What is meant by the term Satan

[heb13-13]

David did it ever occur to you that just as there is a King (Ruler) over the Kingdom of God, there is also a King over the Kingdom of Darkness, too?
The Kingdom of Darkness is not without a ruler. Satan is referred to as a spiritual personality many times in the NT. Just food for thought.

Rick

[David M]

Originally Posted by heb13-13 View Post
Yes, I do think you are right. The franchises are being sold by McSatan masquerading as God. Yet it is a corrupt modeling of God, hence he is McDeity since no one will knowingly buy a franchise from McSatan.

David did it ever occur to you that just as there is a King (Ruler) over the Kingdom of God, there is also a King over the Kingdom of Darkness, too.
The Kingdom of Darkness is not without a ruler. Everytime Jesus referred to Satan., He referred to him as a person (many, many times). Just food for thought, David.

All the best to you,
Rick
Hello Rick

Hello Rick

You say "many, many times" but this turns out to be only 7 times when Jesus says the word Satan. I have listed the occurrences (8 in total) excluding duplicate accounts found in the four Gospels.


The following is more for the benefit of guests coming to this thread by way of going against your claim. In fact I am going to be Satan arguing against your claim.



In all cases Satan represents and an adversary of some kind. Satan does not stand for some literal spirit person in the form of a 'King of Darkness' or a fallen Angel of God going about tempting people to sin and to obey him.
Satan represents all opposing influences, adversaries and adverse situations. It is easier to introduce personification to describe complex and multitudinous sets of circumstances that portry adversity.
As we know, personification is giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas). Spotting where personification is applied dismisses any notion of an actual living personal being in opposition to God and drawing people away from God.
I suggest to anyone interested to read ‘The Real Devil’ (http://realdevil.info/) to get a proper understanding of the what the devil and Satan is.

Now for a short explanation to go with each of the occurrences listed.


Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

In the episode of Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. Personification of Satan is apparent; addressing the contrary thoughts of Jesus to some personal representative. Satan is no more than the contrary thoughts in opposition to God’s will going on in the mind of Jesus. Jesus is talking to himself to rid himself of such contrary thoughts; by recalling what he had read in the Scriptures is the way of answering contrary thoughts. Using the power of God for Jesus’s own benefit would have not been doing the will of God. This was the personal struggle going on inside Jesus once he knew he had God’s power available to him.


Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

It is misapplying the text to read of kingdoms and Satan to mean that Satan is some King of Darkness or fallen Angel that has his own kingdom. How can Satan cast himself out of his own kingdom? Satan is a personification and yet if Satan was some sort of king, it does not make sense for a king to cast himself out. Jesus is using hypothetical situations to make a point. In as much as Jesus would not cast out devils(demons) in the name of Beelzebub, neither is Jesus suggesting that Satan is some living personal being. I would gladly use the term Satan if it were not going going to be interpreted in any other way that representing everything and every circumstance that was a form of opposition. It is just easier to personify what is a complex subject.


Matthew 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Peter is clearly named Satan. Satan is not some king of darkness or a fallen Angel going about tempting people. This verse gives no indication whatsoever. Does this mean wherever we read Satan we should substitute the name Peter? If you say 'no' why then go and make the same mistake by assuming Satan is a living creature; some King of Darkness like figure.


Mark 4: 14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

People lose interest, this is a fact. People are drawn away by all sorts of things and influences from other people. These influences are acting in the opposing direction. Satan represents all the opposing influences.

Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

This is the most obscure of the occurrences listed and the one often misinterpreted to fit in with the notion that a fallen Angel was cast out of Heaven. We have to recognize that Jesus is using figurative language. Consider what Jesus said about Capernaum a few verses earlier; 15 And thou,Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. Did this city go literally go down to hell? What is meant by the phrase 'exalted to heaven'? The word Satan must be seen in the context of the type of literary language used.
The word heaven means sky or firmament which is above us, and not the Heaven which is the dwelling place of God. All Jesus is doing is comparing the circumstances represented by Satan to that of lightning. What is it about lightning that Jesus is likening to Satan? We observe that lightning comes from the clouds and it appears to strike the earth. This is the same as lightning coming from heaven. One thing about lightening is that we do not know when and where it is going to strike; it comes rapidly and without warning. Lightning we should not forget, when it strikes a person is a killer. Just as we can be unaware and struck by lightning, so we can become victim to the temptations around us or be challenged by our adversaries or enemies as Peter was (see below). Sin is the killer, sin is going against the command of God. Going against God is being a Satan and so in the act of sinning we are acting as a Satan.


Luke 13: 15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

We have to ask the question how has Satan bound this woman and why? The woman’s affliction is preventing her from leading a normal active life. 'Satan hath bound' is a simple use of personification where a three-word statement easily explains a complex medical condition of which the people of that day did not have the medical knowledge to enable them to understand.


Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

This has to be read in the context of the whole of Jesus’ dialogue. He mentions his own temptations as a matter of fact and not referring to these times as times of testing by Satan. Did Satan literally sift Simon? Jesus is using a metaphor to describe the action of Satan which is a metaphor and personification for all that was going to happen to Simon (Peter). Only when we read of what happens so Simon (Peter) when he denies Jesus three times before the cock crowed twice, do we see the explanation of this verse. If Satan is free spirit person free to roam the earth and go wherever he wants, why is it Jesus knows that Satan will act on Simon Peter? Jesus knew the circumstances that would make Peter deny him. It was inevitable that when Peter was placed in the circumstances he was, he would deny Jesus. It was Peter’s opposition (denial) to his accusers that is represented as Satan . It was Peter’s own thoughts of self-preservation that made him deny Jesus. It was the thoughts that went through Peter’s mind that were the temptations he yielded to and this has to be taken in the context of the temptations that Jesus talks about of a few verses earlier. Now it would be Peter’s time of testing, and in this case Peter gave in to the thoughts of self-preservation which was in opposition to the example of Jesus who would lay down his life for his friends.

John 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

How does Satan enter into Judas? What does "enter" actually mean in this case? If Satan is an external being does he physically go inside the person? If Satan does not enter inside physically, is Satan able to influence the mind of a person from without? If yes, then than means you and I can be Satan. We can say things to influence other people to act in a way that is contrary to God. We have done the work of Satan and we are therefore Satans.

The conclusion from all of these references is that they do not all lead us to assume Satan is an individual personal spiritual being (a fallen angel or the like) that is roaming the earth to entice us to sin against God. The conclusion from practically all of the verses is that Satan is a personification to represent adverse situations. Satan can be a real human being acting as an adversary to what we want to do or what God wants us to do. Satan can represent the adverse thoughts that take place in our mind which we have to try and overcome. Satan can be attributed to any situation whereby a person is held back by an infirmity from living a normal active life.

I would include the expression Satan in my everyday language so long as it is understood that I am using personification. I could accept the use of the term Satan by someone else if I thought they were using the term Satan in a personified way. However, most of the time, Satan is used by those who believe that Satan is a real figure, a spirit being, a fallen Angel or whatever, and that is why I do not use the term. To use the term Satan, I fear I would be misunderstood and taken to be supporting the notion of Satan being a real spirit person. Actually, its a shame I cannot use the term Satan as part of my everyday language to simplify explanations to adverse situations.


All the best to you too Rick,

David