The evolving role of satan [lowercase]

[TonyChanYT]

Was evil present in the Garden of Eden?

With hindsight, I think so. Jesus spoke to the antagonistic Jews in John 8:

44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

The devil lied and killed Adam and Eve's spiritual consciences.

The idea of a tester/tempter was first introduced in Genesis 3:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

That was the first sign that there was a creature who questioned the word of God.

This beginning of an evil force was later portrayed by the satan (the accuser, the adversary) against the upright Job. God allowed the satan to test him, Job 1:

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God [ben elohim] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [the satan H7854] also came among them.

Using a definite article means that satan was not a proper personal name. With the definite article, the satan sounds like a job title. Further, the same H7854-satan appears in (ESV) 1 Samuel 29:

4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him [David]. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary [satan H7854] to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

Here, satan refers to David. Elsewhere, the concept of satan was tied closely to God himself in the Balaam incident in the Aramaic Bible in Plain English Numbers 22:

22 And the wrath of God was provoked against him because he went, and the Angel of LORD JEHOVAH stood in the road to be Satan an adversary to him, and he rode on his donkey and his two young men with him.

Balaam was going the wrong path. God sent an adversary (satan) to correct him.

Later, Satan appeared in 1 Chronicle 21:

1 Satan [satan, LXX G1228 διάβολος] rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

There is a parallel account in 2 Samuel 24:

1 Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

The LORD used satan to accomplish his will against David!

Later still, the good prophet Micaiah saw the Lord permitting a spirit to lie in the mouths of Ahab's bad prophets to deceive Ahab. Micaiah said in 1 Kings 22:

23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

By the time of the exile, something had changed fundamentally in Daniel 10:

12 Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me,

This was angel against angel. It was an open rebellion. This satan/adversary opposition force opposed not only humans,

because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

There were angelic forces for and against Daniel. These were two distinct wills but only one was for God.

In the NT, the satan concept became the person Satan, the devil, Matthew 4:

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Demons became rampant, Luke 8:

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

Satan lost his position in heaven, Luke 10:

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

After Jesus' Cross, Satan, who accused us day and night before our God, was thrown down to the earth (Rev 12:9-11). Jesus now is our Advocate-Paraclete before God (1 John 2:1, Romans 8:34). Satan no longer had access to God.

Satan lost his access to God when Jesus died on the Cross before Jesus ascended to the right hand of God.

Hebrews 2:

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil

Over time, human history has shown that Satan's role has become increasingly independent of God. Even the concept of testing/tempting has evolved. In the OT, God tested/tempted Abraham. After Satan went rogue, God tested people, and Satan tempted people. Right now, Satan is the ruler of this world.

Paul used Satan in 1 Timothy 1:

20b Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I [Paul] have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Satan is the dragon in Revelation 20:

1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

In the end, Revelation 20:

10 the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The word שָׂטָן (H7854 satan) appears only 27 times. It could be used as a noun, an adjective, or a verb. There is a more common word צָר (H6862 tsar), often translated as adversary. H6862 appears 111 times.

In hindsight, Jesus told us that satan was a bad guy right from the beginning when he did the temptation (dirty) works for God. God created the satan to tempt/test people in God's way. The satan had his own ambition and enjoyed accusing good people before God. He became more and more disobedient and conspired to overthrow God. Some bad angels and demons sided with him.

The Son of God came on earth to die for people's sins. After his resurrection, he ascended to the right hand of God and became our Advocate. The Accuser was kicked out.

 

[Josheb]

Was evil present in the Garden of Eden?

With hindsight, I think so. Jesus spoke to the antagonistic Jews in John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Alas, Genesis 1:31 explicitly states everything God made was very good. Isaiah 5:20 pronounces woe on those who call good evil and evil good. According to Romans 5:12, we know sin entered the world by one man, not one satan, and we know nothing in creation is specifically called "evil" in our English translations until Genesis 6:5 - long after Eden was closed to humanity.

So there is a lot wrong with the opening lines of this opening post.

Jesus' words in John 8:44 cannot be construed to mean the devil was with Jesus in the beginning before anything was made. The devil is a created creature, not a self-existing or eternal being. The "beginning" to which Jesus is referring is the beginning of the devil's rebellion. He's been a liar since his beginning. He did not exist at Genesis 1:1. He was made sometime between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:31 and he was good when God made him. At some time between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 he sinned and became sinful. That is the beginning to which Jesus is referring, not the beginning of God creating creation and most definitely not the beginning of John 1:1. The devil was not there with God and Jesus, the logos of God who is God.

The devil lied and killed Adam and Eve's spiritual consciences.

Yes, he did, but on that day, he had been cast out of heaven and held in bondage (Jude 1:6) and subjugated to the authority of Adam and Eve, and every living thing that moved on the earth where theirs (that would include the serpent). The devil's lie(s) had no power over Adam or Eve, but that which Adam and Eve gave the lie(s).

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned....

The entrance of sin into the world gets placed on Adam, not the devil. Whether the devil or Adam, evil did not exist in Eden until Adam disobeyed God.

God created the satan to tempt/test people in God's way. The satan had his own ambition and enjoyed accusing good people before God. He became more and more disobedient and conspired to overthrow God. Some bad angels and demons sided with him.

Well....

...if the tradition saying satan was previous lucifer, the archangel who was made to worship God in unmatched splendor, then God did not create satan. God created lucifer. The "bearer of light," became sinful and was then, subsequently, assigned the roles of adversary, carrion eater, and tempter. He is just as enslaved by and dead in sin and transgression as anyone else.

The Son of God came on earth to die for people's sins. After his resurrection, he ascended to the right hand of God and became our Advocate.

Yep. Jesus also came to undo the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8) and a few other tasks, as well.

The Accuser was kicked out.

No, the accuser was kicked out long before Jesus ascended.

Luke 10:18
I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.




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