Satan
The word Satan in the Scriptures has the general meaning of “an adversary” or “an enemy.”
1. Job 1:7
2. Zechariah 3:2
From the two verses above, we can see that Satan is a celestial being that had a personality and is portrayed in Scripture as an adversary of God and His people.
There are a number of other names and descriptive designations that are applied to Satan in the Bible.
3. Matthew 4:3
4. What is Satan called in the verse above?
5. Matthew 12:24
6. What name for Satan is used in the verse above?
7. Matthew 13:39
8. What is Satan called in the verse above?
9. 2 Corinthians 6:15
10. What name is used for Satan in the verse above?
11. 1 Peter 5:8
12. What name does Peter use for Satan in the verse above?
13. Revelation 9:11
14. What two names are given to Satan in the verse above?
15. Revelation 12:9
16. What names are used for Satan in the verse above?
17. Revelation 12:10
18. What is Satan called in the verse above?
The scriptures above are not exhaustive but are intended to give the reader some idea for the appearance of Satan in the Bible text.
19. 2 Corinthians 4:4
In the verse above, the KJV has not properly translated the word they render as “world.” This word should actually be translated as “age.” The age being referred to here is the Old Covenant. There is no parallel statement made anywhere in the Scriptures that states or infers that Satan is the god of the New Covenant and we will see shortly why that is so.
If we are going to understand Satan’s role in the New Covenant, we must be willing to set aside whatever we may have previously heard or been taught about Satan and trust only what the Scriptures teach.
20. Romans 16:20
In the verse above, the KJV has not properly translated the word they render as “bruise.” This word should actually be translated as “crushed,” meaning “to crush completely, to shatter.” This is an important aspect of this verse because Paul is saying that Satan is going to be crushed shortly when he wrote the book of Romans in AD 57!
A second aspect of this verse that is critical is the time at which Satan would be crushed. The verse states it to be “shortly”which is the Greek word “tachei.” This word, in its various tenses, is translated as “shortly” and “quickly.” The word does not mean “soon” in the sense of “sometime,” but rather “swift,” “now,” “immediately,” “hastily,” and “suddenly.” The word meanings in this verse are critical to understanding that the time of Satan’s activities in the grand scheme of things is just about over when Paul is writing! Satan was to be crushed at the end of the Old Covenant when Christ returned in judgment on Israel in AD 70. Paul told the first century Roman Christians that Satan would shortly be crushed under their feet not the feet of some future generation.
“…it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel…” (Genesis 3:15).
21. Hebrews 2:14
One aspect of Christ’s mission was to destroy the Devil. The Greek word for “destroy” is “katargeo” which means to be entirely idle, useless, abolish, cease, destroy, do away with, make of no effect, bring to nought. Christ did not fail on this point! Many Christians act as if He failed and are still concerned about the Devil but this is not a biblical truth. What seems to be the hurdle for some to understand is if there is no Satan in the New Covenant then why is there so much evil in the world today? That answer to me is very simple. Each person has a will and the propensity for the human being is to misuse the freedom afforded to each individual by thinking and performing evil acts! The human race is quite capable of conducting themselves in an evil way while here in this physical body!
22. John 12:31
23. What did Jesus say about the prince of this world (Satan) in the verse above?
Satan was the prince of the Old Covenant age, but he is not the prince of the New Covenant age. We find out what happened to him in the following scripture.
24. Revelation 20:10
25. Where is Satan at the present time?
It is difficult for many Christians to accept the above truth that the kingdom of God is a present reality and that Satan is no longer participating in the workings of the world. They look at the physical three dimensional world and believe that Satan is still operating, but in reality he has been crushed and has no power or presence in the New Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant we had activity going on similar to that which Job experienced.
26. Read Job 1:6–12.
27. Zechariah 3:1
28. What was it that Satan was doing in the scriptures you read in #26 and #27 above?
This condition existed because God’s people were still under the “law of sin and death” (spiritual death) (Romans 8:2). Under the New Covenant the accuser of the brethren has been cast down (see Revelation 12:10) and he no longer works in the manner as described in #26 and # 27 above. We as believers are safe because Christ has conquered and removed us from the curse of sin and spiritual death.
But make no mistake, their is an abundance of evil in the world in which we physically live! Evil is the result of a person who makes choices that are opposed to God’s ways made in any given situation. This is what brings evil into the world.
The origin of evil is clearly laid out in its first instance by Lucifer (Satan). Read Isaiah 14:13, 14 in your Bible. Here we see the beginning of self-interest, self-seeking and self-exaltation.
I have attempted to illustrate an introduction to the “Satan Cycle” in Figure 240 below.
Left click your mouse to enlarge the graphic. Click on the return arrow to return to document.
Click on Self-Check below to check your answers.