Desire Found Me by Andre Rabe

Author:Andre Rabe [Rabe, Andre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andre Rabe Publishing
Published: 2015-01-23T19:00:00+00:00

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1 Paul Ricoeur. Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative and Imagination (Kindle Locations 3696-3701). Kindle Edition.

10 - History of Satan

The story of Satan has a history and a progression that can be followed throughout scripture. It is a story which attempts to deal with the paradox of evil and, as we will see, it has many branches and interpretations.

In the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, the satan features very seldom and the creature that Christianity is familiar with as Satan, never features. We have read back later ideas into these stories to find him there. But if we allow these stories to speak within their own cultural historic context, we will find that our contemporary and well-known figure of Satan is not a character they knew anything about. Let’s see how their ideas of evil and the satan developed.

Satan - the very down-to-earth enemy

The Hebrew word ‘satan’ is not a name but a noun. As such it is often used with the definite article as in “the” accuser, “the” adversary, “the” stumbling block. Earthly enemies are described as the satan on numerous occasions.

Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle.

(1 Samuel 29:4 HCSB)

David answered, “Sons of Zeruiah, do we agree on anything? Have you become my adversary today?”

(2 Samuel 19:22 HCSB)

So the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite as an enemy against Solomon. He was of the royal family in Edom.

(1 Kings 11:14 HCSB)

In return for my love they accuse me.

(Psalms 109:4 HCSB)

All the highlighted words above were translated from the Hebrew word for satan.

Monotheism and Satan

Over time these earthly enemies, stumbling blocks and accusers began to take on more supernatural qualities within the Hebrew scriptures. The concept of an angel specifically assigned to oppose, accuse and generally act as a prosecuting attorney became a popular image. It is easy to see why. The discomfort within early monotheism, in which God was directly and equally responsible for good and evil, continued to increase. Angelic beings responsible for all the unpleasantness became a theological instrument with which to transfer evil attributes from God onto these subordinates. Conveniently, God remained sovereign, preserving their monotheistic dogma but He was no longer directly responsible for evil. The blame now fell on the prosecuting angel/angels.

It is clear that the shift from many gods to a singular Lord of the Universe gives rise to an existential frustration amongst God’s chosen people as they grapple with the reality of a God who creates both weal and woe. It would appear that, over time, an exorcism of sorts takes place; the negative aspects of Yhvh are cast out and assigned to alternative beings, such as the Destroyer (Mashit), the ‘smiting angel’ (hammal’ak kammashit), and of course, hassatan. Eventually it is hassatan, ‘the Adversary’, who will become the embodiment of evil, but this, too, is a slow, evolutionary process, with many more twists and turns to explore.

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