Diabolos. Διάβολος. Devil. He goes by a litany of other names, but we know him best as The Devil, Lucifer or Satan.
…God did not spare angels when
they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be
held for judgment. ~2 Peter 2:4
And the angels who did not keep
their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in
darkness, bound everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. ~Jude 6
It seems almost incomprehensible
to me that any being so near to the throne of God, beholding His glory, would
sin against Him and consequently suffer expulsion from His presence. But here
we are…eons later contemplating this very thing. Wondering how something so
smart could be so stupid. Something so esteemed by God could be brought so low.
How something so beautiful could be made so ugly.
The Scripture is not silent as to
open rebellion in the angelic hierarchy. The majority of the angelic beings
have been true to God since their creation. They never cease to do His will in
heaven. I wrote about them earlier this year. They have never defaulted, have
ever been ready to run His errands. These are the angels who excel in strength
and who, as God's ministers, messengers, do His commandments and heed His voice
and His word.
"Praise the Lord, you his
angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord,
all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will" ~ Psalm
103:20-21.
We need to consider the highest
angelic being responsible for the angels' rebellion against God. He is the
pinnacle of hubris and spit in the eye of God. This type of arrogance and
audacity is beyond human fathoming and apparently beyond otherworldly angelic
fathoming too in many cases. We now enter the mind of darkness and try to
consider the highest angelic being responsible for the angels' rebellion
against God. It is evident that Satan is the leader of the fallen angels, for
our Lord speaks of "the devil and his angels.” Revelation, reason, and
experience warn us that there is a spiritual intelligence abroad in the world
which is malignant and ceaselessly hostile to men.
So, what else can be discerned
from Scripture? The Bible teaches that this intelligence is a person, not in
the same sense as the Holy Spirit is a person, nor in the same sense as you and
I are individual persons; but he has real personality or persona, in some sense
comparable to divine and to human personality, but by no means the same as
either. Clearly nefarious and not on the level though. Somehow corrupted,
warped or debased.
The devil is certainly not a man
with horns, hooves and a tail, as he is usually depicted; nor is he a entity to
joke about. He needs to spiritually be dealt with in a somber manner as he is
exceptionally dangerous. Personal pronouns are used to describe him, and we are
warned to beware of his subtle craftiness. Currently, all forms of pronouns are
used too, him, her, they, etc. Of course, the devil's best trick is to convince
men that he doesn’t exist. If he is non-existent or dead, there must be someone
carrying on his devilish work-which was never more evident than it is today.
The modern mind may reject the idea of a satanic ruler because of the popular,
repulsive and grotesque representation of him the Middle Ages gave the world,
but the fact is that he makes plans with highest intelligence and is
exceedingly powerful. His existence and influence were firmly believed by our
Lord and His apostles.
Many Names (Therefore Pronouns)
Scripture, the only source of
correct information concerning spiritual beings, makes it clear that one of the
evil angels is vastly superior to the rest in capacity and influence,
possessing far more power than the others, and referred to singly as being the
grand enemy of God and man. Satan's name appears fifty-four times in the Bible.
Hence Satan is designated by various names and titles of peculiar significance,
which apply to one being only, revealing features of his character as is common
in the names in the Bible:
Satan means "Adversary"
(1 Peter 5:8, KJV)
Abaddon, Apollyon (Revelation
9:11) both mean "Destroyer"
Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) means
Daystar, Bright One, Morningstar or "Shining One"
Devil (Revelation 12:10) means
"accuser," "slanderer"
Dragon (Revelation 12:9) indicates
his power
The accuser of our brethren
(Revelation 12:10)
Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24) means
"lord of flies" or "prince of demons"
Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15), the
low, abject one, means "worthlessness" in Old Testament
The deceiver of the whole world
(Revelation 12:9)
An enemy (Matthew 13:28)
The wicked one (Matthew 13:19)
The father of lies (John 8:44)
A murderer from the beginning
(John 8:44)
The prince of the power of the air
(Ephesians 2:2)
Prince of this world (John 12:31;
14:30; 16:11)
The god of this world (2
Corinthians 4:4)
The prince of demons (Matthew
12:24)
That old serpent (Revelation 12:9)
The tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1
Thessalonians 3:5)
The tormentor (2 Corinthians 12:7)
Surely such an array of dreadful identities reveals the character of the devil is and provides the exact reasons why we should steer clear of him. HE is by no means a pushover and we should not engage him without the power of God and his Word on our side. He is a mighty angel, superior in natural capacity, power and wisdom, he excelled all other angels in honor and dignity and still outdoes them in discernment and shrewdness. Yet he was not always a who he is now.
Who then was he and how did he
become what he is? At first, the light bearer now the prince of darkness,
earning for himself the moniker as enemy of God, enemy of all that is good. We
should never underestimate his power to cultivate an ignorance of his reality
in modern society. Most of atheistic and unspiritual people are ignorant of him
or worse, think he’s hip or cool. Blindness to the existence of an enemy makes
it impossible to overcome his stratagems. It is foolish to underestimate his
abilities and thereby invite defeat and welcome slavery to him. So now we need
to understand him. To understand the depth of his malice and hatred of God and
men we need to see just how far he fell. We need to understand his origins and
of the devil's original angelic splendor. This way we can fully comprehend the
misery of his current existence and future punishment.
While God is the Creator of all
angels, strictly speaking He did not create the devil as he is now. He created
a unique angelic being who, by a free act cut himself off from God. He
therefore turned himself into an adversary of God. Originally, he was Lucifer,
and the highest of the angels, but who lost nothing of his natural
supremacy-which he still exerts over the hierarchy of angels who fell with him.
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