Isaiah Never Heard of Satan

Breakfast Bible Study

Isaiah 45:7 (ASV)

3/23/2025

“Christian nationalism is just fascism cloaked in religious garb” – Grace Pecker

Because spring is here, I have too much work to do for long Bible passages. I told Grace to find a Bible passage that could fit on one notecard. If possible, I asked her to keep out science, war, sex, slavery, and all that bad stuff that we already know should not be in public schools.

Grace slides a lined notecard across the breakfast table for me to read.

“I know this one. ‘I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.’ Isaiah 45:7. Jehovah is another name for God.”

“Short enough?” Grace asked.

“Oh, yes,” I said. “But I don’t get it.”

“What’s not to get?” Christian asked. “it’s a pretty broad statement about God’s power.”

“Yep, he’s all-powerful,” I said. “What’s wrong with teaching that?”

“Nothing,” Grace said.

“Except,” I said. “I don’t remember it being about evil.”

“A few translations soften the language,” Christian admitted, “but most use the word evil.”

“God is love.”

“And creates evil,” Grace said.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“So…he’s lying in this verse?” Grace said.

“That’s just one passage written for Cyrus. I know about Cyrus. He liberated the Jews from captivity. They really liked him for that.”

“I thought we were only supposed to be talking about one passage,” Grace said. “You wanted a Bible passage that fit on one notecard because we had lots of work to do today.”

“But you can’t take this one out of context,” I said.

“Okay,” Grace said. “If we keep it in context, the passage deals with warfare. You wanted a passage that could be put on a notecard. You’re the one changing the rules.”

“I bet there are better translations,” I said.

“This is from the America Standard Version,” Christian said. “What part don’t you like?”

“The evil part,” I said. “The devil does the evil, not God.”

“But God is all-powerful,” Grace said.

“Yep,” I said. “But people have free will.”

“Which is it then?” Grace said.

“Which is what?”

“Is God all-powerful?” Christian asked. “Or do people have free will?”

“See, the devil causes evil, too,” I reminded Christian and Grace.

“But God’s all-powerful,” I said.

“You see how this sort of conversation could be a trainwreck in a classroom?” Grace said.

“No.”

“Many parents might not want their children to be force-fed religion,” Christian said. “What if a student asks questions like we’re asking?”

“The teachers explain it?” I asked.

“So, you think the teachers need training in theology now?” Grace asked.

“How much school does that take?” I asked.

“Years,” Christian said.

“This is a passage that creates much theological debate,” Grace said. “What if you had come home and told Mom that God creates evil, just like this passage says.”

“Punishments.”

“We’re not trying to trick you, Cole,” Christian said. “Can I try to interpret what’s going on in this passage?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re right,” Christian said. “This passage is about Cyrus the Great. The Jews at the time believed God gave Cyrus his victory…but in the end, it was God who deserved the glorification.”

“Yep.”

“Ancient Jews had no concept of Satan, not as Christians see Satan,” Christian said.

“But it’s in the first book,” I said. “The serpent is Satan.”

“The serpent is just a serpent in that book,” Grace said.

“But Jesus said—”

“He said that much later,” Christian said. “To the ancient people, the serpent was just a serpent. Our concept of Satan didn’t emerge until hundreds of years after Isaiah. The Jews who were following the law to the letter needed an explanation for the suffering they endured.”

“Because of Satan,” I said.

“That’s right,” Christian said. “They couldn’t blame God, so they formulated a concept of evil that wasn’t present in their religion hundreds of years earlier. Hundreds of years earlier, ancient tribes and nations battled ancient tribes and nations. Each was led by a tribal or national god or gods.”

“Those were all demons,” I said.

“That’s a modern-day understanding,” Grace said, “as evidenced by passages like Isaiah 45:7. Back when that was written, there were only gods.”

“It’s right there in the first commandment,” Christian said. “You shall have no other gods before me. It’s God’s acknowledgment that multiple gods existed but were not to be worshipped above him by his people.”

“Those other gods weren’t real,” I said. “They were just Satan in disguise.”

“But does the first commandment actually say that?” Grace asked.

“I guess not.”

“Cole,” Grace said, “the Bible as we know it wasn’t compiled until centuries after Jesus. Your interpretation—what we learned growing up—comes from a broad reading of all those texts. If you step into the shoes of someone during Cyrus’s time, they probably would have seen God as the architect of everything, not just a tribal God, but the supreme god…that opened the question of the nature and causes of evil. It’s a question we still struggle to understand, especially when finding passages counter to what we’ve been taught. That’s why pastors take apologetics classes.”

“What are those?”

“It’s related to the word apologize,” Grace said. “It’s about making everything fit.”

“This is way harder than I thought it would be,” I said.

“Do you still want to do this every week?” Christian asked.

“Can we pick one about Jesus next week?” I asked. “One you guys think actually happened? One that we can agree about? Maybe I can win next week.”

“It’s not about winning or losing,” Grace said.

“You’re a smart guy, Cole,” Christian said. “We just want you to think critically, not just about this, but about everything. In the end, we don’t care if you believe every word that’s in the Bible, but we want you to know what the words say.”

“That’s fair,” I said. “I’m starting to think that if people want their kids to read the Bible every day, they can do it at home or just send their kids to private church schools.”

In state legislatures across the country, Christian fundamentalists are passing laws meant to force the teaching of the Christian Bible in public schools. From the posting of textually inaccurate iterations of the Ten Commandments on the walls of classrooms to the incorporation of the “Trump Bible” across multiple pedagogical disciplines, these laws and mandates are sweeping the reddest parts of this nation.

The height of hypocrisy is banning books in the name of “protecting children” while mandating one particular book rife with numerous acts of sexual violence and scenes of graphic violence and genocide.

Book bans are dangerous. The Bible is worth reading and exists online and in public school libraries across the country, but proponents of mandating its formal teaching in public schools need to know what it actually says.

My sister calls my book covers parody. I just think they’re neat. Click below for more.