Meaning of EVIL

At all times and in all places thoughtful people have probed "the problem of the origin of evil." The cause of sin is not found in God. The author of evil is "a person." The temptation of Jesus is proof of this (Mt. 4:11).

The Bible presents Satan as a being with a real personality (Jb. 1:6; Zech. 3:1; Luke 10:18; Rev. 20:7; 2 Cor. 11:14, etc.). Satan is also called the Devil (Mt. 13:39; Jn. 8:44; etc.), the serpent or dragon (Rev. 12:7, 9; 20:2). How did he become the author and instigator of evil? The key to the enigma is found in Isaiah and Ezekiel.

At the origin of the world, at the creation of the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1) God created the angels and, among them, a superior angel, a cherub who dominated an entire legion of angels, who later fell with him , becoming demons (Mt. 25:41).

He is called the prince of demons (Mt. 9:34), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) and the earthly world (John 12:31; 14:30). Thus, the origin of evil lies in Lucifer, the cherub spoken of by Isaiah and Ezekiel; under the images of the king of Babylon and the king of Tire is, evidently, Lucifer; In light of the context, the object of the passages in Is. 14:12-15 and Ez. 28:12-17.

Before considering these passages, a remark about the nature of evil is in order. Evil is not "something" that exists in a positive way, but the deterioration of something good or its absence. Rebellion (evil) takes the place of obedience.

Distrust (evil) takes the place of communion. Thus, evil is something negative, and only exists in relation to good, which comes from God, and which does exist without the need for the existence of any evil.
From the passages already cited from Isaiah and Ezekiel it emerges:

(a) that Lucifer had been entrusted with the care and protection of the earth and the space adjacent to it (Is. 14:12; Ezek. 28:14);

(b) that he had been created to celebrate the glory of God throughout the universe (Ez. 28:14);

(c) that he had access to the throne of God (Ez. 28:13, 14);

(d) that he was perfect, full of wisdom and beauty (Ez. 28:15);

(e) that he conceived the foolish plan to become God's equal, to dethrone God (Ez. 28:15; Is. 14: 13-14). His beauty, his brilliance, his riches, all of these he lost and led him to sin (Ez. 28:17, 1-5);

(f) the judgment of Lucifer (Ez. 28:6-10; Is. 14:11, 15), the loss of his sublime position, his destiny to the abode of the dead and eternal torment (Is. 14:15 ; Ez. 28:19 b; cf. Rev. 20:1-2, 7-10).
Thus, Lucifer became, through his fall, Satan, the Adversary of God and the tempter of men. He descended into Eden (Ez. 28:13) presenting himself to man in the seductive serpent.

(a) The evil produced by Satan.

It was through his rebellion that evil had its origin. He was left outside the friendship of God, confronted with Him, and thrown into the task of erecting his own perverse kingdom in opposition to God's.

There are authors who, maintaining that between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 there is a great gap, they place there the fall of the angels, the destruction of a pre-Adamic primordial creation, the development of long geological epochs, and only later the "re"-creation of the world in six days to the "Adamic creation."

However, cf. Ex. 20:11, esp.: "and all things that are in them," and cf. also CREATION, Geological and geochronological considerations, c.

(b) Entry of evil into Eden.

Already fallen Satan manifests himself in Eden (Ez. 28:13; Gen. 3:1) in the form of a serpent. He fears that man, called to rule on the earth, will not become more like God (Gen. 1:27; Ps. 8: 5-9).

He is afraid of being cast out of his earthly empire and the regions surrounding the earth. Man must be torn from divine dependence. Thus he seduced Adam by casting doubt in Eve's heart about the word and will of God (Gen. 3: 1-6).

(c) Satan, accuser of men.

Before the resurrection of Christ, Satan continued to enter into the presence of God to accuse men (Jb. 1:6-12; Zech. 3:1; Rev. 12:10). It is in the heavenly places where we have our fight against him (Eph. 6:12).
(d) Satan dared to tempt the Son of God himself (Mt. 4:1-11).

The victorious work of Christ.

It is through Jesus Christ that God has achieved total victory over evil and defeated Satan irremediably.
(a) Already in his earthly life, Christ personally triumphed over Satan. In the wilderness, he said to him, “Depart,” and Satan had to flee (Mt. 4:10-11).

Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18). On the cross, for his atonement, Christ was the true sacrificed lamb, but he was also the antitype of the goat sent into the desert loaded with our faults, which meant for the enemy that the redemptive sacrifice has been consummated, and that there is nothing more. that it may be maintained against the redeemed (Lev. 16:9-10).

In Zac. 3:2-5 we see the magnificent prefiguration of the work of justification and purification carried out by Christ, our Advocate, who is presented in this passage under the features of the Angel of Jehovah. After the cross, Satan can no longer accuse the regenerated former sinner (cf. Col. 2:14-15).

(b) The resurrection of Christ has consummated God's victory over him and the consequences thereof (Matt. 28:18; Rom. 1:4). The resurrection is the certainty of the definitive triumph of the sinner (1 Pet. 1:3), it is the certainty of God's victory on earth and in heaven (Eph. 1:20-22; Phil. 2:9-11 ).

This victory is manifested from now on through the new birth, which is the gateway to the Kingdom (Jn. 3:3). It will be manifested in a clear and patent way with the physical renewal of the earth in the millennial Kingdom (Is. 11:8-9; Hab. 2:14; cf. Ez. 47:1-12); finally, for the elimination of Satan (Rev. 20:10) and for the glory of the heavenly Kingdom where God will be all in all (1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 21:23-27; 22:3-5 ).