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Is Satan Real?
Do you believe in Satan? We've all heard the name Satan or Devil but do you believe he is a supernatural angel fallen from heaven? It seems to be a commonly accepted fact. He must be real, everybody talks as if he is. He is accredited with supernatural power sometimes even more than God himself.
Do you believe in God? I mean the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God who created the heaven and the earth? There are many people who openly deny that God exists. Doesn't it seem strange that Satan is universally accepted and yet God is either thought of in many different ways contrary to scripture or not believed in at all?
What Makes Satan So Believable?
Have you ever stopped to think about what gives Satan credibility? How do we know he exists? Have you ever seen him? Has anyone ever seen him? What proof do we have that he is real? Has he ever written a book describing himself and his rise to power? Is there any concrete evidence of his existence?
The only place that I know of that gives credence to Satan's existence is the Bible. The Bible that shows who God is and what He has done. The Bible that is full of prophecies from God about what He would do and when. The Bible that is full of history of God showing himself to the people and the people accepting him as true. The Bible that has given light to much of science. It has proven itself to be accurate and real by the fulfillment of the prophecies. It predicted the birth, life, death and resurrection from the dead of Yahshua (Jesus) and all the supernatural miracles he did.
It seems ironic doesn't it? The book that proves the validity of God, the mighty Creator, the longsuffering Judge, the intimate Father, is the book that people reject and say they don't believe. They don't believe in Yahweh (God) but they do believe in Satan. The only place that Satan can be given credence is the book they reject. Ironic, to say the least.
Does The Bible Prove Satan’s Existence?
But does the Bible really support the idea that Satan is real? Many reading this just said "yes" in their minds. If you have an open mind and are willing to set your biases aside, let's explore this idea from the Bible for a few minutes.
Where is the first mention of Satan in the Bible? 1 Chronicles 21:1, And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. What? The Bible does not mention Satan until the book of 1 Chronicles? Yes, he is never mentioned by name in all of Moses' writings. He is not mentioned during the fall of man, the ensuing corruption of the "world" that was destroyed by Yahweh. He was not mentioned by name during the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt. He was not mentioned in the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. (Why did they wander for forty years? Surely, Satan caused them to sin, didn't he?)
It is interesting that the first mention of Satan in the Bible has a parallel passage describing the same event. 2 Samuel 24:1, And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
Contradiction? - Pay Close Attention
Now, there's a contradiction if there ever was one. Satan is described as the cause for David's disobedience in 1 Chronicles but the Lord (Yahweh) is described as the one causing David to sin in 2 Samuel. Maybe those who reject the Bible are right after all. But if they're right and the Bible is not true, why accept the doctrine of Satan at all? Especially if there is no other proof of his existence?
Let's look a little deeper. We may be surprised at what is really being described.
First, notice what David had to say about the incident himself, 1 Chronicles 21:17, And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD (Yahweh) my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
Did David blame Satan? Did David blame Yahweh? No, he accepted the blame and admitted it was himself that was the problem. So there must be something more to uncover here.
Secondly, it is always important to remember that in the original languages of the Bible that there were no capitals in their punctuation. The word "Satan" was never capitalized. The word "God" was never capitalized nor was the word "Lord" or "LORD". The capitalization we read in the Bible today was added by the translators somewhere along the way.
Satan - The Adversary?
So, we see the possibility exists that "Satan" was never a personal name for a supernatural being. This is exactly what we find with the help of a concordance. The word translated as "Satan" is described in Strong's concordance this way: from 7853; an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch-enemy of good:--adversary, Satan, withstand. The Hebrew word used here is Saw-tawn'.
Saw-tawn' was a Hebrew word which means "adversary". Now the picture is becoming more clear. David had an adversary. An adversary that showed up when he (David) decided to disobey Yahweh.
Thirdly, the word saw-tawn' was translated in many other places in the Bible as "adversary" (Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, 2 Samuel 19:22, 1 Kings 5:4, 1 Kings 11:14, 1 Kings 11:23, 1 Kings 11:25). If you dig a little deeper you will notice that the word is not translated as "adversary" after 1 Kings 11:25. Beginning with 1 Chronicles 21:1 it is translated as "Satan" in the rest of the Old Testament.
The Origin Of Satan
There is a reason for this and is what opens our understanding. The books of Chronicles were written after the captivity of the nation of Judah in Babylon - the seventy years of captivity. It is interesting to note that out of more than one million captives only about forty thousand ever left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem. The rest developed a liking for the Babylonian lifestyle. The Babylonians had many gods which they worshipped. The Jews began adding "baggage" to their beliefs that was picked up from their pagan captors.
As the word "saw-tawn’" was developed over time, it became personalized eventually becoming the personal name "Satan". Satan, as an adversary, developed supernatural and mystical powers until it became what we conceive of today as an immortal, fallen angel that was kicked out of heaven and now controls everything evil going on in the world. This was done as a result of misunderstanding and misapplying the Bible. Yet today, it is one of the strongest held doctrines taught.
The Real “Satan” Exposed
The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:10 goes on to say that Yahweh will judge the acts of the heart of man (Jer 17:10, I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings). Man is the adversary we have. To be more specific, we are our own enemies. God wants us to change our hearts (minds) by believing in Him, the works of His son (Yahshua) and the sacrifice of himself for our sins. As we follow Christ and trust in him, we will be blessed and justified by Yahweh himself.
In future articles we will explore some scripture passages that have been taught to show Satan as that supernatural being that is commonly believed today. We will see that in every instance it is a man or men that is being described as the adversary. Once we stop blaming the devil for problems and start accepting our own sins and shortcomings as the cause, we will be able to understand Yahweh better, enjoy the life we have here and look forward to that perfect, sinless life He has waiting for us in the future.
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