Matthew 25:31-46 (5/20/13)
By the time of the New Testament,
diabolos appears to refer to the one and only Devil, and that’s certainly what we see today.
My study buddy had such a great insight into today’s passage that, even though she prefers to remain anonymous, I can’t take credit for it. She pointed out that in vs. 41, the eternal fire was prepared
for the Devil and his angels. God never intended for human beings to end up there! Sadly, some of us
choose to go there by our actions and our rejection of God’s plan for our lives (vss. 42-46). Years ago, the Rev. Dr. Bob Templeton preached a sermon on Romans 6:23 in which he said, “Only volunteers go to hell.” You could preach the same sermon using today’s passage as the scripture text.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Get away from me, you who are accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the diabolos devil and his angels!
42-43 Here's why: I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
Revelation 20:1-10 (5/21/13)
You remember from yesterday that the eternal fire has been prepared for the Devil and his angels, and I’m pretty sure you know that “angel” means “messenger.” This passage from Revelation uses
satan and
diabolos interchangeably, showing us again that “Satan” is the Devil’s name in the New Testament. The beast and the false prophet, who work for the Devil and could be considered his messengers or angels, are thrown into the lake of fire along with their boss.
Personally, I wouldn’t make too much of the fact that the Devil is called the “dragon” and the “ancient serpent.” Remember that an apocalypse is richly symbolic, and not especially descriptive. If you don’t believe me, just look at the description of Jesus in Revelation 19, where he has eyes of flame, a sword coming out of his mouth, and tattoos on his thigh. Well, maybe the writing could be on his clothes, but we’re still stuck with the eyes and tongue. The flaming eyes are likely to be a symbol of omniscience, and the sword of his teaching, or maybe of his words of power, i.e., miracles, hard to tell. The point is that the Devil is probably cunning, powerful, and grasping,
like a dragon. The Devil is probably our ancient and natural enemy,
like a serpent. Keep the characteristics in mind, and don’t pay much attention to the window dressing.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key to the bottomless pit, with a large chain in his hand.
2-3 He captured the dragon, that ancient serpent, also known as the diabolos devil and the satanas Satan, and tied him up for a thousand years. He threw him into the bottomless pit, locked it, and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set free for a little while.
7 When the thousand years are over, satanas Satan will be freed from his prison.
8-10 He will go out to deceive Gog and Magog, the nations at the four corners of the earth, and gather them for war. They are as numerous as the sands of the seashore. They marched over the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came from God out of heaven and burned them up, and the diabolos devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. They will be tortured day and night forever and ever.
Mark 4:1-20, The Sower (5/22/13)
We’re still pursuing the idea that “Satan” in the New Testament is used as the proper name of the Devil. We’re going to read the Parable of the Sower once today and twice tomorrow, so pay attention to the birds.
Meantime, I started today rereading
The Screwtape Letters for the first time in several years. In the third paragraph of the introduction, C. S. Lewis says, “Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar.” If you didn’t believe me a couple weeks ago, believe Lewis. And if you don’t believe Lewis, believe Jesus, who called the Devil “a liar and the father of lies.”
The Screwtape Letters, in case you missed it, is well worth a trip to the library. It’s short, funny, and full of good insights into how the Devil works.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
3-4 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.
14-15 The farmer sows the word. Some people are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, satanas Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Luke 8:4-12; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-19 (5/23/13)
Jesus’ Parable of the Sower is recorded in Mark, Matthew, and Luke. We saw yesterday that when Jesus explained the parable in Mark, the birds represented
satanas Satan.Today we see that in Luke, the birds represent the
diabolos devil. In Matthew, the birds represent the
poneros evil one.
Now, since you asked me (woo-oo, Swami Regina sees the future; readings $5), I can think of two reasons right off hand why the three gospel writers might have used different Greek words for the being represented by the birds:
- Jesus might have been teaching in Aramaic. Each writer had to translate an Aramaic word into Greek, and they just happened to choose different words. Translation is a tricky business.
- Jesus traveled around, and he may have told this story on lots of different occasions, not necessarily exactly the same way every time. I admit that this does raise the question of why the disciples had to have it explained every time. Probably that happened only once, but even so the writer could be reporting the version of the story that he heard or remembered or had reported to him, along with the follow-up story of what the disciples asked.
But the
point is that in the New Testament, Satan = The Devil. At least in the Parable of the Sower, Satan = The Devil = The Evil One.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
Luke 8:12 The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the diabolos devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved."
Mathew 13:18-19 "Listen, then, to the parable about the farmer. When anyone hears the word about the kingdom yet doesn't understand it, the poneros evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path."
Luke 22:1-6; John 13:1-11, 27 (5/24/13)
We see again today that in the New Testament,
satanas Satan and
diabolos devil are used almost interchangeably. Judas got into trouble because he listened to the liar and tempter, Satan. We don’t know what Judas was told, only that it seemed to him at the time to be a good idea to betray his master. If he had thought about it, he would have known that betrayal did not agree with scripture. For example, Isaiah 33:1, says that traitors will come to a bad end: “Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed, you traitor, whom none has betrayed! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you.”
Remember that at the beginning of our study, whenever Satan made a suggestion about what Jesus could do, Jesus responded, “It is written….” The reason Biblical study is critically important is that when Satan tempts
us, we know what is
written.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
Luke 22:1-2 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. So the high priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put him to death, because they were afraid of the crowd.
3 But satanas Satan went into Judas called Iscariot, who belonged to the circle of the Twelve.
4-6 So he went off and discussed with the high priests and the Temple police how he could betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and agreed to give him money. Judas accepted their offer and began to look for a good opportunity to betray Jesus to them when no crowd was present.
John 13:1 Now before the Passover Festival, Jesus realized that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 By supper time, the diabolos devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.
27 After he [Judas] had taken the piece of bread, satanas Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, "Do quickly what you are going to do!"
Revelation 2:8-16 (5/27/13)
The best part of Revelation – providing you personally aren’t being outlawed and executed for being a Christian – is the letters to the churches. Like our own present-day churches, most of the churches addressed in Revelation have some good points and some bad points. By reading the whole list and thinking calmly about what they were doing right and wrong, we might be able to better assess what
we are doing right and wrong. But I digress.
In the letter to the church at Smyrna, we see again that Satan and the Devil seem to be the same person, although presumably Satan is working through human beings in having the church members thrown into prison.
In the letter to Pergamum, however, “Satan” seems to be used as a code word for something else – just exactly what is not known to us today. It might be the major idol in the city, Asklepius, whose symbol was the snake. It might have been idolatry in general. Pergamum was apparently the site of the first Christian martyrdom in Asia; maybe John is referring to that incident, or maybe he’s talking about something else entirely that threatened the church there. We don’t know, but his readers did. Remember that an apocalypse is highly symbolic, like a political cartoon. You can get confused if you are even a little bit out of touch with the community that uses the symbol. For example, my husband and I agreed today that the talking feather in
Doonesbury was George Bush, when in fact it was Dan Quayle. And this is in our own lifetime! The symbols in Revelation are 2000 years old, and I encourage you not to argue with each other about what they represent.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
8 "To the messenger of the church in Smyrna, write: 'The first and the last, who was dead and became alive, says this:
9 'I know your suffering and your poverty—though you are rich—and the blasphemia slander committed by those who claim to be Jews but are not. They are the synagogue of Satanas Satan.
10 Don't be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The diabolos devil is going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested. For ten days you will undergo suffering. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the victor's crown of life.
11 'Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be hurt by the second death.'"
12 "To the messenger of the church in Pergamum, write: 'The one who holds the sharp, two-edged sword, says this:
13 'I know where you live. Satanas Satan's throne is there. Yet you hold on to my name and have not denied your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed in your presence, where Satanas Satan lives.
Revelation 12:7-17 (5/28/13)
By now, you probably are convinced that Satan = the Devil and the Devil = Satan in the New Testament. So far, so good, and today is that last day on that particular topic.
Again, I wouldn’t make too much of the “ancient serpent.” I wouldn’t even make too much of the dragon being hurled down from heaven to earth. Why? Because of the symbolism. What it means is this: God is going to step into history, free his people from oppression and persecution, and
win the battle. Meantime, be faithful! That’s the whole message of Revelation, and all the window dressing is just a disguise to keep the Romans from identifying, arresting, and killing individual Christians. It is an apocalypse, and an apocalypse is a tract for hard times.
Think about it. If we take the dragon, etc., literally, then whom is the dragon pursuing? Well, Mary, apparently, because Mary is literally the “woman who had given birth to the boy.” And she is given two wings and flies away into the desert. If you have trouble with that, and I do, then you have to consider the possibility that the woman represents Israel, Jesus’ figurative mother, and that the wings and the place of refuge are God’s protection of Israel. Then the dragon, the serpent, and so on are also representative of something: Rome, which was the current problem.
But if you think something else about Revelation, that’s fine with me. It’s not worth breaking communion over.
From the International Standard Version (courtesy of the ISV Foundation):
7 Then a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels fought back.
8-9 But it was not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the diabolos Devil and Satanas Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels.
12 So be glad, heavens, and those who live in them! How terrible it is for the earth and the sea, because the diabolos Devil has come down to you, filled with rage, knowing that his time is short!"
More of The Big Lie
The Son of God and the Father of Lies
The OT satan is always an adversary, but not always the Devil.
The Hebrew satan is translated various ways.
In the New Testament, both satanas and diabolos normally refer to the Devil.
Sometimes satanas and diabolos are used figuratively to refer to someone acting like the Devil.
Poneros – Evil in the New Testament
Demons cause sickness, not sin.
Sometimes Satan and demons cooperate with each other.
Neither Baalzebub nor Lucifer is a Biblical name for the Devil.
Belial means "worthless," and once it's used as a nickname for the Devil.
Satan's job description: Temptation and Lies
Our job description: Resist him!
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