cover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 2 Tim. 3: 3. Without (wicked men) natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Titus 2: 3. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. Heb. 2:14. For as much, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Christ) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. James 47. 1 Peter 5: 8. as a roaring lion, 1 John 3: 8. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Verse 10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Jude 1: 9. Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil (he disputed about the body of Moses), durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Rev. 2: 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. SECTION VI. Statement of FACTS showing that the terms SHAITAN, DEVILS, Satan, and DIABOLOS, were not used by the Scripture writers to signify a fallen angel, or a personal being called the devil. SHAITAN.-This is the word which is rendered Satan in the Old Testament. It occurs just thirty-three times. Once in Genesis, twice in Numbers, once in 1 Samuel, once in 2 Samuel, four times in 1 Kings, once in Chronicles, once in Ezra, fourteen times in Job, five times in Psalms, and three times in Zechariah, It is used twenty-seven times in the singular, and six times in the plural number. It is rendered Sitnah once, six times adversary, six times adversaries, once withstand thee, and once accusation. It is applied as follows: To a well, to an angel of the Lord, to David, to the sons of Zeruiah, to the enemies of Solonion, or Israel, to Hadad the Edomite, to Rezon the son of Eliadah, to the person or persons who counselled David to number the children of Israel, or to the evil passion or desire of David's own mind, which instigated him to do this, to a piece of writing, to the enemies of David, and to the adversary or enemy of Joshua. The first time it is applied to any being, is in Num. 22: 22, where it is applied to an angel of God, who was of course a good being, and not a fallen angel, or DEVIL, in the common acceptation of that term. The first time it is applied to a human being, is in 1 Sam. 29: 4, where it is applied to David, who is not supposed to have been a bad man, but, on the contrary, "a man after God's own heart." The first time the word occurs in the Old Testament, is in Gen. 26: 21, where it is applied to a well; and hatred is put in the margin, as an explanation of it. By consulting Chapter II., Sect. 1, of this book, to ascertain the scripture usage of this word, the reader will discover that it signifies an enemy, an opposer, an adversary, and that it is not once used to signify a personal being, called the devil, or Satan, i. e., such a being as is commonly believed in by most Christians. That the word was not used by the Old Testament writers to signify such a being, is further evident from the following additional facts: 1. Not one of these writers has asserted the existence of such a being; or given us any account of his origin, history, locality, &c. Moses has given us the oldest authentic record extant, but he gives us not a word of information concerning a holy, happy angel in heaven, rebelling against God, falling from paradise, and of his introduction into our world. The word Satan, nor devil, occurs in a single instance in his writings. The original word rendered Satan occurs but three times in his five books; and once, as we have seen, he applies it to a well, and twice to an angel of the Lord. That Moses did not design to teach the existence of such a being is, therefore, indisputable. The five books of Moses comprise a history of the world for a period of more than two thousand years. During this whole time, then, mankind were entirely ignorant of the existence of an all-powerful evil spirit, called the devil. 2. The word rendered Satan, in the Old Testament, does not occur in any of the following books: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, Esther, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi. Of course, it will not be pretended that either of these books teaches the existence of such a being; and whether such a thing is taught in those books where the word does occur, let the reader determine by examining all the passages where it is found. Can it be supposed that the Jews of ancient times were knowing to the existence of a devil, who was doing extensive mischief in the world, enticing men to sin, and leading millions down to irretrievable ruin and misery; and yet, that such holy men as Joshua, Nehemiah, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, &c., should say not one word concerning him? 3. God never gave the Jewish people, through the medium of his prophets, any warning concerning the devil, any information in regard to the extensive and powerful evil influence which he was constantly exercising over them. Nor are any directions given how his influence might be resisted, and his power counteracted. All of which was certainly very necessary, if such a being really existed. 4. No person, of whom we have any account in the Old Testament, ever undertook to excuse himself for his crimes and iniquities, by saying he was enticed, or tempted, by the devil, and charging the blame upon him. The case of Eve may be thought an instance of this; but I remark, that we are not told that the serpent was a fallen angel, nor that the devil assumed the form of a serpent, and tempted Eve. Besides, Adam acknowledged no influence of the serpent or the devil in his case, but charges the blame upon his wife. We might as well, therefore, suppose Eve to be the devil, or the woman to be the form which the devil assumed, as to suppose this of the serpent. 5. The children of the Jews were not taught by their parents anything concerning the devil; nor were they cautioned to beware of his seductive wiles and stratagems; nor told that for disobedience they would be consigned over to his tender mercies. All this is perfectly unaccountable, if Jewish parents believed as some parents do now. 6. Among all the prayers recorded in the Old Testament, there is not a single instance of any individual ever praying, either for himself, or any one else, to be delivered from the influence or power of the devil in this world, or anywhere else. Either persons then did not believe as many do now, or they were culpably negligent in this respect. 7. We are not informed, in the Old Testament, of any person who ever swore by the devil, or cursed by the devil, or ever wished any of their fellow-men to go to the devil. Certainly, wicked, profane Jews did not believe as profane men do now, or we should have some instances of this kind. 8. Another fact is, that no person under the Old Testament dispensation, either good, bad, or indifferent, ever expressed any fears of going to the devil himself, or of any other persons going to the devil. They express no such fears when well, when sick, nor on the bed of death. Nor do the living express any fears that their deceased relatives, friends, or acquaintances, had gone to the devil. DEVILS. -This word is found in the Old Testament four times. It occurs once in Leviticus, once in Deuteronomy, once in 2 Chronicles, and once in Psalms. By consulting Section 2 of this Chapter, which contains all the passages where it occurs, every person can see that it is used to signify the heathen divinities, or false gods of the heathen; and in no other sense. As it is not pretended that this word is used to signify a fallen angel, no more need be said on it. SATAN. This word occurs both in the Old and in the New Testament. In the Old it occurs just eighteen times. Once in 1 Chronicles, fourteen times in the book of Job, and three times in Zechariah. In the Old Testament we have seen it signifies an enemy, an opposer, an adversary. It is used in precisely the same sense in the New. This word occurs in the New Testament thirtyseven times. Four times in Matthew, six times in Mark, six times in Luke, once in John, twice in Acts, once in Romans, twice in 1 Corinthians, three times in 2 Corinthians, once in 1 Thessalonians, once in 2 Thessalonians, twice in 1 Timothy, and eight times in Revelation. It is not found in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, nor in Jude. This word is applied in the New Testament as follows: To Peter, one of the disciples of Christ; to Beelzebub, the imaginary prince, or god, of the demons or spirits of dead men; to Judas, another disciple of Christ, who deserted him, and thereby became an enemy or adversary to him; to the unbelieving Jews, who were the adversaries of Christ, and of his religion; to false teachers, they being the enemies of truth; and to the heathen opponents of the Gospel, and persecutors of the followers of Christ; see Rev. 2:13. It is also applied to the spirit of wickedness in man, and to the evil passions and desires of men; see Acts 5: 3, and John 13: 27. DIABOLOS.-This word is found in the Greck Testament thirty-six times. Six times in Matthew, six times in Luke, three times in John, twice in Acts, twice in Ephesians, three times in 1 Timothy, twice in 2 Timothy, once in Titus, once in Hebrews, once in James, once in 1 Peter, three times in 1 John, once in Jude, and six times in the book of Revelation. It is not found in Mark, John, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Philemon, 2 Peter, nor in 2 and 3 John. If the reader will examine Section 4 of this Chapter, he will see that the words devil and Satan are used in the New Testament as synonymous terms. The word diabolos is translated in the common version of the New Testament thirty-three times devil, twice false accusers, and once slanderers. Had it been invariably rendered by words which properly define it, no one would ever have dreamed that it was used to signify a fallen angel. Donnegan defines this word thus: Diabolos -an accuser, a calumniator. See Donnegan's Greek and English Lexicon, p. 356. We are aware that some writers say it signifies the devil; meaning a fallen angel, such as has been generally believed in; but before it can be allowed to have this signification, it must be proved that such a being exists; or, at least, that the New Testament writers believed in the existence of such a being, and applied this word to him; which we think cannot be done. This word is applied in the New Testament in the same manner that Satan is, and signifies precisely the same thing. If the reader, therefore, will examine all the texts where it occurs, and read them as if it was rendered slanderer, accuser, calumniator, opposer, enemy or adversary, he cannot fail of understanding them in their true sense. In closing this chapter, we will state some objections to the com |
