Is Satan, the Devil, a Supernatural Being Fallen from Heaven?

Revelation 12:5 KJV

1- "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a Rod of Iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne."

The child is snatched up to heaven, and we find the Dragon engaged in a war upon Michael and the angels in heaven. The war ends and the Dragon is expelled, falls to the earth gives chase to the woman and unable to catch her, ejects a flood of water from his mouth, intended to drown her, but the earth opens, the water sinks, and the woman is saved.

Was The Devil Ever In Heaven?

2- Also, (Ezekiel 28:12-15 KJV) Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus said the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (Verse 13) Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God, every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and the gold: the workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Verse 14) Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Verse 15) Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

3- Those that hold to the support of a personal Devil also use (Isaiah 14:12-15). How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Verse 13) For thy hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the North: (Verse 14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

The above scriptures have less to prove a supernatural Devil than the previous (Revelations 12). In both cases you will find the personage addressed in an earthly individual. One was the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) and the other the Prince of Tyre (Ithobaal).

What are we to understand by "the Devil" so often mentioned in the Bible?

Sometimes the Devil is spoken as a third personal pronoun, singular, masculine gender.

This question now demands an answer and the demand will be met by facts which will show the impossibility of the existence of the Devil of popular superstition. The original words, "Devil and Satan": Devil is Greek; Satan is Hebrew and Greek by adoption. The word Devil is found only in the New Testament. There is no use to refer to the English dictionary of its meaning in regards to the original tongue.

The English language was unknown at the time the words were written. The English dictionary gives the meaning of current words as currently understood. The English define the meaning as "a fallen angel”, the enemy of God and man. But, is the Dictionary doctrine of the Devil true? The only way to find the truth is to find it in the original sources of information.

Satan

Satan is a Hebrew word and transferred to the English Bible-untranslated from the original tongue. Cruden himself, a believer in the popular Devil, defines it as follows: Satan, Sathan, and Sathanas: these are mere Hebrew words, and signify an adversary, an enemy, an accuser. If Satan is "a mere Hebrew word signifying adversary, etc.." obviously it does not in itself import the evil being which it represents to the common run of English ears. This is borne out by its uses in the Hebrew Bible. The first place where it occurs is (Numbers 22:22, 23 KJV) "And God's anger was kindled because he (Balaam) went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary (Satan) against him.”The definition for Devil is: ADVERSARY. Adversary is the word and Devil or Satan is the definition and in that order. Let us move down to (verse 32).

"And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee (to be an adversary - a Satan too).”

In this case, Satan was a holy angel. Understanding "Satan" to mean adversary in its simple and general sense, we can see how this could be; but, understanding it as the evil being of popular belief, it would be a different matter. The following are other cases in which the word is translated "adversary" in the common version of the scripture.

(I Samuel 29:4 KJV) "Let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary (Satan) to us.” In Hebrew, "Satan" is a mere word, in English it is untranslated and is "made" into a Person.

(II Samuel 19:22 KJV) "And David said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries (Satan) unto me?"

In (I Kings 5:4 KJV) "But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary (Satan) nor evil occurrent."

You can see that the term adversary is used quite often. The "Satan" again in (I Kings 11:14 KJV) “And the Lord stirred up an adversary (Satan) unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the King’s seed in Edom."

The Lord was responsible for Solomon's adversary, Satan, and the adversary or Satan was Hadad, the king's seed, not a supernatural being cast out of heaven. Hadad was an adversary, (Satan) to Solomon.

In I Kings 11:23, 25 KJV "And God stirred him up another adversary, (another Satan) Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his Lord Hadadezer king of Zobah." In this case, Rezon, the son of Eliadah, became a Satan and Hadad, two adversaries and two Satan which were people stirred up to make trouble. In (Vs.25) "And he was an adversary (Satan) to Israel all the days of Solomon..."

The translators have translated the word and fenced off the notion of diabolical interference in the matters recorded, which would certainly have sprung up if the word had been "Satan" instead of adversary. In one or two cases the translators transferred the word in the Hebrew form into the English. By doing so, it removed the adversary the original form and used the Satan. This became the popular theory of Satan as a supernatural person with supernatural powers.

The narrative of Job's trials, "Satan" plays a conspicuous part. The English reader thinks of the Devil, Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness and many more could be mentioned. If the reader will substitute "the adversary" for "Satan" which is done marginally in the Authorized Version of the Bible, he will read strictly according to the original, and escape the popular devilism.

Who was the Satan that caused Job such terror?

The answer that can be made is that there is no information as to who he was in particular. His title would show that he was an enemy of Job, and possibly of the sons of God in general- a wicked overbearing Lord, whose envy and malice were only equal to the dimension he seems to have exercised. We can say who he was not. He was not the horned monster with a fork tail as believed by many; he did not come from "hell" to attend the assembly of the sons of God, but from "going to and fro in the earth." He was not the "Devil" of popular theology. He is not one to run when you talk Bible, but, one that will come in with boldness. And he is not one to drop you down to hell.