What Do We Know About Satan?
Biblical Names
A. Devil - 61 times KJV (only in NT) from Gk
diabolos
B. Satan - 19 times in OT, 36 times in NT -
Hebrew word describing arch-enemy of
good, from Heb. Verb = “to lie in wait”
In NT, from Gk. Satanas = accuser,
adversary
C. Beelzebub - 7 times in NT from Gk
Beelzeboul(beh-el-zeb-oo) = dung god,
lord of filth, prince of evil spirits
D. He is also referred to as Prince of this
world (John 12:31, 14:30,16:11), he took
on the form of a serpent (Gen 3) and
symbolically is the great dragon (Rev.
12:9).
E. What about Lucifer? This is not a
Biblical name for the devil (cover
in detail under Origin of the Devil).
Origin of the Devil
A. The Devil isn’t Lucifer!
1. Isaiah 14:12 (sure looks like it!)
2. Lucifer - from Heb heylel (hay-
lale) = morning star.
3. Context here is fall of king of
Babylon (likey Belshazzar of Dan.
5:30) Note vs. 4 & 13 - not
talking about the devil!
B. What about Rev. 12:7-9?
1. First of all, this is a vision,
it’s not literal, it’s symbolic.
If it were a real story of
Satan’s origin, then there would
have to be a real dragon with a
tail long enough to reach the
stars (cf. vs. 4).
2. The war in heaven, the dragon,
the angels, etc. are all symbols
in this vision that embodies a
truth - Satan is a loser. He
couldn’t defeat Christ on earth,
now, in this vision he races to
heaven & fights Christ there and
looses!
C. Satan wasn’t an eternal being - he was
created!
1. An eternal being is deity (to
look upon as a god) - note the
characteristic’s of God (Deut
33:27; Ps 102:27; John 1:1; Rev
1:8).
2. Deity is omnipotent (having
unlimited power & authority) -
(Gen 17:1; Job 42:2) - only God
has the creative power and power
over life & death (Gen 1:1;
2 Pet 3:10; Eph 1:20).
3. Deity is omnipresent (present in
all places at the same time)
Heb 4:13; Jer. 23:23-24.
4. Deity is omniscient (om-nish-ent)
knowing all things) - Ps.139:1-6;
Is. 45:21
5. Satan isn’t omnipotent -
1 John :4; Luke 22:31; he isn’t
omnipresent - Rev 20:10 (being
placed here means he can be
confined to a place); he isn’t
omniscient - Job 2:3-5.
6. Simple deduction, if Satan is not
deity, he can’t be eternal, thus
he must be a created being - Neh.
9:6; Col. 1:16; Eph. 3:9; Ps.
148:1-5.
Was Satan Created “Evil”? - We’ve determined that Satan isn’t eternal nor deity and thus was created. The questions now are: When was he created? Was he created Evil? If not, what was he originally?
A. Gen 1:31 - 4 key words: all (everything),
made (created), very good!
B. We have to deduce that God didn’t create
Satan as an evil adversary,rather, Satan
became evil! (get to in a bit).
C. What about Is. 45:7? Evil is not God’s
nature (Deut 32:4).
IV. Is Satan an Angel gone bad?
A. There are hints in Scripture that Satan &
others departed their righteous state &
rebelled against God - Job 4:18; 2 Pet
2:4; Jude 6.
B. Satan is referred to as “the prince of
demons” (Mat. 12:24), while Mat. 25:41
speaks of “the devil and his angels”
(talk about demons in a bit) - thus we
can conclude that the devil is the leader
of a group of angels who rebelled against
God.
C. Based upon references such as these, it’s
clear God created angels with the ability
to reason and choose (just as we do).
1 John 3:4 says sin is lawlessness, thus
in some fashion, the angels’ sin
consisted of breaking God’s law by not
keeping their proper habitation.
D. Notice Ezek. 28. Strange prophecy
(written around 588). First, Tyre
had an insignificant role in life & times
of Israel (there king did speak out
against Jerusalem, but certainly didn’t
warrant such attention.
1. First half of chapter (vs. 1-10)
God’s judgment is pronounced
against Tyre’s king.
2. Note the second half (vs. 11-19) -
why repeat judgment? It’s
believed here the king is
symbolic of Satan. Notice the
text: only one being fits — Satan!
E. Based upon Ezek, and passages above, a
picture of Satan’s origin begins to
emerge:
- Satan was created as one of the host of
angelic beings
- He had the ability to choose and reason
- He was exquisitely beautiful, the
anointed cherub, the captain of the
cherubic host
- Sometime prior to the creation of the
natural order (get to later)he became
vain about his beauty & position &
rebelled!
- He and his rebellious following were
expelled from heaven.
When did Satan go bad?
A. Job 38:4-7 - angelic beings were there
when the foundations of the world were
laid for they rejoiced over it.
B. Neither Genesis, nor any other text in
Scripture, states when the angelic beings
were actually created. They were there
when the world was created and Satan was
evil soon after (tempted Eve).
C. My Opinion - hard for us to comprehend,
we want to say “how long before God
created us?” We want to place a
beginning on everything,even God!
Perhaps God, after created angelic
beings, wanted a being with a different
type of love? Are we the first world?
VI. What is Satan’s true mission (what’s he all about)?
A. Review again:
- Satan was created, could make c
choices, for whatever reason
thought he could defeat God,
rebelled, was defeated, was cast
from heaven.
B. The conditions, the result of this defeat
is harsh! He not only looses his place
of honor, authority, and is banished from
the presence of God in heaven, but one
day (according to Rev. 20:2, 10) he will
be bound and confined to punishment in
hell.
C. My opinion - he’s mad! His anger at
having been defeated and knowing his
ultimate destiny fuels his determination
to seek revenge!
D. How? It would be foolish to attempt a
second rebellion against God. God’s
power is too great!
E. If you can’t attack the creator, then why
not attack what He loves the most - His
creation!
F. 2 Pet. 3:9 - God doesn’t want any of his
creation to perish!
G. Don’t you know if broke God’s heart when
David sinned with Bathssheba. When His
chosen people followed Satan into a life
of idolatry & sin.
H. Don’t you know it breaks God’s heart
today to see Satan win any one of His
creation!
I. Satan is out to get us! Especially
Christians (God’s children). He will
never stop! It’s a no holds barred
winner take all battle!
VII. Why does God allow Satan to Continue to exist tempt us?
A. Really dealing with 2 questions here,
with two different answers.
Why don’t God just destroy Satan - kill
him?
1. The answer, has to do with the
nature of God!
2. Luke 20:33-36 - gives a hint,
suggests that angels cannot die.
3. They are immortal, but not
eternal.
4. Does this mean God can’t kill
them? I don’t think so. But
because of His nature, He won’t
because He said He wouldn’t.
5. Note God’s promise - Ps. 148 1-6!
B. Why is Satan allowed to tempt us, why not
go ahead and lock him up?
1. Why was man created? Look at Is.
43:7 - for God’s glory!
2. God uses Satan, allows to retain
his power, temporarily, until He
is through using him to test and
purify a people for His ultimate
glory & purpose!
3. I can’t say I fully understand
the entire scheme. Certainly can’t understand God’s “omni”
abilities. But it would seem
that man had an opportunity to
live in a place (Garden), not
knowing sin, & God would come to
this place and interact
with man (cf. Gen 3:8).
4. Man, like angels, however, could
make choices and choose to
disobey God, eat the fruit, eyes
opened, & sin entered into
the picture and changed this
grand scheme. Satan’s 1st victory
5. Now, the “Master Plan” has
changed, man knows sin, God
can’t stand sin and so there has
to be some purification
process - Christ is the filter,
but Satan is the sin agent!
VII. What about the demons & demon possession?
A. Demon possession was a real, historical
phenomenon of and only of the first
century! (We’ll get to the why’s in a
bit).
B. Regarding the origin of demons, there are
several (some bizarre) theorys. I think
they are simply part of Satan’s angelic
follower’s who were allowed to leave
their confinement (Jude 6) and possess
people to accomplish a greater purpose
for God.
C. Let’s look briefly at some of their
characteristics:
- They were evil & under Satan’s
immediate control (Mat. 12:24,43,
45).
- They were intelligent beings (Mark
1:24).
- They could exercise volition
(ability to fly) & locomotion (Mat
12:44-45).
- Demon possession of humans resulted
in physical or mental illness (Mat
4:24); dumbness (Matt 9:32),
blindness (Mat 12:32); supernatural
strength (Mark 5:4).
- Demon’s inhabited men (Matt 9:32),
women (Luke 8:2), and children
(Mark 7:30).
D. Demon possession was permitted
temporarily by God in order that the
authority of Christ might be made known!
Power over these demons confirmed the
word!
E. When and why did demon possession stop?
- Note Zech. 13:1-3 - This a
prophecy! The fountain for sin is
obviously a reference to Christ,
and His death on the cross!
- Notice what would cease - the power
of the unclean spirit!
F. When the gospel message was delivered and
confirmed there was no further need of
not only proof of power of evil spirits,
but of any miraculous acts which passed
away (1 Cor. 13:8-10).
