‘Satan rose up against Israel…..’

As you know, we are currently jogging through 1 Chronicles and only bringing to attention anything that is substantially different to the Books of Samuel and Kings that have been covered in the previous four months.

And this verse stood out and couldn’t be ignored –

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.  1 Chronicles 21:1

Satan – who is he and what does he do? Is he real? What does he look like? Where did he come from?

People have been wrestling with these questions through all history and have come up with a variety of answers. Creatives have wrestled with portraying Satan in words, art, music, dance, film (which I think is great – I love how creative individuals are in coming up with ways of portraying the universal fight of good v evil…..from Marvel superheroes to sparkly vampires to a teenage wizard…)………The whole genre of horror fiction and movies has succeeded in scaring the wits out of most of us at some point. It is of course a very emotional subject because it feeds our fear. Up to a point, we love to be ‘entertained’ by fear and suspense even as children with ghost stories at sleepovers, because we are trying to make sense of something that is not seen, to explain the inexplicable. But then it can really scare us and feed our nightmares and affect our behaviour and we cannot get rid of what we have seen and heard, however hard we try to ignore it.

The whole notion of trying to explain the inexplicable ties in with my last post, with what I was saying about faith and God. Because God will never fit in a box. God is spirit and is beyond labels, beyond words, beyond description. And Satan forms part of this spiritual dimension too and therefore will never fit in a box. Satan is spirit and is beyond labels, beyond words, beyond description.

So this is where I always like to start in thinking about this – because whatever Satan is, and however evil will manifest itself in the world, nothing can separate me from the love of God –

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

I’m totally convinced by that. So I am not scared (well, yes, I may hide behind my hands or grab someone’s arm when the suspense gets too much in the cinema, but I am not scared deep down.) I am assured that God has the victory. Good will triumph over evil in the end. God will always be there. And love wins.

So back to 1 Chronicles. The original Hebrew term ‘satan’ is a noun from a verb meaning primarily “to obstruct, oppose”. It is used with and without the definite article to mean ‘the adversary’ and ‘an adversary’. Throughout 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings, it is used more often without a definite article to describe those other nations that rose and up and fought Israel eg. ‘Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.’ 1 Kings 11:14

Here, the word is used with a definite article as a title bestowed on a being – traditionally translated as “the accuser” or “the adversary”. Rather than an external force – another king or nation or enemy – rising up to oppose God’s people, this seems to be an internal force at work within David. This force for evil incites David to take a census – which is clearly not evil in itself – to count the number of fighting men he has at his disposal. This demonstrates a lack of confidence in the living God to protect Israel and bring victory to His chosen nation. That’s the evil right there. It shows a lack of trust in the almighty God. It’s about trusting in his own strength and resources as a leader and not relying on God. This evil is subtle but David knows what he has done is wrong –

Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”  1 Chronicles 21:8

And so with hindsight, as the writer records the history of his people, he chooses this language to describe David’s inner temptation and sin in an external way.

The only book of the Bible where Satan is seen as a figure to enter into dialogue with as an external being is the Book of Job, where God is also portrayed in that way. It is a poetic work – a narrative – the earliest story to address head on the question of God’s justice in the face of suffering – that question we are all still wrestling with today….why does God allow so much suffering and evil in His world?

And of course, in Christian tradition, Satan is identified as the snake which leads Adam and Eve astray in the Garden of Eden at the moment when sin entered the world…..when humans trusted in their own strength and resources rather than God’s; when humans chose to rely on themselves rather than God; when humans decided that their own way was best. Just like David in our passage.

For many Christians, Satan is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God – the ‘ruler of the demons’ (Matt 12:24) and the ‘god of this world’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) – a force to lead people away from the love of God as he has been doing since the beginning of time; a temptation to us all to believe that our own way is best, that we don’t need God, that we can go it alone….

In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray –

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.  Matthew 6:13

A prayer for everyday, because are there not moments every single day when we want to have our own way and go our own way instead of God’s? When it’s easier to turn a blind eye and not to care? When we can’t be bothered to take action and do the right thing? When we start to doubt that God really can protect us and start to rely on our own strength and evaluate our resources (just in case…..for a rainy day…for the day when God lets me down and I need to protect myself….). Just like David in our passage.

So of course, I’m concluding this post with as many questions as I started with. I have not given you any concrete answers. Because how can you give concrete answers about something that is spiritual and not physical?

Yes, there is unspeakable evil in the world around us. And yes, there are people committing acts of unimaginable evil in our world. And yes, bad things happen to good people. This evil is manifest through the deeds of human beings. Human beings like you and me. Because as humans, we are all capable of good and evil. That is plain to see.

I believe that God works through humans for good and that there is an opposing force that works for evil. In every situation, we have a choice – to go God’s way, to do His will, to choose life, to do the right thing or not. Some wrong things/sins/evils seem much smaller than others – almost trivial and insignificant – but nothing is unimportant. David taking a census of his troops doesn’t seem that big a deal but it showed the condition of his heart at that moment.

I’m not suggesting that we become obsessed by the notion of an internal spiritual battle that fills us with terror and paralyses us through fear of doing the wrong thing. Remember where we started? We have nothing to fear. We have God on our side. We have love on our side.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

We are not called to control the evil in the world. How could we possibly begin to do that? No, we need to start with ourselves – to recognise the potential for evil within us and ask God to help us walk in His way every single day. We need to respond to God’s call to shine as a light in the darkness, spread love where there is hate, bring hope where there is despair.

Yesterday afternoon, I was tempted to do something that lacked integrity but would have made life a whole lot easier for me. I’m glad I chose not to. It wasn’t that big a deal but it was dishonest. And deceit is a slippery slope. It becomes easier the more you do it.

Yesterday evening, someone pointed out that I tend to put my husband down a lot in front of other people (teasing and joking around but….) and I was challenged by that and probably need to change that way of behaving.

Sometimes I get it right.

Sometimes I do not.

Because I am human. Just like David. Just like you.