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NASB | Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the age-old serpent who is called the devil and Satan, he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [Gen 3:1, 14, 15; Zech 3:1; John 13:2; 2 Cor 11:3; Rev 20:8] |
Subject: Where in the Bible? |
Bible Note: Salt, I think you have to look at the style Rev 12 and for that matter all of Revelation for what it is: apocalyptic. That means it is highly symbolic and many passages can have polyvalent or more than one level interpretation. So, for example, Rev 12 may be interpreted as Satan being cast out of heaven before the creation of man, being cast down by the power of the death and Resurrection of Christ and or being cast down finally at the end of this age when Christ returns. You could see that there was a battle in heaven before the creation of man, an ongoing battle until Satan was defeated by Christ's death and Resurection, which severely impinges on his power here on earth, though he still rages on against Christ's followers, until the final battle and humilition at the end Second Coming. Job is written in a different style. It is a dramatic poem. Satan means accuser. So Satan is described as one of the angels, a very cynical one about man and Job in particular. The whole setting of God's court is anthropmorpized and represented like an oriental king's court. Satan is presented as one of his agents (angels) who keeps tabs on things throughout the kingdom. The Hebrew concept of the devil was not very developed at the time Job was written. And God in Job feels no need to explain what happened or why to Job. He just makes it clear that He is in control and He does not have to explain Himself. Notice that satan, which should be taken as a description of what he does rather than as a name in this situation, disappears from the picture completely after Job 2 when Job is smitten with bodily afflictions. All of this takes place after the Fall in Eden, so obviously Lucifer had already been cast down to the earth. But it is interesting to not that in Genesis the tempter is described as a serpent, but not specifically as a fallen angel. Hewbrew theology about evil and how it comes about grew over time. But back to Rev 12:10. It says that Satan, the accuser, was cast down. But we know he still accuses us and tempts us to sin. Since God is omnipresent, Satan can continue to accuse us before God, just as we can call on God for assistance in prayer.And in the risen and ascended Christ we have an Advocate (1 John 2:1-2)more powerful than Satan the accuser can ever or will ever be. I would not want to say what is "generally held," but this would be brief version of how I see it. I hope it helps clarify things a little for you rather than making them more confusing. Emmaus |