Satan/Lucifer/The Devil & Demons/Evil Spirits

As well as God's angels, the Bible tells of rebellious angels; that although were at one time some of God's angels, now work against God and all of God's creation.

Satan/Lucifer/The Devil

Satan is referred to by many names including Lucifer and 'the Devil'. I'll refer to him as Satan. Quite often Satan is referred to as the opposite of God. However, that is far from true! God created Satan as an Angel, and as such Satan only has the power of an Angel, no where near the power or authority of God!

The name Satan means 'Adversary' or 'Enemy' and indeed this being is the enemy of God and all mankind. Satan was created by God as an amazing (and good) Angel called Lucifer, which means 'Light Bearer' or 'Morning Star', and he was possibly even one (or the chief) Cherub. So he was one of, if not, the most important Angel(s).

However, this wasn't enough for Satan! He wanted to become God and have total power. God gave free will to the Angels (as well as to people). Sadly, Satan rebelled against God and there was a massive battle in Heaven. Satan lost and, with his followers, was thrown into Hell.

Satan's rebellion and the war in Heaven is described in the Bible in the Book of Revelation (words in brackets added by me) 1.

So Satan wasn't alone and led a rebellion against God taking as many as a third of all the Angels with him. These are now what are commonly called Demons.

The original pure Angelic state of Satan and how he changed is also described by two Jewish Prophets - Ezekiel and Isaiah 2.

So we can see that God had created Satan as a beautiful and powerful Angel, but through his pride and greed he became totally evil.

In the reference from Ezekiel, Satan is referred to as 'The King of Tyre' (which was a city that was located in what is now Lebanon). This may seem strange but God, through Ezekiel, is saying that Satan was manipulating the human 'Ruler of Tyre' and that Satan was the 'real King' of that city; and the human 'ruler' was just his puppet.

We don't know exactly when the rebellion and war in Heaven took place. It occurred sometime between the creation of the Earth and the tempting of Eve (and Adam) in the Garden of Eden; It was Satan, in the form of a serpent (or snake), who tempted them and caused them to sin 3.

Because of this, Satan is sometimes called (or referred to as) a snake, serpent or dragon (as in the quotes above from Revelation).

Did you also notice that God put a Cherubim (two or more angelic being o the same original status as Satan) to protect the Garden of Eden?

So, from the first human, Satan has been trying to stop people following God; and he (and his followers) are still doing it today! In his first temptation, he used pride and greed - the same sins as he was guilty of when he rebelled against God.

Now Satan and his followers try 'every trick in the book' to stop people knowing God and Jesus; because they know that God has the total power and will ultimately have the victory!

Satan is called many other names in the Bible, all of which speak of his evil character now and what he tries to do 4.

So Satan is called:

• a dragon;
• someone who 'leads the world' astray';
• the accuser;
• the 'lord of filth';
• a liar and the father of lies;
• a roaring lion looking for someone to eat;
• the 'prince of this world' and
• the 'god of this age'.

Those last two might sound a bit strange, and even good; but this is not the case!

The 'prince of this world' means someone trying to rule with his own (bad) rules and ideas, but he's not the King – that's God!

The 'god of this age' (notice the small 'g') doesn't mean that Satan is a deity, just a leader of a group of things. The true God (capital G) is the real ruler of the whole universe!

So whatever he's called, Satan/the Devil sounds exceedingly unpleasant – and he is! He not only hates God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but also you and me and will try anything he can to stop us knowing how much God loves us.

He even tried to tempt Jesus, the Son of God, into following him 5!

So Satan lost that battle and he (and his evil angelic followers) have also lost the overall battle for the universe. Satan thought he had won, when he (thought he'd) managed to get Jesus killed. But he was very wrong! Jesus came back to live and defeated the power of death (and Satan) forever!

Although Satan knows he's lost, he still tries to stop people knowing about God and Jesus. Satan also knows his final fate and destination – and it's not a pleasant one (for him and his followers at any rate!) 6.

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Demons/Evil Spirits

When Satan rebelled against God, the rebellion was not just Satan alone. Perhaps as many as a third of all the Angels (as we've seen above). Like Satan, they had free will and chose to leave God and follow Satan 7.

These rebellious (or 'fallen' angels) are known as demons, evil spirits or unclean spirits.

They now serve Satan and, like him, are evil and hate God and all people. They enjoy and want to cause pain, misery and suffering to people and many time in the Bible they are the cause of physical and mental illnesses 8.

The Bible makes it very clear that not every illness (physical or mental) is caused by demons/evil spirits/unclean spirits.

However, I believe that demons can still 'posses' people today and do want to cause harm and damage in any way they can. I also believe that through the power of God, and in the name of Jesus people, can be healed and that the demons can be driven out. As above, we've seen that Jesus had total power over demons. In the Bible, demons knew who Jesus was. They still do and, as then, they are terrified of Jesus and what he can do to them!

Here are two examples from the Bible which show Jesus' power over evil spirits 9.

Demons are still very powerful and not to be played or messed around with! Many times in the Bible there are strong and serious warnings about contacting demons and getting involved with the occult.

(The word 'occult' comes from the Latin word 'occultus' which means things that are mysterious, hidden and very secretive. Occult practices include astrology, fortune telling, using ouija boards, spirit channeling, and witchcraft.) 10

Remember, demons were once God's Angels and so they can make themselves look attractive and claim to have more knowledge than they really do, but they only want to cause misery and chaos 11.

So there is a battle going on in the world, and it's far from just being a physical one 12.

But like their leader, Satan, the demons will lose and share the same fate as Satan 13.

Nowhere in the Bible is Satan and his demons current physical appearance fully described. In this quote from Ezekiel, which describes what Satan originally looked like, being covered in jewels and gold 14.

Whether this is what he still looks like we don't know. What Satan and his demons now look like is not described in the Bible. But we are told that he (and his demons) can make themselves look very attractive, so they can try to trick and tempt people (remember Satan's original 'Angelic' name Lucifer means 'Light Bearer'). He certainly not described as being big and red with a tail and pitchfork 15!

I not going to talk more about demon possession and/or the names of demons, as that is not what this site is about. The Bible (and Jesus) warns not to get involved with Satan and his demons! For more on the subject, please see the 'further reading' page.

This page might have seemed gloomy and even frightening; but remember God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit are their Angels are far more powerful than Satan and his demons and the love of God just can't be beaten 16!