ISBE ON SATAN
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
DT receivers are
a mixed lot. Among us are what I call “diggers”. Today, from International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia, is the sort of material they love to shovel. To
them I say, burrow on.
EBB4
Satan
sā´tan (שׂטן, sāṭān), “adversary,” from the verb שׂטן, sāṭan, “to lie in wait” (as adversary); Σατᾶν, Satán, Σατανᾶς, Satanás, “adversary,” διάβολος, diábolos, “Devil,” “adversary” or
“accuser,” κατήγωρ, katḗgōr (altogether unclassical and
unGreek) (used once in Rev_12:10),
“accuser”):
I. DEFINITION
II. SCRIPTURAL FACTS CONCERNING SATAN
1. Names of Satan
2. Character of Satan
3. Works of Satan
4. History of Satan
III. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. Scripture Doctrine of Satan Not Systematized
2. Satan and God
3. Satan Essentially Limited
4. Conclusions
LITERATURE
I. Definition.
A
created but superhuman, personal, evil, world-power, represented in Scripture
as the adversary both of God and men.
II. Scriptural Facts Concerning Satan.
1. Names of Satan:
The most important of these are the Hebrew and Greek
equivalents noticed above. These words are used in the general sense justified
by their etymological significance. It is applied even to Yahweh Himself (Num_22:22, Num_22:32;
compare 1Sa_29:4; 2Sa_19:22; Psa_109:6,
etc.). The word “Satan” is used 24 times in the Old Testament. In Job (Job_1:6 f) and Zec (Job_3:1
f) it has the prefixed definite article. In all cases but one when the article
is omitted it is used in a general sense. This one exception is 1Ch_21:1 (compare 2Sa_24:1),
where the word is generally conceded to be used as a proper name. This meaning
is fixed in New Testament times. We are thus enabled to note in the term
“Satan” (and Devil) the growth of a word from a general term to an appellation
and later to a proper name. All the other names of Satan save only these two
are descriptive titles. In addition to these two principal names a number of
others deserve specific enumeration. Tempter (Mat_4:5;
1Th_3:5); Beelzebub (Mat_12:24); Enemy (Mat_13:39);
Evil One (Mat_13:19, Mat_13:38; 1Jo_2:13,
1Jo_2:14; 1Jo_3:12,
and particularly 1Jo_5:18); Belial (2Co_6:15); Adversary (ἀντίδικος, antı́dikos), (1Pe_5:8); Deceiver (literally “the one who
deceives”) (Rev_12:9); Dragon (Great) (Rev_12:3); Father of Lies (Joh_8:44); Murderer (Joh_8:44);
Sinner (1Jo_3:8) - these are isolated
references occurring from 1 to 3 times each. In the vast majority of passages
(70 out of 83) either Satan or Devil is used.
2. Character of Satan:
Satan is consistently represented in the New Testament as
the enemy both of God and man. The popular notion is that Satan is the enemy of
man and active in misleading and cursing humanity because of his intense hatred
and opposition to God. Mat_13:39 would
seem to point in this direction, but if one were to venture an opinion in a
region where there are not enough facts to warrant a conviction, it would be
that the general tenor of Scripture indicates quite the contrary, namely, that
Satan's jealousy and hatred of men has led him into antagonism to God and,
consequently, to goodness. The fundamental moral description of Satan is given
by our Lord when He describes Satan as the “evil one” (Mat_13:19, Mat_13:38;
compare Isaiah's description of Yahweh as the “Holy One,” Isa_1:4 and often); that is, the one whose
nature and will are given to evil. Moral evil is his controlling attribute. It
is evident that this description could not be applied to Satan as originally
created. Ethical evil cannot be concreated. It is the creation of each free
will for itself. We are not told in definite terms how Satan became the evil
one, but certainly it could be by no other process than a fall, whereby, in the
mystery of free personality, an evil will takes the place of a good one.
3. Works of Satan:
The world-wide and age-long works of Satan are to be
traced to one predominant motive. He hates both God and man and does all that
in him lies to defeat God's plan of grace and to establish and maintain a
kingdom of evil, in the seduction and ruin of mankind. The balance and sanity
of the Bible is nowhere more strikingly exhibited than in its treatment of the
work of Satan. Not only is the Bible entirely free from the extravagances of
popular Satanology, which is full of absurd stories concerning the appearances,
tricks, and transformations of Satan among men, but it exhibits a dependable
accuracy and consistency, of statement which is most reassuring. Almost nothing
is said concerning Satanic agency other than wicked men who mislead other men.
In the controversy with His opponents concerning exorcism (Mar_3:22 f and parallel's) our Lord rebuts their
slanderous assertion that He is in league with Satan by the simple proposition
that Satan does not work against himself. But in so saying He does far more
than refute this slander. He definitely aligns the Bible against the popular
idea that a man may make a definite and conscious personal alliance with Satan
for any purpose whatever. The agent of Satan is always a victim. Also the hint
contained in this discussion that Satan has a kingdom, together with a few
other not very definite allusions, are all that we have to go upon in this
direction. Nor are we taught anywhere that Satan is able to any extent to
introduce disorder into the physical universe or directly operate in the lives
of men. It is true that in Luk_13:16
our Lord speaks of the woman who was bowed over as one “whom Satan has bound,
lo, these eighteen years,” and that in 2Co_12:7
Paul speaks of his infirmity as a “messenger of Satan sent to buffet him.” Paul
also speaks (1Th_2:18) of Satan's
hindering him from visiting the church at Thessalonica. A careful study of
these related passages (together with the prologue of Job) will reveal the fact
that Satan's direct agency in the physical world is very limited. Satan may be
said to be implicated in all the disasters and woes of human life, in so far as
they are more or less directly contingent upon sin (see particularly Heb_2:14) On the contrary, it is perfectly
evident that Satan's power consists principally in his ability to deceive. It
is interesting and characteristic that according to the Bible Satan is
fundamentally a liar and his kingdom is a kingdom founded upon lies and deceit.
The doctrine of Satan therefore corresponds in every important particular to
the general Biblical emphasis upon truth. “The truth shall make you free” (Joh_8:32) - this is the way of deliverance from
the power of Satan.
Now it would seem that to make Satan pre-eminently the deceiver
would make man an innocent victim and thus relax the moral issue. But according
to the Bible man is particeps criminis in the process of his own
deception. He is deceived only because he ceases to love the truth and comes
first to love and then to believe a lie (2Co_1:10).
This really goes to the very bottom of the problem of temptation. Men are not
tempted by evil, per se, but by a good which can be obtained only at the
cost of doing wrong. The whole power of sin, at least in its beginnings,
consists in the sway of the fundamental falsehood that any good is really
attainable by wrongdoing. Since temptation consists in this attack upon the
moral sense, man is constitutionally guarded against deceit, and is morally
culpable in allowing himself to be deceived. The temptation of our Lord Himself
throws the clearest possible light upon the methods ascribed to Satan and The
temptation was addressed to Christ's consciousness of divine sonship; it was a
deceitful attack emphasizing the good, minimizing or covering up the evil;
indeed, twisting evil into good. It was a deliberate, malignant attempt to
obscure the truth and induce to evil through the acceptance of falsehood. The
attack broke against a loyalty to truth which made self-deceit, and
consequently deceit from without, impossible. The lie was punctured by the
truth and the temptation lost its power (see TEMPTATION OF CHRIST). This
incident reveals one of the methods of Satan - by immediate suggestion as in
the case of Judas (Luk_22:3; Joh_13:2, Joh_13:27).
Sometimes, however, and, perhaps, most frequently, Satan's devices (2Co_2:11) include human agents. Those who are
given over to evil and who persuade others to evil are children and servants of
Satan (See Mat_16:23; Mar_8:33; Luk_4:8;
Joh_6:70; Joh_8:44;
Act_13:10; 1Jo_3:8).
Satan also works through persons and institutions supposed to be on the side of
right but really evil. Here the same ever-present and active falseness and
deceit are exhibited. When he is called “the god of this world” (2Co_4:4) it would seem to be intimated that he
has the power to clothe himself in apparently divine attributes. He also makes
himself an angel of light by presenting advocates of falsehood in the guise of
apostles of truth (2Co_11:13, 2Co_11:15; 1Jo_4:1;
2Th_2:9; Rev_12:9;
Rev_19:20). In the combination of
passages here brought together, it is clearly indicated that Satan is the
instigator and fomenter of that spirit of lawlessness which exhibits itself as
hatred both of truth and right, and which has operated so widely and so
disastrously in human life.
4. History of Satan:
The history of Satan, including that phase of it which
remains to be realized, can be set forth only along the most general lines. He
belongs to the angelic order of beings. He is by nature one of the sons of Elohı̄m (Job_1:6). He has fallen, and by virtue of his
personal forcefulness has become the leader of the anarchic forces of
wickedness. As a free being he has merged his life in evil and has become
altogether and hopelessly evil. As a being of high intelligence he has gained
great power and has exercised a wide sway over other beings. As a created being
the utmost range of his power lies within the compass of that which is
permitted. It is, therefore, hedged in by the providential government of God
and essentially limited. The Biblical emphasis upon the element of falsehood in
the career of Satan might be taken to imply that his kingdom may be less in
extent than appears. At any rate, it is confined to the cosmic sphere and to a
limited portion of time. It is also doomed. In the closely related passages 2Pe_2:4 and Jud_1:6
it is affirmed that God cast the angels, when they sinned, down to Tartarus and
committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. This both
refers to the constant divine control of these insurgent forces and also points
to their final and utter destruction. The putting of Satan in bonds is
evidently both constant and progressive. The essential limitation of the empire
of evil and its ultimate overthrow are foreshadowed in the Book of Job
(chapters 38 through 41), where Yahweh's power extends even to the symbolized
spirit of evil.
According to synoptic tradition, our Lord in the crisis
of temptation immediately following the baptism (Mt 4 and parallel) met and for
the time conquered Satan as His own personal adversary. This preliminary
contest did not close the matter, but was the earnest of a complete victory.
According to Luke (Luk_10:18), when the
Seventy returned from their mission flushed with victory over the powers of
evil, Jesus said: 'I saw Satan fall (not “fallen”; see Plummer, “Luke,” ICC,
in the place cited.) as lightning from heaven.' In every triumph over the
powers of evil Christ beheld in vision the downfall of Satan. In connection
with the coming of the Hellenists who wished to see Him, Jesus asserted (Joh_12:31), “Now is the judgment of this world:
now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” In view of His approaching
passion He says again (Joh_14:30), “The
prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me.” Once again in
connection with the promised advent of the Spirit, Jesus asserted (Joh_16:11) that the Spirit would convict the
world of judgment, “because the prince of this world hath been judged.” In
Hebrews (Heb_2:14, Heb_2:15) it is said that Christ took upon
Himself human nature in order “that through death he might bring to nought him
that had the power of death, that is, the Devil.” In 1Jo_3:8 it is said, “To this end was the Son of God
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil.” In Rev_12:9 it is asserted, in connection with
Christ's ascension, that Satan was cast down to the earth and his angels with
him. According to the passage immediately following (Rev_12:10-12), this casting down was not complete or final in
the sense of extinguishing his activities altogether, but it involves the
potential and certain triumph of God and His saints and the equally certain
defeat of Satan. In 1Jo_2:13 the young
men are addressed as those who “have overcome the evil one.” In Rev_20:1-15 the field of the future is covered
in the assertion that Satan is “bound a thousand years”; then loosed “for a
little time,” and then finally “cast into the lake of fire.”
A comparison of these passages will convince the careful
student that while we cannot construct a definite chronological program for the
career of Satan, we are clear in the chief points. He is limited, judged,
condemned, imprisoned, reserved for judgment from the beginning. The outcome is
certain though the process may be tedious and slow. The victory of Christ is
the defeat of Satan; first, for Himself as Leader and Saviour of men (Joh_14:30); then, for believers (Luk_22:31; Act_26:18;
Rom_16:20; Jam_4:7;
1Jo_2:13; 1Jo_5:4,
1Jo_5:18); and, finally, for the whole
world (Rev_20:10). The work of Christ
has already destroyed the empire of Satan.
III. General Considerations.
There
are, no doubt, serious difficulties in the way of accepting the doctrine of a
personal, superhuman, evil power as Satan is described to be. It is doubtful,
however, whether these diffificulties may not be due, at least in part, to a
misunderstanding of the doctrine and certain of its implications. In addition,
it must be acknowledged, that whatever difficulties there may be in the
teaching, they are exaggerated and, at the same time, not fairly met by the
vague and irrational skepticism which denies without investigation. There are
difficulties involved in any view of the world. To say the least, some problems
are met by the view of a superhuman, evil world-power. In this section certain
general considerations are urged with a view to lessening difficulties keenly
felt by some minds. Necessarily, certain items gathered in the foregoing
section are here emphasized again.
1. Scripture Doctrine
of Satan Not Systematized:
The
Scriptural doctrine of Satan is nowhere systematically developed. For materials
in this field we are shut up to scattered and incidental references. These
passages, which even in the aggregate are not numerous, tell us what we need to
know concerning the nature, history, kingdom and works of Satan, but offer
scant satisfaction to the merely speculative temper. The comparative lack of
development in this field is due partly to the fact that the Biblical writers
are primarily interested in God, and only secondarily in the powers of
darkness; and partly to the fact that in the Bible doctrine waits upon fact.
Hence, the malign and sinister figure of the Adversary is gradually outlined
against the light of God's holiness as progressively revealed in the
providential world-process which centers in Christ. It is a significant fact
that the statements concerning Satan become numerous and definite only in the
New Testament. The daylight of the Christian revelation was necessary in order
to uncover the lurking foe, dimly disclosed but by no means fully known in the
earlier revelation. The disclosure of Satan is, in form at least, historical,
not dogmatic.
2. Satan and God:
In
the second place, the relationship of Satan to God, already emphasized, must be
kept constantly in mind. The doctrine of Satan merges in the general doctrine
concerning angels (see ANGEL). It has often been pointed out that the personal
characteristics of angels are very little insisted upon. They are known chiefly
by their functions: merged, on the one hand, in their own offices, and, on the
other, in the activities of God Himself.
In
the Old Testament Satan is not represented as a fallen and malignant spirit,
but as a servant of Yahweh, performing a divine function and having his place
in the heavenly train. In the parallel accounts of David's numbering of Israel
(1Sa_24:1; 1Ch_21:1)
the tempting of David is attributed both to Yahweh and Satan. The reason for
this is either that 'the temptation of men is also a part of his providence,'
or that in the interval between the documents the personality of the tempter
has more clearly emerged. In this case the account in Chronicles would nearly
approximate the New Testament teaching. In the Book of Job (Job_1:6), however, Satan is among the Sons of
God and his assaults upon Job are divinely permitted. In Zec (Job_3:1, Job_3:2)
Satan is also a servant of Yahweh. In both these passages there is the hint of
opposition between Yahweh and Satan. In the former instance Satan assails
unsuccessfully the character of one whom Yahweh honors; while in the latter
Yahweh explicitly rebukes Satan for his attitude toward Israel (see G. A.
Smith, BTP, II, 316 f). The unveiling of Satan as a rebellious
world-power is reserved for the New Testament, and with this fuller teaching the
symbolic treatment of temptation in Gen is to be connected. There is a sound
pedagogical reason, from the viewpoint of revelation, for this earlier
withholding of the whole truth concerning Satan. In the early stages of
religious thinking it would seem to be difficult, if not impossible, to hold
the sovereignty of God without attributing to His agency those evils in the
world which are more or less directly connected with judgment and punishment
(compare Isa_45:7; Amo_3:6). The Old Testament sufficiently emphasizes
man's responsibility for his own evil deeds, but super-human evil is brought
upon him from above. “When willful souls have to be misled, the spirit who does
so, as in Ahab's case, comes from above” (G. A. Smith, op. cit., 317). The
progressive revelation of God's character and purpose, which more and more
imperatively demands that the origin of moral evil, and consequently natural
evil, must be traced to the created will in opposition to the divine will,
leads to the ultimate declaration that Satan is a morally fallen being to whose
conquest the Divine Power in history is pledged. There is, also, the distinct
possibility that in the significant transition from the Satan of the Old
Testament to that of the New Testament we have the outlines of a biography and
an indication of the way by which the angels fell.
3. Satan Essentially
Limited:
A third
general consideration, based upon data given in the earlier section, should be
urged in the same connection. In the New Testament delineation of Satan, his
limitations are clearly set forth. He is superhuman, but not in any sense
divine. His activities are cosmic, but not universal or transcendent. He is a
created being. His power is definitely circumscribed. He is doomed to final
destruction as a world-power. His entire career is that of a secondary and
dependent being who is permitted a certain limited scope of power - a time-lease
of activity (Luk_4:6).
4. Conclusions:
These
three general considerations have been grouped in this way because they dispose
of three objections which are current against the doctrine of Satan.
(1)
The first is, that it is mythological in origin. That it is not dogmatic is a
priori evidence against this hypothesis. Mythology is primitive dogma. There is
no evidence of a theodicy or philosophy of evil in the Biblical treatment of
Satan. Moreover, while the Scriptural doctrine is unsystematic in form, it is
rigidly limited in scope and everywhere essentially consistent. Even in the
Apocalypse, where naturally more scope is allowed to the imagination, the same
essential ideas appear. The doctrine of Satan corresponds, item for item, to
the intellectual saneness and ethical earnestness of the Biblical world-view as
a whole. It is, therefore, not mythological. The restraint of chastened
imagination, not the extravagance of mythological fancy, is in evidence
throughout the entire Biblical treatment of the subject. Even the use of terms
current in mythology (as perhaps Gen_3:1,
Gen_3:13, Gen_3:14;
Rev_12:7-9; compare 1Pe_5:8) does not imply more than a literary
clothing of Satan in attributes commonly ascribed to malignant and disorderly
forces.
(2)
The second objection is that the doctrine is due to the influence of Persian
dualism (see PERSIAN RELIGION; ZOROASTRIANISM). The answer to this is plain, on
the basis of facts already adduced. The Biblical doctrine of Satan is not
dualistic. Satan's empire had a beginning, it will have a definite and
permanent end. Satan is God's great enemy in the cosmic sphere, but he is God's
creation, exists by divine will, and his power is relatively no more
commensurate with God's than that of men. Satan awaits his doom. Weiss says
(concerning the New Testament representation of conflict between God and the
powers of evil): “There lies in this no Manichaean dualism,... but only the
deepest experience of the work of redemption as the definite destruction of the
power from which all sin in the world of men proceeds” (Biblical Theology
New Testament, English tanslations of the Bible, II, 272; compare G.A.
Smith, op. cit., II, 318).
(3)
The third objection is practically the same as the second, but addressed
directly to the doctrine itself, apart from the question of its origin, namely,
that it destroys the unity of God. The answer to this also is a simple negative.
To some minds the reality of created wills is dualistic and therefore
untenable. But a true doctrine of unity makes room for other wills than God's -
namely of those beings upon whom God has bestowed freedom. Herein stands the
doctrine of sin and Satan. The doctrine of Satan no more militates against the
unity of God than the idea, so necessary to morality and religion alike, of
other created wills set in opposition to God's. Just as the conception of Satan
merges, in one direction, in the general doctrine of angels, so, in the other,
it blends with the broad and difficult subject of evil (compare “Satan,” HDB,
IV, 412a)
Literature.
All
standard works on Biblical Theology, as well as Dictionaries, etc., treat with
more or less thoroughness the doctrine of Satan. The German theologians of the
more evangelical type, such as Weiss, Lange, Martensen (Danish), Dorner, while
exhibiting a tendency toward excessive speculation, discern the deeper aspects
of the doctrine. Of monographs known to the writer none are to be recommended
without qualification. It is a subject on which the Bible is its own best
interpreter.
