We have explained above that the word ‘satan’ means ‘adversary’, and ‘the devil’ refers to a false accuser. These terms can at times refer to individuals or organizations who are in some sense ‘adversarial’, and sometimes in the New Testament they refer to the greatest human adversary, i.e. sin. Close study of the New Testament makes it apparent that quite often, the ‘satan’ of both the Lord Jesus and His first followers was related to the Jewish system which so opposed Him and the subsequent preaching of Him. Not only did the Jews crucify God’s Son, but the book of Acts makes it clear that it was Jewish opposition which was the main adversary to Paul’s spreading of the Gospel and establishment of the early church (Acts 13:50,51; 14:2,5,6,19; 17:5-9,13,14; 18:6,12-17; 21:27-36; 23:12-25). Paul speaks of the Jewish opposition as having “killed both the Lord Jesus and the [first century Christian] prophets, and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins” (1 Thessalonians 2:13-16). These are strong words, and must be given their full weight in our assessment of the degree to which the Jews were indeed a great ‘Satan’ to the cause of Christ in the first century. Three times did the synagogues beat Paul with 39 stripes (2 Corinthians 11:24). The Jews of Antioch in Pisidia cursed Paul and his message (Acts 13:45 Gk.), drove him out of the city, and then travelled 180 km. to Lystra to oppose his preaching there. The Jews of Iconium and Jerusalem sought to “stir up” the Gentile authorities against Paul (Acts 14:2,5). No wonder that Paul’s midrash on Hagar and Sarah speaks of the earthly Jerusalem as being the persecutors of God’s true children (Galatians 4:29). Many of Paul’s letters were occasioned by Jewish false teaching and attempts at infiltrating the churches he had founded (Galatians 2:4). In Rome and elsewhere, the Jews sought to curry favour with the Romans by reporting Christian activity to the authorities1.
The Lord Jesus was fully aware of the opposition to His flock which would come from the Jewish opposition. He speaks of how “the thief” comes to the flock to steal and kill, whereas Jesus as the good shepherd came to give life (John 10:10). It’s too simplistic to say that “the thief” here is “satan”. Earlier in John 10, the Lord Jesus had pointed out that various other thieves and robbers, who are “strangers” to the true flock, have tried to steal the sheep by persuading them to follow their voices (John 10:1,5). When v. 10 speaks of “the thief”, the Lord is speaking of the characteristics of a thief—but the “thieves” are many, and they are the opposite of Jesus the true shepherd. John 10 is shot through with allusion to Ezekiel 34—which is all about false shepherds. The thieves, robbers and strangers were the false shepherds, the antitheses to the one true Messianic shepherd. But they are personified as one “thief” or robber. The false shepherds in the immediate context were of course the Jewish leaders of Israel—and they clearly were the original ‘satan’ or opposition to Jesus and His flock. The sheepfold is interpreted as the temple (Psalms 95:6,7; 100:3,4); and the temple was full of “robbers” in the sense of false teachers and abusive religious leaders (Jeremiah 7:11). Let’s remember that the Lord was speaking these words near the temple, and according to the commentaries of Adam Clarke and Isaac Newton, there were folds of sheep near the temple, in a kind of market place, where sheep could be purchased for sacrifice. The folds could be rented, along with “shepherds”—the “hirelings” to which Jesus refers. Perhaps He spoke these words with the bleating of the abused temple sheep in His ears. The emphasis in John 10 is upon the need to hear the shepherd’s voice and reject the voice or teaching of others (John 10:4,5,8,14,16,20,27,41,42). False teachers and shepherds sought to “draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). The thieves came to “kill”—and this applies to the Jewish opposition to Jesus who sought to kill the disciples, the sheep, thinking they thereby did God service (John 16:2). The point was that the true flock would not be led away by the voice or teaching of Jewish false teachers, because they knew the word of Jesus the true shepherd Messiah.
The Jewish scribes and Pharisees tried hard “that they might find an accusation against” the Lord Jesus (Luke 6:7); their false accusation of Him was especially seen at His trials. Pilate’s question to them “What accusation do you bring against this man?” (John 18:29) shows the Jews as the ultimate false accusers of God’s Son. For it was because of their playing the ultimate role of the Devil, the false accuser, that the Son of God was slain. No wonder the ideas of ‘devil’ and ‘satan’ are often associated with the Jewish system’s opposition of Christ and His people. The same Greek word for ‘accuser’ is five times used about Jewish false accusation of Paul in an attempt to hinder His work for Christ (Acts 23:30,35; 24:8; 25:16,18).
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Author: Duncan Heaster
Keywords: Satan, Adversary, Jewish adversary, Jewish system, opposition to the Gospel, Jewish opposition to the Gospel, opposition, oppose, enemy, enemies of the cross, enemy of the cross, Jewish persecution of Christians, synagogue of Satan, synagog of Satan, where Satan dwells, where Satan dwelleth
Bible reference(s): Psalms 69:22, Psalms 109:20, Psalms 109:29, Luke 6:7, Luke 8:12, John 8:44, John 8:55, John 12:31, John 14:30, John 16:2, John 16:11, John 18:29, Acts 9:23-25, Acts 9:29, Acts 10:38, Acts 13:50-51, Acts 13:45, Acts 14:2, Acts 14:5-6, Acts 14:19, Acts 17:5-9, Acts 17:13-14, Acts 18:6, Acts 18:12-17, Acts 20:3, Acts 21:27-36, Acts 23:12-15, Acts 23:20-21, Acts 23:35, Acts 24:8, Acts 25:16, Acts 25:18, Romans 11:9-10, Romans 16:20, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, 2 Corinthians 11:24, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 4:29, Revelation 2:9, Revelation 3:9
Source: “The Real Devil A Biblical Exploration.”
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.