Satan's Role in Blinding Jews to Their Messiah
Satan's Role in Blinding Jews to Their Messiah
The concept of Satan's role in blinding Jews to their Messiah is rooted in biblical texts and has been interpreted variously across Christian traditions. The biblical narrative portrays Satan as an adversary who opposes God's people and seeks to undermine their faith [1, 3].
In the Old Testament, Satan is depicted as an accuser who brings charges against God's people before God. For instance, in Zechariah 3:1, Satan stands at the right hand of the high priest Joshua to accuse him [1]. Similarly, in Job 1:6 and 2:1, Satan appears before God to accuse Job. This adversarial role is also reflected in the New Testament, where Satan is described as the "accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10) [2].
The New Testament writers attribute a significant role to Satan in the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. According to John 12:39-40, the Jews' unbelief was a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, and their blindness was a result of Satan's influence [9]. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul writes that the "god of this world" (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, preventing them from seeing the light of the gospel.
The early Church Fathers and Reformers interpreted Satan's role in blinding Jews to their Messiah in various ways. According to John Calvin, Satan's agency is subject to God's sovereignty, and his actions ultimately serve to execute God's judgments [6]. Calvin also notes that Satan's influence is not limited to external actions but also affects the internal disposition of individuals, leading them to resist the truth [10].
In the view of some Reformed theologians, Satan's role in blinding Jews to their Messiah is seen as part of his broader strategy to oppose God's redemptive plan. For example, Adam Clarke, a Methodist/Wesleyan commentator, suggests that Satan's accusation against Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3:1 represents his opposition to the Jewish people and their Messiah [8].
The Patristic tradition also emphasizes Satan's role in opposing God's people and seeking to undermine their faith. According to Irenaeus, Satan's malignity was evident in his efforts to prevent the crucifixion of Jesus, but he ultimately failed to thwart God's plan [7].
The biblical text itself provides the primary basis for understanding Satan's role in blinding Jews to their Messiah. Jesus' statement in John 8:44, that the Jews are children of the devil, is seen by some as indicating Satan's influence over them [5]. However, this interpretation is not uniform across Christian traditions.
The complexity of Satan's role in blinding Jews to their Messiah is reflected in the diverse interpretations of biblical texts across Christian traditions. While some emphasize Satan's agency and influence, others stress God's sovereignty and the ultimate purpose of his actions.
The book of Revelation also sheds light on Satan's role, describing him as having a "synagogue" of those who claim to be Jews but are not (Revelation 3:9) [4]. This passage highlights the tension between those who are truly God's people and those who oppose them.
Sources
- Zechariah “He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. -- Zechariah 3:1”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Accuser — Satan is styled the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:10. Comp. Job 1:6; Zech. 3:1), as seeking to uphold his influence among men by bringing false charges against Christians, with the view of weakening their influence and injuring the cause with which they are identified. He was regarded by the Jews as the accuser of men before God, laying to their charge the violations of the law of which they were guilty, and demanding their punishment. The same Greek word, rendered "accuser," is found in John 8:10 (but omitted in the Revised Version); Acts 23:30, 35; 2”
- Job “Again, on the day when the God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh. -- Job 2:1”
- Revelation “Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. -- Revelation 3:9”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 9:18: But the Jews did not believe concerning him,.... Not Jesus, but the blind man; that he had been blind, and received his sight; they imagine there was a fraud in the case, that it was collusion between Jesus and this man; that he was a man who had never been blind, but only had given out that he was, and pretended he had now received his sight from Jesus, on purpose to spread his fame, and induce people to believe he was the Messiah; and in this imagination they endeavoured to strengthen themselves and others: until they called the parents of him that had received hi”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 34: madness by despair. The Sabeans cruelly and wickedly make a sudden incursion to rob another of his goods. Job acknowledges that he was deprived of all his property, and brought to poverty, because such was the pleasure of God. Therefore, whatever men or Satan himself devise, God holds the helm, and makes all their efforts contribute to the execution of his Judgments. God wills that the perfidious Ahab should be deceived; the devil offers his agency for that purpose, and is sent with a definite command to be a lying spirit in the mo”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — CHAP. IV.--THE MALIGNITY AND FOLLY OF SATAN.: And indeed, before the cross was erected, he (Satan) was eager that it should be so; and he "wrought" [for this end] "in the children of disobedience."(1) He wrought in Judas, in the Pharisees, in the Sadducees, in the old, in the young, and in the priests. But when it was just about to be erected, he was troubled, and infused repentance into the traitor, and pointed him to a rope to hang himself with, and taught him [to die by] strangulation. He terrified also the ”
- Zechariah (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Zechariah 3:1: And he showed me Joshua the high priest - The Angel of the Lord is the Messiah, as we have seen before; Joshua, the high priest, may here represent the whole Jewish people; and Satan, the grand accuser of the brethren. What the subject of dispute was, we perhaps learn from Jde 1:9. Michael and Satan disputed about the body of Moses. This could not refer to the natural body of the Jewish lawgiver, which had been dead about owe thousand years; it must therefore refer to that body of laws given to the Jews by Moses, for the breach of which Satan, who was their tempte”
- John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 13:2: 13:2 Judas . . . Iscariot, who had refused to believe, was engulfed by darkness and had become Satan’s pawn (cp. study note on 12:39-40).”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 34: how, in a common operation, he is exempt from all guilt, and can justly condemn his own ministers. Hence a distinction has been invented between doing and permitting because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that he directs their malice to whatever end he pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute his Judgments. The modesty of those who are thus alarmed at the appearance of absurdity might perhaps be excused, did they not endeavour to vindicate t”