David B. Curtis
David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans. This morning, we are continuing our study of 1 Peter, and we are looking at verses 8 and 9 of chapter 5. These verses deal with the devil.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV
So, what we have been doing the last several weeks is looking at what the Scriptures say about the supernatural divine beings. We have been looking at the subject of the "divine council." I want to briefly review a little to make sure you're getting this. A key verse is:
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: Psalms 82:1 ESV
The "divine council" or "divine assembly" or the "assembly of El," in the Hebrew Bible, is a symbolic ruling body consisting of Yahweh as the Supreme Monarch and various supernatural attendants.
To refute the divine council view, you must disprove that Elohim is a place of residence locator. You have to be able to show that Elohim is used of others beside divine beings. None of this can be done. Elohim always refers to a divine being.
Before Yahweh created the world, he created a heavenly family. These divine beings rejoiced when Yahweh created the world and man according to Job 38:7. But because of man's sin in Genesis 3 and 6 and then again at Babel, Yahweh was finished with man and turned them over to be ruled by other gods.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 ESV
Second Temple non-canonical Jewish texts illustrate an ancient tradition of understanding this interpretation of the gods of the nations as real spirit beings that rule over those nations.
(There are) many nations and many people, and they all belong to Him, but over all of them He caused spirits to rule so that they might lead them astray from following Him. But over Israel He did not cause any angel or spirit to rule because He alone is their ruler and He will protect them. Jubilees 15: 31-32
When you first hear of the "divine council," it may sound foreign to you. But the concept and imagery of the divine council is woven throughout the pages of the Hebrew Bible. The more you dig into this subject, the more you begin to see how deeply embedded this imagery and concept are in the various strata of the Hebrew Bible. We find this idea not only in the Bible. It is also the consensus among ANE scholars that every society from the time of the ancient Sumerians (the time of Noah) to the time of the Babylonians and the Greeks believed in a pantheon of gods.
Something very important to our understanding is that the concept of a heavenly council did not threaten the position of Yahweh as "God of gods and Lord of lords" (Deut. 10:17). Yahweh is the Sovereign Creator of all things, including these lesser deities. It is Yahweh alone who has immortality. Speaking of Yeshua, Timothy says
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:16 ESV
These lesser deities, these watchers were judged by Yahweh:
I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince." Psalms 82:6-7 ESV
These watchers were judged for their disobedience to Yahweh.
In our study last week, we saw that there are divine beings throughout the Tanak. We see them in Genesis 3 and 6. We see them in Job. But when it comes to the word Satan, we saw that there are no passages in the Tanakh where the word "Satan" refers to Yahweh's divine archenemy—none! These verses that we have looked at in the Tanakh blow away the assumption that the technical term "Satan" always applies to the same supernatural being, a single Satan. As we have seen, "Satan" is attached to several different beings. As we go through the Tanakh, we come across several names of other spirit beings. Earlier I said that there are many gods and many Satans, and what we see is that some of the gods become Satans. Let's look at a few:
Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Ezekiel 8:14 ESV
Ezekiel observes women performing the ritual of mourning for the deity, Tammuz. These women are worshiping a Mesopotamian god at Yahweh's Temple in Jerusalem. They are breaking the first commandment.
"You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 ESV
Yahweh had warned Israel not to worship these other gods. These other gods were for the nations to worship not Israel.
And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. Deuteronomy 4:19-20 ESV
Israel was only to worship Yahweh; the nations were to worship these other gods.
There are at least 24 pagan deities seen in the Tanakh. Some we are familiar with and some not so much—Gods such as Baal, the Canaanite deity.
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?' Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. Jeremiah 2:8 ESV
Baal was the god of the thunderstorm; he was the cloud rider in the Ugaritic pantheon.
How about Molech, the god of Ammon?
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 18:21 ESV
Worship of Molech often included child sacrifice. Second Kings 23:10 indicates that children were sacrificed to Molech under King Manasseh.
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 2 Kings 23:10 ESV
We may see another god in Isaiah 28.
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; Isaiah 28:14-15 ESV
"We have made a covenant with death"—the word "death" here is from the Hebrew word, "maveth." It is the ordinary Hebrew word for death, but it is also the proper name of a Canaanite underworld god (Mot), the enemy of Baal in an Ugaritic epic. The proper name, not the common noun, should probably be understood in this text. The Israelites thought their covenant with this satan/adversary of Yahweh would save them.
Let me give you one more extreme example, just for fun.
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough": Proverbs 30:15 ESV
You see any demons in there? The Hebrew word for "leech" here is aluqah. This word only appears here in the Hebrew Bible. Strongs defines of aluqah as a "Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to suck." Brown-Driver-Briggs defines aluqa as a "noun feminine leech (perhaps Aramaic loan-word; vampyre-like demon)." Aluqah may simply mean "leech," but since aluqah occurs in Arabic literature as a name of a vampire, this creature and her two daughters may be referring to a demon.
These are a few examples of the 24 gods/demons found in the Tanakh. In the Book of Daniel, we get a glimpse of the battle that was going on between the gods and satans:
The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come." Daniel 10:13-14 ESV
Who is this prince of the kingdom of Persia? He is the deity given custody of Persia when the 70 nations were divided up among the watchers in Genesis 10. In the Book of Sirach, which is part of what is considered the Apocrypha and appears in the Catholic Bible, it says:
He appointed a ruler for every nation, but Israel is the Lord's own portion. Sirach 17:17
We see this prince of Persia battling with Michael. Who is Michael? We see him again in Daniel 12.
"At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. Daniel 12:1 ESV
"Michael, the great prince"—who is this great prince, Michael, who stands guard over Daniel's people? The name Michael is from the Hebrew Miykael, and means "(one) who is like God." So, Michael is one who is like God.
But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." Jude 1:9 ESV
Jude calls Michael "the archangel." Archangel means "chief of the angels." There are two archangels mentioned in the Bible. Who's the other one? It is Gabriel. Noncanonical Jewish texts mention others, like Raphael and Uriel. So, who is this Michael, the archangel? I think this is possibly the patron angel of Israel. Michael is depicted as warring on behalf of Israel and is called "Israel's protector." This is one of Yahweh's council members. So, in Daniel we see two of the gods battling over Israel.
Notice what Yahweh says in Deuteronomy 18.
There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, Deuteronomy 18:10-11 ESV
The term "divination" refers to a variety of practices in which a diviner elicits information from a deity, or supernatural source, by reading or interpreting natural resources or events. "One who inquires of the dead" is better rendered as "one who inquires of the human dead." Why would Yahweh forbid these practices if there was nothing to them? This is dealing with the spirit world, and Israel was not to do these things.
So, in the Tanakh we see that Satan is not Yahweh's archenemy. As a matter of fact, he is not an enemy at all. We also see that there are other gods who are satans—
adversaries to Yahweh. We also see these lesser gods fighting each other. There is spiritual warfare going on in the Tanakh, but not to the extent we see in the New Testament.
So, the technical term "satan" does not always apply to the same supernatural being (i.e., a single Satan). As we have seen, "satan" is attached to several different beings in the Tanakh. Let's look at some of the intertestamental literature or "Second Temple Literature" (the books written by Jews between Malachi and the time of Yeshua). In this literature, Satan begins to take on an evil persona, and we also see that there are many Satans.
In the exodus, it was not just Egyptians that were judged. It was their gods also.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. Exodus 12:12 ESV
The ten plagues in Exodus were direct divine judgments against the Egyptian pantheon, demonstrating the superiority of the Hebrew God over their gods. Key deities targeted included Hapi (Nile), Heqet (frogs), Geb (earth/lice), Khepri (flies), Hathor /Apis (livestock), Isis/Sekhmet (boils), Nut/Seth (hail), Osiris/Neper (locusts), Ra (darkness), and Pharaoh himself.
The Pseudepigrapha writings can give us insight into the Hebrew thinking and in some cases help us in understanding what we find within Scripture. One of these writings is the Book of Enoch. Ten fragments of The Book of Enoch have been found at Qumran in the "Dead Sea Scrolls." It is known to have existed in its present form since at least the 2nd Century BC. The Book of Enoch, chapter 69:4-12, lists five satans. This is a rather lengthy passage but worth the read:
And these are the chiefs of their angels and their names, and their chief ones over hundreds and over fifties and over tens]. The name of the first Jeqon: that is, the one who led astray [all] the sons of God, and brought them down to the earth, and led them astray through the daughters of men. And the second was named Asbeel: he imparted to the holy sons of God evil counsel, and led them astray so that they defiled their bodies with the daughters of men. And the third was named Gadreel: he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men. And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and for evermore. And the fourth was named Penemue: he taught the children of men the bitter and the sweet, and he taught them all the secrets of their wisdom. And he instructed mankind in writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day. For men were not created for such a purpose, to give confirmation to their good faith with pen and ink. For men were created exactly like the angels, to the intent that they should continue pure and righteous, and death, which destroys everything, could not have taken hold of them, but through this their knowledge they are perishing, and through this power it is consuming me. And the fifth was named Kasdeja: this is he who showed the children of men all the wicked smitings of spirits and demons, and the smitings of the embryo in the womb, that it may pass away, and [the smitings of the soul] the bites of the serpent, and the smitings. Enoch 69:4-12
So, there was not just one archenemy of Yahweh who was named Satan, there were many enemies of Yahweh. There was a spiritual battle going on in the heavens between Yahweh and the gods.
The Assumption of Moses (10:1) and the Book of Jubilees (2:23-29) may be the earliest evidence for the term "Satan" being employed as a proper name. In his book, When Giants Were Upon The Earth, Brian Godawa writes,
"Second Temple and Qumran Literature show an evil divine figure rising to prominence as the primary adversary to the people of God, along with a host of demons. Besides the terms 'the adversary' (satan) and 'the accuser' (devil), this figure was variously called 'Beliel,' 'Beliar, 'Mastema,' and 'Sammael'" (Godawa, 294).
The New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology says: "In the writings of Qumran, Belial appears as the name of the evil spirit, the angel of darkness. He lives in the hearts of his followers, the 'sons of darkness' (1QS 1:10) and rules in the preacher of apostasy (CD 12:2). Belial and his followers are solemnly cursed (1QS 2:4-9; 1QM 13:4-5). In the last days, after the Qumran community has cut itself off from the rest of the people, Belial is let loose against Israel (CD 4:13). At the end of the final war, the 'sons of darkness,' who constitute 'Belial' army (1QM 1:1, 13), will be destroyed (11:8-9)"
God expelled the devil and his angels from heaven onto the earth. The devil explained to Adam in chapter 16 of Life of Adam and Eve:
And the Lord God was angry with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on your account we were expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled to the ground. Straight away we were overcome with grief, since we had been robbed of such great glory. And we were grieved when we saw you in such joy and luxury. And with guile I cheated your wife and through her action caused you to be expelled from your joy and luxury, as I have been driven out of my glory.
Last week we saw that Enoch attributes the temptation of Eve to Gadreel, here it is attributed to Satan. The link between Satan and the serpent is also attested in the book, The Life of Adam and Eve (33,) and in the book of 2 Enoch (31). Both texts state that it was the devil who led Eve astray. The Life of Adam and Eve chapter 33 states:
Moreover the Lord God gave us two angels to guard us. The hour came when the angels had ascended to worship in the sight of God; immediately the enemy the devil found an opportunity while the angels were absent and the devil led your mother astray to eat of the unlawful and forbidden tree. And she ate and gave to me.
So, we see quite a change in the view of Satan in the intertestamental period. This is how the Jews viewed Satan and demons. And that brings us to the New Testament.
Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1 ESV
As soon as the New Testament starts, we see "the devil" and "satan" as adversaries of Yeshua and God's people. Most of the New Testament references to demon possession appear in the Gospels and represent the outburst of satanic opposition to Yahweh's work in Christ. Demon possession seems to be something that happened only during the time of Christ and the apostles for the purpose of manifesting the power of Christ over the demonic world.
The New Testament shows a developing picture of Satan as an archenemy of God. Extra-biblical works written prior to and contemporary with the New Testament documents parallel this development. In the New Testament. The word "devil" is used 32 times, Satan is used 33 times, Belial once (2 Cor 6:15), and Beelzebul is used 7 times. We see various titles used for Satan. He is classified as a dragon (Rev 20:2), a serpent (Rev 12:9), the evil one (John 17:15; Eph 6:16) and a tempter (Matt 4:3; 1 Thess 3:5); and he prowls like a lion (1 Peter 5:8). According to Paul, he is a ruler of the kingdom of the air—the leader of the demonic realm (Eph 2:2). People in Paul's day believed spirits existed in the space located between heaven and earth.
On several occasions, Satan is called "Beelzebul":
And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. Matthew 12:26-27 ESV
"Beelzebul"—might mean "lord of the house" or "lord of the heights." Like the phrase "kingdom of the air," Beelzebul probably means that Satan is perceived as being in charge of the demons.
The Book of Jubilees portrays Satan not just as an evil force but as the ruler of a kingdom opposed to God (Sacchi, Jewish Apocalyptic, 224). The text portrays Satan (called "Mastema") as the force behind the Egyptian sorcerers and the many rebellions against Moses in the wilderness (Jubilees 48).
So that's how the Egyptian sorcerers turned their staffs into serpents and performed the other miracles. But you know who won that showdown. Yahweh the "God of gods and Lord of lords":
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them." Exodus 7:5 ESV
Because of the Exodus, both the Egyptians and all who heard feared Yahweh. One thing that really strikes those who study the Bible is how radically different things are between the end of the Hebrew Bible and the beginning of the New Testament. Now we have Satan and his demons in an all-out war against Yahweh and His people. Yeshua pictures Satan as a heavily armed prince dwelling with his demonic subjects in a fortified palace (Matt. 12:25-29). Satan, along with his demons, exercises so much power over the nations that he is termed the "ruler of this world":
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. John 12:31 ESV
"The ruler of this world" is a title for Satan. Yeshua will refer to Satan as the "ruler of this world" two other times in this Gospel (John 14:30 and 16:11). In an absolute sense, the reference is proleptic. The coming of Yeshua's hour (his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and exaltation to the Father) marks the end of Satan's domain and brings about his defeat, even though that defeat ultimately awaited the consummation of the age in AD 70.
Did Satan rule the whole world? No. The word "world" here is used of the Roman Empire. This is the world that he offered to Yeshua if he would worship him. Remember what we saw in Daniel.
Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. Daniel 10:20 ESV
Here we see these divine "host of heaven" allotted with authority over pagan nations as spiritual "princes" or rulers battling with the archangels Gabriel and Michael. Some Second Temple non-canonical Jewish texts illustrate an ancient tradition of understanding this interpretation of the gods of the nations as real spirit beings that rule over those nations:
So, if Persia and Greece had a prince or watcher behind them that Michael was fighting with, do you think that maybe Rome had a Watcher over it also? Whom do we see Michael fighting with in Revelation 12?:
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:7-9 ESV
Where is this war taking place? Heaven. And yet Kirt Simmons, in an article in "Fulfilled Magazine," speaking of this text, writes, "The dragon is often interpreted to be Satan, but here again the passage is symbolic and should not be interpreted literally. The preferred view is that the battle represents Christ's earthly ministry and that of His disciples. Michael (Heb. - Who is like the LORD?) is Christ; His angels are the disciples and messengers of the gospel. The dragon hearkens back to the serpent in the garden and is a personification of sin and death; the dragon's angels are those who oppose the gospel."
So, Michael is battling with a personification of sin and death. Angels are the disciples? What are angels in this passage in Luke 2?
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:13-15 ESV
In Revelation, the angels are in heaven; in Luke, the angels are also in heaven. They are, therefore, not disciples—they are spirit beings.
In Revelation, Michael is depicted as warring on behalf of Israel (12:7) and is called, "Israel's protector" in Daniel 12:1. Michael, is the patron angel of Israel. So "Israel's protector" is fighting Satan. It seems as though Satan has moved from adversary in the Divine Council to the spiritual power behind Judaism.
It seems as if this watcher, now known as Satan, has turned against Yahweh and is ruling over Judaism, trying to destroy Yeshua and God's people. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2.
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV
Are these human rulers or spirit beings? The word "rulers" is from the Greek archon, which is used of both human rulers and spirit beings.
But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons," Luke 11:15 ESV
Here "Beelzebul" is called the "prince of the demons." And notice in Corinthians that they are called, "the rulers of this age." That's interesting since Satan is called "the god of this world."
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV
In the Greek, "of this age" is identical in both texts. So the evil spirits knew Yeshua had come to earth, they did not know God's plan. Had they known, Paul writes, they would not have crucified the Lord.
According to Daniel, Yeshua, the stone cut without hands, was to crush the Roman Empire:
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure." Daniel 2:44-45 ESV
This happened in AD 70. Had the rulers known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
When Christ was on earth, it was clear to the demons that their end was near.
"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God." Mark 1:24 ESV
This demon understood that Yeshua had come to destroy them. Nothing is said in the Bible about the origin of demons, but there is quite a bit of information on their destruction:
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Matthew 8:28-29 ESV
The demons understood the mission of Yeshua—to destroy them. Notice the final words in this verse—"the time"—presumably the time of judgment at the consummation of the ages. This judgment has been predicted long ago.
Psalm 82 speaks of the eventual fate of these heavenly princes:
I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince." Psalms 82:6-7 ESV
The prophet Isaiah tells of their coming punishment.
All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree. For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. Isaiah 34:4-5 ESV
Like the "host" of the nations that come against the Messiah will be slain, the "host of heaven" who rules these earthly nations will also be defeated. The sword wielded by the Messiah, will "drink its fill in the heavens" as well as on the earth.
We are told in Isaiah 34:4 that "the host of heaven will wear away" (Hebrew: maqaq, literally: "waste away," "decay"). In Zechariah 14:12, the same Hebrew root word maqaq is used to describe the fate of those who come against Jerusalem at the end of the age.
We'll continue this next week.
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