What do you really know about your enemy, Satan? Where do you get your information? Most of what we think we know about Satan is found in the writings of early church fathers, some of whom were labeled heretics. Scripture gives us only glimpses into the unseen spirit world inhabited by angels, demons and even Satan himself. Man has attempted to fill in the blanks and construct a history that may or may not be very accurate.
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name?
What if I told you Satan's name is not really Lucifer? Well it's not and we will revisit this in a few moments. The point is, a great deal of speculation has been taught as fact and most people just accept what they are told without ever checking for themselves. In fact, much of what people think they know about the Bible or God is what has been heard from others, not from the actual source, the Bible itself.
Allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste.
What do we know about Satan for sure?
1.We know he is a supernatural being who accuses us before God.
2.We know he appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve to rebel against God.
3.We know he will one day rule earth in the form of the Man of Perdition, aka the Anti-Christ.
4.We know he will be chained for 1000 years and set loose to lead a rebellion against Jesus, only to be defeated and cast into the lake of fire.
5. We know he is a liar and the father of lies
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.
The dangerous thing about constructing a history without all the information is we often get things wrong. Misdirection is the greatest tool of the con man and Satan is the greatest of all con artists. You may be surprised to know the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LeVay, does not even believe Satan exists. Satan has managed to con his most high profile followers!
Unfortunately, Satan's con game does not end with the Church of Satan, it has also infiltrated the Church of Jesus Christ. Much of what is taught emphatically from the pulpit is not based on inferences or misunderstandings from scripture.
Most people believe Satan and a third of the angels led a rebellion against God, tried to overthrow Him and were summarily ejected from heaven where the angels who follow Satan are now known as demons. Please show this to me anywhere in scripture.
Satan has lost his position in heaven, yet, clearly we see, he currently has access to the throne of God: Job 1:6 - One day, the sons of God came to present themselves before the Yehovah and Satan also came with them. In the days of Job, Satan is seen standing before the throne of God engaged in conversation. Has anything changed from Job's time to now restricting Satan's access to heaven? No, it is not until a time in our future Satan is barred from heaven: Revelation 12:10 - And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God.
If you hold to a literal and normal interpretation of scripture, you recognize the book or Revelation is dealing with future events. We can understand, based on Job and Revelation, Satan currently has access to God and he uses that access to bring accusations against the saints.
It is from the same portion of scripture, Origen, an early Church father, presented the theory of one third of the angels following Satan in rebellion against God and teaching, as fact, these angels became what we know to be demons. Revelation 12:3-4 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. From this passage, an entire theology of demonism has been constructed. Nowhere else in scripture do we find any mention of one third of the angels following Satan and nowhere are we told demons are fallen angels.
According to the verses following Revelation 12:10, cited above, Satan does have angels following him and they are cast to earth with him, but, again, Revelation is describing future events and the events of chapter 12 seem to take place about midway through the Great Tribulation.
An interesting note about Origen is he is widely regarded as a heretic due to his teachings on Universalism and his belief Satan will be restored to God at some point, directly contradicting scripture's description of the Great White Throne Judgment.
There is no clear teaching in Scripture as to the true origins of demons, fallen angels is only one viable theory. No where do we find this idea in the writings of ancient Jewish scribes.
Just call me Lucifer...
One of the biggest mistakes ever made was attributing the name Lucifer to Satan. Lucifer is not a name, it is a Latin translation of the Hebrew word heylel meaning light bearer. Latin, a now defunct language, originated in a province of Italy and became prominently used due to the insurgence of the Roman Empire. Prior to the translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible, the name Lucifer did not exist.
Searching through the writings of ancient Hebrew scholars, we do find the name Samael, which may, indeed, be the pre-fall name of Satan.
I've been around a long, long year, Stole many a man's soul and faith
It seems, much of what we think we know about Satan comes from dubious sources. Satan is the master con-artist employing misdirection as one of his greatest tools. The bold headings are quotes from Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. Satan would love your sympathy in order to use it against you.
Our society has allowed our greatest enemy to redefine himself. Even Fox Network attempted to re-cast Luicifer as a lovable rogue. Is it possible Satan is responsible for influencing much of out entertainment?
Scripture tells us Satan roams around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour and we are also told, he disguises himself as an angel of light and that he is a liar and the father of lies. Know your enemy, do not believe everything you hear, verify everything in scripture.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
No comments:
Post a Comment