the spiritual world part 2
Who
Is The Devil?
It seems that everyone has heard of the Devil, also known as Satan,
Lucifer, Beelzebub,
etc. Satan is often seen as a comic individual with a red suit, horns
and a pitchfork. Sometimes Satan is portrayed as God's opposite, a kind
of "anti-god" or evil god who is locked in an eternal struggle for
people's souls. Neither of these representations are true.
Here's the real deal: The individual that we call "the Devil" is a fallen angelic being. Satan is his name and "devil" is his title, or his occupation, if you prefer. The word devil means accuser; it comes from a Greek term that means a false witness or malicious accuser. The name Satan means adversary.
Contrary to what many people believe, the Bible does not
represent Satan as a myth or a legend but as an actual
being. Satan
has the ability to reason (Job 1:9-10), he has emotions (Revelation
12:17), he has desires (Luke 22:31), he
has plans (Ephesians 6:11,) and he has the ability to carry out his
intentions (2 Timothy 2:26).
Where
Did The Devil Come From?
Two Old Testament passages seem to relate to Satan and his
beginnings.
Those passages are Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19.
The Ezekiel passage is
really interesting to read for in Ezekiel 28:12, God tells Ezekiel to
"Take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre."
Tyre was the name of a town of
that day but when you
actually read this lament for the king of Tyre, you find that it speaks
of a
guardian
angelic being who was in the Garden of Eden. So it seems
that Ezekiel was doing more than just speaking of the king- he was
speaking of someone who was the real power behind the king's
actions.
These two portions of Scripture speak of a being who was
"...the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in
beauty" (Ezekiel 28:12).
He was blameless in all his ways until he became proud of his beauty.
At that time, wickedness was found in him and he grew corrupt because
of his splendor (Ezekiel 28:15-17). He began to plot to take over the
throne of
God saying,
"…I will raise my throne above the stars of God... I
will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah
14:13,14).
We can learn a lot more about Satan's origin by looking a
little closer at this
passage in Isaiah 14:13-14…
These statements have been called the five "I will's" of Satan. Let's look at each one and see what they tell us about him…
- "I will ascend to heaven." Heaven is the place of God and it appears that Satan wanted to rise to a position of equal (or greater) importance than God.
- "I will raise my throne above the stars of God." The use of the word "stars" here is generally thought to refer to angelic beings. This would indicate that Satan desired to have the same rule and authority over other angels as God does.
- "I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain." Earlier in the book of Isaiah we're told that, "…the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it" (Isaiah 2:2 NIV). So it appears that one of Satan's goals was to replace God as ruler over the Earth and have everyone look to him instead of God.
- "I will ascend above the tops of the clouds." This is a poetic way of saying that Satan wanted to be the highest, greatest and uppermost being in the universe.
- "I will make myself like the Most High." This tells us that Satan wanted the same power, authority and worship as God.
Because of this attempt to overthrow God and install himself in God's
place, Satan's name was changed from Lucifer (which means
shining one or morning star) to
Satan (adversary).
Satan was expelled from heaven (Isaiah 14:12) but apparently
still has some sort of limited access (see Job 1:6-10 for an
example). The Bible doesn't tell us when all this happened,
but it
must have occurred sometime before Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the
Garden
of Eden for Satan orchestrated that event in the personage of the
serpent (see Genesis 3:1-7).
What Is Satan Like?
In the Bible, Satan is referred to as...
- "The evil one"
(Matthew 6:13)
- "The wicked one"
(1John 2:13)
- "A liar and a murderer"
(John 8:44)
- "A deceiver"
(Revelation 20:10)
- "The ruler of this world"
(John 12:31)
Satan is a tremendously intelligent, crafty and relentless being. Revelation 12:10 tells us that Satan accuses God's people both day and night. That means that Satan never gets tired and he doesn't give up. Satan is so powerful that he apparently is a match even for the archangel Michael (Jude 9). Matthew 13:39 simply identifies him as "the enemy."
Satan is a master of deceit and he can assume a different form
if the need suits him (See 2 Corinthians 11:14). Satan
also attempts to blind people to the truth about God according to 2
Corinthians
4:3. 1 John 5:19 says,
"...the whole world is under the control of the
wicked one." So Satan is an extremely
powerful opponent and is not to be taken lightly under any circumstance.
While these things sound impressive, the fact is that Satan's power is
not
unlimited. As a created being, Satan is not all-powerful and he is not
all knowing. He is not omnipresent (in other words -unlike God- Satan
cannot be everywhere at once) and he can only operate within God's
restrictions (see Job 6:12 and 2:6).
What Is Satan's Future?
Satan's future isn't very bright. The Bible clearly teaches that Satan
is facing eternal punishment for what he has done. Revelation 20:2
tells us that he will spend a thousand years of imprisonment in the
Abyss (or bottomless pit). After the thousand years are
completed, Satan will be released for a short time before facing his
final destiny. According to Revelation
20:10 the final stop for Satan will be a lake of burning sulfur where
he will be
punished relentlessly and continually throughout eternity.
The Doctor is not a real
doctor but he plays one on the Internet. E-Mail prescriptions are also
available on an individual basis.
Except as indicated, all Scriptural references taken from The
Living Bible, © 1971, Tyndale House Publishers Back
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