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Who is the Devil?

EnhancedSpirit

High Priestess
thank you gnostic, that was a lot of info you shared. Did you realize with all of that the devil is not mentioned at all, not one time, in the old testament of the KJV? I found that to be very interesting.

The simplest way I've heard it explained, and it's starting to make more sense to me, is this:

THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS
 

Ernestine

Member
The name "Satan" means resister or adversary. "Devil" comes from the Greek word "diabolos" and means false accuser/slanderer. The name Satan the Devil was given him because of him taking a position of opposition to Jehovah. When created, Satan was perfect. Beginning with his act of turning Adam and Eve away from God, he became a manslayer, and thereby brought about the death of Adam and Eve, which in turn brought death to us. He raised the issue of universal sovereignty when he challenged Jehovah's right to rule. He later (Book of Job) claimed that man only served God because of selfish considerations--for the good things that God did for them. Since that time Satan has been joined by other wicked demons who are bent on turning humankind away from Jehovah God. When God's son, Jesus was on earth, Satan tried to cause him to stumble--he desired to cause Jesus' destruction by getting him to entertain thoughts other than Jehovah's will. Satan continues to wage war against Jesus' followers and he uses many different tactics against them. The Bible says that the Devil walks around like a roaring lion hoping to devour someone. The Book of Revelation speaks of the last days of Satan and his end--Satan is hurled down from the heavens, confined to the vicinity of the earth, later to be bound and abyssed.
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
Lucifer, in Hebrew, means "heylel,...the morning-star."
Thanks, I was about to post that myself.

however, "Lucifer" does not become part of the text until the 4th century, until then it's not even the name of a person.
While he doesn't become part of this text until the 4th century, the name was used in Roman mythology. He existed...just not in the Judeo-Christian paradigm. Such is the case with most "devils."
 

opuntia

Religion is Law
jewscout said:
for Judaism, The satan is one of the Ministering Angels who can do nothing w/o G-d's say so.
That is true enough, he can do nothing unless God permitted him.

"And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he [Job] hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand [to destroy]. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD." (Job 1:12; KJV).

The preexistence is the condition before the creation of the earth. God was in the preexistence, else how could He have created unless He existed first before the earth?
 

BM5

Member
Luciel or Lucifer or Satan was the Morning Star who challenged God and with him went one third of the angels. They were tested and failed. Now he is the winnower of the human race.
 

Ciscokid

Well-Known Member
commandment4 said:
I know this is a wierd question but Who is the Devil?
we have been taught that he is Lucifer is the Devil (Satan) and one of Gods fallen angels but can you tell me where it says this in the Bible?
Please give me some scripture to back this story up.


In the Old testament, he was a prosecuting attorney if you will. He would go to God and accuse humanity of various offenses. In the NT, his role changed, he became the scape goat for all the problems/evils in peoples lives.

In the end, he is mythological being.
 

Darkdale

World Leader Pretend
EnhancedSpirit said:
The devil is only referenced in the new testament. The devil resides in the heart of man. The 'devil' is the evil in man, and has been projected as a seperate being, so man can blame their wickedness on something, instead of accepting it as their own.

I view this somewhat differently. The devil is the part of the individual that is natural, instinctual, and animal... it's the part of us that we constantly pretend we are "better" than. :) The devil is the true self.
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
I find the origin of the Christian Devil very interesting, as it gives a good example of the process of myth formation.
People today think of the devil as an evil angel/god who rules over the land of Hell.

We can trace the creation of this modern Devil back to several different sources, but in doing so we lose the validity of the belief people hold today, thus modern Christians are reluctant to accept any of it.

Satan. As has already been said, is in the employ of God - he is not against God but does God's bidding. In the Book of Job, God asked Satan to test Job to show how loyal Job was to God, thus setting the perfect example to the people of how a man should be.

Lucifer. He was a minor deity in the Roman pantheon. He represented the planet Venus, the morning star, until it was later given over to the goddess of the same name in her honour. References to the morning star in Isaiah and in Revelation led to the association of Lucifer with the black dragon, and became synonimous with Satan. That Jesus was also referred to as the morning star seems to be ignored in modern Christian mythology.

Hell. Hell originates in Norse mythology, it is a realm ruled over by a goddess of the same name - Hel. Hel is where the diseased and dishonourable people go when they die. The walls drip with blood and they are given nothing but goats urine to drink. The modern Hell is a mixture of the Norse Hel, and the Jewish valley of fire - Gehenna.
Interestingly, Judaism is a religion of life, whereas Chhristianity is a religion of death. The ancient Hebrews believed in a single afterlife, similar to the Greek Hades, a shadow-like imitation of this life. To them it was this life that was more important, hence why God is sometimes referred to as the living God, or God of the living.
In Christianity more emphasis is placed on the afterlife, relagating this life into near pointlessness.

The Goat and Horns. Why does the Devil look like a goat? Well, it stems from two related sources. Firstly in Jewish tradition the goat is a symbol of idolatry. Secondly many pagan gods, such as Pan and Marduk are linked with goats, also there are pagan spirits called satyrs with goat horns and legs, much like the popular depiction of the Devil. This linking of pagan gods with evil is not uncommon practice and was used as propaganda.

Beelzebub. More commonly referred to in the NT, Jesus was accused of working with Beelzebub to drive out devils.
Beelzebub stems from Baal, but unlike popular misconceptions Baal was not a single deity. Baal in Canaanite means 'lord'. Each Canaanite village had its own Baal (lord) usually paired with an Ashtoroth (lady). Later Ashtoroth which is plural, became Ashtoreth - singular - and thus a goddess in her own right was born.
These Baals were incorporated into Jewish and Christian lore when the native peoples of Canaan were subsumed by the conquering Hebrews, their gods became the devils and demons who afflicted people with disease, both mental and physical.

Thus the modern devil, his realm and servent demons, stem from a mixture of ancient propaganda and misunderstandings in biblical translation and interpretation.
Stories like Paradise lost have popularised the modern mythology of a war in heaven, where fallen angels under the lead of Lucifer rebelled against God and now dwell in the realm of Hell. None of which is scriptually or mythologically accurate
 

joeboonda

Well-Known Member
56:5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
(King James Bible, Psalms)
3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
(King James Bible, 2 Peter)

The Bible is so plain and clear about Satan and how he is our enemy seeking whom He may devour, and from what I see on these forums, he is doing a great job of deceiving many, and taking as many with him as he can. Christ knows the end of all who are deceived by Satan, a horrible end, so horrible Christ had to die a horrible death to save us from that place. We are too proud, our righteousness is as filthy rags to a holy God. We must have Christ's righteousness imputed freely unto us, that is God's plan of salvation, Satan does not want anyone to accept this free gift. He is your enemy and mine, do not be misled.
 

ChrisP

Veteran Member
EnhancedSpirit said:
thank you gnostic, that was a lot of info you shared. Did you realize with all of that the devil is not mentioned at all, not one time, in the old testament of the KJV? I found that to be very interesting.

The simplest way I've heard it explained, and it's starting to make more sense to me, is this:

THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS
Who was testing Job then? And who was the voice in Eve's ear? Or is this just a "by name" thing?
 

kassi

Member
Satan is an evil spirit but he resides in man. Jealousy, murder, lies.e.t.c. There is no love with him.. God has granted in this age light and Dark, night and day. When Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God, he was saying that the rulers of darkness would be cast out. This is not seen completely yet, but it will be.
 

kassi

Member
ChrisP said:
Who was testing Job then? And who was the voice in Eve's ear? Or is this just a "by name" thing?
Other men were testing Job and these were jealous of him. Every true Godly man will try to be brought down by an unbeliever.
 

kassi

Member
On the whole the adversary of God is man himself. Peter the apostle at one time was called satan. Jesus said to him: you dont have in mind the things of God but of man. another time he rebuked John and James saying: you dont know what manner of spirit you are of, I did not come to destroy life but to save. WE lost the favor ( grace) of God in the garden of eden and were given up to all manner of evil. Christ came to restore that favor. Adam and Eve became exalted in their heart when they were put in the Garden, that is why the fall came. Paul the apostle explains alot of this. So read the scripture.
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
That Jesus was also referred to as the morning star seems to be ignored in modern Christian mythology.
Ironically, it's not ignored or overlooked in modern Luciferian mythology. We are all quite aware that both Lucifer and Jesus have been referred to as the morning star and most of us don't even find this confusing. We believe both Lucifer and Jesus were interested primarily in the well-being of mankind. We simply feel that Lucifer had the right idea and Jesus was essentially duped by God.
 

may

Well-Known Member
Satan​
the Devil

Definition:
The spirit creature who is the chief adversary of Jehovah God and of all who worship the true God. The name Satan was given to him because of his becoming a resister of Jehovah. Satan is also known as the Devil, because he is the foremost slanderer of God. Satan is described as the original serpent, evidently because of his using a serpent in Eden to deceive Eve, and for this reason "serpent" came to signify "deceiver." In the book of Revelation, the symbolism of a devouring dragon is also applied to Satan.
 

Evandr2

Member
EnhancedSpirit said:
Well, first of all Lucifer is only metioned once in the entire bible.
Isa 14:12 - How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Satan, on the other hand was a liar and a thief from the beginning. So these two are not the same. God has no enemies, but he had to show us 'opposites' so that we might understand him better. Satan was create by God, and works to purify us and lead us to God's will.

I strongly disagree.

In Isaiah 14:12, Isaiah realizes how the fall of the evil king of Babylon will be very much like the fall of Satan. Isaiah and, later, John the revelator made reference to the fall of Lucifer during the pre-mortal existence (Rev 12:7-9). Lucifer’s arrogance and pride carried the same spirit of evil, zeal, and ambition exhibited by the wicked king of Babylon.
Jesus made reference to the fall of Lucifer when He said “I beheld Satan as lightening fall from Heaven” (Luke 10:18) and then John the Revelator describes how there was a war in Heaven: Michael and his angles fought against the dragon……And the great Dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil, and Satan, which deceivith the whole world: He was cast out into the earth, and his angles were cast out with him (Rev 12:7-9)

In short, Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, being among the first of our Heavenly Father’s spirit children, tried to replace our Heavenly Father’s plan with one of his own and then take the glory from the Father. Jesus, on the other hand, offered himself as the Messiah necessary for the Father’s plan to be effective and reserved the glory for the Father.

When Jesus was accepted to be the Messiah and Lucifer’s flawed and foolish idea was rejected, Lucifer rebelled and was cast down and became the Devil, the father of lies whose only purpose is to thwart the plan of the Father and make us all as miserable as he is.
 

Evandr2

Member
kassi said:
Satan is an evil spirit but he resides in man. Jealousy, murder, lies.e.t.c. There is no love with him.. God has granted in this age light and Dark, night and day. When Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God, he was saying that the rulers of darkness would be cast out. This is not seen completely yet, but it will be.

Hello Kassi

I have a question for you. while Jesus was fasting for forty days and forty nights He was tempted of the Devil. If what you believe is correct, it must mean that the spirit of evil resided in the heart of the saviour. How can this be?

Also, the devil tempted Jesus in Luke 4:5-8
5 And the Spirit taketh him up into a high mountain, and he beheld all the kingdoms of the world, in a moment of time.
6 And the devil came unto him, and said unto him, All this power will I give unto thee, and the glory of them; for they are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give them.
7 If thou therefore, wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Given this scripture, who was asking Jesus to worship him in exchange for all the power and riches of the world?

Satan has been given the power to tempt man. Satan offered to let Jesus have His way with mankind if he would simply turn and worship him (satan)

Vandr
 

Evandr2

Member
Ðanisty said:
Ironically, it's not ignored or overlooked in modern Luciferian mythology. We are all quite aware that both Lucifer and Jesus have been referred to as the morning star and most of us don't even find this confusing. We believe both Lucifer and Jesus were interested primarily in the well-being of mankind. We simply feel that Lucifer had the right idea and Jesus was essentially duped by God.

The basis for our Heavenly Father's plan was for us to prove our worthiness to receive all that He had to bestow upon us by giving us our free agency to choose. Lucifer wanted to deny us our free agency and force us to comply.

Men must have a choice; they must be able to choose; there must be opposites; they must have agency; they must be free to worship the Lord or to follow Satan. All this is imperative. It is inherent in the whole plan of salvation. And unless men have the agency to choose to do good and work righteousness and then do so, they cannot be saved. There is no other way.


The children of God must know of wickedness before they can be righteous.
They must experience misery before they can know happiness.
They must understand damnation before they can appreciate salvation.
They must comprehend darkness before they can understand the light.
They must be given to choice before they can receive any consequences of their choices.

The organization of all creation is dependant on law. Because there is an opposites in all things the law must dictates order less there be chaos, confusion and all creation would cease to exist beyond infinite disorder.

In short, for the children of God to be happy and exalted even as He is they must know good and evil and choose the good of their own free will. Because the process of mortal probation causes all to stumble and be guilty of sin (save Jesus Christ) a mediator had to be provided. That mediator is Jesus Christ by virtue of His perfection.

Christ was not duped, He glorified the Father and became like him. Lucifer promoted a selfish and foolish plan that could not work and lost even that which he had because of rebellion. It is surprising that, even in the face of these realities, you claim that it was Christ and not Lucifer who was the fool.

As to your reference to both Christ and Lucifer being referred to as the morning Star the meaning is simple. Both Christ and Lucifer were amoung the eldest of the spirit children of the Father.

For more information spoken in plain and understandable language I invite you to visit faithandevidence.com

Vandr
 
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