The Psychic and The Supernatural: Rethinking Satan Part 1
Satan may not be who you think he is. Nor might he be what you were taught to believe in church. No, I am not starting some type of new Satan cult. What I want to do is present you with some teaching that is widely discussed in scholarly circles but somehow never seems to trickle its way down. Why? Tradition is hard to break. So, come sit down with your old buddy Zeke here for this series of posts and I am going to give you the skinny on some stuff you might not have never heard nor thought about.
Welcome to the first post on rethinking Satan.
When many of us hear the word “Satan”, we usually think of the arch-enemy of God. But did you know this isn’t the only use of the word “satan” in the Bible? The word “satan” is a Hebrew word that means “to oppose, to obstruct, to accuse, to challenge”. The word then refers to a challenger. In this post, we are going to examine how this term is used in the Old Testament then close out with a few observations that are going to carry over in the rest of the post.
First, we have to remember that when studying the Old Testament (or any part of Scripture) we need to focus on how the original audience would have understood the text. Since the OT is an Ancient Near East document, we have to learn to look at it through ancient eyes. With that being said, let’s begin our examination of the word “satan” in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible.
When we examine the word “satan” in the Old Testament (from here on out, OT), one of the first things we notice is that it can be used as both a noun and a verb. When used in its verb form, it takes on the connotation “to oppose as an adversary” (see Psalm 38:20; 71:13; 109:4,20,29; Zech 3:1). When it is used as a noun, it is applied to a human being as an adversary (see 1 Sam 29:4; 2 Sam 19:22; 1 Kings 5:4; 11:14, 23,25). In four other books of the OT, the term is referring to supernatural being (Numbers 22:22,32; Job 1:6-8; Zech 3:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1)
“Satan” as a human challenger:
In most English bibles, when the word “satan” appears to be referring to a human being, the word is translated “adversary” or “enemy”. An example of this usage is found in 1 Kings 5:4, where Solomon talks about the opportunity he has to build the temple because of the absence of any “satan”. David also uses this word in 2 Samuel 19:22 when he speaks of Abishai as a “satan”.
“Satan” as a supernatural figure:
One of the things that may surprise you is that this term is used to describe the Angel of the LORD (some would say this figure refers to God himself). In Numbers 22:22, the Angel of the LORD is referred to as a “satan” who is meant to obstruct or stop Balaam and his donkey. The angel is not a “satan” per se, but an “opposer” to Balaam. This should help us see that the word “satan”, in and of itself, is not necessarily a negative word.
There are three more instances in the OT where this word could take on a negative tone (but as we shall see, that is debated). Those three instances are found in the book of 1 Chronicles, Zechariah, and Job. In each of the passages that we will examine in these books, there is one thing that sets the uses of “satan” apart from the other uses. These are the only passages where an article appears before the noun “satan”. This means that “the satan” is a title (not a personal name) or a function that a supernatural being holds.
1 Chronicles 21:1- “Then the Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.”
Before we talk about this verse, I want to point out something to you in 2 Samuel’s version of the event. “Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” 2 Samuel 24:1.
What we see from these two verses is that 1) Yahweh’s anger is aroused, 2) He is the one who moves them to take the census 3) He uses the Satan to do it. Again, we are not given the identity of this challenger, but simply told that some supernatural being is taking on the role or title of an adversary.
Zechariah 3:1-“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and the Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.”
As we will see shortly, the book of Zechariah presents a scene similar to that of Job. The term “satan” is used in the context of a trial or accusation. Joshua is standing before God, and “the satan” is there to accuse him. Some understand “the satan” not to be acting in a malicious way, but is merely acting as a prosecuting attorney to see if people have integrity (Eugene Boring, Revelation, pg. 165). Others suggest that “the satan” is just questioning whether Joshua is fit for the priesthood (Marvin Tate, Satan, pg. 463).
The reason why scholars are divided over whether this “satan” is acting in a hostile way has to do with how the verb for “rebuke” is being used in this scene. It appears twice in Zech 3:2, and the rebuke is spoken by Yahweh to “the satan”. Marvin Tate argues that the word may just suggest that God is not pleased with the case made by “the satan”, and that the usage of the verb is not sufficient enough to establish that “the satan” in this story is not the main adversary of God. (Tate, Satan, 464). He argues such a point based on the fact that the noun “rebuke” is used in relation to a person who is favorable to God in the book of Proverbs (Prov. 17:10).
There are some who disagree with this interpretation, and without giving a list of names, the basic argument is that such a word indicates a strong curse or an expression of anger on God’s part, and that this accuser is meant to be seen in a negative light.
Job 1:6- “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Satan also came among them.”
We have saved looking at Job for last, because it provides us with the most information in the OT about this being with the title “the challenger”. Some have debated as to whether or not this challenger is a full-fledged member of the divine council, or just one who has come to crash the party. I think this being is a full-fledged member. Here’s why: Notice the casual way in which Yahweh engages him in conversation, asking where he has come from. God’s question is an invitation to “the satan” to give a report in this meeting (just as it is with the other sons of God), which implies that “the satan” has come to give just such a report. Also, the verb that communicates the reason for his being there is also applied to the sons of God (present themselves). This suggest that “the satan” is there in an official way, as one on the court of the sons of God (John Walton, Job, pg. 64). Here, the article is used before the noun “satan”, thus indicating that this being is fulfilling a function on the divine council- he is the challenger.
Earlier, we have seen that this word can take on a variety of applications, which means ultimately, we do not know who this individual is- neither here, nor in Chronicles and Zechariah. In Job 1:6, we are introduced to a divine being, whose identity is really unimportant, and who could have just a current or temporary status as “challenger” (God could have just as easily assigned one of the council members to perform this task for that day. It could be a role that multiple beings play, depending on the situation- thus the ambiguity of the term used in the Hebrew bible). This interpretation is consistent with what we see in the Ancient Near East. In Israelite and Mesopotamian legal practice, “the Challenger” was a legal status that various people temporarily acquired in certain circumstances, as opposed to an official office or post (Walton, Job, 66).
With all this being said, and given the ambiguity of the term “satan”, we must now also consider that as a function, the role of a “satan” in the Hebrew bible is not intrinsically evil (especially seeing that the Angel of the LORD engaged in this role, though the specific title, “the satan”, is not given to Him).
So, here is what we know about the Challenger in Job (Walton, Job, 66):
1 The Challenger does not initiate the discussion, God does.
2. The Challenger merely offers another explanation of Job’s faithfulness.
3. God’s policies are the true focus of the Challenger, not the failures of human beings.
4. Job’s character is just a test case.
5. The Challenger therefore serves a “watchdog”, whose role is to raise questions of accountability.
6. The Challenger issues the challenges in order to promote the general good by questioning the policies and decisions, and putting them under scrutiny
7. The book proves that God’s policies are not wicked or corrupt, and the Satan is never mentioned again in the book, thus fading off into the shadows because he was proved wrong.
Concluding Remarks:
As we have seen, “satan” has nuanced meanings in the OT. Yet for our purposes in closing out this article, we want to specifically focus on the passages in Chronicles, Job, and Zechariah. The function of “the satan” in Chronicles is different than that of Job/Zechariah. In Chronicles, “the satan” functions as an agent of judgment. This is radically different from the role of “the satan” in Job/Zechariah, which is mainly one of questioning the fitness and integrity of human beings. This should cause us hesitancy in saying that “the satan” of Chronicles was the same as Job/Zechariah (though it could be inferred that the person who holds the office of “the satan” can take on both roles).
So, here is what we can take away from the OT view on “the satan”:
1. It is a temporary, functional role.
2. In Job, the Satan is part of the sons of God; the divine council
3. In Zechariah, the Satan is an accuser.
4. In Chronicles, the Satan is an agent of judgment.
5. Finally, the Hebrews have no concept of “the Satan” being a fallen angel who rebelled against God before creation.
But what about Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28? And what about the New Testament where Satan is clearly presented as a malicious, insidious, opponent of God? We will get there. In the next post, we will examine Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Genesis 3.
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