Who Satan Is

2001-12-04

Satan is a mysterious character in the Bible. He was created with extraordinary power and position, yet rebelled against God and became the archenemy of God and His people. When his origin and fall took place within the Biblical narrative is not known. There is no unanimous decision on whether the few passages discussing his original nature and fall are even talking about Satan. Satan’s heinous acts of rebellion are worthy of study to understand sin’s current work in this world, where sin came from, and also the culmination of sin’s power in these end times. This is a brief overview, and by no means an exhaustive study.

Satan began as an impeccable, anointed angelic being, created in great beauty. Ezekiel 28:11-19 discusses Satan’s nature before he rebelled. Just as Satan was condemned by God after the agent of his sin (the serpent) was condemned in Genesis 3, the king of Tyre is cursed first and then the force behind him. Dickason notes that since he was ‘anointed,’ he was in the forefront of the angelic beings and had a special function (Dickason 136). He had the ‘seal of perfection,’ and was ‘full of wisdom and perfect in beauty’ (Ezekiel 28:12). He was considered a guardian (covering) cherub, which could refer to his duty as a “proclaimer of God’s glorious presence and holiness” (Dickason 136). His habitation was on the mountain of God (28:14, 16), which is to say that he was within the presence of God, until he was cast out (Dickason 136). He also was in Eden, the Garden of God, just as Satan in the form of a snake was (28:13).

Something happened within Satan to forsake God, which was the iniquity of verse 15. The connection in this passage was that his heart was ‘lifted up’ because of his beauty (MacArthur). This makes sense in the upcoming argument that is brought forth in Isaiah 14. As the king of Tyre was lifted up and called himself a god (28:9), the force behind him (Satan) thought he could rival God. In Isaiah 14:12-17, the name הֵילֵל (written ‘Lucifer’ in the King James Version) is given to this king of Babylon. This name means ‘shining one,’. Like in Genesis 3 and Ezekiel 28, God addresses Satan’s agent first, and then Satan himself. Five statements of pride are listed in 14:13-14 that begin with ‘I will’ give insight to what was going on in Satan’s heart that allowed him to be cast to the earth in 14:12, but also Ezekiel 28:16 and Luke 10:18.

“I will ascend into heaven” (14:13) could also mean as far as the intent to occupy the space of God, ruling over all things and being God. He also planned to exalt his throne “above the stars of God,” meaning he wanted to “usurp God’s rule over the angels” (Dickason 140). He was to “sit on the mount of the congregation” to be the center of the rule of God’s kingdom, which perhaps can be related to usurping the power of the Messiah in His rule in Jerusalem (Dickason 140). He then says he will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and then will be like the Most High. It is amazing to see how Satan aspires to become higher and higher with each statement of pride. First, he desires to ascend into heaven, and then above the stars (perhaps angels), and then the congregation, or the kingdom rule, and then to go beyond the glory of God (heights of the clouds) to become like God.

Now that Satan has fallen, he works to the end that he might fulfill these ‘I will’ statements. As he positioned himself in Eden to deceive Adam and Eve, he brought Adam to outright transgress the command of the Lord in Genesis 3:6. His children carried this state of transgression in them (Genesis 5:3), and the work of lawlessness is at work in all of humanity down to the present day. The way he tried to provoke Job to sin against the Lord by taking away his blessings shows his malicious character, yet he is still under God’s control and cannot move outside God’s decree (cf. Job 1:12; 2:6).

The names of Satan also present much about who Satan is. שָׂטָן is the Hebrew word for adversary, which is preserved in the transliteration of the name in the New Testament as Satan (Erickson 472). Other names and descriptions include the following: Accuser (Revelation 12:10), Beelzebub (lord of the fly, Matthew 12:24, cf. Baal-zebub 2 Kings 1:3, comparing him with the false God Baal), and Belial (worthless, 2 Corinthians 6:15). There are many more among even these. As tempter, he destroyed Job’s family and livestock that he might curse God, though Job did not. He leaves his life in pain with a wife that will encourage him to do the will of Satan (Job 2:9).

The world is his kingdom (cf. John 12:31). In Ephesians 2:2, he is called the “prince of the power of the air,” showing his control of unbelievers. The casting out of demons signals the defeat of Satan (cf. Luke 10:17-19; Erickson 472). Calvary was his sure defeat, as the ‘biting of the heel’ of Jesus was temporal, but the ‘crushing of the head’ of Satan was fatal, destining him to eternal torment (Genesis 3:15, Revelation 20:10).

The main thing to know about Satan is his certain destruction by the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan introduced sin into the world, in the attempt to turn the entire Creation of God against the Creator, but all in vain. It is important to remember that Satan is a powerful, intelligent being that disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), whom we should respect (cf. Jude 1:9), but by continuing faith in Jesus, his power is of no effect to us.

Sources

Armstrong, Terry A., Douglas L. Busby, and Cyril F. Carr. A Readers Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: Four Volumes in One. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989.

Dickason, C. Fred. Angels: Elect and Evil. Chicago: Moody Press, 1995.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997.