Abusive Speech

Friday is usually a busy day—the day that all of the efforts that have been put forth all week come to fruition. The articles for the bulletin receive their final proofing, and all the other features are added in. The sermons for Sunday are finished (presumably), and the sermon questions are being made ready. All of the announcements are updated, and everything is running through the copy machine in preparation for the Lord's day. In the midst of all these things being completed, a person by the name of Michael calls. Allegedly, he had a Bible question that he wants to ask about. Fine! That's what we're here for—to answer questions in order to lead people to the truth.

Michael's question had to do with the origin of the devil. Where did he come from, and how did he become evil? I replied that Satan was a created being and that he rebelled against God. "But I've read Genesis 1," Michael said, now in a more argumentative mode, "and it doesn't say anything about God creating angels or any kind of fall." I answered, "Nevertheless, they were and they did, which Peter affirms in 2 Peter 2:4." Now he began to launch his attack: "Hah! 2 Peter was one of the last books that was accepted into the canon; many people opposed it. But even if I grant you that it belongs, the statement in verse 4 has no historical precedent, as do the references to Noah and Sodom." It was becoming clear that, first, Michael did not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and, second, that he had not called to find an answer to a Bible question.

I forewent mentioning that other verses mentioned the fall of Satan, and asked him what his explanation was. He immediately began to talk about the theories of various rabbis. The first one he gave contradicted what he had already said, which I pointed out to him. He agreed that rationale was erroneous, and it seemed as though he might be about to bring up Zoroastrianism, which teaches that good and evil have always existed, but he went back to Genesis. I told him that Genesis only deals with the physical creation—not the spiritual one. He wanted to know (using a sneering tone) where the proof was for there being a creation before the creation.

The answer is that Satan already existed, although no creation of him is mentioned before he appears in Genesis, and that the angels rejoiced at the laying of earth's foundation (Job 38:6-7), which means they existed prior to Genesis 1:1. Genesis does not tell us about the spiritual creation already in existence—only the physical creation. But due to Michael's incessant interruptions, those facts were never offered. He kept interrupting and ranting—even when I politely asked if I could finish a sentence. When he got to the point of saying, "Are you stupid?" it became obvious that he had only called to quarrel and be abusive in the process; so I hung up. After all, it was Friday, and there was work to finish up.