Satan is a Roaring Lion

Some "biblical" (?) scholars (?) NOW have put forth the view that Satan is a "very good friend of God." They try to portray him as a "legal advocate" in God's heavenly court, appealing to texts like Job 1 and 2. To be fair, PLEASE read recent commentators on Job to see the reasoning.

There are so many clear texts that Satan is not God's friend in an sense of the term. On the contrary, he is God's enemy.

I. The Bible pictures Satan as the great Deceiver.
    a. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:3: "I am afraid that as THE SERPENT DECEIVED Eve by its CUNNING, your thoughts will be LED ASTRAY from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
    b. Revelation 12:9 gives this description of Satan: "The GREAT DRAGON was thrown down, that ANCIENT SERPENT, who is called THE DEVIl and SATAN, THE DECEIVE OF THE WHOLE WORLD--he was thrown down to the earth, and HIS ANGELS were thrown down with him."
    c. Revelation 20:2-3, 7-8, 10 contains similar terms for Satan: "[An angel] seized THE DRAGON, that ANCIENT SERPENT, who is THE DEVIL and SATAN, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would DECEIVE the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. . . . When the thousand years are ended, SATAN will be released from his prison and will come out to DECEIVE the nations at the four corners of the earth . . . And THE DEVIL who had DECEIVED them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
    It is not surprising at all that people will attempt to show that Satan is a "good" and "faithful" servant of God. Satan is the great deceiver.

II. Satan is a roaring lion.
     a. Peter gives this warning in1 Peter 5:8-9: "Discipline yourselves, keep alert. LIKE A ROARING LION your ADVERSARY THE DEVIL prowls around looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing he same kinds of suffering."
     b. The idea that Satan is a friend of God is not new at all. Satan is always on the prowl like a lion seeking another opportunity to destroy the heart and life of good people. The picture in 1 Peter 5:8-9 is striking similar to the portrayal of Satan in Job 1:7; 2:2: "The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the Lord, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.'" Indeed, he is the great prowler to overthrow the faith of a believer.

III. As throughout history, Satan presents old deceptions for gullible people to follow. Here are only a very few examples.
      a. Homosexuality. Many people now argue that homosexuality is not a sin. Some people are "wired" by God to be tempted to engage in homosexual activities. Temptation is everywhere. The same is true of fornication, adultery, and all types of sins. Homosexual activities are obviously unnatural. There are clear text forbidding the temptation and practice of bestiality, the practice of having sex between a human being and an animal. Exodus 22:19 says: "Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death." Leviticus 20:15-16 says: "If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them." Similar teachings appear in Leviticus 18:23; Deuteronomy 27:21. Throughout history, people have practice bestiality, but that does not make it right in the sight of God. The same is true of homosexuality. Romans 1:26-27 clearly describes this sin: "For this reason, God gave them up to degrading passion. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the penalty for their error."
   b. God is Dead. When I was a PhD student at Vanderbilt, a professor from a different university wrote a book declaring that God is dead. We all know that the world is filled with "alleged" atheists, who put forth great arguments that God actually does not even exist. YOU are free to get into philosophy and find all these arguments. But can YOU breathe? Why? Can YOU think? Why? Can YOU speak? Why? YOU are alive. Why? Does all of this come from a wild accident? It just does not make sense. All important aspects of life are INVISIBLE. Do YOU believe in LOVE? Have you ever seen LOVE? What is its size? What is its color? What are its dimensions? How much does it weigh? The same thing is true about forgiveness, compassion, self-control, and the list goes on and on. So it is very natural to believe that God is INVISIBLE to use human beings. The Bible openly declares that our God is invisible. See 1 Timothy 1:17: "To the King of the ages, immortal, INVISIBLE, the only God, be honor and glory, forever and ever. Amen." Again, see 1 Timothy 6:15-16: "He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords; it is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, WHOM NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN OR CAN SEE."
   c. Wealth is the most important thing in life. Human beings have always believed in their heart of hearts that owing possessions is the most important thing on earth. Universities consume and buy deeply into this view. They say that "we cannot survive without more and more money." Among MANY other texts, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:9-10: "Those who WANT TO BE RICH fall into TEMPTATION and are trapped by MANY SENSELESS and HARMFUL DESIRES that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For THE LOVE OF MONEY is a root of ALL KINDS OF EVIL, and in their EAGERNESS TO BE RICH some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with main pains."
   Satan fills our lives with MANY ATTRACTIVE TEMPTATIONS. God's people RESIST these temptations and receive the ridicule of worldly minded people.

Share YOUR experiences and reservations and shortcomings and concepts and desires with others. Let me hear from YOU.

John Willis