Origins of Satan, Part 1

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Ironically, writers of the Bible give us much more information on the origin of Satan than they give us on angels. Since Satan himself is an angel, we learn about creation of the other angels by examining Scriptural evidence concerning the creation of Satan.

We begin our look backward to the origin of Satan by looking forward to a baffling exchange between Jesus and Satan taking place in the wilderness shortly after John the Baptist baptized Christ in the Jordan River:

“Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing at all that time and became very hungry.

Then the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.’

But Jesus told him, ‘No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone.

Then the devil took Him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ‘I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,’ the devil said, ‘because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.’

Jesus replied, ‘The Scriptures say, You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’

Jesus responded, ‘The Scriptures say, You must not test the Lord your God.’

When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left Him until the next opportunity came.” (Luke 4: 1-13).

Strange things going on here.

First of all, notice that Satan began his temptations of Christ the exact same way he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden: through the primal instinct of hunger. With Eve, it was the fruit, pleasing to the eye and tempting to eat. Here, Satan begins his onslaught of temptations with the vision of bread, again, pleasing to the eye when one is hungry.

However, that is not the most interesting aspect of the temptations. When the devil offers the glory of the kingdoms and authority over them, Christ did not challenge the devil’s authority to offer them up. In other words, Jesus completely recognized Satan’s power at that point in time. Satan is the power behind the kingdoms of the world. He is “the prince of this world,” (John 12:31) and “prince of the power of the sea.” (Ephesians 2:2).

Now we go back and examine Satan’s work through the serpent in Eden. We’re all familiar with the story; the serpent tempts Eve to eat fruit from the Tree Of Knowledge of Good and Evil. At this point, Satan obviously has already fallen and is already attempting to thwart God’s plan on earth. He appears in the Garden as the serpent, a creature Eve must have known and spoken with before. She certainly shows no fear towards the serpent and carries on a conversation with him.

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

PART II

The Bible presents Satan as a powerful spirit being who wants to destroy the spiritual life of humans. He is referred to in several ways, including “Prince of Demons” and “God of This World.” We must accept Satan as a real entity – a created being who possesses mind, emotion, purpose and will.

As we discussed in our last post, Satan even tempted Jesus in the wilderness after the Sprit led Him there. If we study the Gospel narrative closely, we discover that much of the story outlines the interaction between Jesus, Satan, and demons. All of hell and evil resisted the Coming of the Messiah and ultimately tried to bring about the destruction of Christ Himself.

We don’t know when God created Satan; the Bible does not give his full history – no record of his creation, no description of his birth. The Bible only informs us of the part he plays in the great crises of man’s history—ruin, death, deception, graft, etc. We see only occasional glimpses of him in his work as explanatory, or as putting his acts in contrast and opposition to the works and aims of Christ.

In the Bible we have the facts and history of man’s redemption. Incidentally or essentially, other worlds and other beings are brought prominently on the stage of redemption purposes and plans. The Bible nowhere enters into an argument to prove the person and being of God. It assumes His being and reveals His person and character. Without preface or introduction, the Bible brings God into the picture in all His majesty and omnipotence. In the same way, Satan appears on the stage – no introduction, no ceremony as “the evil one.” He struts through the Garden of Eden and immediately seduces Eve. In I John 2:16 we read of the temptation Eve fell for – lust of the flesh; it was good for food, it was attractive, it could make her “wise.”

The writers shed no light on his past history, although we discover later that the seduction in Eden was not his first act of disobedience. Sin gnawed at heart — power, beauty, and privilege did not satisfy him. As J. Oliver Buswell said, “Sin originated as an act of free will in which Satan deliberately chose to corrupt the holy character of godliness with which God had endowed the Creation.”

God did not author sin. Satan in his rebellious state of pride chose to rebel against God. God is not the author of sin. God did not create the angels with a free will. Satan chose to rebel against God. Over times in the Hebrew OT Satan is used to mean “adversary.” In the Greek NT, the word is “Diablos”, which means “the Devil, the slanderer.”

Note some of his many titles:

John 17:15 – the evil one

Genesis 3:1 – the serpent

Revelation 12:3 – the great red dragon

Luke 11:18 – Beelzebub, prince of the demons

2 Corinthians 6:5 – the worthless one

His titles reflect the nature and character of Satan — the adversary of God and the things of God and the people of God. He will do everything in his power to curtail the activities of God and to promote himself because, simply put, Satan wants to be worshipped as God.

Satan directs much of the evil in the world today. His evil influence is certainly on the rise. Increased satanic activity indicates he senses the 2nd Coming is close. He doesn’t know the exact date, but he apparently thinks it is near, so daily he exerts more evil influence on the world.