Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
Psalm 109:6 KJV
Previously we observed the existence of Satan in the Supernatural Before Adam as a serpent tempting man to question God.
If you acknowledge the Almighty Creator of all things and all men, yet recognize that evil pervades creation and the hearts of mankind, then you must ask about this power who deceives the minds of men.
Who (or what) is Satan?
You may have read scripture seeing little reference to Satan, but a deeper understanding of our English translations will reveal a willing and powerful opponent of the Lord God in places beyond the garden and circumstances considerably beyond original sin.
Several translations of this same verse in Psalm 109 suggest, “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser bring him to trial.” RSV
The man after God’s own heart pleads:
O God of my praise, Do not be silent!
Psalm 109:1
He prays to the living God – ruler above the angels, spirits who serve and the fallen. The Lord rules over creation whether spirit or wicked man.
5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
The Hebrew word for accuser here is satan – שָׂטָן
The heading of Psalm 109 in the NASB reads: Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries. Our best understanding of Satan is that this fallen angel of darkness is accuser of the faithful and adversary of Christ.
The NLT reads: “One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.” – Job 1:6
The King James describes them as the “sons of God [‘elohiym] and the NIV describes them as “angels.” Satan is one of these supernatural beings unseen by Job (and mankind).
The LORD [Yĕhovah] said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 2:2 NASB
Consider it: Satan, an unseen angel opposed to God, walking about among men inciting us (with the Lord’s consent) toward evil.
διάβολος – diabolos
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil… And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God…
Matthew 4:1,3a
Of course Satan knew the incarnate Son of God, led by the Holy Spirit of the Lord God! Yet the devil, the accuser of man, tempted Jesus just like he did deceive man in the beginning of creation.
the Dragon and Serpent
Fearful images: mythical? Perhaps. The great deceiver would have you believe that. But possibly these serpents command such unimaginable evil that man dare not give these any hint of existence.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John uncovers a fearful glimpse into the end which includes these representations of evil power.
drakōn – It is the same beast of eden from the Hebrew of Genesis 3:
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
In another unseen future apocalypse in heaven John reveals:
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war… – Revelation 12:7 NASB
War — between the unseen forces of good and evil. Can you imagine that? Could a decisive defeat of these devils and Satan soon inaugurate a new heavens and a new earth without evil?
Surely men of dust decaying with each mortal day will become caught in the middle of this battle between good and evil.
Where do you stand? Who is your champion in this life — and the next?
Who will stand beside your soul at the Judgment when the Accuser recounts all of your sins before the Judge Who IS?
This October series, Because the Days are Evil,
To be continued, God-willing...
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV
Intro to October series on evil
Choose any month of the calendar year and assign it to good or evil. The newness of our January resolutions seem to evoke a new good in our lives. December brings the good will of Christmas and the lights of Chanukah. In November some Americans acknowledge our thankfulness to God.
Choose any day and you will find both good and evil. Yet if you were to choose one day most celebrated – yes, celebrated for evil – it would be Halloween. October, for this reason, may be the one month most tempting toward evil in each measured year of our mortal flesh.
Therefore, this month I will set aside my usual serial approach to studying a single book of the Bible such as James or 1 Peter in favor of taking on the serpent in the room and his evil agenda against any who would call God and Christ Jesus Lord.
One additional introductory thought: this series on evil will also be rooted in Scripture, rather than the cultural lore associated with the enemy of the Lord God, that fallen angel destined for destruction Satan. God-willing, I will strive to keep each topical post brief, lest the devil sway you from God’s written word.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Ephesians 5:1 NKJV
Speaking to true Christians (not just those who occasionally show up in a building with a cross somewhere), Paul writes:
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
Evil is always associated with darkness, though some spirits of the dark pose as angels of light. Even Satan is a fallen angel, but more of that in a later post.
“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Walk the straight and narrow path without such foolish ways toward where we all tend to wander. We crave the crowds on the left or slip into the mire of the sin on the right.
Redeeming our time implies that we must buy back the lost time for our sin.
But what if you cannot afford the cost of your sin? How long would it take for you to earn your way back into the eternal good of heaven?
Beloved, our mortal days are both evil and brief.
Do not forsake Christ as those who would sway you toward foolish rebellion against His unfailing love do so willingly.
Jesus IS our Redeemer, because of His sacrifice for our sin.
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Receive the Holy Spirit, Paul urges believers as he cautions against common sinfulness. Your heart is the Lord’s, therefore praise Him above all. Submit to each other, as broken parts of the body of Christ who fear God.
Do you fear God?
“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 14:7b CSB
Those who do evil forget their fear of the Lord. The foolish revel in their sins and mock the faith of the righteousness.
We will be judged as good or evil
Yet the Lord will judge good and evil, punishing the tormented souls of evil-doers while showing mercy to the faithful who would do good for God’s sake, because of Christ Jesus.
Christ IS our Savior and Redeemer, Judge of our souls so prone toward sin.
Do you fear God and desire grace at the mercy seat of judgment?
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:8
Jesus is either your Lord or
you must answer for your own sins without redemption.
Let not your epitaph be:
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD…
And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 9:11
Light from Darkness
What do you believe about light and darkness, about good and evil, about God and the opponents of the LORD?
John begins his gospel much like Genesis with contrasts between light and darkness and introduces evidence of the presence of Christ and the Spirit of God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
John 1:1,5 CSB
John compares Jesus to light, God’s answer to formlessness and darkness. Moses illustrates darkness in the beginning (Genesis) as chaos prior to God’s intervention by creation.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
And the Spirit of God moved like the wind over the gathering wave of a deep unending sea.
Light and darkness, good and evil, God’s plan and chaos: always separated. The Apostle John makes this separation very clear to the church as he writes in his third letter:
3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Choose Light or descend into darkness?
We like the Apostle John because he points us toward Christ’s love for the world. His gospel emphasizes Jesus’ love with little mention of the devil.
Some christians and others of this twenty-first century doubt the existence of the devil or question the influence, if any, of Satan and demons. We think we know these influencers of evil from other books of the Bible and tend to dismiss demons and devils.
John’s gospel is all about the Light.
John 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
Yet Jesus cautions us, pointing to contrasts between light and darkness, good and evil, and yes, between following Him or the prince of darkness.
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.
John 8:12 & John 12:46
These warnings against darkness from the Son of God ought to be enough, yet the prince of the world would tempt us to worldliness.
These warnings from John’s gospel do not differ from those of the Prophets.
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! What will the day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
Amos 5:15 CSB
Revelation – ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis
When we think of young John, the loving faithful follower of Jesus, we forget that he lived a long life as the only surviving Apostle. Rome finally banished John to Patmos where he received a terrifying apocalypse from the risen Christ.
Orazio Fidani, Saint John the Apostle, c. 1640-56
God judges the world; that is, those of the world who have turned away from the only Savior, our Lord.
Do you fear the uncertainty of darkness?
Consider the uncertainty of death!
Should God punish sin?
Dare you consider the darkness of death, experienced by your soul?
“Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
Revelation 16:1
Last Judgement – Michelangelo
10 The fifth [angel] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.
People gnawed their tongues because of their pain
11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
Judgement! And punishment, even after death.
No redemption from sin, no help from the beast or false prophet.
Certainly no post-death incarnation into a new or different body, not even that of a lowly animal. (Such selfish idolatry of those lost souls who strictly adhere to such ancient lies or worship false gods.)
The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key for the shaft to the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.
The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
You with eyes to see, souls seeking the Light of salvation: observe the terrible intensity of the battle between good and evil – Satan’s opposition to the Lord God and Christ Jesus. It is a battle to the death for our souls!
Yet by the mercy of the LORD’s Sacrifice of love on the Cross for you, Christ Jesus purchased victory eternal over the dragon of darkness.
9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
The many names of the evil one
He hides in the shadows of darkness and speaks lies to false prophets. We know this dark imitator of light by many names, confusing even more our blurred vision of his subtle evil.
The great dragon – δράκων from familiar imagery of Greek mythology to John’s audience. The ancient serpent – ὄφις , a familiar reference to the cunning tempter in Eden , a clear reference to original sinחַטָּאָת.
John clarifies the identity of the enemy with two additional names more familiar to us, first: the devil – διάβολος diabolos in the familiar Greek, which means slanderer or accuser. He is known as the tempterπεῖρα, one who would bring you to a trial or terrible experience. It is a word from a root word πέραν meaning, ‘to pierce,’ which contains significant symbolism in the war between good and evil, between Christ and Satan.
John’s second identification is the most familiar and most feared: Satan. The contemporary name in the Greek, Σατανᾶς Satanas, also known to fellow Jews, believers along with John, as Satanשָׂטָן.
Revelation 16:10 refers to Satan’s princely throne as ‘throne of the beast,’ θηρίον thērion, implying his wild, venomous nature, even brutal, savage and ferocious, sometime illustrated as a bestial man.
Is is any wonder that the evil one wants man, created in the image of God, to dismiss him as myth?
More names of the prince of darkness
While relating the prophesy known as the fifth trumpet, John refers to Satan as: ‘the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.’
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.
Revelation 12:7-8
Though Satan rules the darkness and entices sinners to turn against Christ Jesus and bow down at the throne of darkness, dare you doubt the consequence of the war between good and evil?
Satan and the false prophet are defeated and punished.
The saints then reign with Christ.
The Lord reigns over a new creation and a new Jerusalem.
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more…
Revelation 22:3b-4a
The Apostle John pleas to his beloved churches, to beloved saints who claim Christ. The commandment of God is love, as Christ has loved us.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
