The Evolution of the Afterlife and Satan in the Bible

or... 

What the Hell?

When it comes right down to it, the afterlife is pretty darned important in Christianity, if not THE most important thing!  After all, that's what salvation is all about, isn't it?.  Its about whether you will go to heaven when you die, or... uh oh, whether you will go to the OTHER place, to H-E-DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS!  If you go to the first place, you are supposed to have eternal bliss in some kind of paradise, with God, Jesus, and the angels.  But! If you go to the other place, you will have eternal torture and torment in some kind of terrible, fiery place along with the devil and his demons, where you will be wailing and gnashing your teeth forever and ever! 

And while the afterlife indeed is a very important concept in Christianity, Satan is a pretty important figure as well.  He seems to be almost a fourth deity, albeit an evil one, possessing supernatural powers and the ability to roam the earth at will, tricking people and getting them to turn away from God and Jesus, that is when he's not down in hell, where he's sort of like the head prison warden, in charge of running the place along with his demon assistants.  Or at least that's the view from popular culture, even if its not very biblical.  But according to Christian beliefs that are at least somewhat biblical, Satan is Lucifer, the fallen angel who rebelled against God before the earth was even created. Fully 1/3 of the angels, the hosts of heaven, were supposed to have taken Satan's side and joined in his rebellion against God, causing them to be cast down from heaven.  According to Jesus, Satan is "the prince of this world".

Yet amazingly, with the afterlife and Satan being such important concepts in Christianity, the Hebrew scriptures/Old Testament seem to be remarkably vague about it. Its not until Jesus and the New Testament that the concepts are all that well developed.  In fact, in the oldest part of the Bible, the first five books variously called the Torah, the Pentateuch, or the "books of Moses", there is ZERO mention of an afterlife at all.  Just like the fossil record has preserved the evolution of animal species, so have the pages of the Bible preserved the evolution of the development of the concept of the afterlife and the figure of Satan in Judaism, and especially in Christianity.

And even the Judaism of today is somewhat ambivalent about the afterlife.  While it does generally accept the idea, to its credit Judaism is not all that concerned about it.  Judaism is more concerned about this life, making the world a better place, justice and mercy, etc.  And what will come as a surprise I think to most Christians is that Judaism also does not believe in the concept of hell, nor does it believe in the Christian concept of Satan as an evil, rebellious, fallen angel working in opposition to God.  But it really shouldn't be that much of a surprise when you consider the Jewish scriptures only, without the New Testament.  There just isn't much of a mention of the afterlife in the Old.  

Evolution of the Afterlife

So how is it that if there were an afterlife all along, God didn't seem to ever mention it until closer to New Testament times? Or did he?  There is a tem called "sheol" in the original Hebrew.  It is translated as "hell" in various places in the King James Bible:

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deuteronomy 32:22 KJV

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 9:17 KJV

Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.  Psalm 55:15 KJV

By golly that DOES sound like hell is in the Old Testament after all, doesn't it?  But not quite.  The concept of sheol is not hell.  The KJV is selective where it translates sheol as hell, and where it doesn't.  For most modern translations "sheol" is generally used in a way that is synonymous with "the grave", or "the pit".   :

For a fire hath been kindled in Mine anger, And it burneth unto Sheol -- the lowest, And consumeth earth and its increase, And setteth on fire foundations of mountains.  Deuteronomy 32:22 YLT see also here for other translations

The wicked return to the grave*, all the nations that forget God.  Psalm 9:17 NIV see also here for other translations

Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave*,  for evil finds lodging among them. Psalm 55:15 NIV see also here for other translations

*NIV footnote: Hebrew Sheol

"Sheol" cannot mean hell, as even the righteous Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel, is described as going there:

But Jacob said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone is left If harm should befall him on the journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow."  Genesis 42:38 NASB see also here for other translations Notice that the King James Version, which translates sheol as "hell" in practically every other place, here translates it as "grave".

King David wants the wicked Joab killed so that he cannot "go down to sheol in peace".  If sheol is hell and a place of eternal damnation, punishment, and torment, then how can someone go there in peace? 1 Kings 2:5-7

See here for NASB mentions of "sheol", where you can see that it is indeed synonymous with death.  In later Judaic thought, sheol becomes some type of murky and shadowy existence in a subterranean world, a place where all the dead went. This is reflected in the view of Isaiah 9:14-11, Isaiah 38:18-19, and Ezekiel 32:17-28.  But still sheol is not hell.  It is stated in Psalm 139:8 that God exists in sheol, which is quite contrary to the Christian notion of hell being a terrible place devoid of God's presence.

The Hebrew religion of the Old Testament was strictly concerned with this life, that is the concern of the prophets and biblical writers was in getting the people to turn from other gods and follow Yahweh only, obeying the law and commandments.  In their view, when people do evil, when punishments are warranted, they are punished in THIS life.  They are killed directly, sometimes along with their family. Sometimes the death comes directly from Yahweh, other times they are killed by Yahweh's people.  Often the nation of Israel is punished collectively.  Yahweh sends famines, or turns the people over to their enemies, or of course allows the entire nation to be exiled to Babylon for continually following other gods.  The concept is one of retribution theology, where generally the wicked are punished in this life (and the righteous rewarded).  But generally it is not stated that the people will be punished in a next life by being sent to hell after they die.

There are lots and lots of examples of people being punished by God in this life.  Here is but a smattering:

Of course there is the famous destruction of Sodom and Gomorah from Genesis 19:15-29.  The cities are destroyed for wickedness, and Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt for looking back. In Leviticus 10:1-2, Nadab and Abihu are killed directly by God for "offering strange fire". In Judges 3:5-8, when the sons of Israel do evil and God becomes angry with them, he has them sold into slavery. God later sells them to the Philistines in Judges 10:6-8.  In 1 Samuel 6:19, God kills 50,070 men because some had looked into the ark.  In 2 Samuel 12:9-19, for his sin of having Uriah killed, David is punished by having his child die and having his wives taken from him and given to a neighbor who will have sex with them in broad daylight! In 2 Samuel 21, God sends a 3-year famine on Israel because the former king Saul had done evil.  In 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, because of David's sin of taking a census, God sends a famine that kills 70,000 people.  In 1 Kings 13:11-26, God sends a lion to kill one of his prophets for listening to one of his OTHER prophets who was lying.  In 1 Kings 15:29-30, because of Jeroboam's sins, his entire family is killed "according to the word of the Lord".  In 2 Kings 2:23-25, God sends bears to kill 42 children/youths for making fun of prophet Elisha's bald head. In 2 Kings 10, Ahab's entire family, chief men, his close friends and his priests are killed "according to the word of the Lord" for the evil that Ahab had committed, and with God giving his approval in verse 30.  In 2 Kings 17, it is explained that because Israel had sinned against God and worshipped other gods, God sent them into exile in Assyria, giving them into the hands of plunderers.  He also sent lions to kill the people newly resettled into Samaria for not worshipping him.  And of course as explained in 2 Chronicles 36:15-21, for failing to follow his commands God handed the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon who "killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged".    

In Deuteronomy 28, God gives a long list of blessings to be bestowed upon the people of Israel for obedience.  People's wombs, crops, and livestock will be fruitful, they will defeat their enemies, they will have prosperity, abundant rains, all they do will be blessed.  The will lend to many nations but borrow from none, they would always be at the top and never at the bottom.   In the same chapter there is also a long list, an even longer one, of curses to befall the people for disobedience.  Everything they do will be cursed and come to ruin, they will be plagued with diseases, heat and drought, blight and mildew.  The rain will turn to dust and powder, they will be defeated by their enemies, their carcasses eaten by birds and beasts.  They will be afflicted by tumors and festering sores, the itch, madness, blindness, and confusion.  Their betrothed brides will be taken by others and ravished, their donkeys and sheep taken and given to enemies, their sons and daughters given to another nation and into captivity.  And the list of curses goes on and on.  They will plant fields but the locusts will devour them, plant vineyards but worms will eat the grapes, olives will drop off the trees. They will be in hunger and in thirst, in nakedness, serving their enemies, and the people will even eat their own sons and daughters!  They will be sent back to Egypt and offer themselves for sale as slaves, but no one will buy them.  But in all the blessings for obedience given in this chapter, nowhere are the people told that they will be rewarded by going to heaven after they die.  And in all the curses for disobedience given in this chapter, nowhere are the people told that they will be punished by going to hell after they die.   Elsewhere in the Bible, we see lots of similar threats and promises by God to punish the people in various ways for committing evil and for following other gods.  In Isaiah 3, God pronounces judgment on Jerusalem and Judah, threatening that they will be ruled by women and children, he will snatch away the women's finery, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and veils, turn their perfume into stench, turn their hair into baldness, and the men will fall be the sword in battle.  In Isaiah 5:20-30, God pays people for evil by striking them down so that the bodies are like refuse in the streets, and he sends distant nations against his people. In Isaiah 9:8-21, God says that he will scorch the land and the people will be fuel for the fire, and the people will eat their own offspring.  In Isaiah 13, God will punish Babylon by destroying the whole country, never to be inhabited again, whoever is captured will be thrust through, all who are caught will fall by the sword, with their infants dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses looted and their wives ravished. Much of the entire book of Jeremiah is pretty much a long tirade against the people of Judah, laced with threats of various punishments and disasters to befall them for continually committing evil and following other gods.  In Jeremiah 5 and 6, God punishes the people of Jerusalem by bringing a distant nation against them to devour their harvests and food, devour their sons and daughters,  flocks and herds, vines and fig trees, and to destroy their fortified cities.  In Jeremiah 7:27-34,  God promises to kill so many people there will not be enough room to bury the dead, with the carcasses to be eaten by birds and beasts; God will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, and make the land desolate.  In Jeremiah 8:1-3, God will even punish the dead kings, officials, priests, and prophets of Judah, not by torturing their souls in hell, but by removing their bones from their graves and scattering them about "like refuse".  In Jeremiah 9, God will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, and lay waste the towns of Judah.  He will make the people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, will scatter them among strange nations, and  will pursue them with the sword until they are destroyed.  And so the Bible goes on, and on, and on, with such threats of punishments.  Especially the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel give a really heavy dose.  But always, the punishments are in this life, not the next.

Now there are a few mentions of God punishing people by fire and burning, such as in Deuteronomy 32:22, Psalm 11:6, Psalm 21:9, and Psalm 140:10.  But generally this burning seems to be merely one of the myriad of ways in which God kills people for disobedience and wickedness, and doesn't carry any special significance over the other ways.  Now there are a couple of mentions of God burning people in Isaiah that DO start to sound something like the doctrine of hell, such as in Isaiah 33:10-14  where everlasting burning is mentioned, and in Isaiah 66:15-24 where it is mentioned that the for the people who are judged "their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched".  However it is still somewhat ambiguous as to whether this could be a reference to of a hell-belief or more of a case of the fire just being part of the punishments doled out out by God.  Even if these verses are referring to hell, it is significant that the writing of Isaiah comes relatively late in the Jewish scriptures, and particularly Isaiah 66 is regarded by most scholars as post-exilic, part of second or third Isaiah. 

It is no secret that belief in an afterlife gradually developed in Judaism.  The belief was not universally accepted even by the time of Jesus, and we have direct evidence for this from the New Testament itself in Matthew 22:23-33 and Acts 23:8, where it is stated that the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. (Side note: The 3 major Jewish sects  in Jesus' day were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes.  The Pharisees  accepted belief in an afterlife because they were more liberal and open to newer ideas and interpretations.  However the sect of the Sadducees, which was connected to the temple and included the priesthood, held to more of a conservative, old-line school of thought including a strict, literal interpretation of the Torah, and so rejected belief in an afterlife, see here, here, or here .)  

Other parts of the Old Testament are more confused on the matter.  Some verses seem to outright contradict the notion of an afterlife with punishments and reward after death.  Ezekiel 18 makes a pretty strong statement that the rewards and punishments for righteousness and wickedness are life and death, not heaven and hell.  Psalm 6:5 states: "No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave?"  The book of Ecclesiastes makes some strong statements refuting an afterlife. Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 states: "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?"  Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 says "All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not... For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten...in the grave, (sheol) where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."  Yet Ecclesiastes 12:7 could be considered supportive of an afterlife, but it doesn't seem to be any thoughts of resurrection of the dead with an afterlife of rewards, but merely the spirit of life (that God breathed into man's nostrils from Genesis 2:7) returning: and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.  Job 14:14 asks "If a man dies, will he live again?" with Job 19:25-27 saying  that the answer is yes, probably the most direct Old Testament statement supporting an afterlife.

Evolution of Satan

Not only can you see the concept of the afterlife evolve and develop within the pages of the Bible, you can also see the character of Satan evolving and developing as well.  The word "satan" is indeed a Hebrew word, listed as #7853 and 7854 in concordances, and the meaning is given as "an adversary or accuser" (see here), and basically means someone who opposes or resists.  Yet very interestingly, in the older parts of the Bible there is no specific character of "Satan".  That is, where the word "satan" is used, it is not used as a proper noun or title for a specific character, but is used merely as a common noun.  That is, it literally means "a satan", meaning "an accuser' or "an opposer", and does not mean "THE Satan" as a specific character.  

Here are the occurrences in the Old Testament where the word "satan" was used in the original Hebrew, according to the concordance.

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Psalm 38:20

Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.  Psalm 71:13

For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.  Psalm 109:4

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.  Psalm 109:20

Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.  Psalm 109:29

And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?  1 Samuel 29:4

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed? And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?  2 Samuel 19:21-22

But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent  1 Kings 5:4

And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom... And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah... And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. 1 Kings 11:14,23, 25

And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me.  Numbers 22:22,32

It is significant to note that in Numbers 22 the angel of the Lord is referred to as "a satan".  And in 1 Kings 11 it is God himself that is stirring up "satans". 

Bit gradually in the later parts of the Bible we do see a more specific character of Satan emerge:  

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?  Zechariah 3:1-2 KJV

And he sheweth me Joshua the high priest standing before the messenger of Jehovah, and the Adversary standing at his right hand, to be an adversary to him. And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary: `Jehovah doth push against thee, O Adversary, Yea, push against thee doth Jehovah, Who is fixing on Jerusalem, Is not this a brand delivered from fire?' Zechariah 3:1-2 YLT

Zechariah 3 in multiple versions

So you can see how the Christian theological views of some of the translations has influenced how they have translated the word "satan". When it fits they simply transcribe the word, but when it doesn't they translate it as "adversary". But even when it fits and they translate it as "Satan", he is not the Satan of Christianity, he is not this enemy of God, working in opposition to God.  Instead, he is obedient to God, serving him by tempting men and playing the role of accuser/tempter, sort of playing the "devil's advocate".  And he is still only a very minor and insignificant figure.  The only place he plays any kind of a prominent role is in the book of Job, where he is one of the celestial beings, "among" the sons of God.  He carries on a causal conversation with God, and they end up having a friendly little wager, where God allows Satan to afflict Job with all sorts of calamity, including killing his sons, daughters and servants, to see if Job will denounce God.  But still Satan here is obedient, and does only what God allows him to: 

One day the angels* came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. Job 1:6-12 

*NIV footnote: "Sons of God"

One of the more notable contradictions listed by skeptics is whether God or Satan incited David to sin by taking a census.  In the book of Samuel 24:1, it is God that incites David:

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." 2 Samuel 24:1 

While in Chronicles it is Satan:

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.  1 Chronicles 21:1 

And there standeth up an adversary against Israel, and persuadeth David to number Israel,  1 Chronicles 21:1 YLT

1 Chronicles 21:1 in multiple versions

The interesting thing to note here, is not that there is just a simple contradiction in the accounts, but the theological implications of the differences.  Did the chronicler, writing much later than the writer of Samuel, find it theologically unacceptable for God to incite David to sin, so he reinterpreted the events to have Satan being the one that incited him?

So in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament the above verses cited are the only outright references to Satan.  He doesn't even exist as a specific character in the beginning, and then as he does emerge he is only a minor, insignificant figure.  Now there are some other places in the Bible which, in Christian interpretation, are taken as being about Satan:

Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations... Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:9-15 KJV

Isaiah 14 in other translations

So those verses certainly do sound like they are about Satan!  However, if you look at the verses in context, you see that Ezekiel 28 is actually a taunt against the King of Tyre, and Isaiah 14 is a taunt against the King of Babylon.  It is specifically stated so:

"Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god... The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Ezekiel 28:2,11-12

you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! Isaiah 14:4 

So as it is plainly stated these verses are about the Kings of Tyre and Babylon.  However, the Christian view is that they actually have a double meaning.  They are about the kings AND they are about Satan, drawing parallels between the kings and Satan, or showing the true source of the king's powers.  Yet there is much in the text that clearly shows that the subjects are the kings, and not Satan.  In Ezekiel 28, we have the following:

you are a man and not a god... you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries... By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth... I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death...You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you... You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners...Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence... By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries Ezekiel 28 (various verses)

Tyre was a city of great wealth amassed through trade and commerce, and apparently was seen as evil by the Hebrew prophets.  So the above verses fit perfectly with the king of Tyre, but not at all with Satan, its not even close. Satan certainly is not a man.  However the stuff about being in Eden, the garden of God, anointed as a guardian cherub, on the holy mount of God, and being expelled from the holy mount of God and thrown to earth, that stuff WOULD seem to apply to Satan and not the king of Tyre, at least not literally.  But if you take it as using poetic imagery to describe someone who has fallen from grace, someone who, according to the writer, has turned from wisdom and righteousness to evil, someone who once had it all but got too proud and threw it all away, someone who, as a result was put down in their place, then it makes sense.  But the references to wealth through trade, and being a man, not a god (or angel) are awfully hard to apply to Satan, either literally or figuratively.  Plus, the context suggests that it is indeed the prophet's rant against Tyre, since it is immediately followed by a rant against another kingdom, this one being against Sidon, with nothing in that rant to suggest it could be a parallel against Satan.

Now for the part from Isaiah 14, is this really about Satan, or the King of Babylon?

... How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression...  you who once laid low the nations!... "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"... you have destroyed your land and killed your people. The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.... "I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares the LORD. "I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD Almighty. Isaiah 14: (various verses)

That very well seems to be about Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, especially where it is mentioned "would not let his captives go home", which is a direct reference to the Jew's captivity in Babylon, or so it would seem.  It does not fit at all with Satan.  But now what about the parts that DO sound like they're about Satan, particularly this part:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:12-15KJV

So this must be a direct reference to Satan, even calling him by his well-known name of "Lucifer", right?  Well maybe not.  How did Satan become Lucifer?  Its very interesting.

Satan becomes Lucifer...............

The very reason the name "Lucifer" is considered to be another name for Satan is because of this very passage in Isaiah 14.  The word "Lucifer" is Latin, literally meaning "light bearer" or "light bringer", and was used in Saint Jerome's Latin Vulgate (circa 405 AD), as a translation for the original Hebrew word "Heylel" used here.  In the middle ages, people began to associate the word "Lucifer" with Satan because of this passage, and the King James Version retained this translation.  However this word is actually referring to the planet Venus, which is why it is translated as "morning star", or "day star" in other various other Bible versions (see here for other translations of Isaiah 14:12).  (Being an interior planet and close to the sun, Venus always appears either near sunrise in the morning, or near sunset in the evening, depending on where it is in its rotation around the sun. But the ancients did not realize that the morning and evening appearances were the same object, so they gave each different names.  So the word here is referring to the morning appearance of Venus, hence "light bringer", since it appears just before sunrise.)  So why should this refer to the planet Venus?  Here the writer is poetically comparing Nebuchadnezzar with Venus. Venus is by far the brightest "star" in the morning sky, appearing just before sunrise.  But once the sun rises, Venus rapidly fades and then disappears from view.  So the writer here was basically saying that though Nebuchadnezzar was the biggest thing around at that time, soon his star would fade and disappear, overwhelmed and laid low by the power of God, just as Venus fades and disappears, overwhelmed by the light of the sun.

So it would be quite odd that Satan, the "prince of darkness", would be called "light bringer" by the Bible.  Plus, there is a BIG problem for anyone that insists Isaiah 14:12 is referring to Satan.  The very term "morning star" used in Isaiah is also used to refer to Jesus himself in 2 Peter 1:19 and Revelation 22:16!  Why would the New Testament writers use the same term to describe Jesus as Satan?  Because it was only later, in the middle ages, that the passage from Isaiah 14 began to be interpreted as a reference to Satan.  And this is because of the terminology describing the subject as having "fallen from heaven", and being "cast down to the earth".  This fits in with the theology that developed during the inter-testament period where Satan became a fallen angel, who rebelled against God along with 1/3 of the other angels and so was cast out of heaven.  These angels were the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:1-7, who corrupted the human race by having sex with the "daughters of men", giving rise to a race of giants, the "Nephilim" (see also Numbers 13:33).  This theology/mythology is much better developed and expanded upon in the pseudepigraphal book of First Enoch.

So that is pretty much it, as far as the instances of Satan in the Old Testament.  He is really only overtly in the Book of Job, and has a bare mention in Zechariah.   But hey, what about his appearance in Genesis, as the serpent in the garden of Eden?  Surely THAT is an overt appearance of Satan, right?  Well maybe not.  

Satan in the garden of Eden?.........

If you read Genesis 3, and try NOT to have any preconceptions that the serpent is Satan, then it doesn't seem so.  Once again, this was only a later Christian interpretation: The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Revelation 12:9.  Yet there really is nothing in the story that indicates the serpent is really Satan in disguise:

In this story, the serpent is nothing more than one of the wild animals, though apparently with the ability to talk, owing to his being "more crafty" than the other animals, and apparently he originally possessed legs.  So the serpent aspects of this story seem to be nothing more than the ancient Hebrews' crude attempts to explain why snakes crawl on the ground, why they eat dust (or so they thought from observing snake's behavior of smelling with their tongues), and why there is enmity/animosity between people and snakes, with people tending to fear/strike/kill snakes and snakes tending to strike/bite at people. (Side note: some Christians actually claim that the part from verse 15 "he will crush your head and you will strike his heel" is actually a prophecy of Jesus, predicting that Jesus, as Eve's offspring, will crush Satan at the end of the world. See here for a much more in-depth look at the claimed Jesus prophesies.)  So if the serpent in Genesis chapter 3 is really Satan, then according to this Satan still exists today in the form of a snake crawling around the earth somewhere, since God has cursed him "all the days of his life" to crawl around on his belly.  If that's really the case, then (as others have pointed out) why doesn't someone just chop off Satan's head with a shovel? 

The influence of the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism:

So then if it is readily apparent that both the afterlife and the character of Satan have evolved as concepts in Judaism and Christianity, then it begs the questions as to what influences may have guided this evolution. Many say that it was primarily the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.  When the Jews were sent into exile and captivity in

Babylon, and then later when the Persians defeated Babylon and granted the Jews their freedom, they were exposed to the Zoroastrian religion.  Zoroastrianism  is a dualistic religion, with belief in two gods.  One is an all-good and supreme creator-god called Ahura Mazda. The other is an evil spirit of violence and death called Angra Mainyu, who opposes Ahura Mazda.  From Zoroastrianism comes the ideas of an final apocalyptic battle, when the evil sprit will be defeated and destroyed, and there will be a final judgment with the good going to a reward of heaven and the evil going to punishment and damnation.  Of course other religions have also included beliefs in an afterlife and rewards and punishments.  The ancient Egyptians are well known for the afterlife beliefs, and the Greeks had  concepts of afterlife rewards and punishments as well with Elysian Fields,  Hades and Tartarus.  But it was the influence of Zorostrianism that had the biggest impact on Judaism evolving from a firmly monotheistic religion with God being responsible for everything, both good and evil, into a more dualistic one where evil can be blamed on an evil supernatural being.

Conclusions: My Take on it

It would seem that Satan and Hell are amalgamations of several different concepts and characters from different religions.  Satan developed from the Hebrew adversary and the Zoroastrian evil being Angra Mainyu.  Hell developed from the Jewish pit of Sheol, the realm of Hel from Norse Mythology, and Hades from the Greeks.  Even the popular notion of Satan has having horns and goat legs draws from the Greek god Pan and satyrs. 

So in conclusion, if the afterlife and Satan were concepts that were absorbed into Judaism from false pagan religions, then how can they be true?  Some apologists will deny that Judaism was influenced by Zoroastrianism and say that instead the influence was the other way around.  But if that is the case, then why are the early parts of the Old Testament so utterly silent on it?  Why can you see the concepts as they evolve and develop, right there in the pages of the Bible?  There are even significant groups of Christians who profess to believe the Bible, that argue against the existence of a literal hell, or Satan, based on the Bible. To me, its just one more indication that Judaism and Christianity were created by man and not divinely revealed, since they are no different from other religions that have evolved over time and become influenced by competing religions.  

It seems to me that the fate of man and animals IS the same, we are all destined to die, and after that, simple non-existence.  But there is one important difference.  Man has a bigger brain, giving him a higher level of intelligence and self-awareness so that he is able to contemplate his own mortality, while the animals are blissfully ignorant of their impending demise and so have only a basic and instinctual fear of death.  And since man is unable to accept his own mortality, he has  invented concepts where he will live on beyond death, and where unlike on this earth, justice will eventually prevail .  Not to mention that the carrot-and-stick approach of a promised/threatened heaven/hell is a pretty darned good way to sell a religion. But hey, that's just MY take on it, what do I know? 

Note: These verses (unless otherwise noted) from the New International Version 

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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