Why is it important to understand, from the beginning of Torah, what satan is (and isn’t)? It’s important for the same reason all study of Torah is important…to learn truth. To learn what God actually says. And then to begin to live in that truth.
Most people believe ‘Satan’ is the personification of
evil. Most believe that evil is in a
battle with good, that Satan battles God for supremacy of creation, that there
are two forces at work, that there are, in effect, two opposing gods, with
mankind in the middle. ‘Of course’
eventually it’s taken for granted that ‘God wins’. But what a god this idea portrays! One who doesn’t step in and get rid of ‘Satan’
so His people can have peace…that god would seem a monster. And this question is one that many people
struggle with.
But that’s not at all what Torah teaches about God or evil
or satan. Torah teaches that evil is
conceived from the desire of man to be like God, and birthed in willfully
rebellious actions of law-lessness. According
to this, it’s not ‘Satan’ who is responsible for evil…its us.
Which is a pretty humbling concept.
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