A Look at a Lesser Being

To say Satan’s attributes are simply the opposite of God’s would be lazy, untrue, and misrepresent Satan’s created nature.

Throughout the Old Testament, Satan appears as “the Satan” in the Hebrew text. This makes the supposed name more of a title rather than a distinct name. It is in the New Testament that we see this title become treated like a name as the Hebrew word gets transliterated into Greek as simply Satan. This title, or name, means “the accuser” and it is here we see one of the first characteristics or attributes of Satan. He loves to accuse and condemn others, particularly God’s image bearers, humans. We need to look no further than the account in Job to see examples of this.

God is infinite and everywhere. Satan is a created being with a particular body. He is therefore limited in nature. He cannot be everywhere at once but only one place at a time. Satan may be more powerful than any human but he’s nowhere close to God. He is a finite being who would love for us humans to think of him being more than he is.

God is holy but Satan has fallen and is a rebel. This simple sentence speaks a wealth of differences. God is unchanging, holy, and consistent. Satan fell from a privileged position because of his rebellion which indicates a change and his action also speaks of his pride. He rebelled against his very creator and then talked God’s image bearers, man, into rebelling as well.

Any perceived duality between God and Satan is a false one. The “prince of darkness” may be a symbol of evil but he does not command or lead it all. Instead, he stirs the pot like a chef and uses the evil in man to do harm to their own and rebel against God. He’s the conniving manipulator but he cannot impose his will on anything. God can. Job shows us that Satan cannot even torment someone without God allowing it (Job 1:6-19; 2:1-8). Satan’s will is therefore limited by God’s will much as you or I would be limited.

To sum up what’s been brought up so far, Satan’s attributes:

• Fallen
• Angel
• Rebel
• Proud/Arrogant
• Manipulator
• Finite/Limited
• Created
• Accuser
• “Prince” (speaks to his higher status)
• Dark
• Evil
• Tormentor

This isn’t an exhaustive list. Even so, it should effectively help drive home some significant differences between God and “the accuser” we know as Satan.

Other items one may bring up would be how this prince of darkness likes to masquerade as an angel of light. This isn’t a farfetched portrayal considering how he is recorded to behave and it also speaks to the divine angel he was created to be. Even so, he changed and became a fallen angel who is very much aware of God and His truth but is bent on bringing as many humans down with him as he can.

What other attributes of Satan can you think of? How does “the accuser” compare to God or even man?