“SEEING is believing,” goes a popular saying. It is well known that the best testimony to any fact is that of a reliable eyewitness. Do we have such an eyewitness to help us to answer the question: How real is the Devil?
That might seem impossible; but is it? Did you know that Jesus Christ lived in heaven before coming to earth? He was an eyewitness to things that went on in the spirit realm and had much to say about the Devil.—John 8:23; 17:5.
http://biblize.com/search?q=John+8:23;+17:5&q_scope=
It would be most unwise to brush aside the testimony of Jesus. He always told the truth. He gave his life for the sake of the truth. (John 18:37; 8:40http://biblize.com/search?q=John+18:37;+8:40&q_scope= Jesus’ words of wisdom, especially in his famous Sermon on the Mount, have won the highest praise, even from non-Christians. Yet in that sermon Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Deliver us from the wicked one.”—Matt. 6:13.http://biblize.com/search?q=Matt.+6:13&q_scope=
And what about God himself? Certainly he should know whether there is a Devil. The Bible as a whole contains the Creator’s point of view. It, too, bears all the earmarks of credibility. When relating events it gives the time, the place and the names of persons involved. The accuracy of the historical accounts in the Bible has amazed even its critics. Hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled to the smallest detail. And Scriptural counsel on human relations has proved to be unsurpassed.
What, therefore, does the Bible, which includes the testimony of Jesus Christ, say about Satan? Is “the Devil” merely an abstraction, a principle or force? Or does this term refer to an intelligent spirit person that can influence humans? According to the Bible, how real is the Devil?
Abstraction or a Person?
The Scriptures consistently refer to the Devil as a person. The Bible’s book of Job opens with an account of angelic “sons of the true God” assembling before Jehovah. Concerning this gathering, which doubtless included Jesus in his prehuman form, we read: “Satan proceeded to enter right among them.” (Job 1:6http://biblize.com/search?q=Job+1:6&q_scope= Satan’s coming among God’s “sons,” who are persons, indicates that he, too, is a person. So does the fact that Satan conversed with Jehovah God.—Job 1:6-12; 2:1-5.http://biblize.com/search?q=Job+1:6-12;+2:1-5&q_scope=
Many other Bible passages show that the Devil is a person. For example, 1 Chronicles 21:1 http://biblize.com/search?q=1+Chronicles+21:1+&q_scope=
and Zechariah 3:1, 2http://biblize.com/search?q=Zechariah+3:1,+2&q_scope=
reveal Satan to be a resister of God’s people and, therefore, of God himself. (Zech. 2:8; Luke 10:16) http://biblize.com/search?q=Zech.+2:8;+Luke+10:16&q_scope=
In fact, the name Satan is Hebrew and means “resister, adversary.”
The Gospel account at Matthew 4:1-11 tells of Jesus’ being tempted by “the Devil,” a Greek term meaning “false accuser, misrepresenter, slanderer.” This threefold temptation of Jesus involved conversation between Jesus and the Devil in which Satan employed clever arguments, including a wrong application of Psalm 91:11, 12, to induce Jesus to sin against God. (Matt. 4:6http://biblize.com/search?q=Matt.+4:6&q_scope=Jesus later called the Devil a “father” (in a figurative sense), a “manslayer” and a “liar.” (John 8:44)http://biblize.com/search?q=John+8:44&q_scope=
The Gospel account at Matthew 4:1-11 tells of Jesus’ being tempted by “the Devil,” a Greek term meaning “false accuser, misrepresenter, slanderer.” This threefold temptation of Jesus involved conversation between Jesus and the Devil in which Satan employed clever arguments, including a wrong application of Psalm 91:11, 12, to induce Jesus to sin against God. (Matt. 4:6http://biblize.com/search?q=Matt.+4:6&q_scope=Jesus later called the Devil a “father” (in a figurative sense), a “manslayer” and a “liar.” (John 8:44)http://biblize.com/search?q=John+8:44&q_scope=
The apostle Paul, at 2 Corinthians 2:11, http://biblize.com/search?q=+2+Corinthians+2:11&q_scope=
spoke of evil “designs” that Satan schemes up against Christians.
Only an intelligent, reasoning person could think, speak to God and Jesus Christ and ‘design’ tactics against people. It is worthy of note, too, that the majority of mankind throughout history have attributed the ultimate cause of evil to a person or persons in the spirit realm.
Did God Create the Devil?
Certain persons object that a righteous, loving God could never create a Devil. God is too good to do that, they say. But does such reasoning prove that the Devil does not exist?
Actually, that view is shortsighted, for the Bible nowhere says that God created an opposer of himself and of his creatures. Remember Jesus’ statement that the Devil “did not stand fast in the truth.” (John 8:44) http://biblize.com/search?q=John+8:44&q_scope=
Only an intelligent, reasoning person could think, speak to God and Jesus Christ and ‘design’ tactics against people. It is worthy of note, too, that the majority of mankind throughout history have attributed the ultimate cause of evil to a person or persons in the spirit realm.
Did God Create the Devil?
Certain persons object that a righteous, loving God could never create a Devil. God is too good to do that, they say. But does such reasoning prove that the Devil does not exist?
Actually, that view is shortsighted, for the Bible nowhere says that God created an opposer of himself and of his creatures. Remember Jesus’ statement that the Devil “did not stand fast in the truth.” (John 8:44) http://biblize.com/search?q=John+8:44&q_scope=
He was once in harmony with God’s truth. But pride and desire to have people worship him instead of God moved Satan to forsake his righteous standing and to become a slanderous opposer of God.—1 Tim. 3:6; Matt. 4:9; Gen. 3:1-7.http://biblize.com/search?q=1+Tim.+3:6;+Matt.+4:9;+Gen.+3:1-7&q_scope=
Some insist that an all-wise, all-powerful God could not create a son that would turn bad. But such an assertion reduces God’s intelligent creatures to robots that are incapable of free choice. The fact that man was created “in God’s image,” and perfect at that, and yet turned bad, precludes such a narrow viewpoint.—Gen. 1:27, 31; Deut. 32:4.http://biblize.com/search?q=Gen.+1:27,+31;+Deut.+32:4&q_scope=
But why has God allowed the Devil to exist for so long?
Why Permitted to Exist?
At the beginning of human history the Devil, through a serpent, introduced rebellion into the human family. (Gen. 3:1-7; Rev. 12:9) http://biblize.com/search?q=Gen.+3:1-7;+Rev.+12:9&q_scope=
Some insist that an all-wise, all-powerful God could not create a son that would turn bad. But such an assertion reduces God’s intelligent creatures to robots that are incapable of free choice. The fact that man was created “in God’s image,” and perfect at that, and yet turned bad, precludes such a narrow viewpoint.—Gen. 1:27, 31; Deut. 32:4.http://biblize.com/search?q=Gen.+1:27,+31;+Deut.+32:4&q_scope=
But why has God allowed the Devil to exist for so long?
Why Permitted to Exist?
At the beginning of human history the Devil, through a serpent, introduced rebellion into the human family. (Gen. 3:1-7; Rev. 12:9) http://biblize.com/search?q=Gen.+3:1-7;+Rev.+12:9&q_scope=
He deceived Eve into thinking that disobedience to God would be a way of superior enlightenment. He suggested that mankind would be better off governing themselves, deciding for themselves what was good and what was bad, instead of submitting to God’s direction. In direct contradiction to God, Satan stated that Adam and Eve would not die if they disobeyed.—Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-5.http://biblize.com/search?q=Gen.+2:15-17;+3:1-5&q_scope=
The Devil thus implied that God was a liar and that God’s way of ruling over mankind was unrighteous and oppressive. The Bible account of Job shows that Satan also questioned the motive with which people serve God. He claimed that Job did so only because God prospered him materially.—Job 1:9-11; 2:4, 5http://biblize.com/search?q=Job+1:9-11;+2:4,+5&q_scope=
The Devil thus implied that God was a liar and that God’s way of ruling over mankind was unrighteous and oppressive. The Bible account of Job shows that Satan also questioned the motive with which people serve God. He claimed that Job did so only because God prospered him materially.—Job 1:9-11; 2:4, 5http://biblize.com/search?q=Job+1:9-11;+2:4,+5&q_scope=
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