The Satan in the Modern Setting

The Satan emerges in the Jewish religion sometime after the Exile of 587-538 BCE. Possibly of Persian influence, The Satan emerged as an angelic figure whose chief responsibility was the legal accusation of sinners before God. At some point, The Satan began to enjoy his role so much that he set himself against the purposes of God to accuse and conquer humanity for his own purposes. He began to create the problems by which he could accuse humanity before God.

In many ways, the Hebrew mind wrestled with the problem of evil and concluded that the coincidences that come with a close examination of the subject only point to a personal embodiment at work.

In this sense, the Jews and Christians could see The Satan and his daemonic cohorts at work in three areas:

First, The Satan could be at work in individuals.

Second, The Satan could be at work in whole communities.

Thirdly, and most diabolically, The Satan could be at work within the authorities and power structures that dominate a culture, society, nation, government, and local church,

Each of these three areas requires a greater difficulty of prayer and supplication. Yes, I’m afraid that I do not have an antidote for two and three yet apart from the continuing work of the work that God has called the average Christian to do.