Who is Satan

In learning about Yahweh, it is important that we also learn about Satan, the mal’akh who seems to dominate discussions in the Kodesh Scriptures when compared to other mal’akhim. Personally I had to see some answers because I am well versed with Christian teaching of this being, which I needed to review if my developing knowledge of the Creator is to be meaningful.

I was searching for information and this is one a saw. (see http://www.outreachjudaism.org/satan.html). I accept that people may say that this is Jewish stuff. I am aware of this of course but I am also aware that the scriptures were Jewish anyway. This one come in a form of question and answer. 

Without more a do let's go to the website now.

Dear Rabbi Singer:

When you were in Buffalo, NY in November of ..... , during the extended question and answer time, you were asked your view on angels and specifically about Satan.  I was astounded at your answer and was more astounded that the other rabbis present did not step into the discussion.

In your explanation of Satan and other fallen angels you attributed the creation of evil to YHWH thus making Him responsible for evil.  There are at least 87 references to YHWH's holiness in Leviticus alone!  In 11:44 YHWH says, "I AM HOLY."  Is not holiness the absence of sin?  There are many scriptures to prove that YHWH hates sin (evil), that He cannot tolerate evil in His presence.  How, then, can you attribute evil to YHWH?  I am interested in the Biblical support for your statement.

I have a fair understanding of Judaism and have found nothing in all of my reading to support your view as traditional.

Awaiting your reply.

A seeker after truth

Answer:

The rabbis to whom you made reference have spent their entire lives immersed in the study of the Jewish scriptures as well as other sacred Jewish literature and were, therefore, not "astounded" by the Judaism that was taught in Buffalo that evening, as you were.

Why weren't the rabbis stunned by these Jewish teachings on Satan?  Because the Hebrew scriptures explicitly declare that the Almighty Himself places both the good and the evil that He created before mankind in order to provide His prime creation with free will.  D’varim (Deuteronomy) 30:15 states,

See, I [YHWH] have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil. 

In Yesha’yahu 45:7, the prophet describes YHWH's creation plan when he reports that,

I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Mighty One do all these things. 

I did not invent these verses, nor did I tamper with them.  In fact, the Bible I used in the above quotations is the King James Version, which is a translation that could hardly be construed as friendly to the Jewish faith. (please note I changed the names though, because this blog is about YHWH not God or G-d: ATN)

These edifying verses underscore the fundamental biblical teaching that it is the perfect spiritual balance of good and evil in the world that confronts every searching soul.  This is the Almighty's divine sovereign plan for creation: It is through man's personal decision to turn away from evil and choose good that virtue can be attained.

Yesha’yahu 45:7 and D’varim (Deuteronomy) 30:15, however, pose a serious theological problem for Christians who maintain that YHWH did not create Satan, the angel of evil.  According to Christian doctrine, Satan was the highest-ranking angel who, through his own act of spiritual defiance and outright disobedience, became the chief adversary and slanderer of YHWH and the embodiment of evil in this world.  In Christian theology YHWH never created evil; He is only the author of righteousness and perfection, as you maintained in your question.  Therefore, YHWH could never create something as sinister as the devil himself.  Rather, Satan's unyielding wickedness is the result of his own spiritual rebellion.

Although this well-known Christian doctrine has much in common with the pagan Zoroastrian Persian dualism out of which it was born, it is completely alien to the teachings of the Jewish faith and the words of the Jewish scriptures.  In fact, the Christian teaching that Satan was originally intended by YHWH to be a good angel but, in an act of outright defiance, ceased to function as YHWH had intended him to, suggests that YHWH created something imperfect or defective.

For the Jewish faith, Satan's purpose in seducing man away from YHWH poses no problem because Satan is only an agent of YHWH.  As a servant of the Almighty, Satan faithfully carries out the divine will of his Creator as he does in all his tasks.

Satan is one of the many angels mentioned in the Bible.  It is worth noting that the Hebrew word for angel is mal’akh, meaning "messenger."  The same is true for the English word angel, derived from the Greek word angelos, which also means "messenger."  Throughout the Bible, an angel is a messenger of YHWH who carries out the divine will of the Almighty.  There is not one example in the Jewish scriptures where any angel, Satan included, opposes YWHW’s will.

In no part of the Bible is this more evident than in the Book of Iyov.  In the first chapter of Iyov, Satan appears with other mal’akim before YHWH and suggests that Iyov's steadfast faithfulness would not withstand personal pain and utter destitution.  Satan then requests from YHWH the chance to test Iyov's virtue.  The Almighty grants this request, but He meticulously outlines for Satan what he may and may not do when putting Iyov to the test.  Satan obediently follows his Creator's instructions.  Iyov is immediately put to the test and, by the third chapter, begins to struggle.  He questions his Maker as to why he was created and, in a moment of despair, wishes aloud that he had perished in his mother's womb.  Still, by the end of this unparalleled biblical narrative, Iyov's virtue prevails over Satan's unyielding torment.

While in Christian terms Iyov's personal spiritual triumph is a theological impossibility, in Jewish terms it stands out as the embodiment of YHWH's salvation program for mankind.  In D’varim (Deuteronomy) 30:15, the Torah attests to this principle and in Yesha’yahu 45:7, the prophet echoes this message when he declares that the Almighty Himself creates evil.

This biblical principle, however, was apparently too problematic for the Christian translators of the NIV Bible (New International Version).  They clearly recognized that a Bible which asserts that YHWH creates evil calls into question one of Christendom's most cherished teachings on salvation.  How can the church insist that man is totally depraved when his Creator (YHWH) placed him in a world where he is free to choose good over evil?  How can the church hold to a doctrine of election or predestination when free will is man's to express?  How can Christians maintain that YHWH did not create evil when the Jewish scriptures clearly state otherwise?

Understandably, the NIV translators saw fit to alter the prophet's words by rendering the offensive Hebrew word rah as "disaster" instead of correctly translating it as "bad" or "evil."  The NIV Bible therefore mis-translates Yesha’yahu 45:7 to read,

I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.

The word "disaster" inserted by the NIV is so ambiguous that the uninformed reader would easily come to the conclusion that it refers to such things as earthquakes and hurricanes which are refered to as disasters.  This skewed understanding created by the NIV mistranslation effectively conceals Yesha’yahu's original message.  As mentioned above, the KJV (King James Version) does correctly translate this verse and render the Hebrew word rah as "evil."

One final point is in order here.  Christians often point to Yesha’yahu 14:12 as a biblical reference to support their teachings of the final and complete downfall of Satan which brings to an end the long and otherwise successful career of this fallen angel.  They argue that Yesha’yahu's mention of the fallen "morning star" refers to Satan's ultimate demise at the end of time when Satan will finally be cast into a lake of fire as articulated in the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation.

There are, however, two serious problems with this assertion. 

First, if Christians maintain that the "morning star" is a reference to Satan, how do they explain Revelation 22:16 where Jesus is called the "morning star" as well? 

Secondly, a cursory reading of the fourteenth chapter of Yesha’yahu reveals that the "morning star" spoken of in Yesha’yahu 14:12 is referring to Nevuchadnetzar, the wicked King of Babylon, and not to Satan.  In 14:4 the prophet explicitly names the king of Babylon as the subject of the prophecy.

That thou shall take up this proverb against the king of Bavel, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased! 

Throughout this chapter and the preceding chapter of Yesha’yahu, the prophet foretells the rise and fall of this arrogant king who would use his unbridled power to plunder Jerusalem and destroy its Temple but, at the end, would suffer a cataclysmic downfall.  In 14:12 Nevuchadnetzer is compared to the planet Venus whose light is still visible in the morning yet vanishes with the rise of the sun.  Like the light of Venus, Nevuchadnetzer's reign shone brilliantly for a short time, yet, as the prophets foretold, was eventually overshadowed by the nation of Isra’yl whose light endured and outlived this arrogant nation who tormented and exiled her.

So who is Satan?

Satan (Hebrew: הַשָׂטָן ha-Satan), "the accuser",is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible otherwise called the Tanakh.


For you, consider the Christian perspective with that of the Jews on this subject and think about it seriously. Where would stand so that you can be on the side of truth.