The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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Social-media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram have made slander a quick and easy blood sport for anyone with a smart phone or an Internet connection. American singer-songwriter Lizzo found herself on the receiving end of a defamation suit after tweeting the name, workplace, and photo of a food delivery person she claimed stole her food.

Billionaire Elon Musk engaged in an online spat with a British diver who helped rescue twelve boys and their coach from a cave in Thailand. Musk called the hero a “pedo guy” and allegedly referred to him as a “child rapist” in an off-the-record email to a journalist. The result of Musk’s accusations? You guessed it: a lawsuit.

And hip-hop star The Game chose to rant about his children’s former nanny to the rapper’s one million Instagram followers. In reply, the babysitter sued for an unspecified amount of money, claiming loss of employment, inability to work in her chosen field, and depression.

And so it goes. Despite ramped-up filtering efforts by social-media platforms, a subscriber’s flash of anger, or a simmering grudge, becomes public fodder in a matter of seconds. Equally troubling, the consequences of these viral accusations may be difficult, if not impossible, to arrest until they’ve run their course. 

How did people become so adept at slander? Practice. And a supernatural role model.

The arch-enemy

Scripture calls the evil one Satan and the devil in numerous places. Nineteen of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to Satan. Every New Testament writer recognizes the evil one’s existence. And of the twenty-nine references to Satan in the Gospels, Jesus makes twenty-five of them.

The names Satan and the devil essentially mean the same thing: adversary, accuser, or slanderer. The Hebrew satan means “adversary.” The term is used throughout the Old Testament to describe different antagonists – some human, some supernatural. Three Old Testament passages refer to a particular supernatural being as “Satan” (1 Chron. 21:1; Job 1-2; Zech. 3:1-2). 

The verb satan appears only six times in the Old Testament. Based on the context, the word means either to accuse, slander, or be an adversary. 

In the New Testament, the concept of a supernatural being called Satan (Greek satanas) is more clearly defined. The word signifies an adversary, “one who lies in wait for or sets himself in opposition to another.”

New Testament writers depict Satan as the ruler of a host of angels and the controller of this world; he especially governs unbelievers (Matt. 25:41; John 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4). He opposes God and labors to alienate people from their creator. This includes followers of Jesus, who must be aware of his wiles and steadfastly resist him (Eph. 6:11; 1 Pet. 5:8). Satan works as an adversary by tempting persons (John 13:2; Acts 5:3), hindering God’s servants (1 Thess. 2:18), accusing believers before God (Rev. 12:10), and controlling wicked persons who resist the gospel (2 Thess. 2:9).  

In comparison, the word devil comes from the Greek diabolos, from which we get “diabolical.” It means “slanderer,” “accuser,” or “disrupter.” Slander represents the evil of human speech that the New Testament describes with terms such as “blaspheme” and “speak evil against.” The verb implies acting with hostile intent, or setting two people at odds with one another. 

The name devil is based on two Greek words: dia, meaning “through” or “among,” and ballo, meaning “to throw.” As James Boice explains, “The devil is the one who from the beginning has been attempting to throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of the universe.”

Ancient Jews used diabolos to translate the Hebrew satan in their Greek versions of the Old Testament. The New Testament uses both words – satan and diabolos – to refer to the same creature. We often use Satan as a proper name and the devil as a title. But both terms are essentially synonymous, meaning “adversary,” “accuser,” or “slanderer.” Easton’s Bible Dictionary describes the devil as “the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest.”

While accuse and slander may overlap in meaning, they are not strictly synonymous. To accuse means to find fault in another and to bring charges against that person. An accusation may be truthful, and thus valid, or untruthful, and thus invalid. On the other hand, slander always is false. A slanderer levels false accusations with malicious intent, designed to damage the reputation, and even the livelihood, of the one slandered. So, justice or malice may motivate an adversary. Context is key.

Three types of satans

In Scripture, we find three types of satans: human, angelic, and divine. 

Human

David is the first human being called a satan in the Old Testament. In 1 Samuel 27, David flees from King Saul to the land of the Philistines. There, he and six hundred men, along with their families, endear themselves to Achish, king of Gath, who gives David the town of Ziklag. 

David proves himself a mighty warrior – so much so that Achish appoints David his permanent bodyguard (1 Sam. 28:2). But as the Philistines gather their military units into a single army to fight against Israel, the Philistine commanders protest David’s presence among them. They complain to Achish that David is not to be trusted, that in battle he would abandon his claim to be a Philistine ally and in fact become their “adversary” (satan) once the battle is engaged (1 Sam. 29:4). Reluctantly, Achish orders David and his men to withdraw.

Sometime later, Shimei, a Benjaminite who earlier had cursed and humiliated King David as the king fled Jerusalem (2 Sam. 16:5-14), now repents and seeks forgiveness (2 Sam. 19:18-20). But Abishai, a member of David’s court, demands Shimei’s execution for having dishonored the king. While legally permissible, execution of Shimei would undermine David’s efforts to rally the Benjaminites around him, so he opts for mercy and labels Abishai an “adversary” (satan) for suggesting capital punishment (2 Sam. 19:22). 

After King David’s death, Solomon writes to Hiram, king of Tyre, remarking that David had been unable to build the temple because of his preoccupation with warfare. Now, however, Solomon explains he is free to take up this ambitious project because Israel is at peace, lacking any “enemy” (satan; 1 Kings 5:4).

In the New Testament, we see one example of a person called “a devil.” In John 6, after many disciples desert Jesus, he addresses his twelve apostles, saying, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil” (v. 70, emphasis added). Of course, Jesus is referring to Judas Iscariot, who later betrays Jesus. 

Angelic

Chapters 1 and 2 of Job record encounters between God and the satan (Heb. hassatan). This is the only instance in the Old Testament where God and Satan converse with each other. We explore this passage in more detail shortly.

In a vision recorded in Zechariah 3:1-2, the prophet Zechariah observes Joshua, the high priest, standing in front of the angel of the LORD, along with the satan (Heb. hassatan), who positions himself nearby to accuse Joshua. We’re not told the nature of the accusation, although it appears the satan is challenging Joshua’s fitness to serve. The Lord rebukes Joshua’s accuser, and the angel of the LORD – likely the preincarnate Christ – removes Joshua’s sin and promises to clothe him in clean garments.

In one other Old Testament account of an angelic satan, we see a malevolent adversary incite David to take a census of Israel. Recorded in 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan rises up against Israel and persuades David to number his troops. This is the only time in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word satan, when applied to a diabolical spirit, is used without the definite article (“the”), leading some commentators to identify this as a personal name depicting the evil one.

In the New Testament, the names Satan and the devil are used interchangeably dozens of times to refer to the evil one. Because the New Testament features a more fully developed doctrine of a singular fallen angel, there is little question about the identity of this malevolent creature – and far more detail about his activities. See Appendix 1 for a listing of every New Testament reference to Satan / the devil. 

Divine

There is one Old Testament instance of a celestial accuser sent from Yahweh; in fact, he may be Yahweh himself. In Numbers 22, the angel of the LORD – likely the preincarnate Christ, as in Zechariah 3:1-2 – appears in a most curious scene involving a cursing king, a prophet for hire, and a talking donkey. It is the story of Balaam, a mercenary prophet whom Moab’s King Balak hires to curse the Israelites. 

Balak sends two successive envoys to Balaam, offering the prophet a substantial prize. Balaam tells the king he can only say what Yahweh tells him, which gives us the feeling we are encountering a faithful spokesman for the Lord. Yet there is ample indication throughout the story – and in New Testament references to this series of events – that Balaam is seeking to hedge his bets in order to satisfy greedy desires.

Heading for Moab with the king’s ambassadors, Balaam doesn’t get far before the sword-wielding angel of the LORD steps into his path. In two places, the angel is depicted as an adversary, or satan. In Numbers 22:22, the angel of the LORD takes his stand on the path to oppose Balaam. And, in verse 32, after Yahweh opens Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the LORD, the angel tells Balaam he has come out to oppose the false prophet. In both cases, the Hebrew satan is translated “oppose.”

The New Testament makes no reference to a member of the Trinity as a satan or devil, although the religious leaders of Jesus’ day accuse him of having a demon (Greek daimonion; John 8:48) and working in concert with Beelzebul, the prince of demons (Matt. 12:24; Luke 11:15). 

Even so, New Testament writers have much to say about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rightly accusing, convicting, and judging people. For example, Jesus tells his followers the Holy Spirit is coming to convict the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). The Greek verb rendered “convict” is elencho and means rebuke, as in exposing sin or convincing someone of guilt.

Further, Jesus is clear that the Father has granted him all judgment, “so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:22-23). And the apostle Paul reveals that all believers must stand one day before the judgment seat of God / Christ (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). 

Wherever members of the Trinity are depicted as adversaries or accusers, they stand as holy and righteous judges – in stark contrast to the evil one. In revealing his equality with the Father, Jesus challenges his Jewish listeners, “Who among you can convict me of sin?” (John 8:46).

One final note before moving on: Using the name Satan, or accuser, to depict the evil one would have made an especially strong impact in the first century, for there was a well-known and much-hated figure called the delator – a paid informant who made his living by accusing people before the authorities. As one commentator points out, it is not a large step from accuser to slanderer, and thus Satan (the accuser) is often called the devil (slanderer). Thus, people’s loathsome view of the delator easily could be transferred to the ultimate accuser/slanderer in the unseen realm.

Next: Three curious cases of slander