by jimwalton » Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:04 pm
You are right that all Satan's power is God-granted. Aside from things you may have been taught, consider this:
1. Satan is a functionary of God. In the Old Testament he even seems to be commissioned by God, though this is not what it looks like in the New Testament.
2. In the OT Satan is not seen as inherently evil.
3. In the NT there is never a suggestion that Satan is an enemy of God, though there is no question he is not on God's side. He is a deceiver and an adversary.
4. In the NT, despite everything Satan seems to be trying to do, he ends up doing exactly what God wants him to do (temptation, crucifixion, etc.). Everything he does is folded into God's plans. In the NT he's not a functionary, though, like he seems to be in the OT; it's not like he's one of God's minions doing the dirty work. That's not what he is.
5. Satan's power is of no comparison to God's. The Bible doesn't teach dualism. When God's power comes up against Satan's, it's like shooting fish in a bucket; it's no contest.
> Where did he get the power to shapeshifter into a snake?
The OT never calls the serpent in the garden Satan, nor even identifies him with Satan. In the OT, the serpent would have been viewed as a chaos creature from the non-ordered realm, promoting disorder. Chaos creatures in the ancient world were typically composite creatures (like cherubim) with a combination of attributes that belonged to the sphere of the divine, but were not deified. They were created by God (Gn. 1.21; Job 40.15-19; Ps. 104.26). They were not thought of as evil; they are amoral, but can be mischievous or destructive.
But it may not have been a literal snake (shapeshifting and all that). The Hebrew word for serpent is nahash, which is indeed the common word for snake, but it also possibly means "able to stand upright." There are all kinds of verbal possibilities here. For instance, nahash is the same root as nehoset, which means "bronze." So the shiny, upright snake in Number 21.9 is the same root: it was a literal thing, but a spiritual symbol. "Snake" could also be a word play, because the Hebrew word for "deceive" is very close to it, and is the same root as for magic and divination. Snakes in the ancient world were very much associated with spiritual powers, magic, and cultic rituals. So what if this "thing" (the nhs) was a spiritual power, represented to the woman as a bright creature, speaking "spiritual wisdom", and yet was deceiving her—the word for snake? Just a little bit of research changes the whole picture.
> Where does he get the power to fool people into believing?
He is a spiritual being with spiritual power. The Bible indicates that some spiritual beings have great power. And while the Bible may not call Satan an enemy of God (though certainly an adversary), it distinctly calls him an enemy of humans, with a goal to destroy us. (And in that sense, of course, we understand he is an "enemy" of God from that perspective.)
Satan, though, is still accountable for the decisions he is making and the actions he is taking. He is a free agent, not just a robot in the hands of God. He has volition, and he is real. He will be punished for his actions.
You are right that all Satan's power is God-granted. Aside from things you may have been taught, consider this:
1. Satan is a functionary of God. In the Old Testament he even seems to be commissioned by God, though this is not what it looks like in the New Testament.
2. In the OT Satan is not seen as inherently evil.
3. In the NT there is never a suggestion that Satan is an enemy of God, though there is no question he is not on God's side. He is a deceiver and an adversary.
4. In the NT, despite everything Satan seems to be trying to do, he ends up doing exactly what God wants him to do (temptation, crucifixion, etc.). Everything he does is folded into God's plans. In the NT he's not a functionary, though, like he seems to be in the OT; it's not like he's one of God's minions doing the dirty work. That's not what he is.
5. Satan's power is of no comparison to God's. The Bible doesn't teach dualism. When God's power comes up against Satan's, it's like shooting fish in a bucket; it's no contest.
> Where did he get the power to shapeshifter into a snake?
The OT never calls the serpent in the garden Satan, nor even identifies him with Satan. In the OT, the serpent would have been viewed as a chaos creature from the non-ordered realm, promoting disorder. Chaos creatures in the ancient world were typically composite creatures (like cherubim) with a combination of attributes that belonged to the sphere of the divine, but were not deified. They were created by God (Gn. 1.21; Job 40.15-19; Ps. 104.26). They were not thought of as evil; they are amoral, but can be mischievous or destructive.
But it may not have been a literal snake (shapeshifting and all that). The Hebrew word for serpent is nahash, which is indeed the common word for snake, but it also possibly means "able to stand upright." There are all kinds of verbal possibilities here. For instance, nahash is the same root as nehoset, which means "bronze." So the shiny, upright snake in Number 21.9 is the same root: it was a literal thing, but a spiritual symbol. "Snake" could also be a word play, because the Hebrew word for "deceive" is very close to it, and is the same root as for magic and divination. Snakes in the ancient world were very much associated with spiritual powers, magic, and cultic rituals. So what if this "thing" (the nhs) was a spiritual power, represented to the woman as a bright creature, speaking "spiritual wisdom", and yet was deceiving her—the word for snake? Just a little bit of research changes the whole picture.
> Where does he get the power to fool people into believing?
He is a spiritual being with spiritual power. The Bible indicates that some spiritual beings have great power. And while the Bible may not call Satan an enemy of God (though certainly an adversary), it distinctly calls him an enemy of humans, with a goal to destroy us. (And in that sense, of course, we understand he is an "enemy" of God from that perspective.)
Satan, though, is still accountable for the decisions he is making and the actions he is taking. He is a free agent, not just a robot in the hands of God. He has volition, and he is real. He will be punished for his actions.