Satan Entered Judas (1 of 2) – Is Judas a true Believer?

Q. Luke 22:3-4 says that Satan entered Judas and that’s when Judas went to the priests and developed a plan to sell out Jesus. If Judas was a follower and believed in Christ, how could Satan have entered? Aren’t believers protected from evil spirits entering them?

A. There are actually two questions – “Is Judas a true believer?” and “Can evil spirits possess a genuine Christian?”

Let’s start with the first.
• Jn 6:39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
• Jn 8:29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.
• Jn 17:12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
• Jn 6:64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.

Judas was not a true believer because:
• It’s the Father’s will that Jesus lose none of all that His Father gave Him.
• Jesus always does the things that please the Father i.e. His will.
• Of all the Father gave Jesus, not one perished except the son of perdition i.e. Judas.
• We therefore deduce that Judas was not one of those the Father gave Jesus, otherwise Jesus failed in doing the Father’s will to guard the elect, which is impossible.
• Judas was lost because he did not believe. He followed Jesus for a while but did not have saving faith.

(To be continued)

What does Satan Look Like?

Q. What does Satan look like? What about demons?

A. The Bible does not describe what Satan looks like after his fall. There is a passage in Ezk 28 describing the king of Tyre, but which many commentators believe applies to Satan because its description goes beyond a mere man:

• Ezk 18:12-19 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.
• “By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, o covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. “By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you. “All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have become terrified and you will cease to be forever.”’”
Before his fall, he is a cherub (see Dec 10, 2015 post) in Eden, perfect in beauty, full of wisdom, and blameless. After he sinned he was filled with violence, profane, proud, corrupted, and unrighteous.

He appeared as a serpent to Adam and Eve, tempted our Lord in the wilderness, and John saw him as a red dragon in his vision. To men, he disguises himself:
• 2 Co 11:14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
I think that’s what he did when he disguised himself as the angel Gabriel to reveal the Qur’an to Muhammad, or as Moroni to give Joseph Smith the golden plates from which came the Book of Mormon.

Like Satan, demons are fallen angels and therefore do not have physical bodies. When allowed, they possess human beings who may become extremely violent (Mt 8:28; Mk 5:2-5; Lk 8:27), mute (Mt 9:33; Mk 9:17), deaf (Mk 9:25), or blind (Mt 12:22) i.e. they attack the means of communication. Demons can also throw the possessed into convulsions (Mk 9:18, 20, 26). However, these describe the demon-possessed men, not the evil or unclean spirits themselves.

One passage in Rev describes unclean spirits as like frogs:
• Rev 16:13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;

Beyond that the Bible is silent as to their physical appearance, but what’s described is very different from Hollywood’s depiction.