What Do We Know About Satan?

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.