A development can be seen in the writing about Satan or the devil in the Bible. Initially there is little attention for Satan. In the Old Testament he is mainly described as a hostile accuser of people before God. In the period between the Old and New Testaments, the devil becomes increasingly an opponent of God. The New Testament tells how Jesus confronts the devil and demons and is victorious again and again. The final book of Revelation describes the fierce final battle of evil and how it is ultimately overcome by Jesus.
Satan as accuser in the Bible
The Hebrew word satan is used in the Bible in the context of justice. A Satan is then the one who accuses. This concerns a hostile prosecutor, who has only one goal, namely to have the accused convicted and destroyed. In the story of Job, Satan is described as the accuser. He has crossed the earth and also seen the righteous Job. He accuses Job before God. Job’s piety and faith would not be sincere. When God speaks positively about Job’s faith, Satan mounts a defense.
Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job really fear God for no reason? After all, you protect him, as well as his family and everything that belongs to him. You have blessed the work he does, so that his wealth increases more and more. But if you stretch out your hand against him and touch what belongs to him, he will undoubtedly curse you to your face.” (Job 1:9-11)
Job is tempted by Satan
Satan receives permission from God to test Job’s faith. Satan’s power is limited: it is God who ultimately determines what happens to Job. Satan may first take everything from Job, but he must stay away from himself. If Job remains faithful to God despite the loss of his children, his livestock and his property, asks Satan to affect Job’s health, then Job will reject God, according to Satan. God gives Satan the space to make Job sick, but God sets a limit. Satan must spare Job’s life. But even now Job remains faithful to God: ‘Despite everything, Job did not sin, nor spoke a word unruly’ (Job 2. 10).
Satan as accuser in Zechariah
In the book of the prophet Zechariah, Satan returns to the scene as an accuser. This time his plea is directed against the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 3:1). The high priest is seen here as a representative of the people of Israel. Joshua turns out to be guilty, but there is no conviction. Fortunately, the Angel of the Lord stands up for Joshua.
Satan as an instigator to sin
In 1 Chronicles 21 it says that Satan prompted David to take a census in Israel. In the eyes of God it was evil, a sin, that this census was taken. Here it is Satan who is the instigator of sin. Satan here is the evil force that wants to overthrow David and the people of Israel. The same story is also recorded in 2 Samuel 24 and there it is God himself who initiates the census. The Bible book of Chronicles was written a few hundred years later than the book of Samuel. Perhaps the authors of Chronicles did not think it possible that God himself would initiate a wrong act and therefore introduced Satan who prompted King David to take a census.
The snake in paradise
The beginning of the Old Testament tells the story of Adam and Eve who are tempted by the serpent to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3). God had expressly forbidden this (Genesis 2:16). The writer of this story does not use the word satan. The story itself does not immediately give reason to think about Satan. The snake is more of a mythical animal in the story. In the New Testament Satan is explicitly linked to the serpent in paradise. For example, Revelation 12:9 says, “The great dragon was thrown to the earth. He is the serpent of old, who is called the devil or Satan, who deceives the whole world.”
Satan in the Septuagint
The Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, was translated into Greek between the years 250 and 50 BCE. Many Jews at that time could no longer speak Hebrew. This translation is called the Septuagint or Septuagint. The translators have translated the word satan into the Greek word ‘diabolos’ . Our word devil is derived from this word. The Greek word ‘diabolos’ means: to scatter, to hate, to accuse out of enmity. In ancient Greece, a ‘diabolos’ was a slanderer, someone who deliberately makes false accusations.
The devil in the period between the Old and New Testament
In the intertestamental period, the period between the Old and New Testaments, Satan takes on a more prominent place in the Jewish scriptures. In only a few cases in the Old Testament is Satan spoken of as a spiritual evil force. In the intertestamental period the idea arose that Satan was a fallen angel. Because of this idea, sin does not come from God and Satan is not an equal opponent of God.
Belial in the writings of Qumran
Between the years 1947 and 1956, ancient writings were found near the town of Qumran. These are called the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is a collection of more than 900 writings. The documents date from the period from 250 BC to approximately 50 AD. The figure of Belial appears in some passages of these writings. He is the head of the destroying angels. He tries to tempt the believers to evil. It is possible that this Belial was a name for the devil. Belial is a Hebrew word. It means something like lawless. The devil as Belial will then be the prince of lawlessness. The apostle Paul is known by this name. He mentions Belial in his second letter to the Corinthians: ‘How are Christ and Belial alike? What do a believer and an unbeliever have in common?’ (2 Corinthians 6:15).
Azazel in the First Book of Enoch
In the Bible book of Leviticus (16:10) the name Azazel is mentioned. To make atonement, a goat must be sent to this Azazel. It is not entirely clear who or what this means. Azazel is probably a demon wandering in the desert. It would be an evil spirit. This Azazel appears again in the apocryphal First Book of Enoch. Azazel is then the leader of a group of angels who rebelled against God. Azazel would then mean the devil or satan.
The Devil in ‘The Lives of Adam and Eve’
Satan is prominently present in the ancient Jewish scripture ‘The Life of Adam and Eve’, which is also called ‘The Revelation of Moses’. He is described as an evil force. The devil would be jealous of the special position that man has been given by God. In the scriptures he is called Lucifer. This theme is developed by the Dutch Vondel in his play entitled Lucifer. The ‘Life of Adam and Eve’ also reports that the devil can change shape into, for example, a human being in order to tempt people to evil. The devil, as an inspired spirit, could also tempt prophets to pass on his message instead of God’s.
The Evangelists on the Devil
In the New Testament the four evangelists tell about the life of Jesus. In those stories the devil emerges as an opponent of the son of God. The devil is referred to by different names by the evangelists: the devil (Matthew 4, Luke 4:2-3), Satan (Matthew 12:26, Mark 1:13), Beelzebub (Matthew 10:25; 12:24, Mark 3:22), the enemy (Luke 10:19), the tempter (Matthew 4:3); evil (Matthew 5.37, 6:13) the ruler of this world (John 12:31).
Jesus tempted by the devil
After his baptism, Jesus goes into the wilderness. He stays in the desert for forty days for a direct confrontation with the devil. The devil, the tempter, tries to tempt Jesus. Satan cleverly uses Bible texts to mask his temptations. However, Jesus is better versed in the scriptures than the evil one. Jesus resists temptation and the devil leaves him alone for a while.
Jesus casts out demons
The evangelist Mark describes how Jesus brought the news into the synagogues and cast out demons (Mark 1:39). Demons in the New Testament are the fallen angels. They are under the dominion of the devil. The story of Jesus driving out a legion of demons is special. Jesus has more power than them. The demons know who they are dealing with: What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t hurt me! (Luke 8 28). When the demons, the unclean spirits, see Jesus, they fall down before him and shout: You are the Son of God! (Mark 3:15).
Jesus and Beelzebub
When the Pharisees and scribes notice that Jesus has the power to cast out demons, they refuse to think that Jesus received this power from God himself. For they said to one another, ,He cannot cast out demons except through Beelzebub, the prince of demons, (Matthew 12:24. See also: Mark 3:22 and Luke 11:15). Beezbul was a kind of devil. The precise meaning of Beelzebul is not clear. Baal the prince would be a possible meaning. This connects Beëzebul with the Philistine god Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1:2). The meaning of the name Baal-zebub is certain. It means lord of the flies. Jesus is not pleased with this accusation and shows the Pharisees that he cannot be right.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and no city or community divided against itself will stand. When Satan casts out Satan, he turns against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own people cast them out?’ (Matthew 12:25-27)
Source: Guido Reni, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
The devil cast out of heaven
When Jesus’ disciples saw that the demons were subject to them at the sound of Jesus’ name, and they joyfully reported it to Jesus, He said to them, ,I have seen Satan fall like a flash of light from heaven!, (Luke 10:18). The last book of Revelation also describes Satan being cast out of heaven.
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought the dragon. The dragon and his angels resisted but were defeated; Since then there has been no place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown to the earth. He is the serpent of old, called the devil or Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to the earth together with his angels. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the reign of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accused them before our God day and night, has been overthrown. (Revelation 12:7-10)
The final battle in Revelation
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John describes the visions he saw while on the island of Patmos. He was banished for testifying of Jesus. Jesus comes to him in a vision and shows him the spiritual final battle. The devil, in the form of the beast, the antichrist, battles with Jesus, the lamb: ‘They wage war with the lamb, but the lamb will overcome them’ (Revelation 17:14). The beast, the dragon, the old serpent, the devil and Satan are defeated and bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:2). Some Christians interpret these thousand years literally, but in Revelation numbers usually have a symbolic meaning. A thousand is then ten times ten times ten. What is then meant is a fullness of time. Then the evil one is released once more for a short time and then cast into the eternal lake of fire forever. Then peace will reign and there will be a new heaven and a new earth
I heard a loud voice from the throne proclaiming, ‘God’s dwelling place is among men; he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more mourning, no more wailing, no more pain, for what was before has passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4)
The spiritual battle
Believers have to constantly fight against the devil and evil spirits. There will be that battle until the end of time. The apostle Paul urges Christians to defend themselves against temptations from the devil and evil spirits. In his letter to the church in Ephesus he points to the spiritual armor to be able to face the battle.
Put on the armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our battle is not against people but against heavenly princes, the rulers and rulers of darkness, against the evil spirits in the heavenly spheres. Therefore, take up the weapons of God that you may be able to resist in the day of evil, that you may be prepared to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:11-13)