Is Satan in the Old Testament?

Is Satan in the Old Testament? When did “the Adversary” first appear? The existence of Satan is one of the central doctrines of Christianity. He is evil incarnate, an immortal being that exists solely to corrupt and tempt human beings into committing offenses against God. He was in the Garden of Eden and was responsible for theoriginal fall of man. He was originally an angel, Lucifer, but rebelled against God and continues to rebel to this day. Thisis the Satan that most people picture when they hear about the Devil. Christians, of course, assume that Satan, as the ultimate adversary, is present throughout the entire Bible. He certainly appears or is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament. What aboutthe Old Testament, though? Does Satan appear there as well? MostChristians, and frankly most people, would assume that Satan is just as present in the Old Testament as he is in the New Testament. After all, Satan was that cunning snake in the apple tree in Eden, right? Wrong. Satan as an individual does not actually appearuntil the New Testament. In Genesis, the serpent is actually nothing but a particularly clever snake. It is not introduced as any sort of immortal being but as “the most clever of all the beasts of the field.” The infamous serpent was really just a snake. Ifa Christian were to read through the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, they would likely think that Satan appears repeatedly. The word “satan” certainly shows up repeatedly. Unfortunately for those who are convinced that Satan, as he is commonly conceivedof today, was present in the Old Testament, the word “satan” is never actually used as a name. Whenever “satan” is used in the Old Testament, it is preceded by the ancient Hebrew article ha. Thetwo words are connected to read ha-satan. Inancient Hebrew, the word “satan” is derived from the verb meaning “to obstruct” or “to oppose.” When used as a noun, it means “adversary” or “accuser.” The first definition is certainly one that would fit well with the image most people have of Satan today.He is the adversary of God and all that is good. He challenges Christ and tempts righteous people into sin. “Accuser” does not fit the vision of evil incarnate quite as well, but the combination of the two translations does a better job of defining who orwhat ha-satan wasto the authors of the Old Testament. Inthe Old Testament being “the accuser” is, essentially, a job. The phrase is only used nine times, and in five of those uses, ha-satan isused to describe not an immortal demon but a human being who happens to be a military, political or legal enemy of Israel. The only time that satan appearswithout ha in front of it is in 1 Chronicles 21. In this instance, however, there is no real sign that the Christian Satan is the one being described. This satan “rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel” despite the fact that David’scommand was “evil in the sight of God.” Theclosest the Old Testament comes to having ha-satan actas the Christian Devil is in the Book of Job. In this story, Job is a righteous and successful man. God is proud of his faith, but one of the heavenly beings in God’s court claims that Job would not be nearly as faithful if he were not successful and happy.God calls the being’s bluff and allows the being to test and torment Job to see if he will give up his faith. Job passes the tests. Thebeing that questions God in Job is identified as ha-satan.Most Christians read this as the Devil directly challenging God and torturing the righteous for his own twisted pleasure. In Job, however, ha-satan neveracts without God’s permission. After every torment, he reports back to God with news of Job’s stubborn faith and asks God to let him escalate Job’s troubles further. Ha-satan appearsagain as a divine being in Zechariah 3. During the prophet’s vision, Joshua the high priest is seen standing in a heavenly council or court similar to the one found in Job. Standing within the council is, once again, ha-satan whosejob appears to be rather like that of a prosecutor or devil’s advocate. His job is to accuse the high priest and challenge him to see if he is worthy. Oneof the only other times that ha-satan isused to refer to a divine enemy is in the Book of Numbers. When Balaam goes to curse the Israelites, he is stopped by ha-satan.This adversary keeps him from reaching his goal and, in reality, saves the Israelites. This is a far cry from what the Devil as Christians conceive of him would do. Interestingly enough, in Numbers 22 ha-satan isnot usually translated as Satan but as “an angel of the Lord.” Thoughthe ideas of sin and temptation appear repeatedly throughout the Old Testament, there is no single ruler of darkness in the Old Testament. Justas with visions of hell, theOld Testament and the New Testament present very different pictures of “the accuser.” The two depictions of Satan are not completely at odds, but they do present some very interesting contrasts for Christians to consider and raise a number of questions. Thereare, however, worse things in life. If the seemingly contradictory portrayals push Christians to dig a little deeper into their Bibles, well, there are certainly worse ways to be tested by “the accuser” than being encouraged to spend a little more time withthe book that should already be governing a Christian’s life. Satan:Please allow him to introduce himself Satan, Lucifer, Pazuzu, Lamashtu, Khatyu, Sheseru, Sasam, Lilith, Asmodeusl, Beelzebub � or is that Beelzebul? The names given to demons and devils by Christian and other believers over the millennia are legion. It�s surprising to realize, though, that the king of them all in Christian thought, Satan, appears nowhere in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. It�s not until the Book of Job that he appears at all, and then only as a heavenly official with the title of Satan, meaning �Prosecutor.� According to Job, the Prosecutor roams �to and fro on the earth� and takes his place among the other �sons of God� (bene elohim); his job is to report on earthly doings to the heavenly court (Job 1:6�7). Hardly a Devil disguised as a snake, as so manypeople envision him. This detail is pointed out by Professor Mary Joan Winn Leith in �From Seraph to Satan.� And even scholars who agree on Satan�s identity disagree on his name: Professor William H.C. Propp, in a different analysis, makes note of this official as described inJob, but he refers to him as �The Adversary,� and states that The Adversary is someone who volunteers to torture Job to test his piety. Writes Professor Propp, Unlike later conceptions of Satan, this character is not inherently evil; he just enjoys his work. So who is Satan, and why is he a pillar of Christian thinking, if he�s not even featured in the Bible? If Satan as we understand him today doesn�t appear in the Bible, how did he become such a central figure in Christianity? Certainly, as Prof. Propp points out, demonism is a comfortable way to explain why bad things happen to people both good and bad. But the Jews rarely bothered with this philosophy, relying largely on their concept of a covenant with God to explain and control fortune. And, as already noted, Satan himself was actually a New Testament �heavenly official� who just �loved his work� torturingthe innocent. Still, anyone who has ever recited the Apostle�s Creed, including the line �He descended into Hell,� must wonder where to find the Satan who Jesus is thought to have successfully battled when he arrived in Hell, just before ascending to Heaven on the thirdday after the Crucifixion. As it turns out, we must turn to later writers and theologians to find that Satan. Professor Heidi J. Hornik and Professor Mikeal C. Parsons explain that it was post-Biblical writers who created the apocryphal tale of Jesus descending into Hell, startingwith an early church father, Ignatius (c. 50�107 C.E.), who describes the Old Testament prophets as disciples of Jesus, who came to them�apparently in Hell�and raised them from the dead. Later tellings of these events come from the Odes of Solomon, an early collection of Christian hymns dating to about 100 C.E.; to Bishop Melito of Sardis (died c. 190 C.E.); and even the early Easter Liturgy, which combined reflections on 1 Peter with certainevocative passages from Psalms, taken out of context. The tale was further enhanced and embroidered throughout the millennia, a path carefully traced by Professors Hornik and Parsons. Andabout those other demons and devils � Other scholars have tackled the subject of demonism and other evil beings who do appear in the Bible. For example, in �Who the Devil is Beelzebul?� Bradley L. Stein traces the evolution of Beelzebub (now made famous among even the youngest of non-believersthanks to the legendary song Bohemian Rhapsody by the rock band Queen). Although this character, a �king of demons,� is often popularly equated with Satan, even he is mentioned only in passing in three of the Gospels. Rather, Stein starts with textual mentions of the Canaanite fertility god Baal and explains the various transmutationsof the name�thought perhaps to be an intentional debasement of a foreign god, such as the mention of Baalzebub in 2 Kings 1�to eventually become the Beelzebub we know today. As puzzling as it may be, it�s clear that the study of demons, devils, and Satan himself is equally fascinating. The Biblical Archaeology Society�s renowned library contains many intriguing articles to help scholars undertake this study themselves. In fact, the editors of the Biblical Archaeology Society have painstakingly curated a brand new Special Collection, Satan, to help you delve into the topic. It includes all of the scholarly points noted above, and all of these articles are from Bible Review: • FromSeraph to Satan: Shape-shifting in the Garden of Eden By Mary Joan Winn Leith • FallenStar: The Evolution of Lucifer By Ronald F. Youngblood • Whothe Devil is Beelzebul? By Bradley L. Stein • ExorcisingDemons By William H.C. Propp • TheHarrowing of Hell By Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons As fascinating as these articles are, the Biblical Archaeology Society�s extraordinary, 45-year-old Library is about so much more. Indeed, Satan is just one of 52 Special Collections designed to allow deeper study into specific topics and includesjust a fraction of the incredible insights to be found in the BAS Library using your All-Access pass. VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM