Wherever the word “devil” is mentioned, most people usually imagine a black hairy monster with horns, hooves, and a tail, holding a trident in its hand. Believing in the true and living God who dwells in heaven, as a God of love and goodness, they at the same time think that the devil is a god of evil, a fallen angel with no less power than God, who tries to take people away from God and tempts them to do evil so that they would forever suffer in terrible torment in a fiery hell, where the devil has supreme power, and where people go after their death.
At one time this idea was supported by the majority of Christians and was the official teaching of many Christian churches, but after many years it was rejected by most people. Not many, even among the clergy, openly teach this today. It looks rather ridiculous and is supported by old-fashioned and uneducated people who lack logical thinking, as people were in past centuries, and is absolutely not applicable to the present time - the time of increasing education and scientific progress.
“Brothers in Christ” (Greek - “Christadelphians”) have never believed in the devil as a person and have always maintained that he does not exist in the form described above, so we do not regret that this theory was so widely rejected. However, this often happened for a variety of erroneous reasons or was completely rejected without any reason as something ridiculous and primitive based on one's own feelings rather than correct and logical biblical conclusions. We must be careful that our faith is based on the Bible and not on our feelings and sensations. The Christadelphians rejected the idea of the devil as a person because it is not supported by the Bible.
Perhaps this is somewhat unexpected for some people, because the word “devil” and the word “satan” (which is closely associated with the word “devil”) are used quite often in the Bible. In fact, Scripture emphatically states that the work of the Lord Jesus Christ was to destroy the work of the devil, as seen in the following verse, taken from the New Testament:
“Whoever commits sin is of the devil, because the devil sinned first. For this reason, the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil”(1 John 3: 8).
"And as children share in flesh and blood, He also took them, in order to deprive him of his power by death, who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14).
The existence of the devil is evident from these verses, however, the purpose of this brochure is to show that the devil is not an immortal monster of evil.
This false idea arises because people misrepresent the words "devil" and "satan." The word “devil” appears in the Bible no less than 117 times, the word “Satan” we can meet 51 times. However, let's see what these words actually mean.
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You do not need to consult an explanatory dictionary to find their meanings, because we will only find an explanation of these words from the perspective of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is very similar to how we described them at the very beginning. Such a meaning of these words is unacceptable, because the Bible was originally written not in Russian. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek. Therefore, we need to look at the original of these words in these languages in order to see their true meaning.
DEVIL
First of all, consider the word “devil”. You will not be able to find this word in the Old Testament (except for a few rather incomprehensible at first glance places, which will be discussed in detail below).
Most of the word is found in the New Testament, because it is actually a Greek, not a Hebrew word.
The confusion arises from the fact that the word was simply transferred from one language to another and left untranslated.
In fact, there are two words in Greek, namely “DIABOLOS” and “DYMON” for the devil, which we will consider in more detail.
DIABOLOS
The word "DIABOLOS" comes from the verb "DIABALLO" and simply means to pass or penetrate ("DIA" means - through, and "BALLO" - to throw, toss), and it translates as "false accuser", "slanderer", "deceiver" or " impostor".
So if the translators of the Bible did translate this word, and not just transfer it using the word “devil,” they would use one of these expressions, which show that the word “devil” is just a term, not a proper name.
For example, Jesus once said to his disciples: “Didn't I choose you twelve? but one of you is a devil”(John 6:70). Here Jesus obviously meant Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
Judas Iscariot showed himself to be a very evil person and showed himself as a slanderer, false accuser and traitor. All these things are denoted by the word "DIABOLOS". And of course there is nothing here to indicate that Jesus was referring to a hideous monster of evil.
In Revelation 2:10, Jesus says about the church in Smyrna that “the devil will cast some of you into prison”. By whom will this happen? Not a fallen angel, but the Roman government, which at that time ruled the world, did it. The Romans were the people who falsely accused Christianity and imprisoned its followers. This is what Jesus meant.
We can read in the Gospel that Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees, who represented the official religion at that time, that they had the devil as their father (John 8:44). These people were not the descendants of a terrible monster of evil. In fact, they were descendants of Abraham. Jesus Christ only wanted to say by this that they were slanderers, deceivers and impostors, which they really were.
Thus, when we read about the devil in the Bible, we just have to think and represent evil people. This is the true meaning of the word "DIABOLOS".
However, it is interesting to note that although translators used to transfer the word “DIABOLOS” as “devil”, there are cases when they translated it thoroughly, using the word “slanderer” in this case. Unfortunately, they weren't always constant.
For example, 1 Timothy 3:11 says that Paul, in the presence of bishops and deacons, said:
"Equally, their wives must be honest, not slanderers, sober, faithful in everything."
Here the word "slanderers" in the original is the Greek word "DIABOLOS" (plural), and if the translators were consistent, they should have translated this verse as follows:
"Equally, their wives must be honest, not devils, sober …"
However, there is an obvious reason why they did not do it. It would be simply unacceptable to call the wives of deacons "devils", so they translated the word correctly - "slanderers."
We have another example in 2 Timothy 3: 2-3:
"For people will be proud, greedy, proud … unapologetic, slanderers, incontinent …"
The word “slanderers” in the original “DIABOLOS” (plural), however again, if the translators were constantly transferring, they had to use the word “devils”, but they preferred to translate from the Greek using the word “slanderers”.
The next example is found in Titus 2: 3, where Paul writes:
"That the elders also dress decently to the saints, there were no slanderers, they were not enslaved to drunkenness, they taught good."
The expression “were not slanderers” is a translation of the same word “DIABOLOS”, although the translators had to translate this expression “were not devils”. However, they decided to use the more applicable word "slanderers" in this case. By doing the same in other cases (unfortunately they did not), they could eliminate confusion and misunderstanding of this subject.
DIMON
Another Greek word translated "devil" is "DIMON". Again, if anyone looks at the passages where this word is mentioned, he will most likely find that they have nothing to do with the devil as a person in the sense that some people understand it. Most often it is used in cases of worship of gods and idols of ancient paganism, which existed at the time of the writing of the Bible. Related to this are the few passages from the Old Testament where the word "idols" is used.
Two passages (Leviticus 17: 7, 2 Chronicles 11:15) use the Hebrew word “SAIR”, which simply means “hairy” or “kid” (goat), while in the other two cases (Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalm 105: 37) the word "SHED" is used, which means "destroyer" or "destroyer".
In each of these four cases, there is a reference to the worship of idols of Gentile nations at a time when God's people, Israel, were severely ordered to avoid it.
We have a good illustration in the New Testament. Paul writes to the Corinthians:
“That the Gentiles, when they sacrifice, sacrifice to demons and not to God, but I do not want you to be in communion with demons. You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the demonic cup, you cannot be partakers in the Lord's meal and in the demonic meal”(1 Corinthians 10: 20-21).
In this chapter, Paul discusses a problem that arose in Corinth in those early days: Is it permissible for Christians to eat meat that was sacrificed to pagan idols. Obviously, in this verse Paul is simply addressing the issue of idol worship in paganism. This is just one way the word “devil” is used in the Bible. The word is also used in a similar verse in 1 Timothy 4: 1.
If the original Greek word “DIMON” was not used in passages referring to idol worship, it indicates common illnesses, usually mental disorders. When we meet in the Gospels cases of Jesus curing diseases, the New Testament states that “He cast out demons,” but from the context it is obvious that everything He did was nothing more than a cure for ordinary mental or nervous disorders, including what we call today epilepsy … There are no cases mentioned in the New Testament that we could not explain based on the experience of today associated with this kind of disease. Symptoms are absolutely similar: vomiting, foam at the mouth, sobbing, extraordinary strength, etc. Get rid of the idea of the devil as a person and you will have no difficulty in understanding the expression “casting out demons”. It simply means curing mental or nervous diseases.
The reason why the expression “casting out demons” is used in the Bible is that there was a belief in those days that explained illness as a consequence of the infiltration of evil spirits into a person, which was part of Greek superstition and mythology. Thus the expression passed into biblical language and became common to us. Everyone uses it in their speech, regardless of whether they believe in Greek mythology or not.
We have a similar example in Russian now. We call a mentally insane person a lunatic, a word that appeared as a result of the belief that madness was caused by the influence of the moon on a person. This idea was widespread in ancient times. Some people believe it today, but we all continue to use this word. Likewise, a similar idiom from the time was used in the Bible, although this does not imply support for the original pagan expression.
This is the real meaning of the word "DIMON" in those cases when it is translated as "demons" and "devil" - and nothing more.
SATAN
A similar situation arises with the word "Satan." This word is commonly found in the Old Testament because it is actually Hebrew. The word comes from the Hebrew word "SATAN" or "SATANAS", and simply means "adversary" or "enemy".
Again, this word was transferred and not translated, and appears in this form in the New Testament. However, wherever this word appears, it must not be forgotten that it was simply borrowed from the Hebrew and left untranslated, but still signifies enemy or adversary and in no way expresses the idea that the church later put forward.
No wonder Satan can be a bad or even a good person. For example, in the case of Balaam recorded in Numbers 22, we have an episode when an angel was Satan. When God sent an angel to prevent Balaam from doing his evil work, we read that God's fury was kindled because contrary to God's instructions Balaam went, we read in verse 22:
"… The Angel of the Lord stood on the road to hinder him."
The word “hinder” in the original Hebrew sounds like “SATANAS”, and if the translators were constant in their actions, they should have simply transferred the word, as they did before, in many other places, instead of translating it as in this case. Then the verse would look like this: "… and the Angel of the Lord became like Satan against him." But again, as with the deacons' wives, it was not applicable to just do it.
There are many other passages in the Bible where the translators, if they were consistent, would have to use the word “satan,” but despite this they translated correctly using the word “adversary,” apparently because that was more applicable. Here are some examples:
“… Let this man go… so that he does not go to war with us and does not become our enemy (Satan) in war” (1 Samuel 29: 4).
"And David said: What is to me and you, sons of Zeruiah, that you now become to me haters (Satan)?" (2 Kings 19:22).
“Now the Lord my God has given me peace from everywhere: there is no enemy (Satan) and there is no more rest” (1 Kings 5: 4).
“And the Lord raised up an adversary (Satan) against Solomon, Ader the Edomite, from the royal lineage of Edom” (1 Kings 11:14).
“And God raised up against Solomon an adversary (Satan), Razon, the son of Eliad, who fled from his sovereign Adraazar, the king of Suv” (1 Kings 11:23).
“And he was an adversary (Satan) of Israel all the days of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:25).
From all these verses, we can not draw any other conclusion than that evil people appeared and became opponents or opponents of David and Solomon, simply because the translators correctly translated the words in the original instead of transferring them. In the same places where they transferred the words, people got the wrong idea of the idea of Satan.
Let me now give examples where they did it, but where it would be much better if the words were still translated. One such passage is when Jesus called Peter Satan, although everyone would agree that Peter was a good man. However, in this case, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 16, Peter irritated his Master. Jesus told his disciples about His future crucifixion, a question which they still poorly understood at that time, and Peter was horrified at the mere thought of it. Terror arose because of his love for Jesus, and he exclaimed:
"Be merciful to yourself, Lord! may this not be with you! " (Matthew 16:22).
However, Jesus turned to Peter and said:
Get away from Me, Satan! you are a temptation to Me, because you think not of what is of God, but of what is human”(verse 23).
The position was that Peter, in his ignorance, tried to resist the idea of Christ that He would die. Thus he was opposed to God's purposes, and therefore Christ aptly called him Satan, that is, an adversary.
In the book of Job we also find the use of the word "satan." Job was a righteous and prosperous man, but all kinds of calamities fell on him because of the instigations of one called “Satan,” who came with the sons of God to appear before the Lord. The Lord asked Satan, "Where did you come from?" and Satan replied, “I walked on the earth and went around it” (Job 1: 6-7). That's all that is said about him. It does not say that he slept from heaven or rose from a fiery hell, or that he was somehow different from other people.
In this passage, the word “Satan” must be correctly and logically translated as “adversary,” which was precisely this man who acted as an adversary or enemy of Job. Nothing here indicates that this Satan was a fallen angel, because he walked the earth and went around it.
The same is true in other verses where the word "satan" is used. If we simply read “adversary,” we find that the passage, taken in context or in the light of the proper historical background, will lead to a normal explanation, consistent with the teachings of Scripture and our own experience, and not some fantastic representation of that a fallen angel wanders the world, trying to deceive people and lead them away from God.
THE DEVIL IN THE BIBLE
Having discovered what the words “devil” and “satan” mean, we are in a position to simply consider what the Bible says about the devil. There is no mention in the Bible that the devil is the ugly monster that many people imagine. This word is often used, so the Bible should tell us something about it. Indeed, we have already seen that the first two passages quoted from the Bible in this pamphlet (1 John 3: 8 and Hebrews 2:14) clearly tell us that the work of Jesus Christ was to destroy the devil.
Hebrews 2:14 says that Jesus went through death "in order to destroy the power of him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, by death." The devil, as they say, has the power of death. This verse also tells us that Jesus destroyed the devil by taking flesh and blood, that is, he had a human body like all people, and moreover, that this destruction was due to His death.
Now, if we believe that the devil mentioned in this verse is a fallen angel, a ridiculous creator of evil, then we are immediately faced with four contradictions:
The apparent fact of Jesus' acceptance of flesh and blood was a strange way of resisting and destroying a supernatural monster, which, according to the general idea, can have no less power than God himself. If Jesus were really going to destroy such a devil, then He needed all the divine power available, not the human body that the rest of humanity possessed. However, Jesus did not have an angelic nature when He died. We read further in the epistle: "… He will not receive angels, but Abraham's seed will receive."
Wasn't it unusual that Jesus destroyed the immortal devil by subjecting himself to death? Someone would think that in order to destroy such a creature as the devil, it would take a lifetime with all its strength and vitality. And all this, undoubtedly, if all the above circumstances are true.
If Christ destroyed the devil, then now the devil must be dead, because Jesus was crucified over 1900 years ago, but those who support the old idea will agree with us that the devil is still alive.
In this verse, the Bible tells us that the devil has the power of death. If so, then the devil must work and cooperate with God. However, orthodox teaching says that God and the devil are sworn enemies. It is also obvious that in accordance with the Bible, God punishes those who rebelled against Him, and a hostile archangel would not dare to be in eternal enmity with Him.
These four points clearly show that if we accept Bible teaching we must reject the old-fashioned, absurd idea that the devil is a person as a pagan superstition. However, it is pointless to reject any idea without replacing it with an alternative or other statement, as most people do. We will try to show what the Bible wants to tell us about the devil, and to reveal the meaning of this word.
When we look again at Hebrews 2:14, we find that the devil has power over death.
Quite reasonably you will ask the question: what according to the Bible has power and authority over death? The apostle Paul gives us the answer in his first letter to the Corinthians, where he writes:
Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” (1 Corinthians 15: 55-56).
The word “power” in this verse is originally the same word used in Hebrews 2:14, so we see from this that the power of sin is the law. All the power of the poisonous animal called death is in its sting, so Paul uses the word “sting” as equivalent to strength. If the law is broken, then sin arises. Therefore he asks: “Death! where is your strength? " and when answering this question, verse 56 says, "The power of death is - sin." Therefore, in accordance with Scripture, sin has the power of death.
How can it be? The following Bible passages tell us:
“Therefore, just as by one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, so death passed into all men, because in it all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
"… Death came by man …" (1 Corinthians 15:21).
"For the wages of sin is death …" (Romans 6:23).
"… Sin reigned to death …" (Romans 5:21).
“… The sin that has been done brings death” (James 1:15).
These passages show us that the power of death is sin, and that we must suffer and die because of sin (that is, violation or disobedience to Divine law) that entered the world through one person. Let's go back. We said that the first Epistle of John says that “in the beginning the devil sinned,” therefore, we need to touch on the early chapters of Genesis, where we have a description of how sin entered the world.
THE ORIGIN OF SIN
Sin appeared at that moment when Adam disobeyed God, after God commanded him not to eat of a certain tree. Adam disobeyed this command because of the instigations of his wife Eve, who was tempted by a serpent, as recorded in Genesis 3:
”The serpent was more cunning than all the beasts of the field, which the Lord God created. And the serpent said to his wife: Has God truly said: Do not eat of any tree in paradise? (Genesis 3: 1).
“And the serpent said to his wife: no, you will not die, but God knows that on the day you taste them your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods knowing good and evil” (verses 4-5).
The woman listened to the snake, bit off the fruit of the forbidden tree, and persuaded her husband to do the same. The consequence was that they broke God's commandment, they disobeyed the words of God, they crossed the line. Thus they sinned, and sin was, as we have seen, a violation of Divine law. The rest of the chapter explains to us how they were thus subjected to condemnation and death, a condition that all their descendants inherited, that is, the entire human race, as Paul clearly shows us in Romans 5:12, the passage quoted earlier.
Some people who hold the view that Satan was a fallen angel will claim that he was the very devil who entered the serpent and thus tempted Eve. However, this is a narrative of something supernatural that you will not find in the Bible. There is nothing in this Divine Book to justify such a notion.
The first verse of the third chapter says that the serpent was more cunning than any other animal created by God. It was a cunning snake that incited false statements. He possessed the art of expressing thoughts together with the ability to speak, just like **** Balaam.
There is not even a hint in this chapter that the serpent acted under the influence of a fallen angel. Didn't the Bible mention such an important aspect? God performed judgment on the man, woman, and serpent. The serpent was an ordinary animal, not a devil or a fallen angel who was "cursed before all cattle and before all the beasts of the field." The serpent, and not Satan, was ordered to walk on his womb and eat dust all the days of his life. Claiming that a fallen angel worked here is a serious distortion of Scripture.
Thus, sin and death entered the world due to the transgression of Adam in the very beginning, therefore the saving mission of Jesus was necessary in order to eliminate these two factors. How was He able to do this? The following Scriptures tell us:
Otherwise, He would have to suffer many times from the beginning of the world. But he once, towards the end of the ages, appeared to take away sin by his sacrifice”(Hebrews 19:26).
“For I first taught you that I myself accepted that is, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15: 3).
“But He was declared for our sins and we are tormented for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed”(Isaiah 53: 3).
“He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness: by His stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
“And you know that He appeared to take away our sins, and that in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3: 5).
Of course, all of these passages point to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and show us that He died this way in order to take away sin. Only a few people who claim to be called Christians will reject this. He was able to do this because he overcame sin in Himself. It is written about Him:
“He committed no sin, and there was no flattery in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).
Jesus Christ was the only person who lived a life but never sinned. Thanks to His mother, He received a human nature like all of us, so He had to die (see Hebrews 2:14, already quoted), however, since He did not sin, God raised Him from the dead, and then made Him immortal so that He could not die anymore (see Acts 2: 23-33). He is still alive in heaven now, so as He Himself mentioned, He took away sin and death.
By doing this through his death, He became the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. He made the path to salvation so that the rest of humanity could receive the remission of their sins and gain eternal life upon His return to earth. This way of salvation can be found after full comprehension of the true biblical teaching, thus giving the opportunity to first of all understand and believe in the gospel, and then be baptized. A person who has done this takes the path of salvation, and if he continues to live in harmony with the commandments of Christ, he will be able to receive the gift of eternal life. Thus, when Christ comes and establishes the Kingdom of God, sin and death will be completely destroyed by Him completely.
All of this helps us understand what the devil is. This is, first of all, that which has the power of death, and that Jesus Christ destroyed at the time of His coming, that is, SIN. Therefore, the apostle Paul writes:
“As the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless, then God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sacrifice for sin and condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8: 3).
We want to emphasize these last few words: "condemned sin in the flesh." This expression “sin in the flesh” gives a very good spiritual definition of the devil. By “sin in the flesh” is meant that the evil nature that the entire human race possesses was inherited through the transgression of Adam, and it leads us to create anything bad that is contrary to the will of God. We constantly tend to do things that are contrary to Divine law. However, we also make a conscious effort to obey His commandments and do things that please Him.
SIN IN THE FLESH
Thus, “sin in the flesh” was manifested in many ways that are described in Scripture. For example, some of them are listed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians:
“The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, impurity, lewdness, idolatry, magic, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations), heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, outrage, and the like; I precede you, as I did before, that those who do so will not inherit the Kingdom of God”(Galatians 5: 19-21).
Everyone is ever tempted to do one of these things in some way. Even those who are most concerned with doing good are sometimes tempted to do evil things with their flesh. Even the apostle Paul, who developed an almost unrivaled divine character, declared:
“For I know that the good does not live in me, that is, in my flesh; because the desire for good is in me, but I do not find it to do it. The good that I want I do not do, but the evil that I do not want I do. But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do that, but the sin that dwells in me. So I find it a law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For in the inner man I find pleasure in the law of God; but in my members I see another law, opposing the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members. Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7: 18-24).
This is what the work of sin in the flesh is - which is the devil.
However, even in spite of this evidence, some may argue and say, "Yes, but is it not the devil who leads people this way, persuading them to do evil by working outside of them?"
The answer is yes - NO. The devil is not a person, not some immortal being or a fallen angel.
James clearly states in his letter that temptations come from within everyone:
"In temptation, do not say:" God is tempting me "; because God does not tempt with evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone, but everyone is tempted, being carried away and deceived by his own lust; But when lust conceives, it begets sin, but when sin is done, it begets death”(James 1: 13-15).
When a person is tempted, he is guided by his own desires and lusts, and not tempted by God or a fallen angel. We must emphasize that human lusts are produced by our own sinful nature. It is simply the outward manifestation of sin in human bodies that was introduced into people by Adam when he disobeyed God in the beginning. This is the devil. Of course, he is not a person, and properly understanding this question will one day help to eliminate from the mind the idea that the devil is a person.
PRINCIPLE OF PERSONALIZATION
Some may find it difficult to accept the explanation of the impersonation of the devil, because the devil is quite often referred to in the Bible as if he were a person, and this may confuse some. All such passages can be easily explained taking into account the fact that the characteristic feature of the Bible is the personification of inanimate objects such as wisdom, wealth, sin, the church, but only in the case of the devil there is some fantastic theory invented around him. The following verses illustrate this:
The personification of wisdom:
“Blessed is the man who has acquired wisdom, and the man who has acquired intelligence! Because its acquisition is better than silver, and the profit from it is greater than from gold. It is more precious than precious stones, and nothing you desire can compare with it”(Proverbs 3: 13-15).
“Wisdom built herself a house, hewed out its seven pillars” (Proverbs 9: 1).
These verses and the remaining chapters that mention wisdom show that she is described as a woman, however, no one would argue that wisdom is literally a beautiful woman who wanders the earth. All this indicates that this is a very important characteristic that all people try to acquire.
The personification of wealth:
“No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one, and love the other; or one will be zealous, and neglect about the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”(Matthew 6:24).
Here wealth is equated with the master. Many people spend a lot of time and energy accumulating wealth and thus it becomes their master. Jesus is here telling us that we cannot do this and serve God acceptablely at the same time. This teaching is simple and effective, but no one will conclude from this that wealth is a person called mammon.
The personification of sin:
“… Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). “Sin reigned unto death” (Romans 5:21).
"Do you not know that to whom you give yourself up as slaves for obedience, that you are slaves to whom you obey, or slaves of sin to death, or obedience to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).
As in the case of wealth, sin is equated here with the master, and those who commit sin are his slaves. There is no reason as we read these verses to justify Paul's claim that sin is a person.
Incarnation of the Spirit:
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak of himself …”(John 16:13).
Jesus here tells His disciples that they soon received the power of the Holy Spirit, which happened on the day of Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts 2: 3-4. It is stated here: “And tongues of fire appeared to them, as it were, and rested, one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit …”who gave them wonderful power to do good deeds to prove that their power was given by God. The Holy Spirit was not a person, it was power, but when Jesus spoke about it, He used the personal pronoun “he”.
The personification of the Israeli people:
"I will build you up again, and you will be built, virgin of Israel, you will again be adorned with your tympanes …" (Jeremiah 31: 4).
"I hear Ephraim crying:" You punished me, - and I am punished like an indomitable calf; turn me, and I will turn, for you are the Lord my God”(Jeremiah 31:18).
The context of these passages clearly shows that the prophet is not referring to a literal virgin or Ephraim as a person, but to the people of Israel, which in this example is personified.
In the same spirit, the state of Great Britain is sometimes called by the female name “Britain”. In reality, there is no such woman, but when she is referred to in books or painted in pictures, everyone understands what is meant.
The personification of believers in Christ:
"Until we all come into the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, according to the full age of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
“One body” (Ephesians 4: 4).
“And you are the body of Christ, but individually you are members” (1 Corinthians 12:27).
“… Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23).
“He (Christ) is the head of the body, the Church … Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you and make up for the lack of my flesh in the sorrows of Christ for His body, which is the Church” (Colossians 1:18 and 24).
“I betrothed you to one husband, to present you to Christ as a pure virgin” (2 Corinthians 11: 2).
“… The marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has prepared herself” (Revelation 19: 7).
All of these verses clearly refer to a community of people who are true believers in Christ, and are sometimes referred to as “the church,” although this should not be confused with any existing churches today that have long before ceased to be true believers in Christ.
True believers are those who hold to and believe in the true positions taught by the Bible. They are referred to as the chaste virgin who expresses the purity of the lives she leads. And the body is a suitable symbol, because only the real body has many functions. Thus, the true church has tremendous responsibilities and many functions.
When the church is referred to as a body, no one imagines it as a person, and would not be mistaken in imagining the devil or Satan as some kind of ugly monster or a fallen angel, if these words were correctly translated, or people would not acquire the wrong idea derived from false churches in times past.
Distortion of the scriptures
In light of the above evidence, true Bible teaching is revealed, but there are many who will cite and explain some Scripture passages according to their personal views, and their personal opinions may appear here. In fact, since the Bible does not contradict itself, these statements will not be true, so we need to look at these passages carefully to see what they really tell.
Sinned Angels
Two of the most popular passages, often cited by some to support their belief in the devil as a person, can be found in the letters of Peter and Jude:
“For if God did not spare the angels who had sinned, but, having bound them with the bonds of hellish darkness, gave them over to be watched for judgment…” (2 Peter 2: 4).
"And the angels, who did not retain their dignity, but left their dwelling place, he keeps in eternal bonds, under darkness, at the judgment of the great day" (Jude, verse 6).
It is absolutely clear here that God did not spare the angels who sinned and cast them into hell, which is absolutely consistent with the orthodox idea. However, does it refer to what the church uses and what many teach? Let's take a closer look at the verses.
The angels were “bound by the bonds of hellish darkness,” but it does not say that they were in heaven in the beginning. Simply put, they were on earth before being thrown into hell. Moreover, Peter says: “having bound him by the bonds of hellish darkness”, and Judas emphasizes: “he keeps in eternal bonds, under darkness”. So we ask, if the devil was in bondage, how could he possess all the power of evil that was passed on to him after that? We have also seen that these angels were kept "for the judgment of the great day." How can this fit in with the orthodox idea?
These questions show us that it is false to conclude that these verses support this theory. Its appearance is the result of simply inattentive reading, but once realizing that the Bible really speaks of angels, sin, hell (the grave) and judgment, we immediately realize what these verses are referring to, and you will find that this is far from the old mythology. “Angel” simply means “messenger,” and in the Bible, this word does not always refer to the immortal beings who dwell in heaven with God. These verses refer to the rebellion against God that occurred during the Old Testament, and more familiarly, the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiron against the divinely established authority of Moses, as recorded in Numbers chapter 16. They simply cannot refer to anything- either another or theory,which is not in agreement with the teaching of the entire Bible.
War in the sky
Another verse sometimes quoted to support the old idea of the devil as a fallen angel can be found in Revelation 12:
“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they could not resist, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole universe, was cast out to earth, and his angels were cast out with him”(Revelation 12: 7-9).
This verse, as it seems at first glance, is an excellent proof of the old dogma - the war in heaven, Michael fights against the dragon, and the dragon is overthrown. This same old serpent is called the devil and satan! But is this what this verse is about? The reference to the first verse of the book of Revelation reveals to us that to explain this verse in this way means to move away from the context of the entire book:
”The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must be soon. And He showed it by sending it through His Angel to His servant John”(Revelation 1: 1).
It is now recognized by all reliable authorities that the book of Revelation was written, or better - the message was received by John around 96 AD, and as already mentioned, in the first verse it is mentioned that this book describes what “should be soon”. Therefore, this incident of war in heaven between Michael, his angels, and the devil or Satan must refer to something that happened after 96 C. E. However, this does not fit the old idea. The adherents of the general idea believe that this war in heaven took place at the very beginning of life, otherwise who is responsible for all the evil that existed long before the days when John received the revelation?
The explanation for this question is that the book of Revelation is a book of symbols, as shown in the words: "He showed by sending it." All the visions described in the book symbolize political events of great importance that were to occur after the times when they were shown. Therefore, there is no reason to use this verse to argue that the devil is a fallen angel.
In fact, these verses point to the fact that Paganism was replaced by Christianity as the main religion of the Roman Empire during the 4th century AD. This fact is reflected here in symbols that can be correctly interpreted because the Bible clearly coordinates events using symbols.
The origin of war in heaven does not mean, of course, war in God's dwelling place. It is simply incomprehensible that a war could occur there. When the word “heaven” occurs in the Bible, it is not always a reference to God's dwelling place. Usually in such cases there is a reference to the leading forces on earth. They can be named and are often called the political firmament. This is exactly what Revelation chapter 12 says. The war in heaven refers to the struggle of political forces, which at that time took place in the Roman Empire.
The dragon symbolizes pagan Rome. Michael represents Emperor Constantine because his forces claimed to fight in the name of Christ. The war symbol in the sky depicts the wars between Constantine and Licinus, in which Licinus was defeated in 324 CE, making Constantine the sole ruler over the entire empire. Constantine was a supporter of Christianity while Licinus was a supporter of paganism, thus Licinus was represented by a dragon. The words in Revelation 12: 8: "But they could not stand, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven" - show that he was overwhelmed and lost his strength and position in the empire, which happened.
Now Constantine, having acquired full and unified power, changed the official religion from paganism to Christianity - corrupted Christianity, but still some kind of Christianity, and thus he went down in history as the first Christian emperor. This is what he was remarkable for, and just what the words in verse 9 refer to, "And the great dragon was cast out." We also see that this dragon is also called: “the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan,” which is most appropriate because paganism was the embodiment of the power of sin, for sin in the flesh, designated by the biblical devil, has long been the enemy of the followers of Jesus Christ.
This is what this chapter of the book of Revelation is about, as we have seen by taking it in the context of the entire book and applying proper biblical interpretation. To show the conflict between God and the rebel angels in this passage is to move completely out of context and give it a meaning that is completely contrary to biblical teaching.
Where is Satan's throne
Another reference to Satan can be found in the following verse of Revelation:
“And write to the Angel of the Church of Pergamon: thus says he who has a sword sharp on both sides: I know your deeds, and that you live where the throne of Satan is, and that you contain my name, and did not renounce my faith even in those days in which you have you, where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas has been killed”(Revelation 2: 12-13).
This verse, addressed to the church in Pergamum, states that they live "where Satan's throne is." This shows how ridiculous the general vision of Satan is. Followers of this teaching will assure you that Satan's throne is in hell. The idea was never put forward that he later moved his “headquarters” to Pergamum. However, this should have happened if this Bible verse was applied to support their teaching. This statement can embarrass them, because it does not quite agree with what we know about Pergamum.
At the time when Revelation was given, Pergamum was a delightful city in Central Asia with a community of Christians. Outwardly, it seemed very prosperous, but at the same time there were a huge number of energetic enemies of the Christian faith. This is the reason why that place was called the throne of Satan, which is quite a fitting designation if you remember that the word Satan means an adversary.
Names and Alexander
Associating the word Satan with a terrible monster that does evil, as the general idea presents us, is rather difficult when we begin to read the Bible carefully. For example, Paul in the first letter to Timothy says that the young man should hold fast to the faith, unlike the two mentioned by name: Hymenaeus and Alexander, who turned away from their faith. He wrote:
“Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, were shipwrecked in faith; such are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I gave to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme”(1 Timothy 1: 19-20).
It can be seen from this verse that because of his deviation from the faith, Paul betrayed Hymenaeus and Alexander to “Satan”, for the reason “that they should learn not to blaspheme”. If the old views are true, someone will think that this was the last thing Paul did: “betray (them) to Satan” so they could learn not to blaspheme. The old dogma should lead us to believe that Satan is an excellent teacher in the terrible sin of blasphemy, but Paul, on the contrary, betrayed them to Satan so that they would learn not to blaspheme.
Evidently Paul is teaching us here that persistent offenders and the apostles should be excluded from the church. This is a duty that Paul commands in some Scriptures, for example:
“But I, being absent in body, but being present with you in spirit, have already decided, as if being with you: he who has done such a deed, in your congregation in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with my spirit, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give to Satan into exhaustion flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ”(1 Corinthians 5: 3-5).
When such a deed was done, the person who did it, in the absence of repentance, was expelled from the church back into the world, from which all true Christians kept their distance, and which, of course, was an enemy of God, an enemy of His true servants and a manifestation of sin on the largest scale. It was hoped that these actions would have a beneficial effect on the offenders, causing them to change their ways, or as Paul puts it, "teach not to blaspheme."
Satan at the right hand of Joshua
One of the most powerful verses, often quoted by older people, can be found in the Old Testament:
“And he showed me Jesus, the great priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan, who stood at his right hand to resist him” (Zechariah 3: 1).
At first glance, this verse might seem to fit very well with the old idea of a fallen angel trying to resist Jesus, the high priest, but to show that this is not the case, we must quote a few verses from the book of Ezra.
To begin with, it should be noted that the prophet Zechariah prophesied during the lives of Ezra and Nehemiah, who were during this period, when the Jews were partially restored to their land by the Persians after their 70 year captivity in Babylon (about 500 BC). After their return, they tried to rebuild Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The book of the prophet Ezra is a historical record of these events. Hence, since Zechariah lived and prophesied at the same time, he was involved in the restoration, so he apparently made several references to this in his prophecy. Here are excerpts from the book of the prophet Ezra:
“And Jesus, the son of Yosedek, and his brothers, the priests, and Zerubbabel, the son of Salafeil, and his brothers arose; and they built an altar to the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. And they set up an altar on its foundation, for they were in fear of foreign nations; and they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, the morning and evening burnt offerings”(Zechariah 3: 2-3).
“And the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that those who had returned from captivity were building a temple to the Lord the God of Israel; and they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of generations, and said to them: we will also build with you, because we, like you, run to your God, and we offer sacrifices to Him from the days of Asardan, king of Syria, who brought us here” …
“And Zerubbabel and Jesus and the other heads of the generations of Israel said unto them: Do not build you with us the house of our God; we alone will build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia commanded us."
“And the people of that land began to weaken the hands of the people of Judah and to hinder them in the building; And they bribed counselors against them to destroy their enterprise, all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, and until the reign of Darius, king of Persia”(Ezra 4: 1-5).
This record shows most clearly what Zechariah referred to in the third chapter of the prophecy. It was these opponents, mentioned in the book of Ezra, who were the enemies of the Jews and tried to hinder them in their work to rebuild the temple. If the translators correctly translated the word “Satan” in Zechariah as “adversary”, as they did in Ezra 5: 1, there would be no such confusion and people would not make false conclusions from the references in Zechariah.
Lucifer
Another verse that adherents of the old idea like to quote refers to the fact that Lucifer is “the son of the dawn,” as the prophet Isaiah says:
“How you fell from the sky, day, son of the dawn! he was smashed to the ground, trampling on the nations”(Isaiah 14:12).
It is a very weak argument to quote this verse in support of the fallen angel idea, because it does not fit the context of this chapter. Again, this verse has been taken out of context. This becomes apparent when we look at verse 4, which tells us what the prophet really wanted to proclaim:
"You will utter a victory song against the king of Babylon, and you will say: how the tormentor was gone, the robbery was stopped!" (Isaiah 14: 4).
The prophet utters a prophecy against Babylon, and if anyone reads the remainder of the chapter, he will find a prophecy about the fall of this mighty nation. Verse 12 is part of this prophecy, so "Lucifer" is nothing more than a reference to Babylon, a nation that began to weaken in Isaiah's time. The weakening of political power is shown as the fall to earth that occurred when Babylon was conquered by the Persians in 540 CE. The word "Lucifer" simply means "morning star" - a fitting term for Babylon. There is no justification for applying this expression to the fallen angel commonly known as the devil or Satan.
These examples show us that there are no words in Scripture that can be used to support the general idea of the devil and Satan. When read with an understanding of what the Bible actually says about these words, then the passages will bring reasonable and helpful reading and understanding that is consistent with our usual expectations, so that we can read what Paul meant when he wrote:
“And therefore we, I am Paul, wanted to come to you once and twice; but Satan hindered us”(1 Thessalonians 2:18).
When we read that “Satan (Judas Iscariot) entered into him” (John 13:27), it simply means that suddenly, when he received a piece of bread from Jesus, he decided to continue with his evil intentions. When Ananias and Saphira hid part of the price from the land they sold but had to give in full, Peter said:
"… Why did you allow Satan to put in your heart the idea of lying to the Holy Spirit and hide it from the price of the earth?" (Acts 5: 3).
He simply meant that they made a decision in their heart and mind to do this evil act, as shown in verse 4:
"… Why did you put this in your heart?" (verse 4).
Or again in verse 9:
"But Peter said to her: why did you agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?"
It is evident from these verses that there was a "sin in the flesh" inherent in their nature, which prompted Ananias and Sapphira to do this, and not the impulse of an immortal monster.
CONCLUSION
In light of previous evidence, the idea that the devil or Satan is a hideous monster of evil or an angel fallen from heaven must be rejected, because this doctrine is not biblical teaching as many think. One of the reasons many reject the Bible may be because they associate it with a collection of silly stories or fairy tales, but this is a fatal mistake. The Bible is true and reasonable in every way.
Rejection of the old theory by many does not mean rejection of the Bible. She carries a message of hope to all of humanity. Her doctrines regarding the devil and Satan explain how sin and death entered the world and the reasons why evil prevails now, but also reveals remedies. Therefore, the Bible deserves great attention and respect for itself.
