Sharia Law and Jihad
Jihad is often portrayed in the West as a “struggle” (the literal meaning of the Arabic root jhd) against one’s evil intentions and Satan and it is true that “jihad bil nafs/qalb” (“jihad of the soul/heart”) is a form of jihad, but it is but one of four types.
The other three are:
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Jihad by the tongue/pen (jihad bil lisan/qallam) which is concerned with spreading the word of Islam with one’s tongue or writing and the verbal (or written) defence of Islam.
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Jihad by the hand (jihad bil yad) which refers to choosing to do what is right and to combat injustice and what is wrong in Islamic terms with action, e.g. protest, demanding “special consideration” etc.
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Jihad by the sword (jihad bis saif) refers to qital fi sabili Allahi ([armed] fighting/killing in the way of Allah, or ‘holy war’), this is the most common usage by Salafi and Wahhabi Muslims and the most ancient. For example, Sahih Bukhari (the pre-eminent Hadith collection of Sunni Islam) has almost 200 references to jihad and 98% (~196) of them refer to Jihad in the sense of armed warfare against non-Muslims.
(I should note that some scholars regard sword-jihad as being part of hand-jihad whereas others differentiate the two and yet others define jihad by it’s targets rather than its methodology. It is also worth pointing out that three of these four forms are directed – in part or total – at the non-Muslim.)
The four schools of Sunni jurisprudence are pretty clear about both the target and methodology of Jihad:
Shafi’i school: The well known Shafi’i manual of Islamic law, the Umdat al-Salik, was certified in 1991 by Al-Azhar University, Cairo (one of the leading Sunni seats of religious learning in the Islamic world), as a reliable guide to orthodox Sunni doctrine. It stipulates about jihad that “the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians…until they become Muslim or pay the non-Muslim poll tax.” It adds a comment by Sheikh Nuh ‘Ali Salman, a Jordanian expert on Islamic jurisprudence: the caliph wages this war only “provided that he has first invited them [Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians] to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya)…while remaining in their ancestral religions.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o9.8). Comment: war – i.e. sword-Jihad will only cease when the non-Muslims are either Muslim, Dhimmi or dead.
Hanafi school: A Hanafi manual of Islamic law, Al-Hidayah, repeats the same injunctions. It insists that people must be called to embrace Islam before being fought, “because the Prophet so instructed his commanders, directing them to call the infidels to the faith.” It emphasizes that jihad must not be waged for economic gain, but solely for religious reasons: from the call to Islam “the people will hence perceive that they are attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this consideration it is possible that they may be induced to agree to the call, in order to save themselves from the troubles of war.” However, “if the infidels, upon receiving the call, neither consent to it nor agree to pay capitation tax [jizya], it is then incumbent on the Muslims to call upon Allah for assistance, and to make war upon them, because God is the assistant of those who serve Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet, moreover, commands us so to do.” (Al-Hidayah, II.140) Comment: In this we see “infidels” – non-Muslims declared to be the “enemies of Allah” against whom war is commanded. Further note that it is Allah who is the “destroyer of his enemies”, thus Muslims are absolved from any moral responsibility for any action – it is ‘really’ Allah who is killing the non-Muslims.)
Maliki school: Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), a pioneering historian and philosopher, was also a Maliki legal theorist. In his renowned Muqaddimah, the first work of historical theory, he notes that “in the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force.” In Islam, the person in charge of religious affairs is concerned with “power politics,” because Islam is “under obligation to gain power over other nations.” Comment: the “holy war” is sword Jihad and can be used to forcefully convert non-Muslims to Islam. So much for “there is no compulsion in religion” as meaning “no forced conversions”. Most Koran commentators understand this verse fragment to mean that you cannot force someone to be a “true-believer”, not that you cannot force religious practice upon them.
Hanbali school: The great medieval theorist of what is commonly known today as radical or fundamentalist Islam, Ibn Taymiyya (Taqi al-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya, 1263-1328), was a Hanbali jurist. He directed that “since lawful warfare is essentially jihad and since its aim is that the religion is God’s entirely and God’s word is uppermost, therefore according to all Muslims, those who stand in the way of this aim must be fought.” Comment: Implicit is that anyone who opposes the “true faith” must be fought Hanbali Jurisprudence also permits warfare against those who are “the wrong sort of Muslim” or “no Muslim enough”; though this is a minority opinion.
Thus we see that all four schools talk about jihad as sword-jihad – fighting and killing non-Muslims.
There is no Caliph today, ISIL’s ‘Caliphate’ having been largely crushed, and hence the oft-repeated claim that Islamic “extremists” are waging (sword) jihad illegitimately, as no state authority has authorised their jihad. But the “extremists” justify their actions in terms of defensive jihad, which needs no state authorisation, and becomes “obligatory for everyone” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o9.3) if a Muslim land is attacked (Note that a Muslim “land” is not necessarily a Country. It can also be defined as any area in which Muslims predominate and rule themselves under Sharia law. Thus a Muslim enclave in a non-Muslim Country which operated under Sharia Law – even unofficially – could be deemed “Muslim land” ). The end of the defensive jihad, however, is not peaceful coexistence with non-Muslims as equals. On the contrary, the defensive jihad must continue until the “oppressed” Muslims are freed from their “oppressors” (Again note that in Islamic thought anything preventing the leading of a fully Sharia-compliant life is “oppressive”). I will allow the reader to ponder the consequences of that for our (hypothetical) enclave in a non-Muslim Country.
This also leads to the implication that one reason for the desire amongst many Muslims for the re-establishment of a Caliphate is that it would then be able to “legitimately” declare sword-jihad against non-Muslim Countries without any “quibble room”.
In an echo of what Ibn Ishaq (died 768 AD) wrote much earlier, the great medieval scholar Ibn Qayyim (1292-1350) neatly outlines the stages of the Muhammad’s prophetic career thus:
“For thirteen years after the beginning of his Messengership, he called people to God through preaching, without fighting or Jizyah, and was commanded to restrain himself and to practice patience and forbearance. Then he was commanded to migrate, and later permission was given to fight. Then he was commanded to fight those who fought him, and to restrain himself from those who did not make war with him. Later he was commanded to fight the polytheists until God’s religion was fully established.”
Thus the final position “for all time”, according to Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Qayyim, is that Mohammed could fight “polytheists” (originally polytheistic Arabs, but later expanded to mean simply “non-Muslims”) even if they were not attacking him or “Islam”, but simply because they were non-Muslims. And history amply demonstrates that just this happened in the first few centuries of Islamic expansion.
This position, that of using sword-jihad to subjugate non-Muslims, is upheld by modern-day scholars of Islam.
Majid Khadduri was an Iraqi scholar of Islamic law of international renown. In his book War and Peace in the Law of Islam, which was published in 1955 and remains one of the most lucid and illuminating works on the subject, Khadduri says this about jihad:
“The state which is regarded as the instrument for universalizing a certain religion must perforce be an ever expanding state. The Islamic state, whose principal function was to put God’s law into practice, sought to establish Islam as the dominant reigning ideology over the entire world….The jihad was therefore employed as an instrument for both the universalisation of religion and the establishment of an imperial world state.” (P. 51)
Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Shari’ah and Law of the International Islamic University in Islamabad. In his 1994 book The Methodology of Ijtihad, he quotes the twelfth century Maliki jurist Ibn Rushd:
“Muslim jurists agreed that the purpose of fighting with the People of the Book…is one of two things: it is either their conversion to Islam or the payment of jizyah…This leaves no doubt that the primary goal of the Muslim community, in the eyes of its jurists, is to spread the word of Allah through Jihad, and the option of poll-tax [jizya] is to be exercised only after subjugation [of non-Muslims].”
According to a 20th century Chief Justice of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Humaid,
“At first ‘the fighting‘ [i.e. sword-jihad] was forbidden, then it was permitted and after that it was made obligatory.” He also distinguishes two groups Muslims must fight: “(1) against them who start ‘the fighting’ against you (Muslims) . . . (2) and against all those who worship others along with Allah . . . as mentioned in Surat Al-Baqarah (Sura 2), Al-Imran (Sura 3) and At-Taubah (Sura 9) . . . and other Surahs (Chapters of the Qur’an).”
Thus we can see that from the first and right up to today, Jihad has primarily meant jihad against the non-Muslim and that frequently in terms of sword-jihad, not a “struggle” against one’s “inner demons”.
before the Giving of the Torah, the souls of the nations and of Israel were all at one level, for good and evil and the filth of the snake were all combined. When Israel received the Torah and were chosen to be a special nation, the filth ceased to exist in them and consequently, the roots of their souls were separated [from those of the Gentiles]…And all the good was rooted and set aside for the souls of Israel, and all the evil found root in the souls of the other nations, for they all are part of the evil and Satan’s camp…”
Gentile souls are even lower than animal souls according to the following rabbinical scriptural statements. Also, according to the Jews all evil resides only in the Gentiles. That is why they treat Gentiles all like demons who are to be simply exterminated like vermin.
Rabbi Abraham Issac HaCohen Kook
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NON JEWS ARE LOWER THAN ANIMALS
Gentile souls are even lower than animal souls according to the following rabbinical scriptural statements. Also, according to the Jews all evil resides only in the Gentiles. That is why they treat Gentiles all like demons who are to be simply exterminated like vermin.
Rabbi Abraham Issac HaCohen Kook
In the book “Orot,” Orot Yisrael chapter 5, article 10 (page 156), Rabbi Kook wrote:
“The difference between the Jewish soul, in all its independence, inner desires, longings, character and standing, and the soul of all the Gentiles, on all of their levels, is greater and deeper than the difference between the soul of a man and the soul of an animal, for the difference in the latter case is one of quantity, while the difference in the first case is one of essential quality.”
Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin
In the book “Poked Akarim” page 19, column 3, he wrote:
“Concerning what is explained in Yevamot, ‘You are called men,’ and not the other nations, [the meaning is] that the Gentiles were deprived of the title ‘men’ only where Israel were called ‘men,’ because in comparison to Israel, who are the primary form of man in the Divine Chariot, it is irrelevant to call any of the Gentiles ‘men’; at most, they are like animals in the form of men. Taken as themselves, however, all the children of Noah are considered men…and when the Messiah comes…they too will recognize and admit that there are none called ‘man’ except Israel…anyway, in comparison to Israel even now they are in the category of animals…”
In “Pri Tzadik” part 1, page 30, column 3, he wrote:
“…before the Giving of the Torah, the souls of the nations and of Israel were all at one level, for good and evil and the filth of the snake were all combined. When Israel received the Torah and were chosen to be a special nation, the filth ceased to exist in them and consequently, the roots of their souls were separated [from those of the Gentiles]…And all the good was rooted and set aside for the souls of Israel, and all the evil found root in the souls of the other nations, for they all are part of the evil and Satan’s camp…”
Gentile souls are even lower than animal souls according to the following rabbinical scriptural statements. Also, according to the Jews all evil resides only in the Gentiles. That is why they treat Gentiles all like demons who are to be simply exterminated like vermin.
Rabbi Abraham Issac HaCohen Kook
In the book “Orot,” Orot Yisrael chapter 5, article 10 (page 156), Rabbi Kook wrote:
“The difference between the Jewish soul, in all its independence, inner desires, longings, character and standing, and the soul of all the Gentiles, on all of their levels, is greater and deeper than the difference between the soul of a man and the soul of an animal, for the difference in the latter case is one of quantity, while the difference in the first case is one of essential quality.”
Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin
In the book “Poked Akarim” page 19, column 3, he wrote:
“Concerning what is explained in Yevamot, ‘You are called men,’ and not the other nations, [the meaning is] that the Gentiles were deprived of the title ‘men’ only where Israel were called ‘men,’ because in comparison to Israel, who are the primary form of man in the Divine Chariot, it is irrelevant to call any of the Gentiles ‘men’; at most, they are like animals in the form of men. Taken as themselves, however, all the children of Noah are considered men…and when the Messiah comes…they too will recognize and admit that there are none called ‘man’ except Israel…anyway, in comparison to Israel even now they are in the category of animals…”
In “Pri Tzadik” part 1, page 30, column 3, he wrote:
“…before the Giving of the Torah, the souls of the nations and of Israel were all at one level, for good and evil and the filth of the snake were all combined. When Israel received the Torah and were chosen to be a special nation, the filth ceased to exist in them and consequently, the roots of their souls were separated [from those of the Gentiles]…And all the good was rooted and set aside for the souls of Israel, and all the evil found root in the souls of the other nations, for they all are part of the evil and Satan’s camp…”
Gentile souls are even lower than animal souls according to the following rabbinical scriptural statements. Also, according to the Jews all evil resides only in the Gentiles. That is why they treat Gentiles all like demons who are to be simply exterminated like vermin.
Rabbi Abraham Issac HaCohen Kook
In the book “Orot,” Orot Yisrael chapter 5, article 10 (page 156), Rabbi Kook wrote:
“The difference between the Jewish soul, in all its independence, inner desires, longings, character and standing, and the soul of all the Gentiles, on all of their levels, is greater and deeper than the difference between the soul of a man and the soul of an animal, for the difference in the latter case is one of quantity, while the difference in the first case is one of essential quality.”
Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin
In the book “Poked Akarim” page 19, column 3, he wrote:
“Concerning what is explained in Yevamot, ‘You are called men,’ and not the other nations, [the meaning is] that the Gentiles were deprived of the title ‘men’ only where Israel were called ‘men,’ because in comparison to Israel, who are the primary form of man in the Divine Chariot, it is irrelevant to call any of the Gentiles ‘men’; at most, they are like animals in the form of men. Taken as themselves, however, all the children of Noah are considered men…and when the Messiah comes…they too will recognize and admit that there are none called ‘man’ except Israel…anyway, in comparison to Israel even now they are in the category of animals…”
In “Pri Tzadik” part 1, page 30, column 3, he wrote:
“…before the Giving of the Torah, the souls of the nations and of Israel were all at one level, for good and evil and the filth of the snake were all combined. When Israel received the Torah and were chosen to be a special nation, the filth ceased to exist in them and consequently, the roots of their souls were separated [from those of the Gentiles]…And all the good was rooted and set aside for the souls of Israel, and all the evil found root in the souls of the other nations, for they all are part of the evil and Satan’s camp…”]
Gentile souls are even lower than animal souls according to the following rabbinical scriptural statements. Also, according to the Jews all evil resides only in the Gentiles. That is why they treat Gentiles all like demons who are to be simply exterminated like vermin.
Rabbi Abraham Issac HaCohen Kook
In the book “Orot,” Orot Yisrael chapter 5, article 10 (page 156), Rabbi Kook wrote:
“The difference between the Jewish soul, in all its independence, inner desires, longings, character and standing, and the soul of all the Gentiles, on all of their levels, is greater and deeper than the difference between the soul of a man and the soul of an animal, for the difference in the latter case is one of quantity, while the difference in the first case is one of essential quality.”
Rabbi Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin
In the book “Poked Akarim” page 19, column 3, he wrote:
“Concerning what is explained in Yevamot, ‘You are called men,’ and not the other nations, [the meaning is] that the Gentiles were deprived of the title ‘men’ only where Israel were called ‘men,’ because in comparison to Israel, who are the primary form of man in the Divine Chariot, it is irrelevant to call any of the Gentiles ‘men’; at most, they are like animals in the form of men. Taken as themselves, however, all the children of Noah are considered men…and when the Messiah comes…they too will recognize and admit that there are none called ‘man’ except Israel…anyway, in comparison to Israel even now they are in the category of animals…”
In “Pri Tzadik” part 1, page 30, column 3, he wrote:
“…before the Giving of the Torah, the souls of the nations and of Israel were all at one level, for good and evil and the filth of the snake were all combined. When Israel received the Torah and were chosen to be a special nation, the filth ceased to exist in them and consequently, the roots of their souls were separated [from those of the Gentiles]…And all the good was rooted and set aside for the souls of Israel, and all the evil found root in the souls of the other nations, for they all are part of the evil and Satan’s camp…”
ISLAM WAS CREATED BY ARABIAN JEWS
As for the “Jihad of the pen” and the “Jihad of the hand ” this is part of what is known as the Stealth jihad otherwise called the Muslim method of Islamic Gradualism to enact Sharia law in America. In contrast to the way of the violent jihad or also called the militant jihad .This non-violent form of the jihad for Islam is a very sly, insidious, subtle and deceptive way of working for the advancement of Islam.
This Muslim scheme for achieving the goal of the Islamic agenda is as, many times, as subtly effective as it is demonically clever. Furthermore, this Islamic gradualism, in some ways, is very similar to the instruction printed in the book entitled THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu. Which reads “At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to opposes you”
Furthermore, those scheming jihadist /Muslims who engage in “the jihad of the pen and the jihad hand” to attempt to have Sharia law set up in the Western nations engage in the doctrines of the Islamic doctrine of Taqiyya which is very insidious. Taqyyia is the jihad dogma that deception is a good thing to do as long as it’s done for the advancement of Islam. Nevertheless, the God of the Bible “condemns those who devise wicked schemes…” Proverbs 12:11. [N.I.V.] Likewise, Proverbs 12:20 teaches “Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil.”
As for the jihad of the pen and the jihad of the hand that type of jihad is also called the stealth jihad. Muslims who have the Islamic agenda of establishing Sharia law in the United States of America engage in the stealth jihad using the pen and the hand to achieve this goal.
Therefore the message needs to be made known to all the Muslims who live in the United States of America who dislike and maybe even despise the US Constitution and would like to replace it with Sharia law. Those same Muslims instead in trying to force Sharia law on American citizens and their nation those are free to leave and really should leave the USA and then go to live in either Shii ‘ite, Iran or Sunni , Saudi Arabia if they actually feel the Sharia law is the grand, great and wonderful .
Moreover, all this is a strong reminder of the wise words declared by Theodore Roosevelt in a speech. “There can be no fifty –fifty Americanism in this country. There is room here for only one hundred percent Americanism , only for those who are Americans and nothing else.”
As for the type of jihad the is “The Jihad of Sword.” This may be seen in those cruel ,vicious and murderous jihadists thugs who compose ISIS are so very brutal and deadly that they even want to murder people. Those malicious jihadists of that jihad entity, ISIS, are actually putting in to the practice ,with all their ruthless actions, the violence and killing that is part of the teaching of the “holy book” of Islam ,the Koran. Which contain the doctrine of extreme violent force for the advancement of Islam. As seen in the Koran, for example, 2:191,4:89. 5:33. 9:5,111,123. 47:4. So in spite of the strong denials by many, ISIS is an actual Islamic organization. Likewise the malicious, bloodthirsty violence jihadists who make up ISIS are real Muslims. Nevertheless, there are some who might , understandably, wonder and then ask “Just how can those jihadists of ISIS ,being so very religious , also at the time also be so very malice-filled ,unfeeling and deadly ? “ The answer to that question is found in the Bible. For the Bible teaches that there are some people who are extremely heartless, cold, callous and dangerous because they have had “their conscience seared with a hot iron.” First Timothy 4:2. [ K.J.V.] In this case of the members of ISIS this “hot iron” is Islam.
In addition on the subject of the “Jihad of the Sword.” This has also been termed “Radical Islamic Terrorism” , which is very much based on religion. The religion of Islam For Islam’s “holy book” the Qur ‘an [the Koran] instructs on the use of violence and killing for the advancement of Islam. As found in ,for example 2:191. 4:89. 5:33. 9:5,111,123. 47:4. Furthermore, it may be illustrated that if Islam is represented as a tree then the fruits then the fruits of that tree are the many brutal, violent and deadly jihad terror entities. Such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, al Shabaab , Hamas, Hezbollah, P.I.J. etc. With this statement, the Wisdom of the teachings of Jesus may, very much, apply to this subject. For Jesus taught “Ye do know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” After saying this Jesus told them what He told them when He said “By their fruit ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16, 17, 18,.20. [K.J.V.] In conclusion, Islam is a corrupt tree and also a false religion, Proverbs 14:12. John 14:6. First John 2:22,23. 4:14,15. 5:12,13,20.
HARRY POTTER EAT YOUR HEART OUT!
SATAN: GOD’S ANGEL
Organized religion was set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit.
-Thomas Paine
There are some critical flaws to the Christian logic of Satan’s reputation as God’s enemy.
The most serious flaw is in the chronology. Supposedly, just after creation, some angels lead by Satan rebelled against God. Satan came to Eve in the Garden of Eden as a serpent and tempted her and Adam to sin.
However, throughout the rest of the Old Testament, whenever Satan appears by name, he acts as an adversary FOR God, not AGAINST God. There could not be any adversary involvement in Eden. It doesn’t make sense that Satan and God patched up their differences.
The chronology extends to the New Testament. Luke tells us that Satan entered into Judas. If God sent Jesus to die for men’s sins, as Christians maintain, then he was acting on behalf of God. This takes us to the end of the Gospels with Satan and God working in a cooperative relationship.
3Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot. (Luke 22:3)
In between, there are two occasions in which God and Satan conspired to test their subject. The first was when they conspired to test the limit of Job’s faith. The second was when God brought Jesus to Satan to be tempted.
To Jews, the serpent symbolized evil-that is all there was to it. There were no fallen angels; this idea came about as a result of a bad interpretation of Isaiah. On other occasions in Genesis in which Satan is blamed, there is no evidence of satanic influence. In sum, Satan was not God’s enemy.
The word “Satan” originates in the Hebrew language, meaning to act as an opponent or adversary. More than any other religion, Christian propaganda gave a lot of weight to scaring believers into their fold. To absolve God of evil, Satan’s Accusers took the Old Testament angel of God, and elevated him to the full status of a rival god by reversing the OT context of “adversary.”
To understand where Christianity is coming from, we have to look at it allegorically. In Light Verses Dark it was shown how light symbolized good and darkness symbolized evil-ancients had a fear of darkness. God represents light and Satan represents darkness. Christians see them as opposing forces, while Jews see only one God responsible for everything.
Allegorically, the half of a day when the sun is rising, God is rising to glory against Satan. When the sun is falling on the other half, darkness is increasing in power against the sun. Thus, Satan becomes perceived as a fallen angel. Satan is an adversary in the sense that darkness is an adversary to light.
The religious mind has a tendency to look at matters in isolation. When the evidence is examined in entirety, it comes out that it was his accusers who bear false testimony. By decreeing the world full of sinners, Christian theology elevated Satan to status of a god with more influence on human consciousness than Jesus. But in reality, this whole sordid affair began as a personification of light verses dark.
SATAN IS A GOD
None of the biblical monotheistic religions are truly monotheistic. Just because angels are not worshipped and all but a few have names, they still fit the definition of “god,” with a small “g”. According to Webster’s dictionary:
Any of various beings conceived of as supernatural, immortal, and having special powers over the lives and affairs of people and the course of nature; deity, esp. a male deity: typically considered objects of worship
In mythological accounts, all of the various gods had supernatural powers. Some of them were described as part human part god. But in every way, they fit the definition of god as angels do. For example in English, we call a legged object with a flat surface a table. We could describe the same object in French, German, Russian, or Spanish, but it is still the same form we know as a table.
A word is not the thing it represents. A word does not change the form. By any name, anything described as a being with supernatural powers is a god.
As a point of difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament, Jews don’t subscribe to the idea of two competing gods. Yahweh takes credit for all weal and woe. That would have to include his power over Satan with a small “s.”
5I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I gird you, though you do not know me,
6that men may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the Lord, who do all these things. (Isaiah. 45:5-7)
There is no other God besides Yahweh.
35To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord [Yahweh] is God; there is no other besides him. (Deuteronomy. 4:35)
GOD’S ANGEL
In the Old Testament, Satan does not appear as a leader of an army of hostile spirits who make war on God and humankind. Instead, he appears as one of God’s angels whose assignment is to appear in an adversarial role. Sometimes he is known formally as Satan; on other occasions he is simply called “adversary” or “accuser”. He never acts without God’s consent.
This list compiles every case where Satan appears. In Hebrew, “Satan” means adversary; so the English translators used both words interchangeably.
1. God’s messenger stood in front of Balaam’s ass. This is where Satan makes his first appearance.
21So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22But God’s anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary [satan]. Now he was riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him. (Numbers. 22:21-22)
2. In Samuel, God tells David to take a census.
1Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.” (2 Samuel. 24:1)
Chronicles credits Satan. Was he impersonating God? Or are they one in the same?
1Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel. (1 Chronicles. 21:1)
3. The Philistines feared David would become their adversary. In this case, “Satan” is used descriptively and does not refer to the angel.
4But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him; and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man [David] back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him; he shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary [Satan] to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? (1 Samuel. 29:4)
4. God sent Satan against Solomon in the form of Hadad the Edomite.
14And the Lord raised up an adversary [Satan] against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom. (1 Kings 11:14)
5. God put a lying spirit in King Ahab’s prophets. Satan is not mentioned by name, but the nature of the conversation with God suggests Satan had permission to make the prophets lie.
21Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.”
22And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go forth and do so.’
23Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has spoken evil concerning you. (1 Kings 21-23; 2 Chron. 18:21-22)
6. God sent Satan to Rezon, thus turning him into an adversary of Israel. Satan is used descriptively.
23God also raised up as an adversary [Satan]to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah.
24And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the slaughter by David; and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and made him king in Damascus.
25He was an adversary [Satan] of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing mischief as Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. (1 Kings 11:23-25)
7. Satan and God conspired to test Job. Though he challenges God, he is still subject to God’s power and acts with his permission.
6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7The Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:6-8)
It was a friendly bet for bragging rights at Job’s expense. So God gave him the power to inflict Job.
1Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
2And the Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
3And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4Then Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
5But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.”
6And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life.”
7So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (Job 2:1-7)
8. The psalmist appeals to God to let a satan bring a wicked man to trial.
1Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
3They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
4In return for my love they accuse me, even as I make prayer for them.
5So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser [Satan] bring him to trial. (Psalms 109:1-6)
9. The historical context of Zechariah’s vision takes place after the Jerusalem community returns from the exile. Satan was standing at the right hand of an angel of the Lord. As a member of the divine council, Satan was opposed to Joshua becoming the high priest. His role was that of a court prosecutor, not as a false accuser.
1Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
2And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zech. 3:1-2)
FALSE ACCUSATIONS
The stories in Genesis precedes all the occasions in the Old Testament when Satan is mention by name. For this reason, more than any other, the Jews have a better argument about God being responsible for good and evil
For what follows, it is well to remember that the New Testament was written over 500 years after the Old Testament. To put this in a more intuitive perspective, that is about the time from when Christopher Columbus discovered America to the beginning of the twenty first century.
If we follow this nonsense about the Bible being the world of God, it means that God waited 500 years to pass this new information onto the Christian writers, and didn’t tell the Jews.
1. Adam and Eve. The first sin was supposed to be when Satan, as a serpent, tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, thus defeating God’s intent to create an innocent mankind.
The sources come from Paul in 1 Corinthians and twice from Revelation. That God could be thwarted so easily and quickly makes him seem weak and stupid.
3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (1 Corinthians. 11:3)
Revelation twice associates Satan with the serpent in Eden.
9And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Rev. 12:9)
1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain.
2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while. (Rev. 20:1-3)
To Jews, the serpent was regarded as a symbol of evil, and nothing else. Christianity attached the Satan label onto the serpent, and viola, Satan becomes the tempter who made the first man commit the first sin.
1Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” (Genesis. 3:1)
2. Noah’s flood. Peter blames fallen angels on Noah’s flood, which, of course, gave God an excuse to flood the world and kill almost the entire human population.
4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment;
5if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; (2 Peter 2:4-5)
It doesn’t appear as if the semi-divine sons of God and the giant Nephilim are being blamed for sin. Their names were used to suggest a period of time when they inhabited earth. Verse 5 blames human wickedness without saying what caused it.
1When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.
3Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”
4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Gen. 6:1-6)
3. Sodom and Gomorrah. Peter blames fallen angels on Sodom and Gomorrah.
4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment;
6if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and. made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; (2 Peter 2:4, 6)
The only angels involved here, where the two sent by God to destroy the cities.
12Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” (Gen. 19:12-13)
4. Fallen angel. According to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” paragraph 391:
The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing”.
According to Peter there are fallen angels.
4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; (2 Peter 2:4)
According to Jude there are fallen angels.
6And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; (Jude 1:6)
The idea of fallen angels led by Satan was extracted from Isaiah. Isaiah says nothing of the sort. He was writing for his own time, not about events that happened thousands of years before in Genesis.
Isaiah was gloating about an event that happened in his time. The “Day Star, son of Dawn” was cut down to the ground to Sheol for attempting to rise above the stars of God.
12″How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
13You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north;
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’
15But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. (Isaiah. 14:12-15)
When Isaiah wrote this, he had the king of Babylon in mind. Basically, he was hoping the king of Babylon would go to hell. He was referring to Nebuchadnezzar, the proud but ruined king of Babylon.
4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! (Isaiah. 14:4)
“Day Star” refers to the planet Venus, because at certain times of the year, it outshines real stars in the early morning when the sun rises.
5. Destroyer. Satan could be confused with the destroyer, another one of God’s angels. Satan’s role was that of an adversary, not a destroyer. A few passages should clear up the confusion.
The destroyer was an angel of God who killed the firstborn during Passover.
23For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you. (Exodus. 12:23)
Job sees the destroyer as one of God’s angels
20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
21Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. (Job 15:20-21)
The destroyer shall come as God has spoken.
8The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord has spoken. (Jeremiah. 48:8)
According to Paul, whoever puts God to the test may be destroyed.
9We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents;
10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. (1 Corinthians. 10:9-10)
6. Christ’s Temptation. If God and the devil were enemies, then surely he would not have taken Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted. God might have said to the devil,
“Take Jesus out into the wilderness and see if you can tempt him”.
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matt. 4:1)
7. Judas Iscariot. To be a Christian means to believe that God sent Jesus to die for man’s sins. Despite Judas’s bad reputation, he must have been carrying out the role assigned to him.
According to Peter, it was all planned by God.
23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:23-24)
Luke says Satan entered into Judas when he bargained for money with the chief priests. Who else but God, arranged for Satan to enter into Judas.
3Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve;
4he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.
5And they were glad, and engaged to give him money. (Luke 22:3-5)
SATAN’S ACCUSERS
Satan is the best friend the Church as ever had. Without him, they would have been out of business a long time ago. Without a devil to point their fingers at, they would have nothing with which to threaten their followers. “Satan leads you to temptation”; Satan is the prince of evil”; Satan is vicious, brutal, cruel,” they warn. “If you give into the temptations of the devil, you will surely suffer eternal damnation and roast in Hell”.
The word “satan” originates in the Hebrew language, meaning to act as an opponent or adversary. The word “devil” comes from the Latinized Greek diabolus. Adversary gods were common in pagan literature: Horus vs. Set, Marduk vs. Chaos, Baal vs. Yam, to name a few. Satan is associated with darkness as was the Egyptian god Set. The word “sunset” is derived from Set.
The idea of Satan is based on the presumption that humans have no moral conscience of their own. In a sense, like gravity, evil spirits were thought to be lurking, causing humans to do misdeeds. This archaic way of thinking bespeaks of how much religion contributes to mass ignorance in the twenty first century.
Evil is blamed on Satan’s power to get humans to disregard their faith in God and his laws. This accusation is tantamount to admitting God is impotent while absolving the all mighty for the state of evil in human society. And if, according to Satan’s accusers, only a small minority is qualified get to heaven. What else could it mean except that Satan is more powerful than God.
This whole idea of sin is reminiscent of the early days in biblical history when God wanted perfect and clean animals for sacrifice. God’s grace is contingent on accepting clean humans into heaven. Contrary to Christian propaganda, it bespeaks of an unforgiving God.
The worst charge brought against Satan is deception. It is not as if Satan appears incarnate with a red body, horns and a tail. Paul tells us Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. From this perspective it means that Satan can disguise himself as God. A believer has no way of telling the difference. No matter how you look at it, Satan provides a handy scapegoat for every fault in Christian theology.
14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians. 11:14)
In the final analyses, it is God who plays the part of judge and executioner. When bad things happen to good people, believers don’t blame Satan directly. Typically, they say it was God’s will. What they are really saying, without realizing it, is Satan made him do it-Satan has the power to manipulate God.
The truth of the charges against Satan based on the presumption that his accusers are telling the truth. Well, examples can be found where his accusers lied. God lied to Adam when he told him he would die on the day he ate from the tree of good and evil. Jesus lied about his Second Coming. Even Paul was an admitted liar.
7But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? (Romans. 3:7)
It is well to remember, that Satan’s accusers, by denouncing him are really glorifying him. They are admitting to all the things said above. Satan rules. God’s vengeance is a mark of his hopeless inability to conquer Satan. It is not a human fault.
JESUS
1. Jesus called Satan “the god of this world” and “the ruler of this world”.
4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. (John 12:31)
30I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; (John 14:30)
10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more
11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:11)
2. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. There are two kingdoms. In the spring and summer months, it is God’s kingdom. Fall and winter belong to Satan.
25Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand;
26and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? (Matt. 12:25-26; Mark 3:23-26; Luke 11:17-20)
3. To go from darkness to light is to go from the power of Satan to the power of God.
18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:18)
4. Satan has a throne where he dwells.
13″‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. (Rev. 2:13)
MATTHEW
The devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”(Matthew. 4:8-9)
LUKE
The devil is able to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world because it was delivered to him to give to whomever he will. Who would that be?
5And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
6and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. (Luke 4:5-6)
PAUL
Paul was obsessed with Satan. In the extreme, he blames Satan for anything that goes contrary to his expectations. In two passages, he had some victims delivered to Satan, which was his way of saying he had them executed.
1. Paul called Elymas the magician a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness.
8But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith.
9But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? (Acts 13:9-10)
2. God will soon crush Satan under your feet. (That day has yet to come.)
19For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I would have you wise as to what is good and guileless as to what is evil;
20then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Rom. 16:19-20)
3. Satan tempts you through lack of self-control.
5Do not refuse one another except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians. 7:5)
4. I, Paul, forgive you for your sake to keep Satan from gaining advantage on us.
10Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
11to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs. (2 Corinthians. 10-11)
5. Satan is the god of this world who has blinded the minds of unbelievers.
4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. (2 Corinthians. 4:4)
6. Beware of false apostles disguised as apostles of Christ. Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel. (Then how then how can any apostle be trusted?)
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians. 11:14)
7. Satan sent a messenger to be a thorn in Paul’s flesh.
7And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. (2 Corinthians. 12:7)
8. Give no opportunity to the devil.
26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians. 4:26-27)
9. The devil rules the darkness.
11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:11-12)
10. To resist the devil, you must put on the whole armour of God.
13Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace;
16besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians. 4:13-16)
11. Satan prevented Paul from visiting the Thessalonians.
17But since we were bereft of you, brethren, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face;
18because we wanted to come to you–I, Paul, again and again–but Satan hindered us.
(1 Thessalonians. 2:17-18)
12. Paul knew the Thessalonians would suffer. So out of concern they were tempted, he wanted to be sure his labor was not in vain.
4For when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and as you know.
5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent that I might know your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor would be in vain.
(1 Thessalonians. 3:4-5)
13. Paul accuses Satan for deception while praising God for deception. In this sense, they are both conspirators.
9The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders,
10and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false,
12so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians. 2:9-12)
14. When the end of the world comes, Satan will be defeated in a great battle
8And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming.
9The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders,
10and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians. 2:9-10)
15. Paul has two men delivered to Satan. This might suggest that Paul was one of Satan’s agents until we examine 1 Corinthians. 5:5 which explains what Paul means by “deliver to Satan”. To have their flesh destroyed means to have them killed.
20among them Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy. 1:20)
5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians. 5:5)
16. Recent converts cannot be trusted to keep away from the devil.
6He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil;
7moreover he must be well thought of by outsiders, or he may fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Timothy. 3:6-7)
17. Paul had strong ideas on widowhood. If they deviated from his strictures, they must have strayed after Satan.
14So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, rule their households, and give the enemy no occasion to revile us.
15For some have already strayed after Satan. (1 Timothy. 5:14-15)
18. Hopefully, God will grant that they repent and escape the snare of the devil.
24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing,
25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth,
26and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy. 2:24-26)
HEBREWS
The devil is said to have the power of death, though there is no biblical suggestion that he killed anybody To the contrary, the Old Testament is filled with tales of God’s murderous behavior.
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (Hebrews. 2:14)
JAMES
If you submit to God and resist the devil, he, the devil, will flee from you.
7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
PETER
1. Is the Holy Spirit so naïve that he can be lied to?
3But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? (Acts 5:3)
2. Your adversary the devil prowls like a lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him and stay firm in your faith.
8Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.
9Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter. 5:8-9)
JOHN
1. Sin comes from the devil who sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared to destroy his works. Whoever does not do right by God is a child of the devil.
8He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
9No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
10By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:8-10)
2. The evil one rules the world, not God.
19We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
JUDE
1. God is keeping the fallen angels in chains until judgment day.
6And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; (Jude 1:6)
2. The archangel Michael contends with the devil for the body of Moses.
9But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Jude 1:9)
REVELATION
There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels defeated Satan and his angels. Satan was thrown down out of heaven. Satan deceives the whole world.
7Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation. 12:7-9)
MUHAMMAD AND SATAN
1. Muhammad said that yawning is from Satan.
1. The Prophet said, “Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of you (during the act of yawning) should say: ‘Ha’, Satan will laugh at him.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 509: Narrated Abu Huraira:
2. Muhammad said that yawning is from Satan and that Allah likes sneezing and dislikes yawning.
1. The Prophet said, “Allah likes sneezing and dislikes yawning, so if someone sneezes and then praises Allah, then it is obligatory on every Muslim who heard him, to say: May Allah be merciful to you (Yar-hamuka-l-lah). But as regards yawning, it is from Satan, so one must try one’s best to stop it, if one says ‘Ha’ when yawning, Satan will laugh at him.” Volume 8, Book 73, Number 242: Narrated Abu Huraira: See also Volume 8, Book 73, Number 245:, Narrated Abu Huraira:
3. Muhammad said a good dream is from Allah and a bad dream is from Satan.
1. The Prophet said, “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad or evil dream is from Satan; so if anyone of you has a bad dream of which he gets afraid, he should spit on his left side and should seek Refuge with Allah from its evil, for then it will not harm him.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 513: Narrated Abu Qatada:ï’
2. I heard the Prophet saying, “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan. So if anyone of you sees (in a dream) something he dislikes, when he gets up he should blow thrice (on his left side) and seek refuge with Allah from its evil for then it will not harm him.” Volume 7, Book 71, Number 643: Narrated Abu Qatada:
3. The Prophet said, “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan. So whoever has seen (in a dream) something he dislike, then he should spit without saliva, thrice on his left and seek refuge with Allah from Satan, for it will not harm him, and Satan cannot appear in my shape.” Volume 9, Book 87, Number 124: Narrated Abu Qatada:
4. Muhammad said that Satan stayed in the upper part of a nose all night.
1. The Prophet said, “If anyone of you rouses from sleep and performs the ablution, he should wash his nose by putting water in it and then blowing it out thrice, because Satan has stayed in the upper part of his nose all the night.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 516: Narrated Abu Huraira:
5. Muhammad said a cock crows because it has seen an angel and donkeys bray because they have seen Satan.
1. The Prophet said, “When you hear the crowing of cocks, ask for Allah’s Blessings for (their crowing indicates that) they have seen an angel. And when you hear the braying of donkeys, seek Refuge with Allah from Satan for (their braying indicates) that they have seen a Satan.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 522: Narrated Abu Huraira:
6. Muhammad said that Satan touches all human offspring making them cry.
1. Abu Huraira said, “I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, ‘There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, except Mary and her child.” Then Abu Huraira recited: “And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan” (3.36) Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641:Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:Also, same thing at Volume 6, Book 60, Number 71:, Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:
7. Muhammad said that devils spread out at night time and that Satan does not open a closed door.
1. Allah’s Apostle said, “When night falls (or when it is evening), stop your children from going out, for the devils spread out at that time. But when an hour of the night has passed, release them and close the doors and mention Allah’s Name, for Satan does not open a closed door. Tie the mouth of your water-skin and mention Allah’s Name; cover your containers and utensils and mention Allah’s Name. Cover them even by placing something across it, and extinguish your lamps.” Volume 7, Book 69, Number 527: Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah
8. Muhammad said a child born from a union where a parent said a “phrase,” Satan cannot harm the child.
1. The Prophet said, “If anyone of you, when intending to have a sexual intercourse with his wife, says: ‘Bismillah, Allahumma jannibna-sh-shaitan, wa jannibi-sh-shaitan ma razaqtana,’ and if the couple are destined to have a child (out of that very sexual relation), then Satan will never be able to harm that child.” Volume 8, Book 75, Number 397: Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
9. Muhammad said that during sleep Satan ties knots at the back of the head.
1. Allah’s Apostle said, “During your sleep, Satan knots three knots at the back of the head of each of you, and he breathes the following words at each knot, ‘The night is long, so keep on sleeping,’ If that person wakes up and celebrates the praises of Allah, then one knot is undone, and when he performs ablution the second knot is undone, and when he prays, all the knots are undone, and he gets up in the morning lively and gay, otherwise he gets up dull and gloomy.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 491: Narrated Abu Huraira:
10. Muhammad said that Satan peed in the ear of a man.
1. It was mentioned before the Prophet that there was a man who slept the night till morning (after sunrise). The Prophet said, “He is a man in whose ears (or ear) Satan had urinated.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 492: Narrated ‘Abdullah:ï’
11. Muhammad said Satan can not impersonate him in a dream.
1. The Prophet said, “Name yourselves with my name (use my name) but do not name yourselves with my Kunya name (i.e. Abu-l Qasim). And whoever sees me in a dream then surely he has seen me for Satan cannot impersonate me. And whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally), then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire.” Volume 1, Book 3, Number 110: Narrated Abu Huraira: Also at Volume 8, Book 73, Number 217: Narrated Abu Huraira:
12. Muhammad said earthquakes and afflictions come out of the side of the head of Satan.
1. (The Prophet) said, “O Allah! Bless our Sham and our Yemen.” People said, “Our Najd as well.” The Prophet again said, “O Allah! Bless our Sham and Yemen.” They said again, “Our Najd as well.” On that the Prophet said, “There will appear earthquakes and afflictions, and from there will come out the side of the head of Satan.” Volume 2, Book 17, Number 147: Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:
13. Muhammad choked Satan
1. The Prophet once offered the prayer and said, “Satan came in front of me and tried to interrupt my prayer, but Allah gave me an upper hand on him and I choked him. No doubt, I thought of tying him to one of the pillars of the mosque till you get up in the morning and see him. Then I remembered the statement of Prophet Solomon, ‘My Lord ! Bestow on me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me.’ Then Allah made him (Satan) return with his head down (humiliated).” Volume 2, Book 22, Number 301, Narrated Abu Huraira
14. Muhammad said Satan passes wind and runs so he may not hear the Adhan (call to prayer).
1. Allah’s Apostle said, “When the Adhan for the prayer is pronounced, then Satan takes to his heels passing wind so that he may not hear the Adhan and when the Muadh-dhin finishes, he comes back; Volume 2, Book 22, Number 313: Narrated Abu Huraira,
o Allah’s Apostle said, “When the call for prayer is made, Satan takes to his heels passing wind so that he may not hear the Adhan and when the call is finished he comes back, and when the Iqama is pronounced, Satan again takes to his heels, Volume 2, Book 22, Number 323, Narrated Abu Huraira:
15. Muhammad said that when praying while standing, Satan puts doubts into the person.
0. Allah’s Apostle said, “When anyone of you stands for the prayers, Satan comes and puts him in doubts till he forgets how many Rakat he has prayed. So if this happens to anyone of you, he should perform two prostrations of Sahu while sitting. Volume 2, Book 22, Number 324: Narrated Abu Huraira:
16. Muhammad said that Satan can reach into a person’s body the same as blood reaches it.
0. Safiya, the wife of the Prophet told me that she went to Allah’s Apostle to visit him in the mosque while he was in Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she got up in order to return home. The Prophet accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah’s Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, “She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” Both of them said, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah’s Apostle!” And they felt it. The Prophet said (to them), “Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it, (everywhere in one’s body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.” Volume 3, Book 33, Number 251: Narrated Ali bin Al-Husain: Also, see 254
17. Muhammad said affliction comes out of the side of Satan’s head.
0. The Prophet stood up and delivered a sermon, and pointing to ‘Aisha’s house (i.e. eastwards), he said thrice, “Affliction (will appear from) here,” and, “from where the side of the Satan’s head comes out (i.e. from the East).” Volume 4, Book 53, Number 336: Narrated ‘Abdullah:
1. I saw Allah’s Apostle pointing towards the east saying, “Lo! Afflictions will verily emerge hence; afflictions will verily emerge hence where the (side of the head of) Satan appears.” Volume 4, Book 54, Number 499: Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar:
The preceding Hadith are transmitted by Sahih Bukhari and are quoted from and online source found at http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/.
MYSTERY BABYLON – THE 3 ABRAHAMIC CULTS OF DEATH
SATAN, THE BEST FRIEND JUDAISM, CHRISTENDOM, ISLAM EVER HAD!
SATAN, LUCIFER AND THE DEVIL
Light verses Dark
The battle between good and evil in the Bible comes from a superstitious fear of darkness.
Modern believers perceive God as an invisible being but don’t know what to make of Satan because they refuse to believe he is a god. This view is problematic because biblical and pagan literature symbolized light with the good gods and darkness with the bad gods. The point is to show that God is not a supernatural deity and Satan a non-godly supernatural creature. God is merely an allegorical interpretation of the sun, and Satan is its antithesis.
For example, Jesus is sometimes called the Son of God because he is implicitly associated with the Sun of God. He was the equivalent of the Egyptian God Horus and a host of other pagan supreme gods. In early Christian art, for example, Jesus is sometimes depicted with a halo which symbolizes the sun’s corona.
Darkness, and its association with evil, existed before creation. When god created light, he created the fire element and separated it from the non-elemental darkness. He called the light “good”, but he did not pronounce the darkness “good” because he didn’t create it-so by default, it was evil. This accounts for the supposition that God is “good”.
2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis. 1:2-5)
The following passages represent a small sampling where light and darkness are respectively associated with good and evil.
LIGHT
1. Job calls the stars the sons of God.
7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)
2. The psalmist relates God to the sun.
17May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed! (Psalm 72:17)
3From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised! (Psalm 113:3)
3. Ezekiel describes God with phrases that describe the sun.
26And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form.
27And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
28Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel. 1:26-28)
4. Malachi intimates the appearance of the sun with the name of God. “Hosts” refers to the stars.
11For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 1:11)
5. The sun God is a consuming fire.
29for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews. 12:29)
6. Jesus calls himself the light of the world.
12Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)
7. Jesus associates himself with the bright morning star of David.
16″I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.”(Rev. 22:16)
8. Beware of false apostles. They are Satan disguised as angels of light.
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians. 11:13-14)
DARK
1. To sit in darkness, having seen a great light, means to pass through the fall equinox, when the summer days have passed. Those who sat in the shadow of death, when light has dawned, have passed the spring equinox, when days are longer than nights.
16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” (Matthew. 4:16)
2. Jesus asks how Satan’s kingdom can stand if it is divided against itself. How is this? What is God’s kingdom cannot be Satan’s kingdom? The answer is that Satan’s kingdom can never be divided against itself. The kingdom is divided between God and Satan-six dark months for Satan and the six light months for God.
25Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand;
26and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? (Matthew. 12:25-26)
3. On the sixth hour, there was darkness over the land. On the ninth hour, Jesus cried his last words. Translation: When the sun passes the fall equinox on September 23rd, darkness exceeds daylight. The ninth hour, or three months past the sixth month, takes us to December 21st, the darkest day of the year. After three days when the time of darkness remains constant, the days start to get longer. And that is why Jesus’ birth is celebrated on December 25th.
45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew. 27:45-46)
4. Luke tells us Jesus is in the house of Virgo on September after harvest. Jesus saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven because fall starts on September 23rd, when the sun starts to sink lower on the horizon.
2And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Luke 10:2)
5. When Jesus is in the house of Scorpio, we are heading into the winter months. Note the term “scorpions”.
18And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. (Luke 10:18-19)
6. To turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, means to go from the fall and winter months to the spring and summer months.
18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:18)
7. We are not contending against mere humans, but against humans in whom the rulers of the present darkness dwell.
11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians. 6:11-12)
8. When Jesus was taken prisoner, it was under the “power of darkness”.
52Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?
53When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
54Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. Peter followed at a distance; (Luke 22:52-54)
MYSTERY BABYLON
The ancient Persians had a significant impact upon some of the core myths that underscore Judaism and Christianity. Among other things, Judaism and Christianity owe thanks to the Persian priests of Zoroaster for the light versus darkness motif, the belief in an impending apocalypse, and the messianic dogma. But above all, both Jews and Christians should thank Persia for the Devil himself. I think it’s fair to say that had they not adopted this fictitious character from the Persians, they might not have succeeded with such ease in persuading and maintaining their frightened and superstitious flocks.
The religion of Zoroaster, or Zarathustra, received its name from a Magian Priest by the name of Zoroaster (Greek)/Zarathustra (Persian), who was a loyal servant of the “one true” Persian God Ahura Mazda, or Ormuzd. Ormuzd was commonly referred to as the “The Holy Spirit” in the pre-Christian portions of the Avesta. This religion began to flourish toward the end of the second millennium BCE, and its primary corpus of holy texts are known as the Zend Avesta. These ancient scriptures contain a number of the superstitious seeds that were eventually sown into the soil of both the Jewish and Christian religions. Such parallels have led the learned Rabbis responsible for compiling the Jewish Encyclopedia to make mention of their closeness to the two later Abrahamic religions, saying:
Most scholars, Jewish as well as non-Jewish, are of the opinion that Judaism was strongly influenced by Zoroastrianism in views relating to angelology and demonology, and probably also in the doctrine of the resurrection, as well as in eschatological ideas in general, and also that the monotheistic conception of Yhwh may have been quickened and strengthened by being opposed to the dualism or quasi-monotheism of the Persians. (1)
1. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15283-zoroastrianism
Prior to the Persian invasion of Babylon, the religion of Judaism believed that their chief God was responsible for all that happened in the universe. Both good and evil were the manifestations of their God.
This is reflected in the book of Isaiah, in which the anonymous author writes:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Isaiah 45:7
The author of Isaiah possibly wrote this verse in order to achieve two ends. Firstly, the verse appears to be a soft polemic against the dualistic Persian theology, which posited an evil counterpart to a good god, a notion still foreign to the Israelites at the time, and secondly, as a warning to the Israelites not to fall into the Persian heresy of believing in a counterpart to their god. Thus, the author of the book of Isaiah has Yahweh taking direct responsibility for both good and evil, leaving no room for the existence of a devil.
The figure of Satan is found in only three places in the Old Testament, and all of these are postexilic in date (i.e., after 538 B.C.): Job 1-2; Zechariah. 3:1-2; and 1 Chronicles. 21:1.
The Devil has never managed to achieve a unique character or identity within either the Jewish or Christian religions, and thus has been known by many names and occupied many forms, none of which represent a single definable character. The Hebrew word, ‘ha satan’(הַשָׂטָן) or satan, as it is transliterated in English, was not originally a name, but a verb meaning ‘to accuse,’ or ‘to oppose’, and was used in its common noun form by “David” in 2 Samuel (19:22), in which he was alleged to have described the sons of Zeruiah as ‘satans’ (adversaries) unto him.
It also appears in verb form in various other places throughout the Old Testament (see Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4 and Psalms 109:6). Satan is a word which pre-existed the Devil in the Hebrew scriptures, however, when he was introduced into the religion it was chosen as one of the most appropriate epithets to apply to his Zoroastrian character.
Another name for the Devil is ‘Lucifer’, and it means ‘light bearer.’ Astronomically, it has been said to represent the planet Venus, as Venus is the brightest star in the morning before the sun has fully risen and obliterated it from the sky. In a misinterpreted passage from chapter 14 of the book of Isaiah, describing the King of Babylon, the name ‘Lucifer,’ which derives its current form from the Latin ‘Lucem/Lux Ferer’, was incorrectly applied to the Devil.
Some of the confusion surrounding this misinterpreted passages from Isaiah arose due to the fact that the king of Babylon was described as having “falling from heaven” and many theologians misunderstood the use of the word ‘heaven’ to mean the “literal” heaven, rather than its obvious figurative application. The king of Babylon enjoyed success on a grand scale, success which brought with it pleasure, wealth, dominion, abundance, and as a result, he became arrogant and so the heaven we was said to be falling from was his luxurious lifestyle. Much like the way we use the term heaven to describe a taste, a feeling, or a state of being.
To refute any apology to the contrary, the Lucifer of Isaiah was described as having been:
• The king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4),
• Who ruled nations with aggression (Isaiah 14:6), as the king of one of the largest empires did, also;
• Who other defeated kings will say; “you have become weak like us,” (Isaiah 14:10), and;
• Who would not let his captives (the exiled Jews) go home (Isaiah 14:17), but most importantly,
• Was a man (Isaiah 14:16).
It is obvious that this Lucifer (‘shining one’) was the king of Babylon, but beliefs require a minimal amount of fuel and a maximum amount of propagation to catch on and spread, as has been the case in this instance.
Modern apologists have twisted these passages in every conceivable manner to try and claim that it is a double entendre for both the Devil and the king of Babylon, however as seen above, the term was only referring to the man himself. The association between Lucifer and Satan was made by Christians who errantly interpreted “Luke” 10:18 (I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning), to be a reference to “Isaiah’s” Lucifer.
The epithet Lucifer is translated from the Hebrew ‘Helel’ (הילל) ‘shining one’ or ‘Ben Shachar’ (‘Day Star,’ ‘Bringer of Light’ or ‘Sun of the Morning’).
Another name for the Devil within the Judeo-Christian belief system is ‘Beelzebub’. The word Beelzebub stems from the Hebrew Ba’al-Zebub. In English, Ba’al-Zebub means ‘Lord of the Flies,’ and it is the first part of this name which is of interest to scholars of comparative mythology. The name Ba’al, which could be etymologically rooted in the name of the ancient Babylonian Sun-god ‘Bel’. Yet, in its present form, Ba’al represents the later Phoenician and Canaanite God, Ba’al, who guest stars in the Hebrew scriptures on numerous occasions (See Numbers 22:41, Judges 2:13: the husband of the goddess Asherah, 6:25, 28, 30-32, 1Kings 16:31 etc.). Ba’al was incorporated into the Hebrew language and came to have a variety of meanings, including; ‘Lord’, ‘Master’, ‘Husband’ and ‘Possessor.’
The Canaanite god Ba’al was described in Judges 2:19 as the “husband” of the goddess Asherah. This is significant as Zeev Herzog, Ze’ev Meshel and other archaeologists have discovered that the ancient Israelite’s primary god Yahweh, was commonly worshipped alongside his consort, the Canaanite goddess Asherah, both being seen as the father and mother of heaven ruling equally together. This fact is evidenced by various eighth century B.C.E reliefs, statuets and inscriptions that depict and describe YHVH and ASHERAH as being a couple. (see discovery at Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Kom). This fact further explains why Yahweh is directly referred to as a Ba’al at Isaiah 54:5: For your maker (Yahweh) is your Ba’al (Lord/Master).
The conflicting characterizations attributed to the Devil within the religious literature of the Jews, along with the verse found in Isaiah 45:7 (God alone is responsible for good and evil), seems to indicate that the Devil had been a relatively more recent interpolation by Jewish mythographers, who grafted him into the existing scriptures, thereby creating a situation in which this fictitious character has been ascribed multiple names and titles. Further, as mentioned, the very form/being of the Devil has been the subject of much confusion. Many Christians and Jews try to suggest that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was the Devil, but the description of the serpent contradicts this notion.
It should be noted that “the serpent” of Genesis 3 is never in the Old Testament identified as Satan.
The serpent is described as one of the “beasts of the field”, and after tempting Eve to eat the forbidden, ethics-infused fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, the serpent is punished by God in the following manner:
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:14-15
One does not need to be a theologian to understand what the author was talking about in this passage. The serpent was a cunning beast of the field, who prior to his indiscretion, had legs and spoke. This alleged description of the Devil as being a beast of the field contradicts the portrayal of him given in the book of Job, in which he (Satan) is counted amongst the sons of God (See Job 1:6).
Regarding Satan’s role in the book of Job:
In the first two instances (Job 1-2; Zechariah. 3:1-2), Satan is depicted as a member of God’s court whose basic duty it was to “accuse” human beings before God. He is clearly not at this point an enemy of God and the leader of the demonic forces of evil, as he becomes later.
Even if we admit that the serpent in the Genesis paradise story ought to be identified with Satan, we have here no exception, for it should be borne in mind that the Book of Genesis was probably not completed before about the beginning of the fifth century before Jesus, a century after the Captivity closed. Satan appears in the Books of Job, Zechariah, and Chronicles; but these are all late writings. Belief in the existence of such a bad being the foe of God, the accuser of the good, the tempter of men to evil seems to have come into Judaism from the religion of the Persians, through contact with that people during or after the Exile.
Then there is the discrepancy between the accounts of David being tempted to take a census given in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. Within both books, David is tempted to take a census of his people – the only difference is that in 2 Samuel it is God who tempts him to do so and in 1 Chronicles it is Satan.
In the appearance of this new belief we find an instructive explanation of that strange contradiction which appears between the two accounts of the numbering of Israel found in the Books of Samuel and Chronicles.
The record in Samuel tells us that it was the Lord who tempted David to do the numbering; that in Chronicles says it was Satan. The explanation is evidently this:
Samuel is the older book by two or three centuries. At the time it was written the belief in such a being as Satan was unknown, and evil, as well as good, was referred to God as its author. But by the time Chronicles was compiled, belief in Satan had come in, and he, not God, was now held to be the instigator of evil. Hence an event which in the earlier book was naturally ascribed to God was now as naturally ascribed to Satan.
This contradiction is irreconcilable until one realizes that the Jews probably adopted their Devil from the Persians and so, evil acts which were once attributed to Yahweh were now being rewritten and passed off as the Devil’s handiwork.
If we also keep in mind Isaiah 45:7, this theology discrepancy becomes explicable and the contradiction is exposed for what it probably is; a change in the theology of the Jews, influenced by the dualistic Persian religion at the time of the Persian’s conquest of Babylon in around 539 BCE. Thus, it is a near certainty that Judaism inherited the Devil from the Persian Zoroastrians and the Christians, in turn, inherited their Devil from the Jews.
Finally, there was a related concept that the Christians seemed to have directly inherited from the Persians, and this was the concept of the anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ as described in the Zoroastrian texts is literally called, the Anti-Mithras, Mithras being the sun god and son of the supreme God of the Persians, Ahura-Mazda.
From the ancient Zoroastrian Scriptures, we read:
Backward flies the arrow which the anti-Mithras shoots on account of the wealth of bad unpoetic thoughts which the anti-Mithras performs. Even when he shoots it well, even when it reaches the body, even then it does not harm him on account of the wealth of bad unpoetic thoughts which the anti-Mithras performs. Yasht 10:20-21