Satan's Names...
In the Scriptures there are more than 40 titles and descriptive names given to the devil. They are highly revealing of his character. Most frequently he is called Satan, meaning adversary; next, the devil, or slanderer . In the New Testament, this word is often used in the plural. In every case it refers not to Satan, but to demons, or fallen spirits who do the will of Satan. Properly, they should be designated as demons, not devils.
Other descriptive designations are: Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) (Rev. 9:11); accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10); Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (demons) (Matt. 12:24); Belial (II Cor. 6:15); the deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9); the wicked one (Matt 13:19); a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
Satan's relationship to the world, with particular refrence to his power and authority, is shown in names like these: the god of this world ( II Cor. 4:4); the prince of this world (John 12:31); the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). His tremendous prestige is revealed strikingly by his being called the one in whom the whole world lies ( I John 5:18, 19).
The scope of the devil's evil machinations is shown further by such titles as: the great dragon, that old serpant (Rev. 12:9); the tempter (Matt. 4:1-10); a murderer (John 8:44); the sinner from the beginning (I John 3:8).
It is impossible to underestimate the malevolence, the importance and the influence of this person. The Scriptures give wide recognition to his desperate, deadly character. While moral evil is his basic attribute, at the same time he is the very embodiment of all sorts of evil. His cruel, wicked nature was best described by the Lord Jesus Christ in calling him "a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). Murder, in his case, was the first intention he had in trying to separate Almighty God from that which was eternally and rightfully His: the first place in the universe He had created. Further, Satan abode not in the truth. His was a total turning from integrity. Consequently, there remained no truth in him at all. All of his utterances are lies, and he has coined his own fabric of falsehood. All untruth proceeds from him, who became the very father of lies, he has his own infernal vocabulary.
In the Scriptures there are more than 40 titles and descriptive names given to the devil. They are highly revealing of his character. Most frequently he is called Satan, meaning adversary; next, the devil, or slanderer . In the New Testament, this word is often used in the plural. In every case it refers not to Satan, but to demons, or fallen spirits who do the will of Satan. Properly, they should be designated as demons, not devils.
Other descriptive designations are: Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) (Rev. 9:11); accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10); Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (demons) (Matt. 12:24); Belial (II Cor. 6:15); the deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9); the wicked one (Matt 13:19); a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
Satan's relationship to the world, with particular refrence to his power and authority, is shown in names like these: the god of this world ( II Cor. 4:4); the prince of this world (John 12:31); the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). His tremendous prestige is revealed strikingly by his being called the one in whom the whole world lies ( I John 5:18, 19).
The scope of the devil's evil machinations is shown further by such titles as: the great dragon, that old serpant (Rev. 12:9); the tempter (Matt. 4:1-10); a murderer (John 8:44); the sinner from the beginning (I John 3:8).
It is impossible to underestimate the malevolence, the importance and the influence of this person. The Scriptures give wide recognition to his desperate, deadly character. While moral evil is his basic attribute, at the same time he is the very embodiment of all sorts of evil. His cruel, wicked nature was best described by the Lord Jesus Christ in calling him "a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). Murder, in his case, was the first intention he had in trying to separate Almighty God from that which was eternally and rightfully His: the first place in the universe He had created. Further, Satan abode not in the truth. His was a total turning from integrity. Consequently, there remained no truth in him at all. All of his utterances are lies, and he has coined his own fabric of falsehood. All untruth proceeds from him, who became the very father of lies, he has his own infernal vocabulary.
To add to the horror, this malicious, murderous creature is loose in the world, aided and abetted by unnumbered groups of fallen spirit beings. Thank God, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4).
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