Satan Doesn't Exist
Fun fact! Did you know that Satan is not actually a character in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)? It’s true. “Satan” is only mentioned around twenty or so times in the books of the Hebrew Bible, and almost every instance is found in Job where “the Satan” is actually a character.
See, the word “satan” is Hebrew for something like “adversary”, “accuser”, or “one who opposes”. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, numerous different characters are referenced as being “satans”, including the “Angel of the Lord” in Numbers 22:22. In this verse, the original Hebrew says something akin to:
The Angel of the Lord took his stand in [Balaam’s] way as “a satan” to him.
Many modern translations of the Bible render the term “satan” in this verse as its English equivalent, “adversary”, or leave it out altogether. However, in books like Job, the term is still rendered in its original Hebrew, though most translations drop the article, turning “the satan” - a reference to a title or posting of sorts - into “Satan” - a individual’s name. This obfuscation of terms has led to a situation where clear readings of English Bibles reveal a long-term history of a figure named Satan who works as a foe to human beings, rather than reflecting the reality of ancient Israelite religion which held that different people and angelic entities - and even God Himself - could all take on the role of “a satan” / “an adversary” / “an accuser”.
And, of course, this is all before considering the fact that God and “the satan” found in Job aren’t enemies. There is nothing in the story to insinuate that they are against one another in any way. The only reason you may read them as enemies is if you come to the story with a pre-existing belief in Satan as the adversary of God. Instead, the story, read on its own terms, seems to clearly display an angel with the role of adversary whose job is to accuse people of unrighteousness before God. The satan figure of Job works for God. He’s basically God’s snitch, going around and telling on people for not really loving the Lord, hence why he goads God into testing Job’s faith. This is not an antagonist to God, it’s an antagonist to humans on God’s behalf.
So we have a number of references to “a satan” which are actually just references to anyone being an adversary to anyone else and a story (which accounts for almost all Old Testament references to Satan) wherein “the satan” is in the direct employ of God rather than being his nemesis. Already, the case for satan as we know him is looking shaky. “But,” the Biblically-literate among you may say, “what of Isaiah 14:12-15 and its references to Lucifer being cast down from heaven? Surely that’s something!” Something indeed. Let’s take a look.
How you have fallen from heaven, [Lucifer], son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
This passage contains our one and only reference to Lucifer in the entirety of the Old Testament, the term itself usually being rendered into modern English translations as something akin to “morning-star”. And, you know, this does sound like a compelling reference if you are coming from a tradition which teaches that Satan was an angel who led a rebellion against God because he so badly wanted to overtake God’s throne or refused to bow to Adam or whatever other story you have heard. However, it falls apart when we realize that this passage comes smack dab in the middle of a “taunt against the King of Babylon” (Isaiah 14:4). See, Isaiah 14 begins like this:
On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
It then continues from verses 5 to 27 with taunts directed at the King. Verses 14:12-15 are not about an angelic figure named Lucifer. These verses are explicitly directed to, and about, the King of Babylon. The only way these verses could be about a separate figure would be if Isaiah 14 began by saying “here’s a taunt to the King of Babylon”, taunted the King from verse 5 to 11, completely switched topic to being about an entirely different figure without context or transition from verses 12 to 15, then once again switched back without context or transition to being about the King of Babylon from verse 16 to 27. That simply would not make any sense. This passage is not about Satan/the Devil/an angel named Lucifer. It’s about the real, human, long-dead King of Babylon.
The simple truth is that there is no Devil as we understand him today in the Bible until the New Testament, and even then the understanding of Satan at that time was likely quite different from the general understanding we have now. Any reference to such a figure in the Old Testament is being read back into texts where it doesn’t belong and, in truth, doesn’t actually exist. Humans have always wanted to blame the woes of the world on something and it’s natural for people who believe in gods and angels to conjure a wicked entity of great power who goes around causing suffering. But such a belief is not found in the Old Testament and only has shaky ground in the New.
For some, this is a hard pill to swallow. For decades now, pastors have said that the best lie the devil ever told was convincing people he doesn’t exist. So much of modern Abrahamic faith is rested on constant fear and worry about unseen demonic forces that are always out to get you. I once knew a girl who told a pair of people she was trying to proselytize to that becoming Christian only made life harder because then Satan was going to constantly be after you. Besides the fact that that was an absolutely horrible sales tactic, all it really told me was that becoming Christian made her so much more judgmental of herself and those around her. Shame crept in where it hadn’t been before, and worry and dread filled in the places where there had once been peace. This wasn’t Satan’s doing, but the work of other Christians who taught her to view herself as a worthless, pitiless sinner who deserved nothing but disdain from God and who instilled in her the fear that the things she enjoyed were only enjoyable because the devil was tempting her into them.
This is not the way to practice faith. If all your time is spent worrying about evil forces beyond your comprehension, then you are doing something wrong. If you are worried about a wicked, malevolent force prowling the world looking to lure you into an eternity of torment, seemingly with the green light from a God who refuses to stop it, then you have been taught to believe in an evil God.
These things are not found in the Bible, and I don’t think we’d find them in the world around us through our own exploration if we weren’t taught to believe in them first. Put down the fear and set aside the stress. The only adversary we have to fear is shame and all the rotten baggage it brings with it. You are made in the image of God - the image of a God that is love. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. And there is no satan who can ever separate you from that God.
