Who is Satan? Where did
he come from? Why does Paul
call him the "god of this
world"? Indeed, Satan is the
quintessential liar. But
what are his lies?
Satan’s
original name: Lucifer
The Bible specifies three
archangels by name: Michael,
Gabriel, and Lucifer. Two of
these archangels - Michael
and Gabriel - remain devoted
to God. Lucifer, however, is
another story. "How you are
fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the
ground, you who weakened the
nations! For you have said
in your heart: ‘I will
ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the
stars of God; I will also
sit on the mount of the
congregation on the farthest
sides of the north; I will
ascend above the heights of
the clouds, I will be like
the Most High.’ Yet you
shall be brought down to
Sheol, to the lowest depths
of the Pit. Those who see
you will gaze at you, and
consider you, saying: ‘Is
this the man who made the
earth tremble, who shook
kingdoms’" (Isaiah
14:12-16).
In Isaiah 14 God condemns
the king of Babylon.
However, He inspired Isaiah
to include a passage about
Satan, or rather, Lucifer.
Isaiah wrote that Lucifer
fell from heaven, and Jesus
corroborated this account:
"And He (Jesus) said to
them, ‘I watched Satan fall
from heaven like lightning’"
(Luke 10:18).
Satan’s original name was
Lucifer, which means
"morning star." Lucifer’s
hubris motivated his attempt
to overthrow God (exalting
his "throne above the stars
of God"). Furthermore,
Isaiah identifies Satan’s
plan to "weaken the
nations." Elsewhere, Satan
is described as deceiving
the nations (Revelation
12:9).
Ezekiel also describes
Lucifer: "Son of man, take
up a lamentation for the
king of Tyre, and say to
him, Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘You were the seal of
perfection, full of wisdom
and perfect in beauty. You
were in Eden, the garden of
God; every precious stone
was your covering: the
sardius, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and
emerald with gold. The
workmanship of your timbrels
and pipes was prepared for
you on the day you were
created. You were the
anointed cherub who covers;
I established you; you were
on the holy mountain of God;
you walked back and forth in
the midst of fiery stones.
You were perfect in your
ways from the day you were
created, till iniquity
was found in you. By the
abundance of your trading
you became filled with
violence within, and you
sinned. Therefore I cast you
as a profane thing out of
the mountain of God; and I
destroyed you, O covering
cherub, from the midst of
the fiery stones. Your
heart was lifted up because
of your beauty; you
corrupted your wisdom for
the sake of your splendor’"
(Ezekiel 28:12-17, emphasis
mine). Again, in the middle
of a condemnation of a king,
this time of Tyre, God
inspires Ezekiel to include
a passage about Lucifer.
Ezekiel referred to his
subject as being in "Eden,
the garden of God."
Moreover, this being was the
"anointed cherub who
covers." Obviously God is
not referring to Adam, but
to Lucifer.
Ezekiel delivers
important clues as to why
Lucifer turned into Satan
the devil:
God refers to Lucifer
as the "anointed
cherub who covers."
This poetic description
suggests that Lucifer
occupied a very high
position in the
government of God.
Lucifer was on the "holy
mountain of God," which
implies he had access to
God’s throne.
As Isaiah indicated,
Lucifer became very
proud. "Pride goes
before destruction, and
a haughty spirit before
a fall" (Proverbs
16:18). Jesus said that
Satan fell "from heaven
like lightening" (Luke
10:18). Lucifer was too
proud for his own good
("Your heart was lifted
up because of your
beauty"). As Ezekiel
stated, Satan
"corrupted" his "wisdom
for the sake of" his
"splendor."
Lucifer attempted to
overthrow God. Because of
his position and charisma,
and because God entrusted
him
with authority over
one-third of the angels,
Lucifer was able to convince
an innumerable amount of
them to conduct a coup
against God. This attempted
coup precipitated the first
and original star wars.
The universe has never
recovered from the wreckage
caused by the war between
Lucifer and God. In the
initial chapters of Genesis
we see a ruined world in
which the continents are
buried underneath the
oceans, and the "Spirit of
God was hovering over the
face of the waters."
Lucifer’s rebellion
turned him into Satan the
devil. He will again try to
overthrow God (Revelation
12), and when he fails,
Satan will inspire the false
prophet to declare himself
to be God incarnate: "Let no
one deceive you by any
means; for that Day (the day
of the Lord, His return to
earth) will not come unless
the falling away comes
first, and the man of sin
is revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposes and
exalts himself above all
that is called God or that
is worshiped, so that he
sits as God in the temple of
God, showing himself that
he is God" (II
Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Paul calls Satan the
"prince of the power of the
air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of
disobedience" (Ephesians
2:2), and the "god of this
world" (II Corinthians 4:4).
Satan is very angry at the
children of God because they
will inherit what he
believes is rightfully his:
the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, after his failure
to overthrow God (again),
Satan will "make war with
the rest of her offspring
(the members of God’s
family), who keep the
commandments of God and have
the testimony of Jesus
Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
One tactic Satan has
employed, and will always
employ, in his war against
God’s children is deception,
the subtle twisting of
scripture to distort God’s
holy truth.
Satan as a
snake?
The Bible is rich in
metaphor and other figures
of speech. For example,
Jesus is referred to as a
Lamb; the dictator who
fights Christ at His return
as a beast; and Satan
himself as a dragon and
roaring lion: "your
adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour"
(I Peter 5:8). Jesus was not
a literal lamb, and the
dictator will not be an
actual beast. Similarly,
Herod was not a fox (Luke
13:32). So is it safe to
assume that Satan was not
really a "serpent"?
The Bible often uses
metaphor to describe an
individual’s character. For
example, Herod was as wily
as a fox. And Satan is as
enchanting and slippery as a
snake. "Now the serpent was
more cunning than any beast
of the field which the Lord
God had made" (Genesis 3:1).
This implies that Satan is
subtle, shrewd and sneaky.
The Lord God said that
"you (figuratively, the
serpent) shall bruise his
heel" (Genesis 3:15). We
should not take this
literally. This foreshadows
the attempt by Satan to
destroy Jesus throughout His
life. He attempted to kill
Jesus at birth (Revelation
12:4), in his childhood
(Herod’s attempt to destroy
the male children under 2
years old), and on the
stake, commonly referred to
as the "cross." Satan
tempted Jesus continuously
(Matthew 4:1-11, Hebrews
4:15). "Bruising his heel"
is therefore tantamount to
Satan’s persistent attempt
to bother, tempt, and
destroy Jesus.
Understanding this will
enable us to comprehend the
next figure of speech - "He
shall bruise your head." No,
Adam did not step on the
serpent’s head. Nor does it
imply that Jesus would
literally squash Satan’s
head. However, since the
head contains the mind from
which all thought derives,
this figure of speech
alludes to the destruction
of Satan’s plan. After all,
Jesus achieved victory over
Satan on the stake. Time and
again, Satan tried to tempt
Jesus into sinning. One sin
would disqualify Jesus from
becoming our Savior. He had
to be the spotless
sacrificial lamb (again,
metaphor) depicted in the
Old Testament Passover
sacrifice. Yet Jesus was
nailed to that stake as a
sinless man. He therefore
achieved victory over
Satan’s plan.
"Because you have done
this, you are cursed more
than all cattle, and more
than every beast of the
field; on your belly you
shall go, and you shall eat
dust all the days of your
life" (Genesis 3:14). Snakes
do not literally eat dust,
nor did David (Psalms 72:9).
As in previous and
succeeding scriptures, God
is employing a figure of
speech to convey the
eventual, total defeat of
Satan, as depicted in
Revelation 20:10.
Satan twists the
Scriptures ever so slightly
and thus changes their
entire meaning. We see this
attempt in Matthew 4, in
which Satan quotes the
Bible. "It is written," said
Satan, and he proceeds to
distort the meaning of
several scriptures. Indeed,
Satan has twisted the Bible
to "deceive the whole world"
(Revelation 12:9). He
twisted the initial chapters
in Genesis to portray
himself as a literal
serpent. Rather, he was the
"cherub that covers."
Ezekiel describes cherubim
as creatures that almost
defy description. Their
appearance inspires awe.
"And every one had four
faces: the first face was
the face of a cherub, and
the second face was the face
of a man, and the third the
face of a lion, and the
fourth the face of an eagle"
(Ezekiel 10:14). Lucifer, or
Satan, was a cherub. He
resembles the creatures
mentioned in Ezekiel. He was
no common snake.
From the beginning Satan
has disguised himself. He
has tricked us into
believing that he took the
form of a snake. And he’s
been tricking us ever since.
Satan
transformed into an "angel
of light"
"For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And
no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into
an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also
be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according
to their works" (II
Corinthians 11:13-15).
Satan has transformed
himself into an angel of
light. In other words, his
lies appear as the truth.
And his demons are called
ministers of righteousness
because their words and
actions appear true.
Satan has transformed
himself into an "angel of
light," a deliverer of
truth. However, he’s the
original and quintessential
liar (John 8:44). He has
deceived the entire world
(Revelation 12:9). And
because he’s the "god of
this world" (II Corinthians
4:4), Satan has inspired
mankind’s institutions,
politics, and yes,
religions. And I’m not
referring specifically to
Buddhism or Islam. I’m
referring to mainstream
Christianity.
What is Satan most
concerned about? Does he
care primarily about the
governments of the world, or
about Muslims or Buddhists?
No, they’re already
deceived. Satan has them in
his back pocket. Instead,
he’s primarily worried about
people who "keep the
commandments of God, and
have the testimony of Jesus
Christ" (Revelation 12:17).
True Christians keep the law
of God, as found in the
first five books of Moses.
They keep the ten
commandments and the holy
days of God (Leviticus 23).
They also have the testimony
of Jesus; they’ve accepted
Him as their Savior. They
have God’s Spirit and thus
are His children: "For ye
have not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. The
Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of
God. And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also
glorified together " (Romans
8:15-17).
As children of God, we
are "heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ."
We’ll inherit the kingdom of
God (Matthew 25:34) and will
become "kings and priests"
(Revelation 5:10) with
authority over the nations
in the millennium
(Revelation 2:26).
Right now Satan is the
"god of this world." As
such, he has authority over
the nations, customs,
institutions, and religions
of this world. He’s angry at
us because it’s our destiny
to rule with Christ. He
wants what we will inherit:
the kingdom of God. This is
why Satan is angry not at
the average Muslim, Buddhist
or atheist. Rather, he is
incensed at us, the "heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ."
Satan has deceived the
whole world except the elect
(Matthew 24:24). Throughout
history he has been wherever
God has been working. Satan
was present in Eden and at
the birth, ministry, and
death of Jesus. What is he
doing today? Obviously he is
trying to deceive and
destroy God’s children, His
"offspring" who "keep the
commandments of God and have
the testimony of Jesus."
The
Ultimate Lie
Satan’s biggest lie is to
portray himself as "an angel
of light," a deliverer of
truth. He and his demons
masquerade as ministers of
righteousness. He has
distorted our very image of
Jesus.
If asked, most Christians
will portray Satan as a
sinister, ethereal being,
perhaps clad in a red suit
with two horns atop his
pointy head. Conversely,
they’ll portray Jesus as a
wispy, effeminate, emaciated
man with a neat beard, soft
eyes, and wearing a long,
white flowing robe. This is
the common image of Jesus.
This image is false. Satan
has distorted God’s truth.
Paul and the others
warned against false
teachers who preach "another
Jesus" and "another gospel."
Satan has infected these
people with his lies. For
example:
Satan once belonged
to a trinity of
archangels (Michael and
Gabriel are the other
two archangels). The
Godhead, however,
consists only of God the
Father and Jesus (I
Corinthians 8:6). Satan
has tricked people into
believing that the
Godhead is a trinity.
Satan is an immortal
spirit being whose fate
is eternal torment in
the "outer darkness"
described by Jude. Yet
he has convinced us that
we have immortal souls
(a lie) that go to
heaven (a lie) or hell
(a fictional place)
where they will be
tormented for eternity
(another lie which
portrays God as harsh
and unforgiving).
Satan has convinced
man that he will ascend
into heaven, however
Jesus said that no man
has ascended into heaven
(John 3:13). It was
Satan who tried to
ascend into heaven and
overthrow God’s throne.
Time and again Satan has twisted the scriptures to deceive mankind. His greatest
lie is disguising himself as an angel of light who delivers the truth. Most
people won’t recognize him or his lies. In their eyes, Satan’s lies (e.g.
immortality of the soul, going to heaven or hell when we die, the nailing of the
commandments to the stake, etc.) become truth. Satan has distorted the Bible. If
we don’t want to be under Satan’s deceptive and beguiling spell, then we must
pray for God’s truth. We must read the Bible, from beginning to end. We must
realize that the commandments are not ‘nailed to the cross.’ We must realize
that many traditional Christian concepts are false. We must realize that the
holy days specified in Leviticus 23 depict the plan of God. And if we’re to be a
part of that plan, then we must get to know the real Jesus. And we must be aware
of the real Satan, the quintessential liar.
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man's word for anything, so prove all things for yourself from
the pages of your own
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