3. Satan the Accuser

World Scripture

When a man sins, he draws to himself numbers of evil spirits and emissaries of punishment, before whom he shrinks back in fear. Solomon was conversant with the mysteries of wisdom, and God set upon his head the crown of royalty, and the whole world feared him. When, however, he sinned, he drew to himself multitudes of evil and punitive spirits, of whom he was much frightened, so that they could maltreat him and take away his precious possessions. In truth, a man by his actions is always drawing to himself some emissary from the other world, good or evil according to the path which he treads.
Zohar 1.53b (Judaism)

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for naught? Hast Thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse Thee to thy face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power.”⁹
Job 1.6-12

And Satan says, when the issue is decided, “God surely promised you a true promise; I also promised you, then I failed you, for I had no authority over you, but that I called you, and you answered me. So do not blame me, blame yourselves.”
Qur’an 14.22

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Satan is constantly accusing all people before God, as he did Job, in order to drag them into hell. However, even Satan cannot perpetrate his evil activity unless he first finds an object partner with whom he can form a common base and engage in give and take action. Satan’s object partners are evil spirits in the spirit world. The object partners to these evil spirits are the spirit selves of evil people on the earth, and the vehicles through which these evil spirit selves act are their physical selves.

Accordingly, the power of Satan is conveyed through evil spirits and is manifested in the activities of earthly people. For example, Satan entered into Judas Iscariot (Luke 22.3), and Jesus once called Peter “Satan.” (Matt. 16.33) In the Bible, the spirits of evil earthly men are called “angels” of the devil. (Matt. 25.41)

The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is a restored world in which Satan can no longer instigate any activity. To realize this world, it is necessary for all humanity to eliminate their common base with Satan and not engage in give and take action with him. The prophecy that in the Last Days God will confine Satan in a bottomless pit signifies that Satan will be utterly incapable of any activity, since there will no longer be any counterparts with whom Satan can relate.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.2)

Why doesn’t Satan release his claim on human beings? He asserts to God, “Didn’t You set up the principle of creation that dominion is based on love? Whether my love was lawful or unlawful doesn’t matter; I definitely loved Adam and Eve. Isn’t love the original basis for dominion? Since I loved Adam and Eve, I have a right to claim them [and their descendants] under my dominion. I will not relinquish my claim over human beings to You unless You love me more than I loved them.”
(128:90, June 5, 1983)

God says to Satan, “Satan, when human beings were originally created you could not accuse them; you could not even put one finger on them.” Satan counters, “I already know that. However, according to the Principle, once we come to love someone, we should belong to that person for eternity.
Isn’t that the law of love? I won humans by love, even though it was illicit love, so their relationship to me has to be eternal.” God retorts, “According to the Principle, since I created human beings, they should be My sons and daughters. The relationship you made with them was unlawful.” God is speaking out of truth, but Satan is also basing his argument on the Principle.
(111:147, February 10, 1981)

God has been fighting against Satan internally and against evil people externally, but in fighting He does not act capriciously in violation of His own laws. God never fights in a way that would violate the laws of the universe. Jesus also never fought outside the laws of Heaven.
Accordingly, when we wage the universal fight in the Last Days, we must understand the laws of Heaven and learn how to fight in accordance with those laws. Although you might not be aware of it, Satan also cannot be so insolent as to fight in a way that transgresses the laws of Heaven. For this reason, when you set conditions of restoration and fight Satan, if you deviate from the Will of God, then Satan will accuse you. Even Jesus was not exempt. Whoever violates the principle, Satan will attack without mercy.
(2:176-77, April 14, 1957)