What the Bible says about Adversary
(From Forerunner Commentary)
God was angry because Balaam went when He had specifically told him, "Don't go unless they come to you and ask you." Nothing in God's Word says that they did. Instead, it says that Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and off he went.
God gave conditional permission. The condition was only if he was asked again, but he was not asked again yet went anyway. Balaam was one of those people who, if you give him an inch, he takes a mile. If he was not specifically told, "You shall not go," then he thought that meant he could go ahead and leave.
In like manner, there are those who think, "Well, because the Bible doesn't say 'Thus saith the Lord,' it's okay!" We can see many things in Balaam's character that are similar to what many people today mimic due to the fact that they are not listening to God either. God was very specific with Balaam, but all he heard was, "Go ahead!" He tuned out the part that began with if.
This is why God was angry with him. He was so angry that He came out against him, to stand in his way. Maybe the most intriguing detail here is that the word adversary is, in Hebrew, satan, which means generally "adversary, enemy, foe." God came out against Balaam the same way that Satan comes out against us, when God allows him to do so. God set Himself up as Balaam's enemy.
In reality, by leaving without fulfilling the conditions, Balaam chose to join Satan's side. God, then, visibly to the donkey but invisibly to Balaam, set Himself up as the adversary to Balaam.
Balaam showed God that he would do what Balak wanted him to do. In counterpoint, God will do something to try to get Balaam to change, to turn. God does not come out against Balaam as a normal enemy would—to do him harm—but to turn him around and give him a chance to repent. But Balaam would have nothing to do with that. He had set himself up as an enemy of God, and he never turns himself around.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Balaam and the End-Time Church (Part 2)Related Topics: Adversary | Balaam | Balaam's Sin | Balaamism | Conditional Permission | Enemy of God | Loopholes | Presumptuousness | Satan
We know God names things for what they are. He reveals to us the Hebrew names of three great and powerful angels: Michael, Gabriel, and Heylel (also spelled as Helel). Our main focus will be on Heylel, the anointed cherub who rebelled against God, becoming the enemy, and so he is named Satan, "adversary." However, before we consider the meaning of the names that describe his current character, we will examine who he was originally.
Ezekiel 28:12 informs us that he was one of two cherubs whose wings covered the throne of God. (We know there were two from the pattern that God gave to Moses for the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25.) What does a cherub look like? According to Ezekiel 10:14, "Each of the cherubim had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle." Ezekiel 1:5-14 adds a great deal of detail. We can only assume that Satan may have looked similar.
Isaiah 14:12-14 records what caused Heylel's fall from his exalted position: He tried to overthrow the Almighty and set up his own throne in God's place! In verse 12, he is referred to as "Lucifer" in the King James (KJV) and New King James Versions, but the underlying Hebrew word is heylel. In English Bibles, "Lucifer" appears only this one time, but is it a correct translation?
Many assume that lucifer was the Greek equivalent to heylel. However, lucifer is not a Greek word but a Latin one, and it has the exact same meaning as the Greek word phosphoros. They both mean "light-bearer" or "light-bringer," but this is not what the Hebrew word heylel means!
Before we investigate this word's meaning, we need to read II Peter 1:19: "Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (emphasis ours).
Peter refers to Jesus Christ as "the morning star," which is phosphoros in Greek. In the Latin Vulgate, the word here is lucifer. Looking into the history of the Bible's translation, we find that it was in AD 405 that Jerome, commissioned by the Pope to translate the Hebrew Bible into Latin, gave the fallen angel Heylel the name "Lucifer," meaning "light-bearer" or "light-bringer."
But Jesus is the Light-bearer or Light-bringer, not Heylel!
What does the Hebrew word heylel mean? Some commentators say it means "son of the dawn" or "son of the morning." As Isaiah 14:12 is the only place this word appears in the Bible, they take the meaning from the context: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O [Heylel], son of the morning!" (KJV). Since angels are sometimes referred to as "sons of God," the translators reckoned that this being, too, was the son or product of his Creator, who is the true Light-bearer or Light-bringer. But is this what it really means?
Heylel is derived from the primitive root word halal, used 165 times in the Old Testament and mostly translated as "praise," "glory," and "boast." This reveals a little bit about this cherub, as he was created to praise and glorify God, but instead, he became boastful and sought the praise and glory for himself, as we see in Isaiah 14:13-14. When sin was found in him, God cast him back to the earth and renamed him for who and what he truly is, the adversary of God and all who stand with Him.
Clyde Finklea
Behind Enemy Lines (Part One)
Ezekiel 28 chronicles Satan and his downfall into sin. Notice verse 2, addressed by God to "the prince of Tyre," a human type of Satan, probably the ruler of that Phoenician city: "Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, 'I am a god. I sit in the seat of gods in the midst of the seas,' yet you are a man, and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god." In verses 3-5, God describes his proud attitude, and in verses 12-17, he shows the same attitude in Satan.
Satan was a covering cherub at the very throne of God. He saw how beautiful he was and how he held such a high position. He also saw the mighty works of God, and instead of being pleased with his part in God's plan, he allowed his pride to lead him into discontentment. No longer satisfied with his position, he soon attempted to usurp God's throne.
This great being, renamed as "Adversary," is still filled with pride, and with that pride comes a great deal of discontent. He influenced one-third of the angels and then all of mankind to be discontent and ungrateful (Revelation 12:7-9). Even now, Satan wants instant gratification. He wants adulation. He wants everything under his power. As "the prince and power of the air," he broadcasts his discontent throughout the world (Ephesians 2:2).
If we do not keep control of our minds, we could, even after being converted by God, allow ourselves to fall victim to the same problem of discontentment that has beset man down through the ages. If we do not stay on top of this, we, too, could become locked into dangerous thoughts that will set us on the path to eternal damnation. We can see how serious a sin discontentment can be.
Geoff Preston
Be Content in All Things (Part One)
God had created Helel (commonly mistranslated as "Lucifer") a perfect spirit being, but He also gave him free moral agency, that is, the ability to choose to follow good or evil. Helel chose to become Satan the Devil, the Adversary, by allowing sin to mold his character. His rebellion against God sealed and hardened his evil nature, and now he opposes all that is good, right, and godly (Matthew 13:38-39; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 9:11; 12:9-10).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Satan's Origin and DestinyRelated Topics: Adversary | Devil, The | Helel | Satan | Satan's Character | Satan's Fate | Satan's Nature
These verses link together many things regarding sin:
- All have been involved in sin.
- Sin is the force that drives this world.
- This driving force emanates from Satan.
- It motivates conduct involving flesh and mind.
Sin does negative things to us and others. If it were positive or even neutral, a loving God would be unconcerned about it. He would not lead us to repentance or demand that we repent of it. He would not command us to overcome it and come out of this world.
Satan is at the crux of sin. His name means "Adversary." He is against God and anything godly. In Revelation 9:11, he is called "Abaddon" and "Apollyon," and both of these names, one Hebrew, the other Greek, mean "Destroyer." Satan is a destroyer, and the spirit that emanates from him, that drives this world and produces sin, is a destroying spirit. We can broadly say that sin does two bad things simultaneously: It produces negative results and destroys.
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Sin IsRelated Topics: Abaddon | Adversary | Apollyon | Destroyer | Satan | Satan as Author of Human Sin | Satan as Cause of Human Sin | Sin | Sin, Consequences of | Sin, Malignant Power of
The prophesied release of Satan after the Millennium teaches us significant lessons. God says, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done” (Isaiah 46:9-10). What Satan does after he is released is history written in advance. His deceptions and warmongering are the future, recorded thousands of years before they happen.
This fact is remarkable to consider. Mankind desires to know the future; we look to news analyses and weather forecasts to glimpse an idea of what lies ahead so we can respond appropriately. We use such indicators to prepare for the future or perhaps to work to change the course of events.
What is astounding is that the Adversary also knows the Scriptures, and he sees his future written in advance. This reality provides vivid testimony of Satan's nature—that he simply will not change, even knowing how disastrous the end will be for him. The advance knowledge makes no difference. So, in addition to God giving Satan his freedom so he can commit his final rebellion, a second reason He must release him is to provide us with this final, powerful lesson about the Serpent's nature.
When God releases Satan, the Deceiver does what he has always done. Even after a thousand years of stasis, his nature remains unchanged. After a millennium of reflecting on his plight, calculating his ideal course of action, and contemplating his spiritual navel, as it were, he reaches the conclusion he started with: He knows better.
Maybe he will not be aware of the peace and prosperity as it blooms outside the pit, but when he is released, he will be able to see that goodness and abundance with his own eyes. Yet even with all the years of mankind under Christ, living the best that people can live, and all the good humanity will produce in cooperation with God, Satan will emerge, discount the evidence, and continue to act in the way that seems best to him, even though it destroys the lives of others.
Isaiah 14 reveals this attitude when it speaks of Helel ascending, exalting his throne, and trying to become the Most High. His image of self-perfection is written in stone. In his heart, he is convinced that he deserves more and better than God gave him.
David C. Grabbe
Why Must Satan Be Released?Related Topics: Adversary | Helel | Satan as Deceiver | Satan as Liar | Satan's Deception | Satan's Image | Satan's Nature | Self-Exaltation
We shake our heads at this most wretched of creatures, and rightfully so, for his existence is miserable. His removal will bring relief to the whole earth because even without making anybody sin, his presence always spawns turmoil. His fruits are always chaos, sin, misery, and destruction.
But before we become self-satisfied, consider substituting the phrase “carnal human nature” for Satan in Revelation 20:7-9. When our carnal nature is released, it immediately does what it has always done. Our carnality retains the spiritual image of Satan, and in type, it always produces the same things, even though we, too, have been told the end in advance!
Therefore, one reason Satan must be released is to remind us that even as our Adversary never changes, human nature is always ready to choose spiritual blindness. In Revelation 20:7-9, the nations fall for the deceptions, just as Eve did because Satan easily manipulates the natural inclination of the human heart toward self-centeredness. It hears the siren song of getting more, of asserting itself over others, and it begins dancing to the tune.
Satan's spirit permeates this world, and it works in those who disobey, as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-3. Such was our condition before God regenerated us and endued us with His Spirit. However, the indwelling of God does not mean that our former selves have been banished. Thus, the epistles urge us to put off the works of the flesh, the hidden things of darkness, and the old man. Corruption will remain until the day of our resurrection or change when we finally put on incorruption. Until then, we wrestle with the law of sin and death at work in our members, struggling to keep our old man bound in chains.
But when we let down, we release our old man for a little while. Like Satan, he goes to war against God and man just as soon as his chains slacken. What remains of Satan's image in us is ever-ready to spring forth and risk all the spiritual abundance we have received.
Once let loose, our old man resists God. He bends the truth or even lies boldly for camouflage, self-preservation, or self-advantage. He radiates pride, antagonism, competition, selfish ambition, and unflinching confidence in his own rightness, even if it means God Himself would be wrong. He challenges God's sovereignty in his thoughts, perhaps in his words, and even in conduct.
Our old man has no problem using people for his own ends—even sacrificing them like Satan does the nations—because his ends always justify his means. Just as Satan gambles that he can skirt the consequences that always fall, our old man also bets that it will be different for us and the consequences the Bible foretells will not happen. God recorded the effects of sin for us millennia ago, yet when we are in the moment, we still convince ourselves that His Word is not absolute—that all those bad things will never happen to us. Yet Revelation 20 tells us—just as it tells Satan—where those choices lead. We, too, know the result of sin, for it is written in advance.
Once the generation of those who live through the Day of the Lord dies, no human will have ever experienced Satan's broadcast. Think about having a 1,000-year history when nation will have never lifted up sword against nation, never learned how to make war. The nations will reap the abundance of Christ's rule, especially the blessing of peace.
Despite this, human nature in the nations will cast aside everything they have achieved because it believes it can have more, even though “having more” will mean opposing God's perfect will. Their human nature will wager that attacking is better than submitting.
As a test for the nations in the four corners of the earth, God releases Satan so those who are inclined to listen to him can be separated from those who listen to God, as chaff is separated from wheat. The Almighty finally judges the Adversary for his never-ending opposition, and He will judge the nations who follow the Deceiver for choosing to heed his poisonous message. Clearly, Satan is the instigator of the rebellion, but the root problem is human nature's unchanging proclivity to find common cause with his self-centeredness. If mankind possessed the character and heart of Jesus Christ, the Devil's fiery darts would have nothing to hit.
While Satan's influence and work amplify the perversity of human nature, carnality is a malignant force on its own. The real solution to sin is to replace human nature entirely with God's nature—one that is incorruptible, will not follow Satan's urgings, and will never become another adversary of God. This is what God is doing, and when the divine purpose has been fully worked out, nothing will ever again defile the Eternal's magnificent creation.
David C. Grabbe
Why Must Satan Be Released?Related Topics: Adversary | Bondage to Satan | Bondage to Sin | Carnal Human Nature | Competition | Death as Wages of Sin | Heart Deceitful Above All Things | Law of Sin | Law of Sin and Death | Pride | Putting off Carnal Characteristics | Satan as a Liar | Satan as Deceiver | Satan as Destroyer | Satan as Destroyer of Mankind | Self-Centered Influence on Human Heart | Self-Centeredness | Spiritual Blindness | Wages of Sin as Death | Why Satan Must be Released?