Who is Satan and what is he up to? He first gets his name in the Bible in the book of Job when God assembles the host of heaven. God is holding court and the Bible gives the serpent a name. A majority of the Old Testament references to Satan appear in the first two chapters of Job. Outside of this the Old Testament only uses this name a few other times. However, the New Testament uses this his name frequently. Jesus himself uses the name at least 10 times.
The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Job 1:7 ESV
Lucifer?
Many think Satan’s name is Lucifer but that is not his name. The idea comes from Isaiah. Isaiah is describing Satan’s defeat as he falls from heaven. And he calls the Devil the star of the morning, the son of the dawn. In the King James version of the Bible they used a Latin version to translate into English. In that version the star of the morning is translated to Venus and Lucifer is the Latin name for that star.
The Devil
The other primary name given to Satan is the Devil and this name is the name used exclusively in the Greek New Testament. Satan is the Hebrew name and it means Adversary. And Devil is the Greek name that means Slanderer.
The Devil has Limits
In Job we get a picture of the heavenly court where Satan and God strike a bargain. The Adversary wants to test Job’s faithfulness to God and God grants him permission to harm all that Job values. But God places limits on the authority that Satan commands.
And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1:12 ESV
Worship Me
In the New Testament at the start of his ministry Jesus is tempted by Satan (Mark 1:13). The gospel of Luke goes into details of what the temptation entailed. And there is an interesting exchange where the Devil explains exactly the authority he operates with.
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Luke 4:5-7 ESV
One could write books on this set of verses parsing out the power and limitation of the Devil from what he gives away in this moment. Satan in a moment of desperation takes Jesus into the air or maybe time itself and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. In a moment the entire world is on display for Jesus. The power structures and the authorities are all shown to Jesus. Satan then tells Jesus that all of that authority, power, and glory that he controls will be given to Jesus if Jesus will worship Satan. Imagine such an offer. Worship me and I will give you everything I have. Of course Jesus rejects this offer but in the offer we get a better understanding of the dynamic between God and Satan.
In many cultures and worldly mindsets God and Satan are equals. The yin and yang. A balance between good and evil. But in reality when examining the book of Job and the New Testament we see Satan limited to only what God permits for him. Satan does not have authority to do anything he wants.
Satan’s War Against God
In this exchange Satan promises to Jesus only what he has been given. The world. Satan’s limits are this world. He does not command the heavenly realms. He is not an all powerful creator. And he does not control his own destiny.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:7-9 ESV
Back to the question we asked at the beginning: who is Satan and what is he up to? Satan is the adversary of God. That is who he is. And what is he doing? He is making war against God with increasingly limited options. After he was given the earth he went to wage war on the coming of Jesus. But God did not allow him to succeed in preventing the birth of the Christ. So Satan in his short time remaining is spending his efforts to make war on those who would follow after Christ.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. Revelation 12:17 ESV
