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Satan is designed to turn your eyes to Christ, so we are going to look at
Satan in a Christ-centered way.
There are thirty-five different titles for Satan in the Bible, and none of
them are bogeyman. From the time we are nursing we are taught to think
of Satan as some kind of hideous, disgusting creature – a contemptible
person. Misshapen, with a half human, half animal body. Sometimes, with
the limbs and appendages of animals. Frightful, with a grimacing face.
Bright red, and a pitch fork in his hand. A compound of everything that is
ugly. And he just stands around stoking the fires of hell and stabbing
sinners and stuff like this. That fabulous image that registers in our mind
bears the mark of Satan’s own creation. That is what he wants us to think.
He wants us to believe that we can outgrow him, and we throw it out as
fantasy, and so we throw him out as fantasy.
We are going to ask questions. Who is Satan? What does he do? Where is
he now? How can he do what he does? The next chapter will look
carefully into these questions.
Reading JOB to Know God
Chapter 4 What the Bible says about Satan
Fourteen times in Job chapters 1 and 2, his name is called Satan. Fifty-two
times in the whole Bible he is called Satan. Sometime you will see the
word, devil, in the Bible. As a matter of fact, thirty six times in the Bible
he is called devil. Now, as far as the meaning of the word is concerned,
there is no difference between Satan and devil. The fact is, devil is the
Greek form and Satan is the Hebrew form, but it is the same word. The
word Satan means adversary, enemy, accuser.
The first question is: Who is Satan? Here is the answer. He is the accuser.
He accuses in two directions. First of all, look at verses 9 and 10 of
chapter 1. Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for
nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and
all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his
hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” Satan
accused Job of being religious because of what he got out of it. The pie in
the sky.
In other words, Satan is an accuser, and the first one he accuses is man.
He accused Job. He said, Job’s idea of God is that He is a cosmic bellboy.
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