by jimwalton » Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:40 am
I agree with everything you said in your second paragraph. It's information that's straight from the Bible.
Your third paragraph, on the other hand, doesn't qualify as "surely." James 1.14 indicates that temptation comes from our own evil hearts far more than from external. It's our tendency to want to blame others, and especially Satan, for our problems. We don’t want to blame ourselves, because that would make it seem like there’s something wrong with us, or it was our mistake, or something in our hearts is not right. And we’re uncomfortable with that thought, so we always blame other people, God, the dog, the weather, or whatever we can. We can't face our inadequacies, and we don’t want to feel responsible for what we’ve done, so we blame.
The king of Isaiah 14 is a victim of his own cancerous pride. There is no indication in the text that Satan needs to bother with this guy; he's quite capable on his own of bringing about his own downfall. Secondly, examination of the text shows that reference to Satan (or even understanding the role of Satan) is far from the author's intent. His objective is to show the failings of pride, not the activity of a hidden spiritual power.