The History, Abilities, and Authority of Satan.

1. Satan is first mentioned in the book of Job (1:6-12; 2:1-7). Here he:

1. mixes with the sons of God (angels), among whom he no longer has any rightful place;
2. he arbitrarily roams about and seeks his own but is still used as a servant by God, on whom he remains dependent.
3. He is the accuser of man to God, especially the accuser of the pious, and he maintains the assertion that even their fear of God stems from personal interest. Job is delivered into the hands of Satan for testing.
4. Satan's intention was to lead Job into apostasy and ruin; but the conduct of Job proves that disinterested fear of God may be a truth. The luster of a fidelity and love that in the loss of all external goods regards God as the highest good is revealed by Job as a triumph over Satan.

2.                  Satan in Zechariah 3:1, where after the Exile he would hinder the reinstitution of the divine worship, asserting that Israel is rejected by the just judgment of God and is not worthy of the renewal of the priesthood. But the filthy garments are stripped off the high priest, and he receives festal garments instead, with the declaration that his sins are taken away. The vision expresses that the restoration of the priesthood after the Exile is a victory of the gracious God over Satan. It also foreshadows the restoration of the nation Israel as a high-priestly nation in the future Kingdom age.

3.      In the NT mention is made of a plurality of evil spirits;

1. Satan as their head (Matt 8:28; 9:34; 12:26; Luke 11:18-19).
2. They were endowed with high talents, power, and knowledge (Matt 8:29; Mark 1:24).
3. Satan is used in the NT in a figurative sense (Matt 16:23)
4. Jesus said the enemy is the devil (13:19,39; 4:15)
5. The history of the temptation is no misunderstood parable (Matt 4:10; cf. Luke 22:31).
6. It is declared that Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44)
7. the enemy and falsifier of God's word (Matt 13:19,39)
8. that he aroused hatred to Jesus and put treason into the heart of Judas (John 13:27, cf. 6:70; 22:53)
9. that the prince of this world is already judged by Christ, or, as Luke puts it, Satan falls "from heaven like lightning" (10:18), i.e., is inwardly and fundamentally vanquished.
10. The whole history of the world subsequent to Christ is a struggle against the empire of Satan. Thus the Apocalypse especially depicts the history of Satan, particularly in the future as he affects the church (Rev 2:9,13,24), the Jew, and the Gentiles[1] 

4. Moral evil is his controlling attribute. It is evident that this description could not be applied to Satan as originally created. Ethical evil cannot be co created. It is the creation of each free will for itself. We are not told in definite terms how Satan became the evil one, but certainly it could be by no other process than a fall[2]
   
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6. Almost nothing is said concerning Satanic agency other than wicked men who mislead other men. In the controversy with His opponents concerning exorcism (Mark 3:22 f and parallel's) our Lord rebuts their slanderous assertion that He is in league with Satan by the simple proposition that Satan does not work against himself.[3]

6. It is true that in Luke 13:16 our Lord speaks of the woman who was bowed over as one "whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years," and that in 2 Cor 12:7 Paul speaks of his infirmity as a "messenger of Satan sent to buffet him." Paul also speaks (1 Thess 2:18) of Satan's hindering him from visiting the church at Thessalonica. A careful study of these related passages (together with the prologue of Job) will reveal the fact that Satan's direct agency in the physical world is very limited.[4]

7. Satan's power consists principally in his ability to deceive. It is interesting and characteristic that according to the Bible Satan is fundamentally a liar and his kingdom is a kingdom founded upon lies and deceit. The doctrine of Satan therefore corresponds in every important particular to the general Biblical emphasis upon truth. "The truth shall make you free" (John 8:32) - this is the way of deliverance from the power of Satan.[5]

8. Now it would seem that to make Satan pre-eminently the deceiver would make man an innocent victim and thus relax the moral issue. But according to the Bible man is particeps criminis[6] in the process of his own deception. He is deceived only because he ceases to love the truth and comes first to love and then to believe a lie (2 Cor 1:10[7]

9. Satan's devices (2 Cor 2:11) include human agents. Those who are given over to evil and who persuade others to evil are children and servants of Satan (See Matt 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8; John 6:70; 8:44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:8). Satan also works through persons and institutions supposed to be on the side of right but really evil. Here the same ever-present and active falseness and deceit are exhibited. When he is called "the god of this world" (2 Cor 4:4) it would seem to be intimated that he has the power to clothe himself in apparently divine attributes. He also makes himself an angel of light by presenting advocates of falsehood in the guise of apostles of truth (2 Cor 11:13,15; 1 John 4:1; 2 Thess 2:9; Rev 12:9; 19:20[8]

10. As a being of high intelligence he has gained great power and has exercised a wide sway over other beings. As a created being the utmost range of his power lies within the compass of that which is permitted. It is, therefore, hedged in by the providential government of God and essentially limited.[9]

11. There are no scriptures which confirm Satan can read our minds or control us against our wills. He can however speak to our minds, accuse us and tempt us to evil. Next week…Temptation.