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WOOS from the WORD by Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D., Director, Talbot Theological Seminary The Devil
either the flesh nor the world is a greater enemy of the Christian than the sinister person known as the devil. A ll are acquainted with the caricatures the world has invented for this Biblical character, but the Bible speaks fully and soberly of his person, his power, and his purpose. The Old Testament name for him is Satan which means the adversary. The root meaning is found in Num bers 22:22, 32 where the angel of the Lord set Himself against Balaam to keep him from carrying out his wil ful way. In Zechariah 3:1 and Job 1 and 2, Satan is revealed as the one who tries to turn God’s wrath against Israel and who attempts to bring about the ruin of Job. He is bent on man’s undoing. By a consid eration of the Job passages and a com parison of 1 Chronicles 21:1 with 2 Samuel 24:1, it will be seen that Satan and his activities are under the constant and strict control of God. The Old Testament teaching concern ing Satan is amplified by the material in Isaiah 14:12-20 and Ezekiel 28:11- 19, where behind the figures of the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre may be seen the great adver sary. In the New Testament the doctrine of the devil is much enlarged,. The great majority of occurrences employ either the designation Satan (Satan) or devil (diabolos). The first has the significance, as in the Old Testament, of adversary. The second designates him as essentially a calumniator and slanderer. So important a personality is the devil that the Scriptures refer to him in about a score of different names: he is the accuser; the tempter; the wicked one; Beelzebub; Beliar; the prince of demons; the prince of this world; the prince of the power of the air; the serpent; the old ser pent; Abaddon and Apollyon (lit. destroyer ) ; murderer; the enemy; ad versary (antidikos ) ; the deceiver; and the dragon.
From the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, these vital features emerge in the doctrine of the devil. The devil is a created angel; he was created perfect. He is superhuman but definitely not a divine person. When created he had incomparable beauty and wisdom. Since his fall he has acquired unparalleled hatred toward God and man. He accuses men of evil, tempts them to sin and opposes their efforts for God. He is distinct from the demons in rank, power, and rulership. His sin was pride (1 Tim. 3 :6 ); his method with men is through lies (Acts 5:3; Rev. 12:9). He aims to thwart God’s plan of redemption and endeavors to establish instead a kingdom of evil. He has followers who are called his children (John 8:44; Acts. 13:10); he has a synagogue (Rev. 2:9; a refer ence apparently to legalizers) and a kingdom (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). Apart from God he is the mightiest ruler in the universe, the leader of all the forces arrayed against God. The Scriptures reveal that by far his greatest activity is exercised in the realm of counterfeiting the true (2 Cor. 11:13, 15; 2 Thes. 2:9; 1 John 4:1; Rev. 12:9, 19:20). The many false cults of our day are eloquent com mentary on this truth. We must repeat that, although Satan is superhuman and of great power, he is in no sense divine. Therefore, we are exhorted of the Spirit of God to resist him stedfastly in the power of God (Eph. 4:27; James 4:7). Victory over Satan now is possible (1 John 2:13, 4:4). The victory is the believer’s solely on the ground of the work of Christ (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). The steps in Satan’s ultimate doom are clear (Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:9), and they lead to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:2, 7, 10; Matt. 25:41). Thank God for the sufficiency He has provided for the believer’s victory over his three fold enemy! END.
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