The purpose of this study is not to present a
position, but to allow the Scriptures to speak
for themselves.
• Whom shall he teach knowledge?
and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine? …for precept
must be upon precept, precept
upon precept; line upon line, line
upon line; here a little, and there a
little:
*All Bible verses are from the King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why is there so much evil in the world?
“Why did Mummy die?”
Is God really to blame?
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil.
Note: The first lies ever told; we shall not die;
we shall be as gods. Many today still believe
them.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the
field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.
Now there was a day when the sons of God
came to present themselves before the
LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence
comest thou? Then Satan answered the
LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the
earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Note: When Satan overcame Adam he
became the „prince‟ of this world and thus could
represent our planet.
So went Satan forth from the presence of the
LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from
the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Note: It is Satan that causes suffering, not
God.
Who is Satan? Where did he come from?
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! how art thou cut down to
the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
be like the most High.
15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the
sides of the pit. 16They that see thee shall
narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee,
saying, Is this the man that made the earth to
tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17That made
the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the
cities thereof…
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15Thou
wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Note: This shows that Satan was once a
glorious angel. The words refer to the king of
Tyre, although it is evident that Satan is being
described.
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy
beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the
ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they
may behold thee… I will bring thee to ashes
upon the earth in the sight of all them that
behold thee.
Note: Satan will one day be destroyed.
And he shewed me Joshua the high priest
standing before the angel of the LORD, and
Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2And the LORD said unto Satan, The
LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the
LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke
thee:
And I will bring the third part through the
fire, and will refine them as silver is refined,
and will try them as gold is tried: they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them: I will
say, It is my people: and they shall say, The
LORD is my God.
Note: See also Revelation 3:18. Even
though God is not the cause of suffering,
He allows it for our spiritual growth.
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2And
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward an hungred. 3And when the
tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the
Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is
written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,
and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of
God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He
shall give his angels charge concerning thee:
and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest
at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of
them; 9And saith unto him, All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him.
These three temptations cover three areas of
conflict between the nature of man and the
nature of God.
1. Appetite – the desires of the flesh
2. Presumption – the desire to sin and call it
faith.
3. Worship – the desire to worship what is not
God.
Satan had overcome Adam on the matter of
appetite. He also tried to overcome Christ
over appetite, but failed. Had he succeeded he
would have consolidated his position as ruler of
the earth, and as victor over the Son of God,
he would effectively have become ruler of
heaven too. Thus Christ overcame Satan at
the point where Adam fell – by using the words
Adam should have used.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels:
…I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Note: Satan was once an inhabitant of heaven,
but after his rebellion he was banished to this
earth, for since the fall of man it has been his
domain.
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the
sabbath day?
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of
your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is
a liar, and the father of it.
Note: When Satan caused Adam to sin, and
thus to die, Satan became the first murderer.
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the
prince of this world be cast out. 32And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me.
For as by one man‟s disobedience (Adam)
many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one (Jesus Christ) shall many be made
righteous.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. 15Therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their works.
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
should be exalted above measure. 8For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for
my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ‟s sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them
into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto
judgment;
Note: The „angels that sinned‟ are the evil
spirits that torment us.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the
devil sinneth from the beginning.
And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven;
and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready
to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as
it was born.
Note: In the Book of Revelation stars symbolize
angels (Rev 1:20), suggesting that one third of all
the angels became loyal to Satan.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in
his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old
serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years, 3And cast him into the
bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:
and after that he must be loosed a little season.
And when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth… 9And they went
up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved
city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast
and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.
These passages paint a picture of Satan as a
once glorious heavenly being who became
proud of himself for his position in heaven. He
evidently challenged the authority of God, and
turned many angels away from their loyalty to
God.
Having failed in his attempt to challenge God,
he evidently interfered with God‟s plan for our
newly created planet by deceiving our first
parents. By doing this he became prince of
this world, and will remain so until he is finally
destroyed along with all his angels.
Satan is the cause of suffering, pain and
death, not God. However, God allows
suffering and uses it for our spiritual growth
(See 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Zechariah 13:9).
Gold is purified by heating it until the dross
comes to the surface where it can be removed
leaving the pure gold behind.
Accuser of brethren – Revelation 12:10 Adversary – 1 Peter 5:8
Belial – 2 Corinthians 6:15 Beelzebub – Matthew 12:24
Devil – Matthew 4:1 Dragon – Revelation 20:2
Enemy – Matthew 13:39 Father of Lies – John 8:44
God of this world – 2 Corinthians 4:4 King of Tyre – Ezekiel 28;12
Liar – John 8:44 Lucifer – Isaiah 14:12
Murderer – John 8:44 Old Serpent – Revelation 12:9
Prince of devils – Matthew 12:9 Prince of this world – John 12:31
Ruler of darkness – Ephesians 6:12 Satan – 1 Chronicles 21:1
Tempter – Matthew 4:3 Wicked one – 1 John 3:12