The Devil and His Angels

Have you ever been tempted to do something that you know you shouldn't do? Have you ever experienced an inner desire - a silent voice within you - suggesting that you do something, and that no one will ever know? What prompts us to have these feelings, or to do things that we somehow know that we shouldn't do?

The devil, or Satan, is usually the one who gets the blame. There are many people that live in constant fear of the devil, and there are many people that are convinced that there is no such thing as a devil. Others are unconcerned whether or not there is a devil - their life is such that even if there was a devil, the devil would be of no concern to them. The apparent invisibility of the devil is of little importance to those who believe that he exists.

They refer to the Bible, which refers frequently to devils, demons, and even provides names for some of the demons: Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Belial, Abaddon, Apollyon.

The character of the devil is described frequently: - the tempter (Matthew 4:3), ( 1 Thes 3:5) - the evil one (Matthew 13:28) , ( Matt 13:39) - a murderer (John 8:44) - a liar (John 8:44) - the father of lies (John 8:44) - the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) - prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) - the adversary (1 Peter 5:8) - the deceiver of the whole world (Rev 12:9) - the great dragon (Rev 12:9) - the ancient serpent (Rev 12:9) - the accuser of our brethren (Rev 12:10)

And yet, despite these impressive references to the devil, the Bible appears to fall short in explanation with respect to several fundamental aspects: - The Bible nowhere explains Satan's origins. - The Bible nowhere explains why such a powerful force of evil is allowed to exist. - The Bible is almost silent about devils in the Old Testament. These shortcomings are by no means insignificant.

A fundamental question that must be answered is if God is a supreme, all-powerful God, why does He allow a being as powerful as Satan to co-exist with Him? Why would He allow Satan to lead mankind towards chaos, if His own intention was to offer salvation to all mankind? If Satan is a fallen angel, why was he allowed to continue living, and rather not destroyed as were later people who deliberately rebelled against the Almighty God?

Why should God allow a rebellious Satan to have a free hand over His creation for thousands of years, and then destroy him at the last time, as asserted by many Christian believers? These are some of the aspects that must be capable of reasonable explanation if the Bible is the Word of God, and if we are prepared to consider exactly what the Bible does say about the devil and his angels.