Who is Satan - Part 7

The passages in parts 4-6 are all the ones in the Hebrew Tanak (Christian ‘Old Testament’) that contain the terms satan or ha-satan (H7853 and H7854).  In all of them, there is no support for the idea of an evil being named Satan, who has opposed God and seeks to destroy humankind because he hates God.  There is no support at all for the idea of God allowing this being free reign on earth, or of God allowing this being to terrorize or harm humankind, whether they ‘believe in God’ or not. 

When studying the role of ‘satan’, this evidence and these boundaries need to be respected.  Later Hebrew philosophy, also Greek and Egyptian philosophy all begin to introduce a different perspective of ‘satan’ and Christian philosophy continues in this perspective.  From very early on, religions personified evil (made it into a personal being).  Egypt feared the ‘powers of darkness’ in the form of the gods Set or Tryphon.  Ancient Chaldeans worshipped Tiamat as the chaos that was in the beginning, as the ‘monster of the deep’.  This idea of personifying evil has evolved over time, with new interpretations appearing. The present conception of the Christian ‘Satan’ is very different from that of the early Christians. 

But one thing is consistent.  This evil being is seen as the source of misery, suffering, trials and irresistible temptations that lead to our helpless sins.  God is not seen as the sole Creator as He is described in the Torah, and eloquently described in this example of a parallel statement of Isaiah 45:7:

I form the light and create darkness, I make peace (wholeness) and create calamity (evil); I, YHVH, do all these

I form the light and create darkness, I make peace (wholeness) and create calamity (evil); I, YHVH, do all these

The beginning part of this verse affirms God’s control over the cycles of light and darkness; the latter part of the verse is symbolic of His control over deliverance and judgment. God made man in His image, man is created with choice.  Choice requires a ‘good’ and an ‘evil’ option.  Both these options are allowed by God, and just as He is the creator of light and dark, He is fully and completely in control of good and evil.  He is sovereign over this world, over creation and nations.  He can cause wars to begin or to end, He can cause the exile of His people or He can cause them to be returned home. 

A real danger comes when we begin to shift responsibility for sin and trials to a being called ‘satan’ when in fact the sin comes entirely from us, and the trials are all allowed by God for His purposes.  And His purposes are good!   If we don’t test and learn the truth of what God teaches about adversity, then we can too easily be carried along by error.

And in that error we can fall into law-lessness, by unwittingly ascribing honour to another being that rightly belongs to YHVH alone.  This is very serious.