A Little Question About Satan

While talking this weekend with my Pastor friend somehow the question of Satan came up. I really don't remember the exact reason as it was not the focus of the conversation; however a question was raised. How many people in the bible ever actually talked to Satan. In many ways he is really a minor character as the book is more about humanity.

All that I could think of was that God spoke to Satan, Satan attempted to tempt Jesus and Eve spoke to Satan. The Pastor mentioned that Satan had enticed David to number the people of Israel and Judah; but, it didn't say how. There are two mentions of this event.

2 Samuel 24:1 states, "Now again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and it (Satan) incited David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah."

1 Chronicles 21:1 states, "Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel."

We know that Satan tormented Job; but, it never states that Job interacted with Satan or ever knew him. Now Judas Iscariot, it says in John 13:27 "After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

So while Satan may have overtaken Judas Iscariot we do not know the nature of the exchange except that he had a very short amount of time within him. That is not a lot to go on. What can we divine from what we know, well, while it appears that Satan accuses us day and night, he seems rather timid about dealing with people directly. Lets face it, Eve was a child and innocent knowing neither good nor evil. I think I read that somewhere. :)

Listen, this blog talks about the bible sometimes and there was nothing compelling in the news, I already wrote about the debt ceiling. This is going to pretty much be a strictly religious post as I sometimes do.

This Satan fellow then is rather timid around human beings. At no time did he threaten Jesus even though he was not sure that it was the Christ. Here is where we begin to see some interesting possibilities like the fact that Satan does not understand God as he did not understand Christ. Satan interacted with God (if he accused us before God night and day); but, didn't know his son who had the same attitudes as the father. It also says that Satan doesn't have a good grasp of God's plan, he is pretty much trying to figure it out as things transpire. This then brings us to Revelations.

In Revelations there is certain knowledge that is to remain sealed until the end times. It is mentioned; but, not what that information is. Perhaps it was not revealed because it is to be a surprise for Satan, I mean if you were Satan you would read the bible to get an idea of what is going to occur wouldn't you, I know I would.

For our readers that may be intimidated by Satan I need to clarify something. Yes, Satan entered Judas Iscariot; but, it also says that for those who have the spirit of Jesus (love rather than selfishness), Satan cannot indwell or be within them. Satan entered Judas Iscariot the moment Judas determined to give Jesus up to be killed to get some silver and whatever other reason he may have had.

Well, perhaps the story of Judas is relevant to the story of David. Perhaps Satan entered someone and used that person to tell David to count the people of Israel and Judah, it would be consistent with what happened later. Lets consider how Satan failed to accuse Job to his face (a fail under American Law), it seems sort of cowardly. I mean when I accuse someone, I usually do it to their face if I have evidence. Perhaps his evidence is weaker than he knows.

Lets consider another thing, Satan did not approach Eve in the body of a human, he came in the shape of a serpent. Now, I doubt God missed Satan's arrival or was confused by his appearance, Satan could have been dumb enough to believe that, we don't know. At a minimum the only person it would have fooled would have been Adam or Eve, I mean a talking serpent would stick out today; but, neither Adam nor Eve understood the abilities of the animals around them.

I am rambling all over the place because I am trying to see what we might uncover if we find the right rock. Oh, one thing that I think that we need to clarify is whether or not Eve sinned. It is generally believed that she did sin by eating the forbidden fruit; but, she did not know Good or evil therefore how could she? It is a trick question, sin has little to do with good or evil. I will let you think about that one for a bit.

This all leads me to believe that Satan does not have a physical body; but, rather like the other demons is a spiritual/emotional being that finds like minded people and can manifest on earth by indwelling them. What then is the emotional make up of Satan, that would be one of envy and/or jealousy. Many believe that Satan was thrown out of heaven because he wanted to be God; but, I don't buy it. Firstly, he knows that God has power that he could never compete with, heck, he got thrown down from heaven so Satan knows that he doesn't have a chance in a straight up fight or any other kind.

I should mention a couple of other things, it does not say that God struggles against Satan, it says we and the angels contend with him. It also says that Satan rebelled against God, now that means that he fought against God's will, not against God himself. I believe that Satan, thinking himself more worthy of God's love than humans and seeking to prove that point. What is the point in accusing humans day and night in front of God if he thinks he can be God to God? He is not looking to reverse roles with God, he is looking to be above us, to be a God to us.

Satanists, Luciferians and many who follow in the theories of the Eastern Mystery schools (occult and gnostic...) believe Satan is one of two Gods that existed in the beginning. They generally just believe that we are worshiping the wrong one and should instead worship the one Christians would call Satan.

Satan it is said is a predator for our souls, not Gods. So what is the nature of a predator? Well, they have an advantage over those they choose as prey, in this case I think it might be that Satan understands the spiritual nature of all sentience and the nature of the fight. It is safe to say that most people do not understand the spiritual nature of reality and even fewer understand the battle or the grounds on which it is fought. That is to say that we appear to be at a disadvantage.

Well, in war the most useful tool for a side that has a disadvantage is the weapon of surprise. Now we come to some really interesting questions, can Satan be surprised? The answer is yes, isn't that proof that he is not all knowing? Job surprised him, he failed to prove what he said he would, that if Job lost everything he would hate God, it didn't happen. Satan also failed with Jesus; but, lets look a little deeper into that for a second (please remember that this is mostly being written for my Pastor friend, so excuse me if I get technical).

Now for my readers who are not believers, I am about to really challenge traditional interpretations of the bible and a Pastor will be challenging me on this, so give a little trust in the Pimpernel, I am not as dumb as I look. Close; but, not completely.

Jesus is baptised and ascends into heaven. After that he fasts for 40 days in the desert. After having fasted for 40 days, Satan approaches Jesus and says, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Sure sounds to me like Satan was unsure what or whom he was dealing with. Did he think it might be another prophet; but, then why ask him to prove he was the son of God, why did Satan think that was a possibility? That answer is in fact easy, the Christ was foretold of in the Old Testament, Satan knew he would come and would be on the lookout for him to see what he did.

See, think of the Bible in human terms, after all it was written for humans. Think of Satan in human terms, just another limited sentient being, nothing more and a little less (that is why someday it says that we command the angels, not less important as all sentient beings matter; but, not as capable. Not as capable of appropriately leading other sentient beings. I mean this is a simple one, if God believes that we humans should be in charge of and have authority than he must believe that we are capable of being better leaders of them then they of us, that then is the nature of the disagreement between God and the angels that were thrown down to earth. Does that mean that this life then is the chance to show which of us is best suited to lead the other? Maybe you have to earn that right, the right to command angels.

I am going to get off on a tangent for a moment. Why did some of the angels not rebel? Lets consider this situation. God creates angels, they are rather pure beings, pure emotional beings with some thinking ability and an understanding that we do not possess about the spiritual nature of all sentient beings and the spiritual nature of God. If we think about the story chronologically, Satan learns that people are to be made or God makes people and informs the angels that one day we humans will have authority over them. One third of the angels rebel against this.

Satan and one third of the angels rebel and Michael and the other two thirds of the angels fight and defeat Satan. Thanks guys. Satan is then no longer allowed in heaven. An interesting dilemma. Now this can become confusing for some who know their bible and it really shouldn't. It says that Satan stands before God day and night accusing us; but, it does not say that he does so in heaven. We stand before God day and night and are not in heaven, like Satan we are here in this reality.

The difference between the fallen angels or demons, including Satan, and us is that we don't understand what the fight is about. Now, we should assume for a moment that angels are like us, there are a variety of them with different levels of understanding and different interests. As all the angels did not follow Satan this is a fairly easy assumption to make.

Why did two thirds of the angels not rebel against God? That is the most interesting question. I guess it was okay with them that one day we would progress to the point where we would be better in charge of them than they of us. Isn't that interesting. Oh, some may have stayed just to make God happy by following him; but, he did create free will and I believe they have it also. Heck one third rebelled and that takes a volitional act.

Where were we? Hmmm. Oh yes, the angels that don't mind us being "over" them. I wonder why they don't, I mean we haven't proven ourselves to be very good leaders, just look at the nation. Then again, we are capable of compassion, we don't show it enough; but, we are capable of it. Nope, I think angels are capable of compassion, doesn't it say that they watch over us? Hmmm, here is a thought, we humans are capable of having soulmates, angels are never described as having partners in such an intimate manner. Bet you never considered that.

Do angels love each other, are they capable of loving each other as a man can love a woman? Is there enough variation between the two to have the complete love that a man and woman can have which allows them to be of one soul and flesh? I have never read that angels or demons have lovers that are partners, have you? Why not, having a partner can be a very fulfilling thing.

It is only physical creatures, sentient beings that have a physical body that we know have partners. The bible is vague on what happens to married couples after they die; but, it is quite clear on what happens on earth when two souls merge, they become one flesh. Hmmm, an understanding of other sentient beings that cannot exist in the purely spiritual realm.

Let us go down this road for a moment. We are in essence emotional and spiritual beings, that is to say that we are spiritual in the sense that we experience and understand and emotional in the sense that it is how we understand things, it is the impact that we live. We are capable of sharing this experience with the one we love the most who shares our flesh if we allow them to share our thoughts and feelings and soul, our differences. We can enjoy one another's variety and differences, we can enjoy being surprised. I do not know that angels can do that. It was never discussed in the bible.

I like women, I like how they are different then men and I don't just mean their bodies, I like how they are softer, I like how they smell differently, I like how they can look at us as if we actually mattered. I feel protective of women, I do not like the idea of men putting their hands on women. I never did such a thing, not even when my ex-wife was cheating on me. I am not good with men using their advantages to control women. Hey, maybe that is how the angels felt that stayed with God, they had an advantage and did not believe that using it was right. What if that was their reason, that would make them pretty honorable in my view.

How many people ever go to the trouble of thanking the angels for fighting for us as opposed to thinking that their whole role in life is to take care of us, protect us and give us cookies? I wonder what the life of an angel is like, have you ever wondered about that? Here are these sentient beings that get to know God and have to worry about us because we are still growing. We certainly cause more trouble than we should.

Anyways, I lost my train of thought. I do hope the post generates some thoughts with my pastor friend and that we can discuss them after he has read it. Be well all.