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THE DEVIL

FRED PEARCE

IT IS NOT surprising that the events of this troubled age have produced an impression of widespread evil. Among people of religious mind there has been a distinct revival in belief in an Evil Spirit, seeking to lead mankind astray and to defeat the good purposes of God. The old doctrine of the Devil and Satan, purged of some of its former crude notions, is finding its supporters.

Most of these appeal to the Bible. But many readers of these lines will have experienced the difficulty of discussing the subject of the Devil and Satan with someone who has fixed ideas already. The problem is to get him to see what the Bible means by such terms and that cannot be done quickly.

But there are some considerations which should be urged first. It is a remarkable fact that the Bible has no ‘doctrine of the Devil’ in the popular sense. The Old Testament in its account of origins has nothing to say about the origin of an Evil Spirit, nor any account of its subsequent career. The New Testament likewise is silent about these things. What we have instead are casual allusions in the course of the narratives or the teaching. The subject of an Evil Spirit is quite secondary to the main purpose of the passage where the allusion occurs.

Further, when the whole bulk of the Bible is considered, it becomes obvious that devil and Satan are rare terms. In the sense we now mean, ‘devil’ does not occur at all in the Old Testament, and ‘Satan’ only in three passages. In the New Testament ‘Satan’ and ‘devil’ each occur about twenty-five times (if we count parallel records as one) and never with any explanation of their origin or significance. This is not a great number of occurrences by comparison, for instance, with the vast number of allusions to ‘the Spirit’.

Human nature evil

But there is one matter on which both Old and New Testaments lay very great stress: the teaching about human nature. Now this is of the highest importance to the understanding of our subject, for it should make clear to us whether men and women are subject to some evil influence outside of themselves as must be the case if the popular idea of the devil and Satan is true, or whether they are wholly to blame for the evil they do.

About this vital subject the Bible throughout is emphatic and unanimous. From the beginning the human race manifested strong tendencies towards evil. In Noah’s day “The earth also was corrupt ... and ... filled with violence ... all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth”. The cause is stated: “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 6:11,12, 8:21). Throughout their long history the nation of Israel were held responsible for the evil of their deeds. The prophets repeatedly pronounced judgement on their sins with no suggestion that the fault was not really theirs. So too with the verdict on the human heart itself Israel went astray because they listened to false prophets whose words were “lies ... the deceit of their own heart” (Jer. 23:26; see also 14:14). It is the true prophet Jeremiah who states the principle: “O LORD, I know that the way of man (the right way for man) is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). So man must not put his trust in other men, even the mighty, but in God, for “The (human) heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately sick” (17:9, RV). Here is the unwavering attitude of the inspired writers of the Old Testament to the problem of evil. Mankind is to blame. No other source is held responsible.

The New Testament verdict

The verdict of the New Testament is even more explicit. Jesus tells the Jews that defilement comes out of their own hearts (or minds): “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mk. 7:21-23).

The Apostle Paul, describing the corruptions of the Roman pagan world, says that because mankind rejected Him, God “gave them up” to “the lusts of their own hearts”, “vile passions” (RV) (leading to sexual perversions), and to their own “reprobate mind(s)” (Rom. 1:24,26,28); that is, to the results of their own evil thinking. There is no suggestion that mankind is exposed to any external evil influence. In an obvious reference to the transgression in Eden, Paul declares: “by one man sin entered into the world” (Rom. 5:12). Remarkably he attributes no blame to the serpent, only to the man. In his description in Romans 7 of his efforts to serve God perfectly, he attributes his failures to “sin that dwelleth in me ... the law of sin which is in my members”, so much so that he feels in “captivity” to it (vv. 17,23).

The Epistle of James tells us clearly where temptations come from and what they lead to. Temptations, or ‘trials’ as one of the senses is, are God’s means of training His servants, for by enduring them their faith is perfected. But no man should think that his temptations to do evil come from God, for God cannot be so tempted, “neither tempteth He any man” (1:13). What a golden opportunity for James to say that of course they come from the Devil! That is just what he does not say: “every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished (fullgrown, RV), bringeth forth death” (1:14,15). (It is important to notice that in this quotation “sin” and “lust” are both personified.) Here is clear testimony that our temptations to do evil do not come from some seducing spirit, but from the desires of our own hearts.

So the verdicts of Jesus, Paul and James all agree with that of the Old Testament. The massive judgement of the whole Bible about the origin of evil in human experience will prove of immense importance when we come to examine its reference to the devil and Satan.

Good and evil

There is one more consideration of great importance for an understanding of the Bible on this subject. In the pagan centuries before Christ men believed in evil gods as well as good. The most refined expression of this is in the Persian religion of about 1000 B.C. The god of light and good was opposed by the god of darkness and evil, who sought to seduce men to serve him. Each of these gods had their own subordinate spirits or ‘demons’. The evil ones were held responsible for the sufferings, diseases and death of mankind.

By the time of Christ these beliefs were very old indeed. Their terms had become traditional in the language of the people, so that for many they would not have their ancient sense. The same is true in our day. People say, “Satan finds work for idle hands to do”, or “He’s sold himself to the devil”, without implying any belief in the traditional devil and Satan.

Now the Old Testament explicitly denies the Persian pagan doctrine of the two gods, one of light and the other of darkness. Repeatedly God declares to Israel that He is God, and there is none else. Seven hundred years before Christ He declared through Isaiah: “there is no God beside Me ... I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil” (Isa. 45:5,7). The passage, addressed prophetically to Cyrus, king of Persia, seems explicitly designed to refute the Persian doctrine of two main gods. There is no other spirit responsible for darkness and evil. Of course, God does not commit moral evil, but He does bring the consequences of sin upon mankind in forms which they regard as evil.

Satan in the Old Testament

The typical Old Testament term is satan, a Hebrew word transferred literally into English and occurring about a dozen times (if we count the Job episode as one). The word is translated ‘adversary’ seven times in the AV text, and in every case if one takes the marginal rendering into account. Sometimes the translators have given it a capital letter—“the Adversary”;—for which there is no authority. In many cases the adversary is clearly human, as in the opponents of Solomon (1 Kgs. 11:14,23).

Three cases merit more attention. In Chronicles it is said that “Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel”. But the parallel record in Samuel reads: “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah” (1 Chron. 21:1; 2 Sam. 24:1). Evidently Israel were sinning and merited judgement, so God made use of a surge of pride in the mind of David, who sent Joab to number the people, “that I may know the sum of the people” (RV), that is, “what a large army and people I have”. David should have known that under the Law such numberings were forbidden except where the supremacy of God was recognised. The ‘satan’ or adversary here was David’s own pride. It became a means of God’s righteous judgement on the people. This episode becomes then a significant pointer to us in identifying the real ‘satan’: not some Spirit Being, but the thinking of the human mind.

The prophet Zechariah sees a vision of “Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan (the adversary) standing at his right hand to resist him” (3:1). The vision must be read in the light of the events of Zechariah’s day: the return from the Babylonian exile, when the rebuilding of the temple was obstructed by the hostility of the people of the land (see Ezra 4). The passage is a reassurance to the faithful remnant of returned exiles that God was with them, for “the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem” rebukes the adversary. Again, the ‘satan’ is a manifestation of human will, contrary to the will of God.

The ‘Satan’ (the adversary) of Job comes among the worshippers of God to offer the appropriate offering, sacrifices and worship. “Sons of God” is a well-known description of servants of God in Scripture, and “present themselves before the LORD” is the language of the Law concerning the attendance of faithful servants to offer sacrifice and praise. Since the adversary was one of those so attending, the ensuing conversation between him and God would take place through the priest. The real attitude of the adversary is revealed in his insinuation that Job only serves God because God protects him and grants him prosperity: “But put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce Thee to Thy face” (1:11, RV). When Job still retains his faith in God despite all the calamities, the adversary shifts his ground and says that when evil comes upon Job’s very body, “his bone and his flesh” (2:5), then he will renounce God. It is very significant that in these trials it is God who actually has the power to bring the evil results—“thou (the adversary) movedst Me against him” (2:3)—but He grants the adversary his desire in order to demonstrate the truth.

Now it is clear that the reactions of the adversary arise from jealousy and envy, and from a criticism of God Himself that He favours some more than others. This is the natural thinking of the human mind which rejects the sovereignty of God.

Satan in the New Testament

In the New Testament, where the Hebrew word satan has been taken over bodily into Greek, two cases help to reinforce the impression gained from the Old Testament use. When Jesus reveals to the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, there to “suffer many things ... and be killed, and be raised again the third day”, Peter resists him: “this shall not be unto thee”. Whereupon Jesus turns upon Peter and says: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumblingblock unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men” (Mt. 16:21-23, AV and RV). Here is revealed the true nature of Satan: it is ‘setting the mind on’ (as the word ‘mindest’ means) human desires and ambitions, not on fulfilling the will of God.

The same lesson is apparent in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), who professed to be offering to the community of believers the proceeds of a sale of land, but who were in fact “keep(ing) back part of the price”, evidently for their own use. Peter’s descriptions of their action are significant:

Here again ‘Satan’ signifies the desire of the human mind, opposed to the true service of God.

The devil

The characteristic New Testament term is, however, ‘the devil’, rather than ‘Satan’. The Greek word so translated means ‘slanderer’ or ‘false accuser’, and is so rendered in three passages (1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 2:3). Apart from these it is used over twenty-five times (if we count parallel records in the Gospels as one), and is always translated ‘devil’. In every case it appears abruptly, with no explanation of origin or antecedents. That there is an identity between the Old Testament term ‘Satan’ and ‘the devil’ is shown in the temptation of Christ. In Matthew and Luke he is tempted by “the devil”; in Mark it is by “Satan”; and in Matthew 4:10 Jesus himself addresses the devil as “Satan”.

One of the best ways to determine the meaning of Bible terms is to compare their use in particular passages with other passages where similar ideas occur. For instance, in Revelation 12:9 we read of “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world”. In Romans 7 Paul says “sin ... deceived me ...” (v. 11). In Hebrews 3 the exhortation is not to have “an evil heart of unbelief”, nor to be “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (vv. 12,13). Writing to the Ephesians Paul describes our natural condition as “the old man ... corrupt after the lusts of deceit” (4:22, RV); in other words, our natural desires attract and deceive us. In 2 Thessalonians it is the “deceit of unrighteousness” (2:10, RV). Again in Ephesians, Paul urges the believers to put on the whole armour of God (in their faith and understanding), that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (6:11), but in 4:14 the danger is in “the wiles of error” (RV), that is, in wrong thinking about God’s truth. Sin, unbelief, lusts, unrighteousness, wiles and error—here are the sources and results of being deceived, and they are all manifestations of the human mind.

In a significant passage Jesus tells the Jews: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above” (Jno. 8:23). The Apostle James gives us the key to this saying; there are, he says, two wisdoms: one is “earthly, sensual, devilish (RV mg. demoniacal)” and results in “confusion and every evil work”; but the other is “from above” and results in works of truth, mercy and righteousness (3:15-18). Jesus was “from above” because he reflected in mind “the wisdom that is from above”, that is, from God, whereas the Jews were “from beneath” because their wisdom was of the earth, sensual, or natural (as James’s word means); the thinking of their own human minds. Later in the passage Jesus says to them: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (v.44). Now lusts (or desires) are throughout Scripture linked with human nature. Jesus was telling the Jews that they were sons of flesh, not sons of God; the flesh was “the devil” they sprang from in their thinking.

But the most helpful parallelism is in Hebrews, where Jesus is said to have shared our nature, “flesh and blood”, so that “through death (that is, his own death) he might destroy him that (or that which) had the power of death, that is, the devil” (2:14). Sharing in weak human nature, and dying oneself—what a strange way to destroy a powerful Spirit Being! But the apostle later says that Jesus was “manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (9:26, RV). In each case Jesus achieves something by his own death. In the first case it is to “destroy ... the devil”, and in the second “to put away sin”. The parallelism between “the devil” and “sin” is clear. Further confirmation is found in Romans, where sin is personified as a king who “reigned in death” and as a master who pays death as his wages (5:21, RV; 6:23).

The real enemy

One further reflection is helpful. Throughout Scripture what is the implacable enemy of God? Not some Spirit Being, but human nature itself. As Stephen told the Jews who were rejecting Jesus as Messiah: “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51). No need for a supernatural devil there. So it is throughout the Word of God. How significant is the warning of Peter to the believers of his day: “I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11)! “Fleshly lusts” are natural desires allowed to dominate the mind. They are the real enemy to our faith in God.

This natural and universal tendency to evil is throughout Scripture personified as the devil and Satan. It is manifested in individuals; so Peter is a Satan to Christ (Mt. 16:23) and Judas is a devil (Jno. 6:70). The serpent in Eden exploited Eve’s natural desire for pleasure and wisdom and so becomes one of the symbols of resistance to God. The Roman pagan government persecuted the early believers: “the devil shall cast some of you into prison” (Rev. 2:10). The believers in Pergamum evidently lived where the headquarters of the Roman provincial government was located: “where Satan’s seat is” (v. 13).

Sometimes the allusion is to the physical consequences in human nature, as when Peter says: “Jesus of Nazareth ... went about ... healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38). Jesus himself refers to a woman afflicted with disease as one “whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years”, and asks, “ought not this woman ... be loosed from this bond (that is, healed) ... ?” (Lk. 13:16). Jesus’s exclamation to the disciples who came back to him, exulting in their power to heal, was: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Lk. 10:18); that is, he foresaw the time to come when the power of sin and evil would be overthrown in the earth, to be replaced by the power of the Kingdom of God. As regards the temptation of Jesus, the greatest obstacle he had to overcome (apart from the opposition of unbelievers) was his own natural inclination to please himself and seek for wealth, power and glory among men, for he was “in all points tempted like as we are” (Heb. 4:15). Yet, as Paul says, “Christ pleased not himself” (Rom. 15:3); he said: “not my will, but Thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42). Thus did he repel the real enemy, the desire of his own flesh, called the devil and Satan.

The more one explores this subject, the more evident it becomes that the essential condition for understanding it is first to understand the Bible doctrine of human nature. Once that is grasped, it becomes clear why the allusions to the devil and Satan are comparatively few and arise entirely without explanation. The explanation has already been given: the devil and Satan refer to the native weaknesses of human flesh. The call to faithful service is not one to resist the insidious suggestions of some Evil Spirit, but to “put off ... the old man, which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit” (Eph. 4:22, AV and RV).

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