WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT

  Satan  is described in the Bible as an angelic enemy of God and, by extension, the enemy and opponent of those who follow God. Although everything God created was good ( Genesis 1:31 ), Satan chose to rebel against the Lord, and many other angels followed his rebellion ( Ezekiel 28:15 ;  Isaiah 14:12–17 ). Satan tempted Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden, and Adam followed her into sin, plunging the whole human race into a curse ( Genesis 3:16–19 ;  Romans 5:12 ). Pictured as a serpent and dragon in the Bible ( Genesis 3:1 ;  Revelation 12:9 ), Satan is a murderer and the father of lies. He promotes false doctrines and craftily seeks to keep unbelievers in spiritual bondage ( John 8:44 ;  2 Corinthians 4:4 ;  11:14 ;  1 Timothy 4:1 ). There are many things said in the Bible about Satan, but it is important to also establish what is not said about him. There are many misconceptions regarding the devil, including the following: • Satan is not a pers...

  Cain was one of the sons of Adam and Eve. His birth is the first one recorded in Scripture, leading us to believe that Cain was Adam and Eve’s firstborn: “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man’” ( Genesis 4:1 ). The name  Cain  is based on the Hebrew root word  qanah , which means “possession.” Cain was a rebellious man who rejected God’s plan, ignored God’s warnings, and received God’s judgment. Cain is most infamous for being the world’s first murderer. When his sacrifice was rejected by God while his brother Abel’s was accepted, Cain grew angry ( Genesis 4:4–5 ). God warned Cain against further sin, but Cain spurned God’s warning and killed his brother  Abel  in a field (verses 6–8). God punished Cain by increasing his hardship and banishing him from society (verse 10–12). But God also  marked Cain  in some way to protect him from being k...

  There is so much  suffering  in the world, and it is felt by everyone to one degree or another. Sometimes, people suffer as the direct result of their own poor choices, sinful actions, or willful irresponsibility; in those cases, we see the truth of  Proverbs 13:15 , “The way of the treacherous is their ruin” (ESV). But what about the victims of the treachery? What about the innocent who suffer? Why would God allow that? It is human nature to try to find a correlation between bad behavior and bad circumstances and, conversely, between good behavior and blessings. The desire to link sin to suffering is so strong that Jesus dealt with the issue at least twice. “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus” ( John 9:1–3 ). The disciples made the mistake of assuming that the innocent would never suffer and assigned per...

  Ecclesiastes 9:5  reads, “For the living know that they will die, / but the dead know nothing; / they have no further reward, / and even their name is forgotten.” This verse is sometimes used as a proof text for  annihilationism , but that concept is not what is being communicated here. The “dead know nothing,” but in what way? It is clear from other places in the Bible that this verse cannot mean the dead have absolutely no knowledge. Jesus said in  Matthew 25:46  that sinners “will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Every person will spend eternity with God in heaven or apart from Him in hell. It seems that each person will have feelings, thoughts, and abilities that exist in eternity. In fact,  Luke 16:19–31  offers an example of human capabilities in the afterlife. Lazarus is in paradise in eternal joy, while the rich man is in torment in hell (called “Hades”). The rich man has feelings, can talk, and has the abili...