Satan is a Person

Satan is a fallen angel. The literal meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words translated as “angel” is “messenger.” God has used holy angels as messengers to His people,¹ but that’s only part of their overall role, which is glorifying God and serving Him and His people.²

Angels are spirit beings created by God and numbering at least in the hundreds of millions (Rev. 5:11).³ As spirit beings they may have spiritual bodies but they don’t have permanent “physical” bodies like humans. They were likely all created at once, before the creation of the earth (Job 38:4-7). Their numbers are unchanging; they neither die (Luke 20:36) nor reproduce (Mark 12:25).

Like humans, they possess the elements of personality: intellect, emotion, will, self-consciousness, and self-determination. God holds them morally responsible for their actions. Though they are intelligent and powerful, they aren’t all-knowing or all-powerful. An angel can only be in one place at a time. For example, an angel may be in heaven or on earth, but cannot be in both places at the same time.

The Bible doesn’t go into detail regarding the powers and abilities of angels, but we can learn much from verses and passages that mention angelic activity. Holy angels are able to make themselves seen in various ways,⁴ and have appeared not only as “visions,” but also in apparent physical bodies. The angels who visited Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ate food Abraham prepared for them (Gen. 18:8). As God’s messengers, angels can speak.⁵

God has used holy angels to discipline and protect his people and punish his enemies. To fulfill those tasks angels have the power to unleash awesome destructive forces. For instance, after Satan moved David to sin by counting Israel (1 Chr. 21:1), God sent an angel to cause a plague that killed 70,000 Israelites (1 Chr. 21:14).

Likewise, to glorify God’s name, serve His people, and judge Pharaoh, angels mediated the plaques on Egypt (Ps. 78:49-50), resulting in the release of the Hebrews from slavery. Angels will have an important role at the end of this age. They will unleash massive destructive forces upon the earth, destroying at least one-third of all mankind (Rev. 9:13) and much of nature (Rev. 8:5-12). This will set the scene for Jesus’ second coming, when all opposition to His reign will be crushed.