointing the finger at Satan - just like Eve did in the garden. Did that work for Eve? No. God didn't buy that as an excuse. Why not? Because, with all the power Satan has to harm you physically, do you want to know what he can do to you spiritually? Nothing. He does not have the power to harm you the slightest bit spiritually. The only way Satan can destroy you, or do any harm to you at all spiritually, is by convincing you to voluntarily harm yourself. He cannot make you sin. He cannot make you do anything. He can put thoughts into your head, but he cannot force you to entertain those thoughts. You have the power to turn away from them and think about those things in biblical ways instead of sinful ways.
"So if he has no power to harm me spiritually, why is it so important for me to keep watch and be alert and vigilant and on my guard?"
Because we have so much inclination toward sin in our hearts that all Satan has to do is put out a little, tiny bit of the right bait and we will chomp down on it with all our might. And then he just reels us in. That is why it is so crucial that we spot bait for what it is - bait, that is on a deadly hook.
The Warfare
So that is a quick rundown on the enemy we are up against. If you want a more thorough study of the devil, I have that in the appendix to the sermon notes. But the main point of this passage is not the enemy – it is our resistance against the enemy. That is the command in verse 9 - resist him. How do you do that? This is a foe who is orders of magnitude more powerful than any of us. If we fight him with the wrong weapons it is so easy for him to defeat us, it is like sifting wheat. He does not even break a sweat - even with a headstrong powerhouse like Peter. It is an absolute cake walk for Satan to defeat any of us - if we use the wrong weapons. And there are a lot of books and teachings out there promoting the wrong weapons. Satan works hard at making sure we are confused about what tactics will really work against him. He wants to trick us into firing blanks. And the primary way he has always done that is to make people think the key is in formulas or incantations or rituals.
Wrong Ways
Binding
You see that in pagan religion, but you also see it in Christian circles. People think spiritual warfare is mainly an issue of formulas - saying the right words. You are supposed to discover the demon's name, or find out which territory he is over, or which sin that demon is connected to (a demon of lust or a demon of anger or whatever. I read of one guy who managed to cast out a demon of traffic and reduced traffic in Los Angeles for two weeks). Then it's just a matter of saying things like, "Satan I rebuke you. I bind you. I cast you out." And to make it sound Christian, they will invoke Jesus' name. "In the name of Jesus Christ I bind you."
The Bible never commands us to bind the devil or demons. And it is ludicrous to think that we could. Jesus said that the fact that he could bind Satan was proof that he was God (Mt.12:29). The only one who can bind Satan is God. The sons of Sceva tried to cast out a demon in Jesus' name and the demon beat them up (Acts 19:13). We do not have the power to bind Satan or demons.
"But doesn't the Bible command us to cast out demons?"
No, it does not. Jesus did give that ability to the Apostles, along with numerous other miraculous abilities.
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.
Jesus gave them the ability to do all kinds of miracles to prove they were His spokesmen, because they would be the ones to write the New Testament Scriptures. But make no mistake, casting out demons is in the category of miracles - just like healing leprosy or raising the dead. Why do you suppose it is that so many people claim to have the power to bind the devil but not the power to raise the dead? They are really strong against demons, but somehow struggle when it comes to raising the dead. Why is that? It is because binding the devil is not verifiable. If you try to raise someone from the dead and fail, everybody can see that it failed. But when you bind the devil, they just say, "I bind you, Devil," and then you ask them, "Did it work?"
"Yep! He's bound – hogtied tight as can be. He can't move a muscle."
How do you know if that is true? It is such an easy claim to make, because it cannot be verified or falsified. If they really have the power to do that at will, why not just keep him bound? Why keep letting him go?
Trying to carry out spiritual warfare through formulas and saying the right phrases is superstition. That is not the method Scripture gives us. Demons might pretend to be defeated by it, so we keep thinking that's the way to fight, but it carries no actual power. So what method does have real power? What is the right way to go about fighting this war?
Keep Watch
Step one is to keep watch.
8 Be alert and of sober mind.
That is the first thing Peter says. Spiritual alertness. You have to see him coming. If he sneaks up on you, you are done. When a lion is trying to sneak up on some antelope or something, if they spot him before he gets close, he just stands up and walks away because he knows he has no chance at that point. But if he can catch them when they are not paying attention, they become lunch.
Take the Danger Seriously
The point here is to take the threat seriously. Cast all your anxieties on Him does not mean we become carefree. There is such a thing as good anxiety. If you encounter a vicious wild animal that is about to attack, you should feel a certain amount of stress at that moment so that you will be motivated to run. Our problem is we tend to be so overburdened with the wrong kind of anxiety that we fail to have any room for the good kind of anxiety. We spend so much effort stressing about possible dangers we cannot do anything about, that we fail to take precaution against real dangers that we can do something about. We worry about suffering, but not about sin. We fret about discomfort or trouble or the loss of earthy things, but we are oblivious to threats to our spiritual treasures. Peter starts out with this because he knows that if you wait until he pounces before you try to resist, you will lose every time.
Devil Went Down to Denver
This is not a game. It is a real war with real casualties. Not all of us are going to make it. Satan devours people like you and me routinely. The devil did not just go down to Georgia. He also went down to Denver, and you are going to meet up with him before you go to bed tonight. I recently saw a trailer for a movie that was about situation where one day a year all laws were suspended. Any crime was permitted on that day - murder, rape - anything. And in the preview they show this family locking down the house with bars and steel doors - all nervous and scared. And they can see all the mayhem outside on their security cameras. People are being beaten to death in the streets - all kinds of horrors. And the family is terrified at the thought that these criminals might get past the defenses inside the house. Outside the perimeter of your defenses there is a more vicious and dangerous bunch than that. And God wants us to be very, very concerned about it.
Peter's Experience
Peter is speaking here from personal experience. This word translated alert means to keep watch. It is the same word Jesus used when He told Peter and the others to keep watch the night before the crucifixion.
Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Jesus warned Peter to keep watch. Keep watch for what? The Devil.
Luke 22:31 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.
Peter lost that battle, in large part because he was not alert. He thought he was safe because of his resolve.
Schemes, Not Events
We must be alert - but alert to what? What events in life should we interpret as satanic attacks? The answer is this - The issue is not events; it is schemes.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
Events are not inherently good or evil. The events that take place in your life are sent by God for His purposes, and they are also being used by Satan as part of his schemes. First and foremost our opponent is a strategist. He can only destroy you by convincing you to step into traps. And that takes a lot of scheming. He has to figure out which times of day you are susceptible to certain temptations. He has to pay attention to which truths about God you do not understand very well, or which principles in Scripture you have a hard time believing. He has to figure out which kinds of circumstances will push you into sin. For some of us, it is loss of money - some expensive thing getting ruined. For others it is being treated a poorly. For others, it is hardship at work. We are all different, and so he has to scheme and plan and orchestrate things to get us to voluntarily sin against God. And part of being alert means learning what those schemes are so you can see them coming.
Satan tried one of those schemes in his effort to get Paul to hold a grudge once, but it did not work because Paul was alert.
2 Corinthians 2:10 ...I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Trust
So strategy #1 in fighting this war is to be alert to Satan's tactics in your life. Strategy #2 is in v.9.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith
The most important key to victory against Satan and demons is faith - trusting what God has said. Remember - Satan does not win just because he made you suffer. He does not win until you doubt God. That is why he roars. The purpose of roaring is intimidation. Lions roar when they want to scare you. Satan uses suffering to bear his teeth and frighten you. He wants to get you so afraid of the wind and the waves that you do like Peter and look away from Jesus at the storm. But he knows that will never happen as long as you are trusting God.
According to Ephesians 6:16, faith functions like a shield. Nothing Satan shoots at you can do you any harm as long as you are behind the shield of faith. He will not be able to convince you to sin against God as long as you are trusting that God's way is best. And so Satan’s goal is to get your faith to wobble and bend and then crumble and fail altogether. So the fight is not against the suffering, it is against the temptation to waiver in your faith. We resist by standing firm in faith. Faith in what? In God, and in what God has said in His Word.
Whenever you suffer, turn to the truth of Scripture, and you put your full confidence in what it says. Do not think about the suffering from your own, natural analysis. Do not interpret what is happening to you by how you feel or the way things seem. Do not respond to that suffering in the way the world responds, or the way your flesh would naturally want to respond. Base all of your thinking and analysis and response on what the Bible says.
Satan tries to tell you that God is doing something wrong by allowing this suffering, the Bible says God only does good things, so you believe the Bible and reject Satan’s ideas. Satan tries to tell you that God is mostly irritated with you and you are suffering because He has abandoned you, but Scripture says if anyone repents of his sins God forgives and bestows His favor on that person. So you believe that. Satan tries to tell you that this trial is more than you can handle, and you might as well just give up now, or run to some worldly comfort instead of waiting for God. But the Bible says you will never be given suffering that is beyond what you can handle. God will always supply enough grace to handle it, and so you can remain faithful. Satan tries to tell you that you cannot be happy until this suffering goes away. But the Bible promises fullness of joy even in the midst of suffering, because joy has nothing to do with whether or not you are suffering. Joy is a function of whether God’s face is turned toward you or not. If His face is turned to you, you will be full of joy even if you are suffering. And if His face is turned away you will not be happy, even if your suffering ends and everything is going your way. If you truly believe that, your life will be holy and righteous, but if you waiver in your belief of those things, you will walk right into sin. That is Satan’s goal. That is what he is trying to accomplish with all the suffering he causes in your life. His main concern is not just to inflict pain. What he wants is to weaken your faith in what God has said. So you resist not by incantations or binding him or casting him away or saying any certain words or formulas; you resist him by unwavering trust in what God’s Word says.
Know (You Are Not Alone, and It Is God’s Plan)
So, how do we carry on spiritual warfare when Satan uses his suffering strategy? First, we stay alert so we see it coming. Then when it comes, we fight it by trusting what God has said. And then one more important instruction Peter has for us. Not only watching and trusting, but thirdly, knowing.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing that your brothers in the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
How does that help? Is this just the idea that misery loves company? If I have to suffer, I feel better if I know at least you are suffering too? No – that is depraved. Knowledge of someone else's suffering only makes you happy if you hate that person. If you love someone, then knowing that they are suffering should cause you sadness.
You Are Not Alone
The point is not that you are glad others are also suffering. The point is simply to let you know you are not alone. One of Satan's most common tactics is to make you feel like you are different from everyone else. Others do not struggle like you do. You are a special case. You are not normal. Something is wrong with you. Peter says, "No, no, no - you're just like all the rest of us. Christians all over the world face the same kind of attacks that you are facing. There's nothing out of the ordinary going on." This is a lot like what he said back in 4:12, Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. When you think you are all alone and different from the rest of the saints, Satan can intimidate you. He can easily discourage you. And so Peter wants us to understand, "You are not a special case. There are no special cases. God never allows special cases."
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man
You have solidarity with the rest of the body of Christ. We are all suffering - not the exact same way you are, but definitely the same kinds of sufferings, at the hand of the exact same enemy, and for the exact same reasons. This is all part of God's plan for His people - which brings us to the next point.
Suffering Accomplishing God’s Will
When we talk about fighting Satan's attacks through knowing - there are two things you need to know. One is that your brothers and sisters all around the world are going through the same ordeal. And the other is that that ordeal is God's perfect plan for us to accomplish His good purposes. Notice that word undergoing in verse 9.
9 ... knowing that your brothers in the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
That word undergoing (your Bible might say being experienced) - literally it means to be accomplished or completed. The sufferings are not just being experienced, they are being completed. That is an unusual word to say it. Peter is pointing us to the purposefulness of the trials from God's perspective. God is accomplishing something in them, and so when they happen, God's work is being done.
I once heard a preacher joking about Calvinists who emphasize the sovereign control over all things, and he said they are the types who might trip and fall down the stairs and get to the bottom and say, "Whew, I'm glad that's over with." If it happened, that means it was ordained to happen, and so it was inevitable, and now he is just glad it is out of the way. That is actually not far from what Peter is saying here. The suffering is something that needs to happen to accomplish God's purposes.
Accomplishment, Not Relief
When you suffer, do not set your hope on relief. Set your hope on accomplishment. Do not think of the goal as just getting the suffering to stop. Think of the goal as having the suffering achieve its purpose. If a woman is in agony while giving birth, if they gave her some drug that would stop the contractions so the pain would be gone and she would be comfortable, but the baby is still inside her – that is not what she wants. Would she like the pain to stop? Of course - but not if it means the baby doesn't get born. She wants the pain to end because it accomplishes its purpose - the birth of the baby. That is the way we should view all our trials. Not just, "God, heal me of this migraine." But, "God, let this migraine achieve its purpose!"
When you know that this attack from Satan is the same sort of thing that happens to all believers in one form or another – you are not alone; you are not a special case; and when you realize that even the onslaught from the devil is accomplishing God's purposes in your life (even though you do not even know what those purposes could possibly be), that knowledge will enable you to defeat the devil.
Remember, he is trying to get you to sin. And one way he does that is by fooling us into thinking the suffering is the issue, rather than holiness, so our highest goal is relief - even to the point where we will sin to get relief. Getting a sinful divorce to get out of a hard marriage. Getting someone to stop hurting you by lashing out in retaliation. Or maybe you deal with the pain by running to some sinful distraction, like sexual sin or over-eating or over-sleeping, or alcohol or drugs or unwholesome movies or TV. Satan wants you to try to escape the suffering by sinning. Then he wins. But if you know this suffering is not out of the ordinary, and it is accomplishing God's purposes, and it is all within His plan to do you good - the temptation to escape through sin loses its power. Especially when you combine that with alertness - you know exactly what Satan is up to. And faith – you are trusting God's promises and you really do believe that His way will bring more joy than this sin will bring. Put all that together, and you have a winning strategy.
But there is one problem - weakness. We are so weak. We fully intend to do all these things, but what if we are not able? What if we are just too weak? Or too dumb? Or what if our upbringing put us at a terrible disadvantage? Or what if we have some out of control hormones? Or some habits that have us locked in their grip? What if we just do not have the power we need? The answer to that is in verse 10. Verse 8 shows us the enemy. Verse 9 describes the warfare. But then verse 10 tells us about our Ally in this war. All the power we need will come from our Ally.
The Ally
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
You have an Ally who has promised to make you strong, firm, steadfast, and immovable in this war. "Well, what is He waiting for? Why hasn't He already done that?"
He has, in large measure, but not in absolute terms in this life. And I will explain what I mean by all that next time. But for now, just remember that you have Someone on your side in this war. God did not just plop you down on the battlefield and say, "Good luck." God has a vested interest in you winning. Think deeply about that as we close. When Satan tries to draw you into sin, God has a vested interest in seeing to it that you win that battle. The God of all grace is your Ally, which means you will always have access to as much strength as you need to be victorious.
Benediction: 1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
1:25 Questions
1) What are some of Satan's strategies in times of suffering that seem to work especially well against you? What could you do to be more alert to seeing those coming?
2) In the areas where you frequently fail, what truth or promise from God's Word would be helpful to trust in when those battles come?
3) What kinds of sufferings are the most difficult for you to remember are accomplishing God's purposes?
4) Briefly describe a recent example of when Satan attacked with suffering, and by God's grace you won the victory.
Appendix
Satan is the ruler of all the demons. In Matthew 9:34 and again in 12:24, Satan is called the ruler (same word) of the demons, and Jesus confirms that that is Satan.
Who is the Devil?
1. He is a person.
A lot of people do not believe in a personal devil. They say the references to him are really just references to a personification of the concept of evil. But to say that is to pretty much just ignore the way the Bible presents Satan. He is a person. He spoke with God in Job 1, He spoke with Jesus in Matthew 4; he has power and does things. He transported Jesus up on to a mountain and onto the top of the Temple, and after the Millennium he will be punished by God. What could it possibly mean for the Bible to say God will punish a concept? He is a person, and he is referred to by name (either Satan or the Devil) about 70 times in Scripture.
The word “satan” is just the normal Hebrew word for adversary or opponent or enemy. Any time you see the word “satan” in the Old Testament, the most natural interpretation is that it is a human enemy – except for two passages. The first is the first two chapters of Job, where it says the enemy was in heaven speaking with God about Job. The fact that he goes from roaming the earth to standing in heaven makes it clear that this enemy is clearly a spiritual being who has super-human abilities (he can make Job get a disease, bring calamity through the weather, etc.)
He has no other name. He is just called “the enemy” 14 times in those two chapters. So as you read the Bible, you already know there are evil spirits, but when you get to Job you discover there is one particular evil spirit who is called “the enemy.” The other passage is Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
The word actually appears four times in that passage:
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to satan him. (the Opponent was standing at his right side to oppose him, or the Enemy was standing at his right side to be an enemy to him) You get the feeling from the setting of the vision with the angel of the LORD that this is not just some random human enemy, but it is the Enemy that we saw in Job.
As a result of those passages, the Hebrew word for enemy (satan, !j'êF') becomes a personal name for our supreme spiritual enemy in the New Testament.
In the New Testament, even though they are writing in Greek, they don’t use the Greek word for enemy (antidikos) – they use the Hebrew word “satan” (36 times). He is also very often referred to as “the Devil.” The word “devil” (diabolos - dia,boloj) means “slanderer” Satan is very often called THE Devil. For example in Matthew 4:8-11, the devil took him to a very high mountain…10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan!…11 Then the devil left him
He is also called the Tempter (Mt.4:5; 1 Thes.3:5); Enemy (Mt.13:39); Evil One (Mt.13:19,38; 1 Jn.2:13-14; 3:12, 5:18); Beelzebub (Mt.12:24) and Belial (2 Cor.6:15) – both of those come from Old Testament names for demons; Adversary (antidikos), (1 Pe.5:8); Thief (Jn.10:10) Deceiver (Rev.12:9); Dragon (Rev.12:3); Father of Lies (Jn.8:44); Murderer (Jn.8:44); Sinner (1 Jn.3:8); Ruler of the Authority of the air (Eph.2:2), The god of this age (2 Co.4:4) and the ruler of this world (Jn.12:31).
He came to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn.10:10), and he is most likely the originator of evil. In 1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The beginning of what? He was not sinful when he was created, because everything God created was good when he created it, and was still good by day seven, when the entire creation was finished. So it was some time after that that Satan began sinning. So sinning from the beginning must mean sinning from the beginning of when there was sin, which would make the devil the first sinner.
His Authority
Satan is the big boss over all the demons and other spirit beings. In John 12:31, Jesus calls him the ruler of this world, and in 2 Corinthians 4:4, he is called The god of this age. When the Devil was tempting Jesus in the wilderness and he offered Jesus all the authority and glory of all the nations, that was a real offer. Those things are under his authority (otherwise it wouldn’t have been a temptation).
1 John 5:19 the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
God has given him authority in the spiritual realm and on this earth during this present age. He is in charge. He is permitted to do as he pleases, and is not hindered except by the Church (because we are the only ones in this world who are not under his authority and power).
What He Does
From what I can tell, Satan only has one objective: to oppose God. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13 about a farmer whose enemy comes and actually sows weed seeds throughout all his fields. If you have ever been around farmers much you understand that is not a prank. That is a big deal. If you mess with a farmer’s crop you are messing with his livelihood for that entire year. When the people heard that they would have gotten the point that this is a real enemy – a ruthless, dangerous one who really is out to do this guy in. Then in verse 39, Jesus says the enemy who sows [the weeds] is the devil. The devil’s goal is to ruin the work of God.
In Acts 13:10 Paul could tell that Elymas was a child of the devil because he was an enemy of everything that is right! That is what the devil is like. Any time someone does not have in mind the purposes of God, that person is acting on Satan’s behalf.
Matthew 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Jesus called him Satan because he had in mind the things of men rather than the things of God. There is no middle ground. At any given moment you are either accomplishing God’s purposes or Satan’s (because by definition Satan’s purpose is anything other than God’s purpose). That’s why to turn from God is to follow Satan.
1 Timothy 5:15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
It is unlikely that those people consciously thought, “Hey, let’s go follow the devil!” But by turning away from God, that is in effect what they were doing whether they were conscious of it or not. The people who slander the Christians in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 are called a synagogue of Satan.
So the devil’s work is to oppose God. And he does that in three ways:
1) He opposes God through his rule of the spiritual powers, authorities and demons.
As their ruler he organizes them and mobilizes them in a war against God’s Kingdom and purposes. We see that in Ephesians 6.
Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
When we fight against the Devil’s schemes, we do so by fighting against the rulers, authorities and powers in the heavenly realms. Satan is not omnipresent. He is only in one place at one time. But any time anyone is tempted, you can correctly say, “Satan is tempting me” because even if he is doing it through some demon under his authority, it is still Satan who is behind it.
2) He opposes God through his rule of this world.
All unbelievers are under his power. In Acts 26:17-18, Jesus says to Paul: I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Every unbeliever is under the power of Satan. 1 John 3:10 divides all of humanity into two groups: the children of God and the children of the devil. They are called his children, because their character is just like his.
John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Through his control over this world, Satan opposes God’s work by orchestrating sin and evil though unbelievers. That’s why it makes no sense for us to bind ourselves with unbelievers in a close relationship.
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?
And a big part of that are his efforts to prevent people from being saved. In Mk.4 Jesus told a parable of a sower, who sows seeds on various kinds of soil. Then He interpreted the parable. The seed is the gospel, and the soils are people’s hearts.
Mark 4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
The devil keeps tabs on whoever hears a presentation of the Gospel, and immediately begins to work at stealing it right out of the person’s heart before he considers it. He will also use sin to blind their minds so they can’t even understand or accept the Gospel.
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to walk when you followed the ways of this age and of the ruler of the domain of the air
The Devil rules the realm of the demons, and the demons are as close to you as the air you breath. They dominate this world.
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
During this time when you were spiritually dead, you lived according to the Devil, who is the spirit who is at work in the disobedient. The dominant influence and driving force of your life was none other than the arch enemy of God. No matter how nice and friendly and wonderful you think you were, your life was controlled by a being who is devoted to one single thing: opposing and fighting against the work of God. And he is now at work in the disobedient (unbelievers).
That word translated at work is that word energeo. It refers not to ability but to the actual outworking of ability – literal actions. The Devil is not an influence. He is not an idea. He is not a concept or a bad vibe. He is a powerful person who does things. He hates God, opposes God, fights against God, and one of his most powerful tools in that war was ME! (And you) prior to our conversion.
So he opposes God through his rule of demons. He opposes God through his rule of this world. And…
3) He opposes God through his war against the Church.
If he is going to oppose God, the only way he can do that in this world is by fighting against the Church, because it is through the Church that God has chosen to do His work. Satan controls the demons and the world, but he does not control the Church.
1 John 5:18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
He does not have direct control over us. If he wants to injure or kill an unbeliever, he can. Jesus said the woman in Luke 13 who was crippled for 18 years was kept in that condition by Satan. And in Hebrews 2:14 Satan is called the one who holds the power of death. But he cannot directly harm us. The only thing he can do to us is convince us to harm ourselves. And he works very, very hard at doing that. The more he can draw us into sin, the more blows he strikes against the purposes of God, which are being carried out through the Church.
And so his work against us is concentrated into an effort to cause us to sin. And that he does through temptation. Twice in Scripture he is called “the tempter,” because it is he who tempts us. The accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness make it very clear that it is Satan who is the tempter.
And James 1 teaches us that he does it by appealing to our desires. Scripture warns us not to place ourselves into a position of being vulnerable to that.
1 Corinthians 7:5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time… Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you
He is the tempter, and again – he does it for the purpose of opposing the work of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
That is Satan’s goal. And we are warned that he is much more sophisticated than just dangling in front of us something that we desire. That alone won’t work. Satan knows that because of our new nature we hate sin, and will resist it. And so he knows that to really capture us with a sinful lifestyle, he is going to have to deceive us. And so Satan uses his considerable intellect to develop brilliant schemes to deceive us into thinking either that the sin isn’t really a sin, or that it is worth it to incur whatever penalty we will face.
And so we are repeatedly warned against Satan’s schemes which lead us right into his traps. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul told Timothy – “If people oppose you, instruct them about their error gently in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
Satan cannot force you to sin, but he can take you captive to do his will through using deception to lead you into one of his traps. 1Timothy 3:7 requires that the church leader have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into… the devil's trap.
So, Ephesians 6:11 says Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “I forgave those who wronged me, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. The whole temptation for Paul to hold a grudge was one of those schemes, but Paul saw right through it and blew Satan’s plan to pieces by forgiving the person. Satan will try to con you in to holding a grudge, staying angry (or fooling yourself into thinking you aren’t angry when you really are) – whatever he can do to make you stay mad, because every moment you stay mad, according to Ephesians 4:27, you are giving the devil a place in your life. Every moment you hold the grudge – even if it is only for 10 minutes, during every one of those 10 minutes you have a room in your heart open wide to Satan.
Satan is a master strategist. He masquerades as an angel of light – someone that appears very good (2 Co.11:14). He comes up with doctrines (1 Tim.4:1) and “deep secrets” (Rev.2:24) that tend to be appealing to Christians who do not understand the sufficiency of the plain meaning of Scripture.
And he comes at strategic, opportune times. Even in Jesus’ life. After Jesus resisted for those 40 days in the wilderness, Luke 4:13 says When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Now, God has given us the necessary resources to escape all that and resist the devil, but if we forgo those resources and wander into the devil’s trap anyway, Satan can actually fill your heart, and then really exert strong influence.
Act 5:3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit
I am not talking about being possessed here. If you are a believer you cannot be dominated to the point of being forced to sin against your will. But the devil does have the ability to exert considerable influence on your heart and mind, the more you fall for his schemes, fall into his traps, grant him a place in your life, and allow him to fill your heart. Satan cannot control your thoughts, but he does have the ability to throw a thought into a person’s mind. That is how he worked with Judas.
John 13:2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted (lit: threw into the heart of) Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
Satan can take an idea and just throw it right in to a person’s head. At that point you have the ability to reject it or accept it. Judas accepted it, and the result was frightening.
John 13:27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him
So Satan knows we are susceptible to direct enticement, he works even harder at deceiving us and trapping us, and then there is a third method he uses to get us to sin: suffering.
Satan knows we have a tough time handling suffering, and that suffering will exploit weaknesses in our faith, so he works us over. God protects us, so Satan cannot just do anything he pleases. But to the degree God allows it, Satan inflicts as much suffering as he can.
Revelation 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Satan loves to do that. In fact, he even petitions God for permission to attack us.
Luke 22:31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
You know what Peter is thinking – “Don’t tell me you said ‘yes’!” But evidently the Lord did say yes to that request of Satan’s, because Jesus went on to talk about the time when Peter finally recovers. For His own purposes, sometimes God will turn someone over to be ravaged by the Devil. He did it to Peter, and he did it to Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
It might be for the purpose of humility, it might be for the purpose of testing, it might be for the purpose of discipline… In fact, sometimes we do that. That’s exactly what step 4 of church discipline is.
1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
1 Timothy 1:20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Everything that happens happens within the sovereign plan of God, and ultimately contributes to the final outworking of His perfect plan, but that is not what Satan is trying to accomplish. Satan is working for the exact opposite. He does not do these things to fulfill God’s plan. In fact he does not even do it just to be mean. The real reason he does it is to oppose God’s work. Anything Satan can do to hinder the work of the Church, he will do, because he knows it is through the Church that God carries out His desires.
1Thessalonians 2:18 For we wanted to come to you-- certainly I, Paul, did, again and again-- but Satan stopped us.
Sometimes a missionary won’t be able to go somewhere to preach the Gospel just because Satan wants to hinder his work. And the flip side of that is any time you have any spiritual success, you have defeated Satan in a significant way. When the 72 when out on their short term mission and had success, they came back and reported to Jesus. They were all excited, and so was Jesus.
Luke 10:18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Jesus enters into the joy of his followers and acknowledges their success - “Great job! While you were out there ministering I saw the Devil ‘crash and burn’.” That kind of success is promised to the Romans at the end of the book:
Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
In 1 John 2:13-14, John commends the fathers and young men because they have overcome the evil one. 1 John 3:8 says The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. He does that through us.
Our Response to the Devil
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
He is doomed
Matthew 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down-- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Revelation 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
This is more proof that Satan is a person and not a concept. If “satan” is just a word that is an abstract personification of evil, then when Satan is bound, there would be no evil.
John 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out
But there still is some evil in the Millennium
1Timothy 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."
Revelation 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
10 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.
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1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
Powerful
Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
2Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
THE ORIGIN AND FALL OF SATAN
ORIGIN
We know that Satan, along with all angelic beings and everything else, was created by Jesus Christ (Col.1:16). The exact timing of his beginning, unlike the physical creation, is not specifically stated. We can presume that the angels existed by the third day of creation, however, by comparing Genesis 1 with Job 38. During the time God was laying the earth’s foundations and setting limits for the oceans, the angels were shouting for joy (Job 38:5-8). In the creation account we find that this took place on day three (Gn.1:9, 13). Their beginning could have preceded this by moments or millennia.
One argument for the position that they were created close to the same time as the heavens and the earth is their inclusion in Psalm 148. In verses 1-5 the psalmist calls on everything that is up in the heavens to praise God: “Praise him all his angels...his heavenly hosts...sun and moon...stars...highest heavens...waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD for he commanded and they were created.” It could be that the angels are included simply because they fit into the category of things that would offer praise from the heavens, but the statement, “he commanded and they we created” seems to imply that it all happened at basically the same time. Also, if we take “host” in Genesis 2:1 to refer to angels, we can definitely say that they were created during the six days. This is my view.
Satan, then, was most likely created on one of the first three days of creation.
FALL
We can begin by assuming that a fall took place, as everything God created was good when it was created. The fact that Satan is evil now means he must have fallen, because he was good when he was created. Several passages are commonly understood as descriptions of this fall. These include Genesis 3:1-4, Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:11-17, Luke 10:18, and Revelation 12:9. Special attention will be given to Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14.
Ezekiel 28:11-17
Beginning with chapter 26, we see an extensive judgment on Tyre. Chapter 28 begins the prophecy against Tyre’s king. According to the Phoenician annals, the king of Tyre at this time was Ithobal II (Feinberg, 158). The first ten verses announce the judgment, and the rest of the chapter is a lament. It is this lament that may give insight into the fall of Satan.
Much controversy surrounds this passage, but there are two major schools of thought. The king of Tyre is taken to be the literal human ruler of Tyre (Ithobal II), or Satan. In the words of Charles Feinberg, “all must concede that the description utilizes highly figurative language, and all who have studied the passage closely must admit there are obscurities and difficulties in every view” (Feinberg, 161).
The view that Satan is the one in view has many difficulties. The most obvious is that the king of Tyre is specifically addressed. Some argue that verse 2 addressed the prince of Tyre, while verse 12 speaks of the king of Tyre. The change in terms, however, does not necessitate a different person. The Hebrew words for “prince” and “king” are routinely used interchangeably (2 Sa.5:2, 1 Ki.1:35, 1 Chrn.11:2, 29:22, Ps.76:13). Other problems involve the various statements that are made. According to verse 14 he was on the holy mountain of God (although most take Satan’s fall to be before Gen.3 -- before Horeb had any significance). The activity that led to the fall of this guardian cherub was his “widespread trade.” Ithobal II was evil in his trade, but it is difficult to imagine what kind of dishonest, greedy trade could have lead to Satan’s downfall before Genesis 3.
The view that the entire section refers only to the literal king of Tyre is also difficult to defend, because the language used is so grandiose. Even if we take it to be either sarcasm or hyperbole, several of the statements are difficult to explain. For example, to call the king of Tyre an anointed guardian cherub would be an exaggeration that is beyond explanation. The cherub is not an obscure idea in Scripture (mentioned 68 times in the Old Testament, 22 times in Ezekiel), and it is hardly an image that represents Ithobal II in any sense. The cherub is a picture of holiness, not exaltation. They are in the immediate presence of God -- the ultimate ideal of holiness outside of God Himself. It is interesting that while Israel often lapsed into idolatry, there is no record that they ever worshipped the cherubim, even though they already had elaborate statues of these creatures. God had commanded these forms be made, but the way the cherubim were revealed (as holy, not exalted) was such that the thought of them always directed attention to God (Easton, “Cherub”). To call Ithobal II a cherub, then, would be to create an image of him being the picture of holiness. This fits with the next verse, where he is called, “blameless.” Again, what would the point be if Ithobal is in view - that he was righteous before his fall? This is unlikely.
Also, since there is some question about how much the people of Ezekiel's time would have understood about Satan, there is a question regarding authorial intent. As interpreters, we attempt to determine how the original readers would have understood the passage. If they could not have understood it to be a reference to Satan, it becomes questionable that that is what Ezekiel meant.
It seems that the best solution is to take some of the material to refer to Ithobal II only, some to refer to Satan only, and some to refer to both. Such an interpretation would be unusual, but not completely foreign to prophetic literature.
In 2 Samuel 7 we see the Davidic covenant. This is one of the great Messianic prophesies and became the foundation of Messianic hope -- the coming Davidic king who will rule forever. This prophecy, like many prophecies, was partially fulfilled in the following years with Solomon, but its ultimate fulfillment was in Christ. This is a case where we take some statements to refer to Christ (such as v.10, where the promise is given that Israel will never again be troubled by enemies), others to refer to both (such as v.13, where it is announced that David’s own offspring will be the one to build God’s house), and still others to refer to Solomon only (such as v.14, where it refers to his sin). Bernard Ramm calls this “double reference” (Ramm, 253ff).
My view is that the original readers would have most likely understood the entire passage to refer to Ithobal II, and vv.11-17 to concern an evil spirit who is the authority behind Ithobal. Ithobal’s fall is compared to the fall of this spirit. I believe this to be Ezekiel’s intent and the correct interpretation of the passage.
The idea of a spirit power being behind a human king is not foreign to Scripture. In Daniel 10, we can assume that the “man” with a body like chrysolite, a face like lightening, eyes like torches, arms and legs like bronze, and a voice like a multitude is an angel. This angel was resisted for twenty one days by the “prince” (also called “king”) of the Persian kingdom. Only Michael, “one of the chief princes,” could assist this angel against the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece (v.21). If this king or prince can detain an angel and he can only be overcome by an angel, it stands to reason that he must be a spirit being. The fact that the spirits are called kings or princes of nations seems to validate the common ancient belief that there were certain spirits who were authorities over nations.
I believe the best interpretation of these verses to be as follows:
Ezekiel 28:11 The word of the LORD came to me: [12] "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "You were the model of perfection (lit. You were the sealer of measurement), full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
ITHOBAL II: This statement refers to his building ventures. The Hebrew word translated “perfection” literally means “measurement.” It is used one other time in Scripture, where it refers to the measured and well-arranged beauty of the temple (Isa.43:10). The connection between being “perfect in beauty” and the greatness of the building efforts is seen repeatedly in the judgment against Tyre (27:3,4,11 and here). The idea is that the fall of Ithobal II is lamented because of the great majestic beauty of the structures in Tyre.
THE SPIRIT: I think the NIV correctly understands “sealer of measurement” to refer to the standard of perfection. The point is that this spirit, like Tyre, stood out as particularly great before his fall.
Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
ITHOBAL II: During his reign, Ithobal was in a situation similar to paradise. His city appeared to be impregnable. He enjoyed any pleasure he wanted in what seemed to be complete security. It was common for kings to be adorned with precious stones and metals.
THE SPIRIT: Perhaps this spirit was in the literal garden, although it could be a reference to the fact that before his fall, he was in a place of paradise.
on the day you were created they were prepared.
ITHOBAL II: The day of one’s creation could refer to one’s day of birth (Ps.102:19), but more likely it refers to Ithobal’s inauguration day, the day God “created” this great king. The point is that his glory was given to him by God himself. (Keil, 412)
THE SPIRIT: This would refer to the literal day of his creation.
Ezekiel 28:14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
THE SPIRIT: This spirit was the holiest of the heavenly creatures. He was in the very presence of God.
You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
THE SPIRIT: The “holy mountain,” in Scripture, always refers to Zion. “The mountain of God,” however, always refers to Horeb. This is the only occurrence of both modifiers together. Given the context of fiery stones and cherubim, the most probable meaning is Horeb. This creates a difficulty. If the spirit was literally on Horeb before his fall, then his fall would be some time after Ex.3 (assuming Horeb became the mountain of God at that time). Another possibility is that the “holy mountain of God” is a figurative reference to heaven.
Ezekiel 28:15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
THE SPIRIT: Before his fall, he had no sin.
Ezekiel 28:16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
ITHOBAL II: Ithobal amassed great wealth from his trade. This wealth caused him to become conceited and ruthless.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. EZE 28:17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
ITHOBAL II: This is an announcement of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar.
THE SPIRIT: This is a description of his fall, when he was expelled from heaven.
Ezekiel 28:18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. EZE 28:19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.' "
ITHOBAL II: This is a reference to the end of Ithobal’s reign.
From this passage, then, we learn that there was a cherub that became proud and was cast out of heaven. There is some question whether the readers of Ezekiel would have understood this spirit to be the supreme evil spirit that we know the devil to be, but I believe we can make the association nevertheless.
Isaiah 14:12-15
This passage is considered a parallel passage to Ezekiel 28. It is generally assumed that these verses must refer to Satan, because the language is too strong to refer to a man. I am not convinced by this argument, however. I believe the language fits a rebuke given to a king that imagined himself to be a god.
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
Here it is argued that the literal king cannot be in view because he was not in heaven. We can assume, however, that from the description of the scene in Sheol (vv.9-11) that this is a highly figurative context. The Hebrew term translated “dawn” is used nowhere else in Scripture, however it was the name of a Canaanite deity. The idea is that the king of Babylon was so exalted in his reign that he imagined himself to be a god -- the very reason for his demise. We use the phrase “brought down to earth” even in our culture to refer to someone who has been operating with an inflated view of himself who awakens to reality.
Secondly, it is clear from the parallelism that the morning star is the one who once laid low the nations. This can hardly be a reference to Satan in Eden, as there were no nations then.
Much is made of the five “I wills” of Satan. It is difficult to imagine, however, that they could describe Satan’s pre-fall situation.
Isaiah 14:13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven;
This describes the attitude of the king of Babylon, but it would make no sense coming from one who was created in heaven and who had always existed in heaven.
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
The imagery of increasing the greatness of his throne is consistent with a king driven by a monumental ego, but there is no sense in which the angels were enthroned. The cherubim are always pictured as attending God as He sits on His throne, but never are they described as having a throne or ruling anything.
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
This mountain cannot be Zion, as it is compared to Zion in Ps.48:2. The phrase “mount of assembly” was used throughout Canaanite literature to refer to the meeting place of the gods. The “sacred mountain” is Zaphon, and it was for the Phoenicians the sacred residence of EL, the chief of their gods (EL is the term translated “God” in v.13) (NIV Study Bible note on Isa.14:13 and PS.48:2).
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
Again, if we understand that Satan was a cherub before his fall, for him to desire to rise above the clouds would have no meaning -- his home was already well above the clouds. The term translated “most high” was also the name of a Canaanite deity.
In his unpublished notes on this text, Derek Leman gives the following observation:
It would seem most probable that Isaiah is using a well-known Canaanite myth (with no intention of giving it credibility or suggesting that it should be believed) in a literary way to draw an analogy to the situation and fate of the king of Babylon. While we do not posses such a myth from Canaanite literature, there are myths that we have that have some similarities (Cf. the story of Athtar in the Baal Cycle in M.D. Coogan, Stories From Canaan p.111). Another possibility is that Isaiah is using elements that would have been easily recognized motifs taken from the Gilgamesh Epic, the most well known piece of Babylonian literature (Van Leewen).
There is a question, however, concerning who the king is. The Assyrian kings at the time of this prophecy took the title of “king of Babylon” (NIV study Bible notes, note on Isa.13:1-14:27), and Media joined Babylon in the destruction of Assyria. The greatest king of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzer, who had enormous pride and received great humiliation (Dan.4). Later his descendant Belshazzar was stuck down by Darius the Mede at the very hour he was mocking Yahweh (Dan.5).
Perhaps the most probable view is that the judgment is against Belshazzar, because it was his conqueror who allowed the Jews to return to the land. It could be argued that the promise of restoration was not completely fulfilled in the return under Darius. Verse 2 of chapter 14 promises that they will, “make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.” Although they were settled in their own land, they hardly made the Babylonians their captives.
Verses 6 and 9 of chapter 13 call this time of judgment “the day of the Lord.” This appears to be a phrase that refers to times of judgment. It may be significant, however, that Isaiah connects “that day” to the Root of Jesse (11:10).
While it was part of the Assyrian Empire, Babylon was the great enemy of God’s people. Later the Babylonian empire destroyed Judah. Babylon was then conquered by Cyrus, and it subsequently came to symbolize the world powers arrayed against God’s kingdom. The final defeat of the Beast and his whole system of evil is called the fall of Babylon in Revelation. It is possible, then, that some of the statements about the fall of this king may apply to the beast who is the power behind Babylon the Great. In this case, the statements that refer to Satan would refer to his ultimate future demise, not his original fall.
Genesis 3:1-4
Most believe that the serpent in this text is Satan. Such a connection is never made by Scripture, however there is some evidence for the idea. The serpent acts exactly as the devil does (tempting by means of deceit), it appears to be the originator of evil, and Satan is later known as the serpent (Rev.20:2). On the other hand, it is possible that since the Genesis account is first we would be more accurate to say that the devil acts as the serpent does, and that he is later called the serpent for this reason.
Even if we understand the serpent to be Satan, the account provides very little light regarding his fall, as he is already fallen when he comes on the scene in Eden. From this we can determine what is naturally assumed anyway -- that Satan’s fall preceded man’s.
Luke 10:18
In this text, Jesus actually refers to the fall of Satan. Interpreters disagree, however, on which fall this is. One possibility is that it is Satan’s original fall from his created state. Another view is that it is a “prophetic past tense,” and that it is actually a reference to Satan’s ultimate defeat in the future. The latter view would coincide nicely with Revelation 12:9.
There is a third view, however, that I believe best fits the context. This statement by Jesus immediately follows the report of the seventy-two regarding their success against the demons. It appears, then, that the most natural way to understand Jesus’ words is as a response to this report. Jesus enters into the joy of his followers and acknowledges their success. It is as if he were saying, “Yes, you are right. While you were out there ministering I saw the Devil ‘crash and burn’.”
Revelation 12:9
This reference to Satan’s fall appears to be yet future. Revelation 12:4-5 is a description of Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection and ascension. Verse 6 is a reference to the three and a half years Israel will be protected. I understand this to be either the first or the second half of the tribulation. The most natural reading would be to understand verse 7 to be describing what happened next, because the story picks up with the dragon’s dealings with the woman in verse 13. We know that in the end Satan will suffer defeat and be bound preceding the Millennium (Rev.20:1-2), and after the Millennium he will experience his ultimate, final fall. This is described in Revelation 20:7-10.
SUMMARY
Each of the passages that are understood to discuss Satan’s fall are surrounded in controversy. They are difficult, figurative and controversial passages. The statements they are said to make about Satan, however, are things that we would assume to be true about him anyway. We can assume Satan was created good, because the creation account repeatedly states that everything God created was good. We can assume that he was the most powerful of the created spirit beings, because he seems to be so now (Jude 9). It is natural to presume that the cause of his fall was pride, as that is his great sin now.
Had God wanted us to know the details of the history of Satan, it stands to reason that He would have addressed the subject directly and plainly in Scripture. Since He did not, it is save to assume that this is information that we do not need, and it is fruitless to attempt to extract it from the massive category of the secret things that belong to God (Dt.29:29).
Derek Leman’s view:
Isaiah 14: vv3-4 The taunt is clearly set up as referring to a future period. The text is definitely pre-exilic. In Hezekiah's reign, Merodach-Baladan (name derived from Marduk, the Bob. god) was king in Babylon and sent an envoy to Hezekiah's court. I believe that Isaiah's taunt against the king of Babylon is occasioned by this visit (Merodach-Baladan died as an outsider, cast off his throne) but referred to more than just him. It also referred to the neo-Babylonian empire, beginning with Nebuchednezzar. Reasons: Chapter 13 refers to the Medes as the conquerors of Babylon, which is a reference to neo-Babylon, not the Babylon in Isaiah's day and verses 3-4 refer to Judah's bondage in Babylon. Thus, the addressee specifically is the Babylonian emperor in general, including even the emperors before, such as Merodach-Baladan. They had exalted themselves in that they flirted with the idea of joining the counsel of the gods with their earthly conquests. But instead they were cast down by the Medes.
