In the New Testament, the word "devil" is used 32 times, "satan" is used 33 times, "Belial"once, and "Beelzebub" is used 7 times. Though we will not examine every single passage that mentions Satan, we will look at those that are the most significant for our study- those passages that would hint towards his origin and activity, along with dealing with some debated passages.
The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and Acts:
In the opening pages of the Synoptic Gospels, we encounter Satan or the devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-12). Here we see that he 1) takes on the role of tempter, and 2) is in opposition to the ministry of Jesus, thus in opposition to God.
In the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:19; Mark 4:15), Satan is presented as the evil one who snatches away the seed that falls along the path. Thus, one of his activities is to cause a person to neglect the message of the Kingdom.
Satan is also mentioned as having bound a woman with disability for eighteen years (Luke 3:11-16). It is not clear if Satan was actually doing the binding, or if the work of an evil spirit is attributed to him because he is their ruler.
In Matthew 25:41, we read that eternal fire is prepared for "the devil and his angels." Thus indicating that they will be judged and suffer eternal punishment.
Moving along, the most significant passage of Scripture in the Synoptic Gospel that I want us to examine is Luke 13:18, "And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven." The big question is "when did this take place?" Some have argued that Jesus is referring to a period of time before creation. Their interpretation is based off of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. They see Jesus as appealing to those Scriptures. However, as we have already discussed, those passages are not talking about Satan, so Jesus would not have had that thought in his mind.
Others have argued that this takes place when the disciples are casting out demons. The setting of the narrative is that Jesus just sent out 70 of his disciples to preach the kingdom, heal, and cast out demons. They come back rejoicing because even the demons are subject to them in Christ's name. This is when he tells them that he saw Satan fall like lightening. Jesus is declaring the expulsion of Satan from God's presence. This could not have happened before creation, because we clearly see "the satan" figure in both Job and Zechariah having access to the presence of God. Rather, the timing of this statement is deliberated, and occurs in conjunction with the successful mission of the 70. This casting out of heaven means that any claim Satan had on God's children is dismissed. The idea is that with the coming of Jesus, the claim and authority of Satan over the people of God is coming to an end (more on this casting out taking place with the coming of Christ when we get to the writing so John).
In the book of Acts, the first activity that is attributed to Satan is his inspiring Ananias and Sapphira to lie (5:1). Elsewhere, Paul states that he is called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles in order "to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (26:18).
The Writings of John
In John's gospel, Jesus tells the Jews who do not believe in Him that they are not of God, but of their father, the devil. Then he goes on to give some information about the devil- "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because their is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for his is a liar and the father of lies." (8:44). Several things need to be pointed out in this passage.
1). The devil is a murder from the beginning- This might be a reference to the Garden, thus linking Satan to the serpent. Some have argued that it refers to even further back, meaning that God created Satan as evil. It all depends on how we interpret John's uses of the word "beginning" here. In some instances, like 1:1, he uses the word to link back to the Genesis narrative. Yet at other times, John uses the word "beginning" to refer to when his disciples first began to follow him (16:4). It is difficult to tell what point of time is being refereed to here. It does bear mentioning that Jesus never says anything about the "fall" of Satan, i.e., Satan being created perfect then becoming corrupt.
2). He does not stand in the truth- The indication from the Greek is that he has never stood in the truth. The reason being is "because their is no truth in him." Though this does not specifically say that Satan was created evil, it does not forbid that line of thought either.
3). He is a liar, the father of lies, and speaks from his own character.
In John 13:27, Satan is depicted as "entering" Judas. Whether or not this is a full fledged possession is not clear. What is clear is that Satan inspired Judas to betray Christ. Thus, again, we see that one of his main functions is to oppose Christ.
Earlier I said we would talk about the "casting out" of Satan when we get to John's writings. Previously I argued that Luke's account of the casting out of Satan had to do with the coming of the Messianic Kingdom, and not a time in primordial past. The gospel of John also affirms this line of thinking. In John 12:27-36, Jesus is speaking on how he is getting ready to go to the cross. In the midst of this discourse, he states "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (12:31-32 ). Thus, we see that the casting our of Satan through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is necessary for Jesus to begin to draw all people to Himself. This is because Satan is the ruler of the world, and his power and authority must be broken. As with Luke, John sees this happening in conjunction with the coming of Christ (more on this when we get to Revelation).
In 1 John 3:8, John says that the devil has been sinning "from the beginning" (another possible Genesis reference), and that the Son of God appeared to destroy his work. He also says that those who sin are of the devil.
In 1 John 5:18-19, John says that God protects those that are born of God, "and the evil one does not touch him." He also says that :the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." Therefore we see a tension: While Satan is presented as being cast out and defeated, he is also shown to have power over the world, i.e. that wicked system which opposes Christ. What are we to make of this? I'll explain in our next post (I know, that was cruel lol).
John's last writing was the book of Revelation. In this hotly debated book, we have many heavenly visions which are meant to give us insight into Gods' plan for history. I don't have time to discuss all the different nuances of the book, but the passages I want to look at regarding Satan are pretty straight forward.
In chapter 12, Satan is depicted as the great, red dragon. He pursues a woman (Israel) because he wants to swallow up and destroy her offspring (Christ). The woman flees into the wilderness, to hide out in a place that has been prepared for her by God. After this, a war in heaven breaks out. Micheal and his angels fight against the dragon and his angels. The dragon and his angels lose, "and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was through down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan...he was thrown down, and his angels were thrown down with him." (vv 8-9). The passage then goes on to say, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down..." (vs. 10). John precedes to write how the saints overcome the dragon, and that the devil has come down in great wrath. The dragon then goes and pursues the woman and the rest of her offspring (Church) with hostility.
What we see from this passage is that just as in Luke and John's gospel, the casting out of heaven for Satan happens in conjunction with the work of Christ. Therefore, what we see in the New Testament (and all of Scripture for that matter) is that the only "fall" of Satan is when he and his angels are thrown down from heaven because of the work of Christ. As we will continue to see, the Scriptures do not present a fall of Satan from a pristine, blameless condition. All we ever know about him is that he was evil from the beginning (whatever that means).
Finally, in Revelation chapter 20, he is bound, released, and then thrown into the lake of fire for his ultimate destruction.
The Writings of Paul
In the writings of Paul, Satan is presented as "the ruler of the kingdom of the air"- the leader of all evil spiritual beings (Eph. 2:2) and the "god of this world" who blinds the minds of those who are perishing, and keeps them from believing the truth (2 Cor. 4:4). He is also referred to as "the devil" and "the evil one" in whom Christians need to do battle against (Eph. 6:11, 16), and who can at times hinder the ministry of the saints (1 Thes. 2:18). Satan is also presented as a defeated foe, in whom God will soon crush under the church's feet (Rm. 16:20).
Satan is also presented as a tempter (1 Cor. 7:5) in whom we need to be aware of his cunning schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). As a deceiver, he can appear as an "angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14), and he is also the one behind the coming of "the lawless one." (2 Thes. 2:9).
Before we leave Paul, there is one controversial passage I want to address. It is found in 1 Timothy 3:6. In giving the qualifications of an elder, Paul tells Timothy that "He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil." This passage is used by some to argue that it is a reference to when Satan fell from his pristine condition. However, such an interpretation fails for two reasons 1) This interpretation seems to be based on the Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 passages being a reference to Satan. As we have seen before, they are not, so this verse cannot be referring to that. 2) The parallel phrase is used in the next verse to say the the candidate most be thought of well by outsiders so that he will not fall into "a snare of the devil."
So, what's going on? The grammatical construct of both the phrases are the same. Some interpreters say that the "condemnation of the devil" refers to the condemnation he fell into, while others say it is the condemnation that he dishes out. One rule of interpretation is that whenever you have an ambiguous phrase, look around in the surrounding passages to see if a more clear example of that phrase is used. This is what we have in verse 7. "Snare of the devil" is not referring to something that Satan himself fell into, but something that he sets up. This means that we should interpret the previous phrase "condemnation of the devil" not as something that Satan fell into, but something that he dishes out. The idea of these two verses is that the candidate needs to live a lifestyle of one who does not fall into sin easily, and makes himself an easy victory for the devil.
The General Letters:
The book of Hebrews presents Satan as the one who has power over death, and whose power has been destroyed by Christ (Heb. 2:16). James speaks of the devil as one to be resisted (4:7), as does Peter, except Peter presents Satan as a roaming, roaring lion seeking to devour the unsuspecting (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Yet the most interesting presentation of Satan in the New Testament is found in Jude. Both in Jude and 2 Peter, false prophets are presented as arrogant blasphemers, because they blaspheme the "glorious ones", something the good angels, who are greater in power than these false teachers, won't even do (Jude 8; 2 Peter 2:11). These "glorious ones" are a reference to the sons of God on the divine council who rule the nations. Jude goes on to give an example of heavenly beings not blaspheming the glorious one. His example is taken from the book, The Assumption of Moses (the one mentioned in the previous post). Jude 9 states, "But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgement, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'" What we see in this verse is very telling. Satan is here presented not as a fallen angel, but as a glorious one- a son of God and divine council member.
In closing, we see that in the New Testament Satan is
1) The arch-nemesis of God, Jesus, and the Church.
2) He tempts, deceives, and opposes.
3) He has the power of death, yet through Jesus, he has lost all power and authority and was kicked out of heaven.
4) He still has ruling power over this present evil age.
5) He is the leader of every evil, spiritual entity.
6) He was evil "from the beginning"
7) There is no mention in the New Testament that Satan was ever righteous and then became corrupt and "fell from heaven."
8) The "fall of Satan" refers to him being cast out of the presence of God as the accuser because of the work of Christ.
9) Satan is not a fallen angel, but one of the sons of God, a divine council member.
In the next and final post on Satan, we will piece a few more things together, and I will make some closing remarks.