Who is Satan? (the devil, what the Bible says about him)

Q: Who is Satan? (the devil — what the Bible says about him)

Satan is a created spirit-being who set himself against God and God's people. His two most common names give his role: 'Satan' means 'adversary,' and 'the devil' (Greek diabolos) means 'slanderer' or 'accuser.' The Bible also calls him the tempter (), the father of lies and 'a murderer from the beginning' (), the accuser of God's people (), a prowling 'roaring lion' (), and 'the ancient serpent… the dragon' (). Two things to hold clearly: - He is real but not God's equal — a creature, powerful but limited, already defeated by Christ. - His end is certain: he was disarmed at the cross () and will finally be thrown down ().

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Short answer

Satan is a created spirit-being who set himself against God and God's people. His two most common names give his role: 'Satan' means 'adversary,' and 'the devil' (Greek diabolos) means 'slanderer' or 'accuser.' The Bible also calls him the tempter (Matthew 4:3), the father of lies and 'a murderer from the beginning' (John 8:44), the accuser of God's people (Revelation 12:10), a prowling 'roaring lion' (1 Peter 5:8), and 'the ancient serpent… the dragon' (Revelation 12:9).

Two things to hold clearly:

He is real but not God's equal, a creature, powerful but limited, already defeated by Christ.
His end is certain: he was disarmed at the cross (Colossians 2:15) and will finally be thrown down (Revelation 20:10).

Question

Who is Satan? (the devil, what the Bible says about him)

Analysis

What he does

The Bible shows Satan tempting (he tempted Eve in the garden, Genesis 3:1, and tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1; Matthew 4:3), accusing God's people before God (Job 1:6; Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:10), deceiving and blinding minds to the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 8:44), and working through the powers of this present age (Ephesians 2:2). Peter warns believers to be alert because he 'prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour' (1 Peter 5:8). Yet his power is on a leash, in Job he can act only within limits God sets.

Where he came from, and where he ends

The Bible does not give a detailed biography of Satan's origin. Two Old Testament passages about the fall of a proud king, the 'morning star' of Isaiah 14:12–Isaiah 14:15 and the guardian cherub of Ezekiel 28:12–Ezekiel 28:17, have often been read as also picturing the fall of Satan through pride, though this reading is debated and the texts' first subject is a human king. What Scripture states plainly is the outcome: at the cross Jesus 'disarmed the powers and authorities' (BSB, Colossians 2:15) and 'through death' destroyed the one who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14; John 12:31), and in the end the devil is thrown into the lake of fire forever (Revelation 20:10).

How believers are to respond

Not with fear, but with resistance and reliance on God: 'Resist the devil, and he will flee from you' (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9), standing firm in God's armor (Ephesians 6:11), because 'greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world' (BSB, 1 John 4:4).

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

Matthew 4:3bsb
The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
John 8:44bsb
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Revelation 12:10bsb
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down — he who accuses them day and night before our God.
1 Peter 5:8bsb
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Revelation 12:9bsb
And the great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Colossians 2:15bsb
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Revelation 20:10bsb
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Genesis 3:1bsb
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
Matthew 4:1bsb
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Job 1:6bsb
One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
Zechariah 3:1bsb
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
2 Corinthians 4:4bsb
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:2bsb
in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
Isaiah 14:12bsb
How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
Isaiah 14:15bsb
But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
Ezekiel 28:12bsb
“Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

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