NOTE: Capitalization is for emphasis.
In the Acts of Thomas, an ancient text of the Syriac Church, (Klijn pp. 1-5), the Apostle Thomas is led by inspiration to the dead body of a youth. The killer appears to Thomas. Thomas wants to know who he is and why he killed the youth: "Of what seed are thou?" (Klijn, p. 80) The killer who has the appearance of a black snake answers:
"I am a reptile, the son of a reptile, and harmer; I am the son of him, whom power was given over (all) creatures, and he troubled them. I am the son of him, who makes himself like unto God to those who obey him, that they may do his will. I am the son of him, who is ruler over everything that is created under heaven. I am the son of him, who is outside of the ocean, and whose mouth is closed. I am the kinsman of him, who spake with Eve, and through her made Adam transgress the commandment of God. And I am who incited Cain to slay his brother. And on my account, -because of this I was created, --the earth was cursed and thorns grew up in it. I was who dared, and cast down the just from their height and corrupted them through the lust of women; and they began sons large of body, and I worked in them my will. And I am who hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that he might slay the children of Israel, and keep them down in hard slavery. I am he who led the people astray in the desert, when I subdued them so they made for themselves the calf. I am he who stirred up Caiaphas and Herod by slander against the Righteous Judge. I am who caused Judas to take the bribe, when he was made subject to them, that he might deliver up the Messiah to death. I am he to whom the power of this world was given, and the son of Mary has seized me by force and taken what was His from me. I am the kinsman of him, who is to come from the east, to whom the power is given." (Klijn p. 80) Also see Rev. 9:ll.
The contents of the chapter from the Acts of Thomas from which the above was taken is where the devil reveals his nature, much of the ideas presented by Klijn are stated by him to be Jewish ideas. (Klijn p. 224) However, current Jewish texts and their Torah do not reflect these ideas correctly anymore. Ringgren says:
"Concerning demons or evil spirits there are two different ideas represented in Judaism. On the one hand in the pseudepigraphic literature demons are associated with the fallen angels and are understood as SEDUCERS to and instigators of evil deeds. On the other hand, in the rabbinic literature they are understood primarily as beings which cause sickness and, as such, are morally neutral. In Qumran [Dead Sea Scrolls] the aspect first mentioned is dominant." (Ringgren p. 90)
The Dead Sea Scrolls effectively demonstrate that the Rabbinical Tradition had deleted references to Satan and the original understanding of Him the Jews had anciently.
"In the Thanksgiving Psalms fragment he is called SATAN, (lQH fr. Iv.6), in the War Scroll xiii.11 and the Damascus Document xvi.5 he is called the ANGEL OF ENMITY .the use of Mastemah, enmity, as a name for the PRINCE OF THE EVIL SPIRITS, and in the Book of Jubilees it is he who tempts Abraham (17:15-18), wants to kill Moses (48:2,9), hardens the hearts of the Egyptians (48:17) and kills the first born in Egypt (49:2) .Belial is Gods ADVERSARY (1 QS II.5; CD V.18; Testament of Simeon 5:3), a TEMPTER and SEDUCER (1QS iii.20 f ). ANGEL OF DARKNESS (1QS III.23 f.; CD xii.2; Testament of Judah 25:3; Testament of Issachar 7:7 .[the] Thanksgiving Psalms (iii.18) speak of SPIRITS OF VIPER (or possibly: "spirits of nothingness); behind which the gates of eternity finally will be closed." (Ringgren p. 90-91)
While there is much more, these references confirm much of what is provided below from other sources, and essentially demonstrates that the Rabbinical Tradition of today is sadly lacking in the knowledge of the Character of Satan which they once had. On whose authority has that knowledge been deleted? Upon a close examination of this quote from the Acts of Thomas, note a number of interesting things:
POINT No.1: The killer refers to himself as a reptile and the son of a reptile. "In agreement with God having a Son appearing on earth, we see the devil having a son [a follower] in whom he shows himself." (Klijn p. 224) Joseph Smith changed all references to snake, found in Genesis 2 in the Old Testament, in the Inspired Version to read: Satan. (Smith, Genesis Chap. 3, etc.) "Lucifer, who tempted Eve through the mouth of a serpent (Gen 3), is called the great dragon, and that old serpent (Rev 12:7-17; 20:2, thus giving foundation to the use of serpents as an evil symbol." (McConkie p. 705) Elsewhere the serpent is referred to as Lucifer. (Isaiah 14: 12-20). "This name of Satan [Lucifer] means literally light bearer or shining one. It is thus intended to convey a realization of his high status of prominence and authority in pre-existence before his rebellion and fall. (D&C 76:25-27, Isa 14:12-20, Luke 10:18; 2 Ne. 2:17-18)." (McConkie p. 461). So the killer is identifying himself as one of the followers of Lucifer, also known as the Serpent and as Satan.
POINT No. 2: Lucifer has a vast following, they were cast down upon the earth. "For behold, the devil rebelled against me ; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency" D&C 29:36. Here on earth, Satan is often referred to as the God of This World:
"But the Great one is blind. Because of his might and his ignorance and his arrogance he said in his [vanity] . I am God; there is none beside me. When he said this, he sinned against the All. And his speech reached up to Imperishability. But lo! A voice came forth from Imperishability, saying: You are Wrong, Samael, which is, the God of the blind. His Thought was blind. He sent forth his might, which was the blasphemy that he had spoken." (Bullard pp. 19-20)
Anti-Mormons have taken the LDS believer to task for asserting that Lucifer was a child of God, as we all are, and that he was born in the Spirit world. From an ancient document we now have confirmation that this was believed by some in the first centuries after Christ and preserved in their ancient texts:
"But she [Mother in heaven] called his name: Ialtabaoth [Beelzebub, later known as Satan]. This is the first archon [powerful leader], he who took a great strength from his mother; and he went away from her and turned away from the regions WHERE HE WAS BORN." (Giversen, p. 65) This quote also confirms a doctrine of a preexistence.
There are "four passages in the Hebrew Bible in which the noun Satan is used to describe a heavenly being, (Zech 3:1-7, Job 1-2, l Chr 21:1-22:1, Num 22:22-25)." (Day p. l) Then there is a single reference to Lucifer in Isaiah 12:14). Lucifer has done a good job of nearly deleting most references to himself out of the scripture. Joseph Smiths changes in the Inspired Version of the scriptures (Inspired Version) added considerable knowledge of Satan back into the scriptures. We do get more information about Satan from the New Testament, though todays collection of books were reduced from 67 books on Easter 367 AD, to the 27 we now have. Many of those books eliminated contain additional details on Satan and many of those deleted texts were rediscovered when the Nag Hammadi library was found in 1945. Additional information on Satan comes from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were recovered from various caves, mainly during 1945 to 1952. Other manuscript discoveries also expand modern knowledge about Satan considerably. We now have much more on Satan than was available for more than two thousand years. In addition to changes made in the Inspired Scriptures, the Prophet Joseph Smith added a great deal of detailed information about Satan in the Restoration Revelations and his personal teachings, which we will occasionally refer to.
POINT No. 3: The killer says he is the son of the reptile (of the reptile nature), [Serpent=Satan]," (Klijn p. 224) "Since the day in which Satan spoke by the mouth of the serpent to entice Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit (Moses 4:5-21), Satan has been called that old serpent. (Rev 12:9; 20:2, D&C 76:28, 88:110.)" McConkie p. 704)
POINT No. 4: the son of harmer. Harmer is found in Mark 16:18. It is another designation of Satan. "They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt [harm] them." [Mark 16:18] they will pick up serpents .if they pick up , they will not be hurt,(Bratcher p. 513). The Greek word 'blapto' translates to harm, 'injure', 'hurt'.(Bratcher p. 513). The killer says he is the son of the one who will harm and injure and hurt, and therefore he has that same disposition to harm. The Jews, however see those who think they would be preserved by their faith as foolish snake handlers. (Stern, p. 102) The ancient Acts of Thomas preserves a more correct translation of the Greek word to Harm.
POINT No. 5: He further says: "I am the son of him, whom power was given over (all) creatures, and he troubled them. I am the son of him, who makes himself like unto God to those who obey him, that they may do his will. I am the son of him, who is ruler over everything that is created under heaven." (Klijn p. 224) "The devil as RULER of the world, see Asc. of Is. L 3, II 4 and X. 29, Jn 12,14,30; 16, 11, 11 Cor 4,4; Eph 2,2; 6, 12, Eph. XVIII, Magn. I 13, Trall. 4.2, Barn. 2,1 and 18, 2. Freer Logion (Mark 16,15)." (Klijn pp. 224-225) "I am God and there is no other God but me! he was ignorant of his strength, the place from which he came." is the declaration of Satan in a Nag Hammadi text. (Giverson, p. 67) "But a voice came from heaven saying You are Wrong." (Bullard p. 19) "Therefore he called himself God, But he was not obedient to that place from which he came." (Giversen p. 69) "Satan troubles all of mankind and even his followers are fearful of him." (Giversen pp. 71, 73) "The struggle between Christ and the devil as (is) still going on." (Klijn p. 15). The Manichaeans believe "that the History of the world can be seen as one prolonged process of dividing the light from the darkness." (Klijn p. 15) The conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, man and Satan, will continue until Satan is cast into outer darkness. In "Syraic Christianity special attention was paid to mans free will and the resurrection of the body." (Klijn p. 16) "I [have given] unto man his agency." (Moses 7:32) "Thou mayest choose for thyself." (Moses 3:17) "That you may live and move and do according to your own will." ( Mosiah 2:21). The restoration doctrines are clear, man is free to choose for himself, he is a free agent, and he has free will, but he is subject to the enticements of Lucifer and his followers. Man can resist!
POINT No. 6: "I am the son of him, who is outside of the ocean, and whose mouth is closed. I am the Kinsman of him, who spake with Eve." Here he draws attention in an oblique way to the powers Satan has over the waters. "Brother [W.W.] Phelps in open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer in his most horrible power, ride upon the face of the waters; " (H Vol. 1, p. 203) And he, the snake, draws attention to the fact that he is the kinsman of the serpent [Satan] who spake with Eve, and through her "made Adam transgress the commandment of God." (Klijn p. 80 and Foerster p. 47) Elsewhere we understand that it was Lucifer that tempted Adam and Eve. The snake, the serpent, Satan, the devil, and Lucifer, are the same individual. He is everyones adversary.
"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon .and the Lord said whom shall I send? .one like the son of man said send me and another said: Here am I, send me . The Lord said I will send the first and the second was angry and kept not his first estate; and at that day, MANY FOLLOWED after him." Abraham 3:26-28).
"And on my account, because of this I was created, the earth was cursed and thorns grew up in it." (Foerster p. 47) I think this line was out of sequence in the text quoted, because it seems it should follow what happened to Adam and Eve when they fell, the world also fell, and then the earth was cursed. (See my CD on Lucifer).
POINT No. 7: "And I am who incited Cain to slay his brother." The covenant of Master Mahan to get gain by murder. (Moses 5:31) The man who gives himself to the Devil becomes his property. (Klijn p. 225) The absolute Good in the Universe is God, and the absolute evil in the Universe is Cain, who by obtaining a body will rule over Lucifer and all the hosts of evil. (see McConkie p. 109).
POINT No. 8: "And I am who hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that he might slay the children of Israel, and keep them down in hard slavery." Joseph Smith changed the reference in Exodus 7:14, referring to the hardening of Pharaohs heart eliminating the possibility that God did the hardening, rather it was Satan who did, and this insertion in this ancient text verifies Josephs changes in the Inspired Version, and stipulates the actual reality of what happened.
POINT No. 9: Next the snake, or Satan, takes more credit: "I am he who led the people astray in the desert, when I subdued them so that they made for themselves the calf." (Klijn p. 224) The episode of the Golden Calf while Moses was on the Mount getting the entire 10 commandments and Priesthood laws is well known. The 40 years of miserable wandering with only limited priesthood keys was the result.
Point No. 10: "I am he who stirred up Caiaphas and Herod by slander against the Righteous Judge." Here Satan takes credit for the acts of Caiaphas and Herod and correctly identifies the Christ as the Righteous Judge. In a Greek test of the Acts of Thomas it states: "I am he that inflamed Herod and enkindled Chaiphas unto false accusation of a lie before Pilate." (Klijn 226)
Point No. 11: "I am he who caused Judas to take the bribe, when he was made subject to me, and he might deliver up the Messiah to death." This is a well-known episode in the New Testament, here Satan takes credit for the betrayal. You know the rest of the story.
POINT 12: "I am he who to whom the power of this world was given, and the son of Mary has seized me by force and taken what was His from me." As if the possibility existed of Satan ever having been seriously considered to be the Only Begotten in the Flesh. A most interesting comment! Does Satan here declare that Mary identified in the Pre-existent state as the most pre-eminent woman (McConkie), and fore-ordained to be the mother of the Messiah, preferred Christ over Satan to be her son, created a jealous rage in Lucifer? Did she play some unwritten role not available to us at present, in the rebellion in Heaven, such that Satan could say of her that she helped get him, Lucifer, seized by force [and ejected out of the Council?] And what WAS Christs remained Christs, by virtue of the foreknowledge of Father and Foreordination? Christ had been selected and appointed from the Beginning. Satan is bitter because "the Son of Mary has taken what was His." (Klijn p. 226) In a Greek copy of the text we are looking at it says it was the "Son of God who had taken what [Satan considered] was his." (Klijn p. 226) There is a great deal about the details of the rebellion and what happened that we do not know. But these ancient documents hint at things we would like to know more about.
POINT 13. And then there is a reference to the evil to come out of the east in the last times, to whom power is to be given, John Revelator, Rev. 9:7-11, (Bratcher pp. 76-77)
Much of this is subtle, and most LDS may not be as familiar with the various ideas and doctrinal implications contained in this quote, one could return to the Temple for some clarification. But there are subtle hints and confirmations that Joseph Smith got it right the first time about the character of Satan, some of which we will refer to below.
We now turn to other material about the Devil contained in the Acts of Thomas:
"Christ put on the body. This body was a real human body. Christ was poor, fatique, despised and humble. He was called with names .rather in spite of this body, he was able to show his godhead. Therefore he was able to tread a path from sheol [hell or detention] leading above. Thus he possesses two names. The Devil did not notice that He [Christ] was the giver of life, but He was God walking on the waves of the sea, whose divine form the disciples were not able to bear." (Klijn p. 35) "Man had to strive with his free will against the devil. By subjecting himself to the devil he lost his knowledge [forgot] about the world to which he belongs. Thus he is living in darkness .without knowledge " (Klijn p. 36) Adam instructing his son Seth said: "Then the flower of our eternal knowledge perished within us.[Adam became as a little child having forgotten all things] And a weakness overtook us. Because of this the days of our life became few. For I came to know that I had fallen under the dominion of death." (Foerster p. 17) "And the fetter of his forgetting fetters him." (Foerster p. 37) "It was impossible for man to perceive anything of the heavenly world. In order to tell man all this God had to adapt himself to human perception. He put on a body. In this way God was able to tell man that he has to choose a new way of life. But even if man is struggling against the Devil, as he ought to do, he has not liberated himself from the devil, the RULER OF THIS WORLD .Christ had to conquer the devil. For this reason he had to put on the body also. In this way to enter into his realm. He gave his blood to gain us. He took over the power of the devil. From now onwards man is able to go to God without fear. As long as man is in the body he still has to struggle with the devil, but he is able to do it as he is helped by Christ." (Klijn pp. 36-37) "First of all man has to give up his former way of life, next he is baptized by which man is guarded from influence of the devil in the future. At the same time Baptism gives forgiveness of the sins. This is given by both the baptism with water and the anointing [gift of the Holy Ghost]." (Klijn p., 59) One then "becomes a dwelling place of Christ, the soul is mingled with the Spirit, man is renewed or born again." (Klijn p. 59)
Now we return to the Bible. The four passages in the Hebrew Bible that refer to Satan include: Num 22:22-35 "which may be one of the earliest references to a celestial Satan." (Day p. 3), the others are: "Zech 3:1-7, Job 1-2, I Chr 21:1-22, these contain the noun Satan and use it to describe a heavenly being. With the discoveries at Ugarit or Ras Shamra, found in 1929, [Astour p. 1-9] an ancient site on the coast of northwest Syria opposite Cyprus, a library of clay tablets, with a tremendous wealth of data became available for the study of the background to the Bible." (Kenyon pp 29-31) From the finds at Ugarit we get details of "the Near Eastern concept of a divine COUNCIL, and the function of that Council as a judiciary body. and a knowledge of The COUNCIL of Yahweh," (Day p. 1) and thus we get some ideas that permit us to make some comparisons with restoration doctrines put forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith.
"The Head One of the Gods [Elohim, the head, Christ, Michael, the Holy Ghost, Michael, and any others who were elevated to this status as Spirit Beings at that time] brought forth the Gods .Thus, the Head Got brought forth the Head Gods in the GRAND HEAD COUNCIL." (Joseph Smith p. 37) "The head One of the Gods called together the Gods and the GRAND COUNCILLORS sat in GRAND COUNCIL at the head in yonder heavens to bring forth the world and contemplated the creation of the worlds [Kolob being the first creation of this order] that were created at that time." (Joseph Smith p. 39) . "The Head Father of the Gods. In the beginning the Head of the Gods called a COUNCIL OF THE Gods. The Gods came together and concocted a scheme to create this world and the inhabitants." (Joseph Smith p. 43) "As the GRAND COUNCIL gave in for Jesus Christ, the lot fell on him, so the devil rose up, rebelled against God, fell, and was thrust down, with all who put up their heads for him." (Joseph Smith p. 65) All of the proceeding is quoted in Cannon and Dahl.
Also we have "According to that which was ordained in the midst of the COUNCIL OF THE ETERNAL GOD, OF ALL OTHER GODS, before this world was " (D&C 121:32) In the Book of Abraham there are a number of references to COUNCIL including: "And the Gods [Christ and Michael at least] concluded upon the seventh time .they would rest .from...their works which they (the Gods) had COUNSELED among themselves to form and thus were their decisions at the time that they COUNSELED among themselves." (Abr 5:3) The LDS have been raised on the idea of multiple COUNCILS IN HEAVEN and ASSEMBLIES of the Gods as they plan for everything.
"Yahweh, like the Canaanite god El, was envisaged as presiding over a council of heavenly beings." (Day p. 1) "The primary function of this divine assembly was the dispensation of justice, both within the celestial realm itself (Ps. 82) and in relation to the terrestrial sphere, (l Kgs. 22: 19-22." (Day p. 2) "The references to El [the singular of Elohim] as the FATHER of both GODS and MEN raises the question of the nature of Els Creativity, cosmic or otherwise. .It is altogether probable that El was a Creator God .Els creativity [is] in terms of generation and PATERNITY. Father of Mankind .Creator of creatures Begetter of Begotten ONES... of establishing a FAMILY" (Pope pp. 49-50) All mankind were begotten to the Heavenly Mother and Father, and we are all one family. What we do in mortality may separate many forever.
We will discuss the differences between THE FATHER and THE SON in a future study. But one can get the gist of where the ancient texts can take us.
"By studying the texts that mention a celestial Satan, we are able to witness a development within the divine personality. .a goal finally achieved in l Chr. 21, where Satan is the independent personality Satan. Satan in l Chr 21:1 refers to an unnamed member of the celestial assembly ..who questions Jobs motives for worshipping Yahew (Job 1-2)." (Day p. 6) "In Job, Satan is a tool to prove human purity: in earlier Hebrew belief, Yaheweh did the testing (Gen 22). In Zechariah there is a development in the character of Satan because "he becomes an ACCUSER, and is the APPONENT of humankind .In Job Satan is understood as the personification of the malice of fate . In chronicles Satan is .a SEDUCER." (Day p. 9) In his Study of Satan Kaupel concludes that Satan means Enemy." (Day p. 10) "Satan in l Chr 21:1 is not a proper name." (Day p. 10) Kaupel thinks "this Satan was a human agitator." (Day p. 10) "The term Satan belonged to the realm of politics, and meant opponent in war." (Day p. 11) "Tur-Sinai suggested that the noun Satan originally meant the one who goes to and fro and therefore Satan was patterned after a court official whose duty it was to patrol his overlords empire," [orEarth]. (Day p. 12) "But Satans role expanded beyond those boundaries and the character became more malicious." (Day p. 14)
"The noun Satan could mean both adversary, in general and legal accuser in particular . It could be applied to both terrestrial and divine when they played either of these adversarial roles .. It seems the same would apply to all of those who followed Satan, and the work by Day concludes that we certainly should not speak of a single developing character or personality" (Day p 15), but it might apply to all followers of Satan, because "it becomes clear that there is not one celestial Satan in the Hebrew bible, but rather the potential for many." (Day p. 15), Lucifer had many followers.
If we look at the word Satan, the "-an at the end of Satan ...is suffixal" and the nun should "be considered a root consonant." (Day p. 17) If the [suffixal] "nun is denied status as a root consonant, then the noun Satan may be etymologically related to one of several geminate, third weak, and hollow verbs. On the semantic level, these potential cognates are tantalizing. They include to STRAY," to REVOLT/FALL AWAY, BE UNJUST, BURN, and SEDUCE. Indeed, both ancient and modern etymologists have listed the noun Satan under one or another of these verbal roots." (Day pp. 17-18) Could we disagree with any of this? All of these apply to Satan as understood by the LDS. The "Arabic SATANA (to be REMOTE to BLOCK THE WAY)," (Day p. 23) could also be acceptable to the LDS.
"The definite article with Satan in Job 1-2 and Zechariah 3, indicates that these sources envisaged a post or OFFICE of accuser in the divine council. In l Sam 29:4, the noun Satan simply means adversary. (Day p. 25) "In 2 Sam 19:17-24, Abishai, a member of the royal court, insists that Shimei [who had cursed David) should be put to death .David calls Abishai a Satan .Satan is best understood here to mean legal accuser .Satan here has no slanderous connotation." (Day p. 26) But there is no question but that he is slanderous.
"The book of Job (is a ) portrayal of Jobs response to revealed deity . And a personified Satan .the irony is not apparent to Job .he is ignorant of the scene, of the Challenge to Divinity made by Satan in the prologue to the book of Job, which is available to the reader, and therefore Job is "unaware of the precise celestial events leading to Jobs misfortunes." (Day pp. 73-74) For it does propose "a scene in which a celestial accuser turns on Yahweh, master of the assembly, and challenges the validity of Yahwehs blueprint for divine-human relations .Job 1:6-13 and 2:1-7 portray meetings of the divine council [and an] image of Yahweh surrounded by the celestial court [there is] the convening of the divine court for the purpose of fixing the fates. In Isaiah 6: the council convenes to determine the fate of Judah In l Kings 22: it is to fix Ahabs fate .Satan is implicitly challenging Yahwehs blueprint for world order .he is attacking the problem at its source, by accusing the creator of perpetrating a perverse world order .a shift from the test of Jobs loyalty to a trial of God .(and a ) profound questioning .in which the righteous unfailingly prosper .Yahweh allowing the accuser to sever the link between piety and reward .Job is blameless .he is made to forfeit family and prosperity, and his own good health Satans charge can only be proved false if HIS CONTENTION IS TESTED." (Day pp. 80-81)
"And we shall prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." (Abraham 3:25) "My people must be tried in all things," (D&C 136:31) "They must be chastened and tried." (D&C 101:4) and one must always accept and endure that "Which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon them." (Mosiah 3:19) "The world that Satan insisted upon so that true righteousness could be tested .And in this real world, a blameless man is suffering." (Day pp. 81-82) In this world there is much undeserved adversity, take for example the Cosmologist Stephen Hawking. Perhaps without his undeserved adversity his genius and great contributions would not have developed.
In the case of Job who "asserts the impossibility of a mere mortal bringing God to trial (vv. 2-3). God is both the creator and master of earth (vv. 5-10) and therefore is to powerful to challenge [he] would that there were a mokiah between us, so that he could lay his hand on both of us." (Day p. 88) "A mokiah [is] someone who tells the truth regardless of how unpleasant that truth might be (Amos 5:10). Job longs for a being who could take both himself and God to task." (Day p. 89) The reader of Job is privy to what is going on. Job IS going to be taken fully to task. "The mokiah is Satan the one who pointed out the potential fault in Yahwehs world order and thus initiated Jobs suffering. [In Job 10:19-21 he is] describing to his friends how he has been savaged by God in spite of his blamelessness." (Day p. 90)
Job believes " there exists a heavenly advocate who could bring his case before God. What he doesnt understand is that he is already on trial, [all of our lives we are on trial] and that his trial has been prompted by a witness, [here we understand that Satan can be called as a witness against us] an intermediary, of a different disposition. Job is right. There is a witness in the heaven, but that witness has ACCUSED him, not supported him. That witness is Satan and, like his friends on earth, [all of which had to apologize later] his celestial friend is unconvinced of his true piety." (Day p. 94) Satan here does not know, nor can he know, what Christ knows about Job or each of us. "Job has not penetrated the true identity of his heavenly witness, but the reader knows only to well. [Job is extremely instructive about the nature of being tried and tested, and about what Christ knows and what Satan thinks he knows] Amongst the entire gathering of celestial beings [in the council, which is probably being held on Kolob, because it is associated with the creation of things, of the order of mortality, and a place where Satan was apparently not prohibited from visiting] only one besides Yahweh has spoken, and that being is the Satan, [Who is actually the Accuser]." (Day p. 98) "The deity [Yahweh] finally intervenes, to veritably snatch the sufferer [Job] from the grave, the open maw of death." (Day p. 88)
"In the Hymn to Marduk Ludlul bel Nemequi, Job, like his Babylonian counterpart, expects to be rescued from the very jaws of death." (Day p. 99) And this reinstates "Jobs believe that he will see God for himself, the contemplation of which causes his insides to quake." (Day p. 99) "The redeemer is God, the same God as the one responsible for Jobs torment [or who permitted it]." (Day p. 99) So, in the prologue the reader is privileged to know about, "there is more than one actor in the heavenly court; in addition to Yahweh there is a celestial accuser. [After enduring all things required of him, Job affirms] that a heavenly redeemer will save his life, interposing between himself and the grave." (Day p. 100) And likewise interposing between man and Satan.
"God does answer human charges, although humankind may not perceive," it, or Gods intervention or know when it might be." (Day p. 101) "One of the functions of the personal God was to intercede for his or her client in the divine assembly." (Day p. 104) On this "the principle of just retribution is founded . There is also the Akkadian expression bel dababi, which means both enemy and accuser in court. The Aramaic documents from Elephantine [a Jewish settlement on an Island in the Nile River in Egypt] clearly preserve the juridical thrust of Akkadian dababu, for instance in the hendiadys dyn wdbb, formal process, legal suite retained . in Elephantine." (Day p. 158)
Let us focus on "Zechariahs Satan The Satan, they say is objecting to this change in the communitys status. Yahweh wishes to pardon his people; the Satan is opposed. The Satan, therefore, represents the strict observance of legality that precludes pardon; he is the relentless accuser who rigidly interprets retributive justice. He is rebuked for trying to obstruct divine mercy. He is OPPOSED to the PLAN OF SALVATION. He is the Justice of Yahweh as contrasted to Yahwehs grace." (Day p. 117) "Satan is depicted as objecting to Joshuas [a priest who Zechariah desires to consecrate for service in the refurbished temple about 500 B.C.] investiture because in fact his assumption of office was not universally supported within the restoration community. Zech 3:1-7 proclaims
That the divine council itself has sanctioned Joshuas appointment as high priest, [foreordination] and presents his exercise of office as a divine commission. The presence of a celestial Satan tells us that the objection to his candidacy has been aired even in the heavenly assembly, and had been over ruled [probably again on Kolob where Joshua had been foreordained to that very office]." (Day p. 121) "Zechariahs Satan becomes the spokesperson of Jewish law as opposed to Christian grace. The superiority of Christianity is thus affirmed by giving it a textual basis, while Judaism represented by the Satan, is pronounced contrary to Gods will." (Day p. 125)
By "The lack of the definite article the [it is taken] to mean that Satan in l Chr 21:1 is being used as a proper name, and the vast majority of modern commentators concur. There have, however been dissenting voices....that have maintained that Satan is an indefinite noun referring to a human adversary, and [others] take Satan to mean an unspecified celestial adversary." (Day p. 126) "The earliest datable evidence for Satan used as a proper name comes from Jubilees 23:29 and Ascension of Moses 10:1 both of which can be dated to [before] .168 BCE .deuterocanonical texts that antedate 168 BC speak of evil demons and corrupt angels, but no text uses the name Satan." (Day p. 128) In Tobit, [about 800 B.C.] "for instance, the evil demon who had to be restrained before Tobit could marry Sara is named Asmodeus, [which is interchangeable with Satan] (Tob 3:8-17). In the earliest level of l Enoch 6-11, the leader of the angels who were punished .is Shemihazah; .he is [also] called Asael." (Day p. 128) This name for Satan is confirmed in the Aramaic Fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls "and to Raphael (the Lord) said: Do Go, Raphael, and bind Asael hand and foot and cast him into the darkness." Milik p. 162) "When we turn to the Septuagint translation of l Chr 21:1 we learn that Satan is translated by the Greek common noun diabolos [devil]." (Day p. 129)
"The noun Satan is used to refer to terrestrial adversaries of the Israelite State (l Kgs 11:14, 23-24). Chr 21:1 tells us that a Satan stood up against Israel, thus provoking David to take a census of the people." (Day p. 142). Was this an unspecified human enemy of the Israelite State or Satan? At any rate, it seems that Satan substitutes for the wrath of Yahweh. (Day p. 144) A human enemy, inspired and driven by Satan is often used by Yahweh to punish nations. But the LDS know a lot more about Satan, his pre-mortal existence, his great authority in the presence of God (D&C 76:25), his rebellion, his ejection from heaven, and the use to which he is being allowed by the Lord on this earth, and his ultimate banishment into outer darkness. "Only those who apostatize from Gnosis [knowledge] are un-redeemable. They go to the place reserved for poverty angels, a place of non-repentance, because they have committed the unpardonable sin, blasphemy against the Spirit." (Helmbold p. 53, Mark 3:29) And Satan, not accepted as the one to be the Only Begotten of the Father "was angry, and kept not his first estate [spirit world] and at that day, many followed after him." (Abraham 3:28) And he and his followers shall be relegated to: "The underworld: 1. Amenti. 2. Chaos. 3. Outer Darkness." (Mead p. 575) Does Satan have job security? Did he ever serve on another world before this one? It does not seem likely, because his rebellion occurred at the time the creation of this world was contemplated, and he was cast down on this world.). Did he get tenure on this world? And after this world has been made rid of Satan will he have a recycling future? It does not appear so: from this world he "shall be cast out into outer darkness." (Alma 40:13) "in outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." (D&C 101:91) Satan and his followers and Sons of Perdition are those that "shall go away into outer darkness." (D&C 133:73) (See my tapes on LUCIFER)
An extremely different and unusual episode and enunciation of unique doctrine states "that an angel of God who was in AUTHORITY in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition, for the HEAVENS WEPT OVER HIM he was LUCIFER, a SON OF THE MORNING [meaning early born]." (D&C 76:25-26) Surely Mother in Heaven wept for this brilliant son.
In a translation available in 1963 of a Nag Hammadi Text we have: "When she had seen the wickedness which has arisen and the robbery which her son had committed, she grieved (repented) .when the mother had recognized the veil of darkness because he was not created perfect and she knew that her partner did not agree with her, she grieved (repented) with MUCH WEEPING, and the whole Pleroma [heavenly world] heard the prayer of her grieving (repentance)." (Giversen pp. 71-72) In the context in which we find this episode, this being is identified as an IMITATOR .. "this produced through him the likeness of the beautiful order."
(Giversen p. 71)
The restored doctrines of the Restoration of the Last Days coming through the Prophet Joseph Smith, are devoid of the bizarre and perverted ideas found in many of the preserved texts and documents. But the doctrines are simple, ordered, and magnificent to contemplate, and the Great Joseph got them right the first time.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Astour, Michael C., in Ugarit in Retrospect, edited by Gordon D. Young, Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake Indiana, 1981.
Bratcher, Robert G., A Translators Guide to the Revelation of John, United Bible Societies, New York, 1984.
Bullard, Roger Aubrey, The Hypostasis of the Archons, Walter De Gruyter & Co., Berlin 1970. This is one of the books of the Nag Hammadi discoveries.
Cannon, Donald Q. and Larry E. Dahl, The Prophet Joseph Smiths King Follet Discourse, A Six Column Comparison of Original Notes and Amalgamations, Religious Studies Center, BYU, Provo, Utah, 1974 (sic)
Dahl, E. Larry and Donald Q. Cannon, Encyclopedia of Joseph Smiths Teachings, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1997
Day, Peggy L., An Adversary in Heaven, Harvard Semitic Monograph 43, Scholars Press, Atlanta, Georgia 1988
Ehat, Andrew F., & Lyndon W. Cook, The Words of Joseph Smith, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 1980
Foerster, Werner, Gnosis 2. Coptic and Mandaic Sources, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1974
Franzmann, Majella, Jesus in The Nag Hammadi Writings, T&T Clark, Edinburg, 1996
Galbraith, Richard C., Scriptural Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, Utah 1993
Giversen, Soren, Apocryphon of Johannis, Prostant Apud Munksgaard, Copenhagen 1963
This is another of the books of the Nag Hammadi Discovery.
Helmbold, Andrew K., The Nag Hammadi Gnostic Texts and the Bible, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1967
Klijn, A. F. J. The Acts of Thomas, E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1962
Madsen, Truman G., Ed. Concordance of Doctrinal Statements of Joseph Smith, I.E.S. Publishing, Salt Lake City, Utah 1985 1st Ed.
Maxwell, Neal A., Moving in His Majesty and Power, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah 2004
McConkie, Bruce R., Mormon Doctrine, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, Utah 1966
Mead, G.R.S., Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, University Books, New Hyde Park, New York 1970 (sic)
Milik, J.T., Ed. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4, Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1976
Pope, Marvin H., EL in The Ugaritic Texts, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1955
Ricks, Eldin, Eldin Ricks Thorough Concordance of the LDS Standard Works, Foundation for Ancient Research and Book of Mormon Studies, Provo, Utah 1995
Ringgren, Elmer, The Faith of Qumran, Theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1963
Segal, Alan F., Two Powers in Heaven, E. J. Brill, Leiden 1977
Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. Clarksville,Maryland 1995
Smith, Joseph, Inspired Version, Herald Publishing House, Independence, Missouri 1959
Young, Robert, Concordance to the Bible, Funk and Wagnalls Co. New York