The Problem of Evil: The Role of the Devil
I had difficulty early on believing in angels and especially demons (or the devil). I liked to just believe that evil was acting bad. Even as my belief in God grew, the idea of angels and demons just didn’t seem to be required thinking.
I realized of course that God was spiritual, and I also believed that I (we) had a spiritual nature, so I eventually came to see that it wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that God could create spiritual beings. Then, as I began studying the bible, I saw way too many references to both. Angels didn’t bother me so much, but then it was logical that if I could believe in angels, there was no reason not to believe in demons, since they were just fallen angels.
Here are some biblical references just on Satan (skip ahead past the quote from Revelations of you don't want to read these):
Job 1:7
The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it."
1 Chronicles 21
Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. ... This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.
Wisdom 2:23-24
When God created us, he did not intend for us to die; he made us like himself. It was the Devil's jealousy that brought death into the world, and they follow him that are of his side.
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil….
At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, ngels came and ministered to him.
Matthew 12:25-26
But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand?
Mark 1:12-13
The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days.
Mark 1:34
He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Luke 10: 17-20
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Luke 22:31
John 8:39-40,44
If you were truly Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham; but now you seek to kill me who has told you the truth I have heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells lies, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Acts 5:3
Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…”
Romans 16:20
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."
1 Cor 7:5
“Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
1 Timothy 3:6
"Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil."
Hebrews 2:14
"Because God's children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death."
Revelations 2:9
“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.
My interest increased over time as I came to see there was a behind-the-scenes relationship between angels, fallen angels (demons), and humans. Of course, as we all know Satan was instrumental in the Fall of Man. I guess the big question for me was: how are these spiritual beings – angels or demons – able to affect me (humans)?
Mental Telepathy
I learned early on that angels/demons could not read our minds. Only God knows our minds. That was kind of a relief. However, they can communicate with us. If so, how?
It helped to think of how they communicate between themselves, first. They don’t have bodies and so they don’t communicate with mouths or spoken words like we do. This means they can communicate from mind to mind, a kind of mental telepathy. Let’s say I say, “Hey Taylor,” in my mind, then Taylor’s mind would hear me. She can’t read my mind but she can hear me when I send a message; and vice a versa. We could send messages to each other just like we were talking. Of course, we can’t; I was just pretending to show how angels communicate. We might think this is weird but then imagine how angels think of us – how darn slow and limited we are in communicating.
So, then, have you ever had a thought pop up in your mind – good or bad – that you weren’t particularly expecting – you weren’t even thinking about that topic? Well, angels and demons can send thoughts to us that way. The just show up in our minds. Now, it’s up to us what we do with them, so we never lose our free will; but it sure as heck complicates matters! Angels, likewise, can send us good thoughts, if we are inclined to receive and hold onto them. Wouldn’t it be great if we learned to hold onto these thoughts as well as we hold onto the bad thoughts that are sent to us.
Can we communicate to them?
Sure we can. Again, they can’t read our minds but if we talk to them – either out loud or in our minds – they will hear us. If you think it’s exciting to talk to Satan, then you can, but you are opening the door to him. Not a good idea. It’s one thing to be open to selfish or harmful thoughts demons may send to you. It is quite another thing to invite the demons in formally. Things can go south, slowly or quickly, depending on their agenda. We have exorcists for this.
Can we have a regular dialogue with them?
No, because we are low level spiritual beings. Remember, we are trying to develop our spirituality. In this sense, we are truly spiritual children. However, it is my understanding that we will be able to fully communicate like they do when we die; but our current physical, mortal condition is such that we can only communicate at this more rudimentary level in this lifetime.
Knowing Our Weaknesses
Now that we know how angels and demons can communicate with us, the next question in my mind was: How they do they know what to tempt us with? They can’t read our minds so how do they know our weaknesses?
That’s not so difficult to figure out. If someone secretly watched your every move and facial expression 24 hours a day, would they not eventually figure out all your secrets, strengths, and weakness? They would see what made you happy or sad, or angry, or depressed, or embarrassed; they would see what you craved and what you couldn’t stand … am I right? And it would be every bit as useful for them to know what you liked and made you happy because those are the things they need to entice you with when they want to temp you with something bad. Except whatever they entice you with will be lies. They are always lies eventually, because do you think the devil cares about your well-being for one second? His only goal is to entice and entrap. Think about Eve.
If anyone knew about the devil, it was Jesus; and Jesus did not mince words:
“He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells lies, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Is there any room for doubt?
There is another way Satan tempts us. What is it?
Through other people. Think about it: if someone we know suggests doing something we shouldn’t, then automatically we think… maybe it’s not so bad. Especially if you have friends/acquaintances who are not morally strong. Do you think Satan wouldn’t use them to get to you? In fact, for Satan, it’s a twofer!
How did Satan get to Adam? Through Eve!
Is there anything else we should know?
Yes, Satan usually begins by tempting us through our sensual appetites. Philosophically, sensual appetites refer to our lower, physical desires; our inclination towards gratification of the senses. They include food, drink, sex, lust, pleasures, induced exhilarations, addictions, etc. The sensual appetites are contrasted with our higher cognitive (or intellectual) appetites, which would include reason but also power, fame, glory, and pride.
Why would Satan start with our sensual appetites?
Because our sensual appetites don’t feel like they have to answer to our intellect. How many times have you known something is right or wrong, but did it anyway? Once our sensual appetites to get the upper hand, they could care less what our intellect says. Satan figures he can win a lot easier and more often on the sensual plane; then he will get closer to your cognitive.
But make no mistake, Satan’s goal is to win over your intellect because your intellect is your higher self; it is YOU. When you give in intellectually to Satan, you are literally selling your soul to the devil.
Do we have a model for Satan’s tactics?
What a great question! It just so happens we do – our first parents. Think about it:
Apple – The tree/apple is our sensual appetites: She saw it was good to eat and delightful to behold. (Gen 6:3).
Eve – Satan worked through Eve to get to Adam. Eve may have been easier because it was Adam who directly received the instructions to avoid the tree, not Eve. When Eve ate first, Adam wasn’t alone in this decision; he had confirmation, affirmation, and those always make us weaker, not stronger.
Intellect/Pride – What does Satan tell them they will receive? 1) Knowledge and 2) they will be like God. Wow, their own private divinity!
Man has been seeking enough knowledge to bring him his own private divinity since the very beginning! Has anything changed all these millennia later? Not in the least.
Lies – And what did Satan actually give Adam and Eve? Lies. Pure lies. And ever since he has had one claw in our sides.
Conclusion
And so there you have it, Satan’s role in evil. He is not evil himself, but he is the master of “no love/all self/no God.”
And just like God wants to populate/share heaven with as many human beings as possible, Satan likewise wants to share his eternity with as many as human beings as possible.
Maranatha!
Ron
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