Besides God, Himself, the devil might be the most misunderstood being in all the world. Think about it. What images comes to mind when you think “Satan”? I’d guess that most of us conjure up images of a goofy or cantankerous looking fellow, often with red tights, horns, and a pitchfork (thanks mostly to Dante’s Inferno). However, this image of the evil one is far from accurate, as depicted in the Bible. So, who is the devil? How did he come to be as he is now? Why are our ideas of him so inaccurate? How should we think about him?
Who is the devil?
The Bible tells us that Satan, along with other fallen angels, was once a being granted great authority by God. He (Lucifer) was created by God as a good creature and, as with all other moral creatures, possessed a will free to either love and serve God or rebel against Him (Jude 1:6). However, with his will he chose mutiny over worship (as Milton had Satan say in Paradise Lost, “Better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven”). Satan was then banished by the Creator into darkness until the time when he will be judged and relegated to Hell with the rest of his subversive minions.Â
Why is the devil misunderstood?
There seem to be two primary ways that we misunderstand the devil. First, would be giving him too much power and influence. This is the tendency to see demonic influence behind every act of evil or even simpler problems. For instance, I once heard of someone attribute his car problems to Satan, and would rebuke him every time his car broke down. The second inappropriate tendency would be to disbelieve in the personal being of Satan altogether. This is the option I believe Satan would hope for. Someone once said, there is no devil so bad as no devil at all. To suppose there is no enemy at all removes any vigilance we might have against him. If you think there is not such thing as a thief, you won’t lock your front door. In C.S. Lewis’ wonderfully imaginary book, The Screwtape Letters, the elder, more skilled demon, Screwtape, instructs Wormwood, his demon apprentice, that every time a human begins to consider the reality of Satan, the demon should remind him of the silly horns and pitchfork, and convince him that he is far too intelligent and enlightened a person to believe in something so ridiculous.
How should we think about the devil?
Well, first we must believe in the reality of demonic beings who are our enemies (immaterial, personal (intelligence), powerful, and morally depraved). If Satan does not exist Jesus is a fool, because Jesus took him quite seriously.Â
We also must not be flippant about our own ability to stand up against and do battle with this adversary. The New Testament instructs us to act with a type of respect with thinking about or dealing with Satan when we read that “even the archangel Michael…did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against [the devil], but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 1:9). I am not called to go to battle with demons. Rather, I am called to “put on the full armor of God so that [I] can take [my] stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). My focus is to be on God’s provision for me, and my security in Him.
We must also understand that the devil is a crafty advisory who “masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). There’s a reason that Moses chose a serpent (Genesis 3), when explaining this to the desert-dwelling Israelites, in order to show how Satan enticed and wooed Eve into his revolt. Satan’s schemes and lies are never obvious. If they were, he would be a fool. No one chooses evil for its own sake. People buy into it because they believe it will in someway be for their benefit and wellbeing. This is one reason I thought Mel Gibson’s character of Satan, in The Passion, was a thoughtful depiction. There was something alluring and almost harmless about him—the nature of temptation.
Thoughts:
My guess is that the Bible is somewhat vague on demonology and angelology for a reason, though we might like it to say more. Reason being, our focus is not to be on them. In fact, a common characteristic of interactions with unfallen angels in the Bible is that they never point to themselves, but always redirect attention away from themselves and toward God. They are mere servants. Even the name “Angel” means messenger. It’s never about them. By they way, that’s a good, basic criterion to use when discerning modern tales of angelic contact. Most anecdotes have the angels supposedly telling people to spread the story of the angel or something other than Jesus.
For the person who has been united with Jesus, there is no need to fear demonic powers, because the One who created all beings, and who will one day condemn these evil powers, is the very One who resides within us (1 John 4:4). If He controls our lives, there is no foe or power that can touch us outside of His will (Romans 8:38-39). There is nothing that touches our lives that does not first pass through our Lord’s hand. This should give us an assurance that we are secure at Jesus’ side, for he sits at the right hand of God the Father.
What the devil can’t do:
1. Read our minds. Only God knows the heart and thoughts of people. Nevertheless, Satan and his demonic companions are careful students of human nature. So, they don’t need to read our minds to know our weaknesses.
2. Interact with us physically. They don’t have physicality in space, and so cannot bite, punch, or kick (contrary to some popular notions like those of Christian counselor, Neil T. Anderson). Jesus told us that spirits “do not have flesh and bone” (Luke 24:39).
3. Satan is not omnipresent (present everywhere) like God is. So, while one of his demonic counterparts (equally as evil in intent) may be tempting me, it is not necessarily Satan himself.
4. Satan and his angels will not rule in and torment people in Hell. We must remember that Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). So, there will be no one more miserable and tormented in hell than Satan himself, for just as there are levels of reward in Heaven, so there are levels of punishment in hell (Matthew 10:15).
Suggested Reading: I think one of the most insightful books on how demons battle against us through temptation is C.S. Lewis’, The Screwtape Letters.
For a good book dealing with what it means to “put on the full armor of God,” see Hank Hageraaff’s book, The Covering.
8 Comments on “Thinking about the devil”
Hi, Brent! Thank you for that information. I have a young friend who is concerned about the devil and that information may help. On another note, can you talk about pre-trib, post-trib and mid-trib? Hank Hanegraff appears to have a different viewpoint than Jenkins/LaHaye. Where does the church stand? Or does the church have a stance? Thanks!
Brent. I attend Timberline Church and have also attended several of you apologetics classes throughout the last couple of years. I have a great story about the use of this blog. I work in a secular Residential Treatment Center for adolescents. Yesterday, I woke up and was looking at the Timberline web page and stumbled across this blog of yours. I thought the information about the Devil was interesting and felt prompted to send it by e-mail to a coworker. This coworker and I had just had a conversation about the devil, somewhat spontaneously – the first awesome intervention by God. It just so happens that a young lady who had been in our program for several months and never once mentioned God asked this coworker specifically about the Devil. This was on the night before she was to leave our program for good and on the very same day that I sent this coworker the information on the devil contained in your blog! This coworker called me last night and described how she read several passages from your writings to this young lady and the profound impact it had on the discussion. Second awesome intervention by God! Thank you for this site, I’m sure it will have an impact way beyond the observed or the obvious.
Jon, Wow! Thank you so much for relaying that story to me. It’s so awesome to hear how God connects the dots of conversations, writings, thoughts, prayers, etc. in wooing us to Himself. It sounds like you are filling a vital role at the treatment center that is having an eternal impact. I’d love to hear some of the stories of life-change that I’m sure you have the opportunity to see from time to time. Keep up the Kingdom work. I’d also like to get any feedback from you on what resources/topics would be helpful to see here on this site. Thanks again for the encouraging message.
When I think of the devil, I think of the “accurser of the brethern.” I also think of him as someone who is “seeking to devour”; yet, God has promised that if we “resist the devil, he will flee from us.” Also, I am reminded that “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” The devil is real, and he loves to work overtime on Christians and marriages because he knows we do damage to his world by extending God’s kingdom. I am glad that God is all powerful and all knowing and all present and this is the same God that lives within us so we need not fear. In closing, I thought of Revelations when John said, “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” We must stay faithful in spreading the news that there is power in Jesus’ blood and in our personal testimony. Hey, maybe we could share more testimony on the Wed beleivers service.
Thanks
Christine Matthie
Happy Pastor’s Appreciation Week
We are thankful to all of you, esp Pastor Frank for faithfully and loyally coming into my World Geo classroom year after year to share your love of Latin America and Africa.
Hi Pastor Brent,
On 9-29 Donna Haggard wrote you concerning pre/post/mid tribulation views. I recently was told about a book by Robert C. Clouse called The Meaning of the Millennium. Since the person telling me about the book was Prof. Jim Lyndsay I figured it had to be good. I did buy it and personally cannot recommend it YET as I am saving it for our trip to Israel. What is your opinion (not that you would EVER refute Dr. Jim) and might this be a good resource for Donna?
Judy Smith
Judy, if it’s a suggestion from Jim, I’m sure it’ll be a good resource. As far as my opinion on a good resource, I’d encourage anyone to pick up, “Revelation, Four Views: A Parallel Commentary,� by Steve Gregg. And interestingly enough, Robert Clouse both wrote the forward and is the editor of this useful commentary. This commentary on the book of Revelation offers side-by-side parallel columns, allowing you to quickly compare four views on the entire book of Revelation: (1) Preterist: most prophecies were fulfilled during the time of the Roman empire; (2) Historicist: the prophecies have been fulfilled throughout history and are still being fulfilled today; (3) Futurist: most prophecies are yet to be fulfilled; (4) Spiritual [or Symbolic or Idealist]: most prophecies portray ongoing cosmic conflict of spiritual realities and may have many fulfillments throughout history.
Brent,
If Satan can’t read our minds, where do the spiritual battles come in? If we are battling something from within and are in prayer over it, is it safe to say that it is a battle between the will of God and the will of our flesh?
I found this blog to be very enlightening. It’s something that I so agree with, that people sometimes have a tendency to give Satan “too much credit” for things. By the whole “the devil made me do it” mentality, people tend to try to shift responsibility for their words or actions. While he is the root of all evil, we are all victims of our fleshly will, and we need to own it and give it to God.
Amanda
HI Brent and Amanda! 🙂
This is a subject I’m well learned in because of my recovery from SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse). I know there is a devil, that he’s a liar, a deceiver and that I do NOT have to fear him. In my life, I laugh in his face. He has no power over me that I do not give him. I have done much research myself in the area of what Satan can and cannot do so that I would know as much about the one who’s tried to destroy me as possible. I wanted to know who I was up against and what his tricks were. As far as his inability to read our minds, that was of great comfort to me. As Brent said, he or his legions, study our behavior and that is how he knows our weaknesses. That’s when he begins to whisper in our ear and affect our thoughts, beliefs and actions. Brent? Question. Regarding the subject of being ‘omnipresent’….is it true that though he may not be, he has legions of demons that are assigned to take care of certain peoples? And is it true that when you defeat them once, on one issue, they go get their buddies and come back to begin again, perhaps on another issue or simply try to be more clever on the previous one? I know that in my experience in doing spiritual warfare, when one way didnt work, they’d try another and another… Persistent little pests. Thanks for the post.