How Satan proves the doctrine of the trinity is true
Logic tells us that a counterfeit presupposes an original. A counterfeit US Dollar note for example only exists precisely because there is an original US Dollar note.
We see this same pattern in scriptures as well because Satan tends to counterfeit the acts and operations of God. In a portion of scripture exegetes have said is about the reason for Satan’s fall, we read,
“For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.”
(Isaiah 14:13–14)
We see here that one of Satan’s aims was to be LIKE THE MOST HIGH. Satan to this end has a tendency to counterfeit God’s acts. For example in the book of Job, he calls down fire from heaven to consume Job’s flock of sheep. This was so convincing even Job’s servant was certain it was God who called down the fire,
“While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
(Job 1:16)
We also note that Satan himself can appear as an angel of light and seduces his messengers to preach another gospel,
“For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it!
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
(2 Corinthians 11:4, 13–14)
Again, Satan also works miracles through the person of the anti-Christ,
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9–10)
Taking this further to the book of Revelation, the judgment of the great harlot (who is in league with Satan) is subtly contrasted with the revelation of the bride of Christ (who is in league with the Most High) being the heavenly Jerusalem. Notice the attire of the great harlot,
“The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.”
(Revelation 17:4)
What are the streets and gates of the heavenly Jerusalem made of?
“having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones”
(Revelation 21:11,18–19)
So what has Satan counterfeited based on the above?
First, the Fire of God from heaven, which we have seen when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
“Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.”
(Genesis 19:24)
And again, when God sent fire from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice,
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
(1 Kings 18:38–39)
Second, the message of Jesus and the gospel, which Paul says is the only message and any one who brings ANOTHER message is accursed,
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
(Galatians 1:6–9)
Third, the miracles and signs of God,
“Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?”
And again,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed”
(Luke 4:18)
Fourth, we see how the agent of Satan, the great harlot, adorns herself with gold which mimics the adornment of the bride of Christ.
Note in all these cases, there are true and real equivalents. There is a real gospel, a real Jesus, a real fire from God, real miracles and a real adornment.
Now, did you know Satan in the apocalyptic book of Revelation operates as a trinity?
There is a Dragon, who is Satan Himself,
“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth…”
(Revelation 12:3–4)
There is a Beast,
“Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion…”
(Revelation 13:1–2)
And there is yet another beast,
“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon…”
(Revelation 13:11)
So we have one dragon and two beasts. How do they interact?
It is written of the First beast,
“Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”
(Revelation 13:2)
The dragon gives all of his power to the first beast. And it is written of the second beast,
“And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast…”
(Revelation 13:12)
The second beast exercises the authority of the first beast which the latter received from the dragon.
The trinitarian understanding is that God gives Jesus all of His authority and power. Daniel reports this in his vision,
“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed”
(Daniel 7:13–14)
And Jesus Christ explicitly says of Himself after His resurrection,
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
(Matthew 28:18)
And the Holy Spirit’s function is to testify and exalt Jesus Christ,
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
(John 15:26)
And again,
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me;”
(John 16:8–9)
And again,
“…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
(Revelation 19:10)
So it would appear the dragon giving all of his authority and power to the first beast is a counterfeit of God giving all of His power and authority and throne to Jesus Christ.
The second beast exalting the first beast and pointing all men to worship that beast is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit exalting and pointing men to Jesus Christ. Note that the second beast operates in the authority of the first beast, this is a counterfeit of the Holy spirit operating in the name and authority of Jesus Christ.
Two further quirks which make it almost indisputable that Satan is consciously mirroring this doctrine is the appearance of the first beast.
“ And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
(Revelation 13:3–4)
This wound that causes men to marvel at the beast is a counterfeit of the resurrection of Christ from the dead and the mortal wounds which He still bore after the resurrection. The second beast also points to the first beast’s mortal wounds in his persuasion of men to worship the latter, much like the resurrection is the ultimate reason Christians worship Jesus Christ,
“…and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
(Revelation 13:12)
It is also interesting that the authority given to the first beast by the dragon is given to him with the miraculously healed mortal wound. This would counterfeit the granting of God’s authority to Jesus Christ AFTER His resurrection.
The second quirk is that the second beast in his ministry to glorify the first beast also performs signs and wonders,
“He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”
(Revelation 13:13–14)
This would counterfeit the Holy Spirit within the trinity being the medium of signs and wonders. Remember Jesus says,
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
(Matthew 12:28)
And again,
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
(Acts 10:38)
This is also why the apostles of the New testament can talk about performing miracles by the Holy Spirit,
“God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”
(Hebrews 2:4)
This is also why working of miracles (1 Cor 12:29) is one of the gifts of the Spirit according to Paul.
Ultimately though, all the signs and wonders by the second beast are geared towards exalting, glorifying and worshipping the first beast all by the ultimate will and to the redounding glory of the dragon. Does this sound at all familiar? I’d spell it out just in case; All the miracles and signs performed by the Spirit are to glorify the Son Jesus Christ all to the glory and praise of God the Father.
Now Satan of course is counterfeiting the trinity so he is not the real thing and he is not a real trinity. The beasts and the dragon are not for example one essence, they are three different individuals with one goal. In a sense, this is true of the trinity as the individual persons are all working with the same goal but this is the key difference; the persons of the trinity are really and true one in essence.
In conclusion, Satan’s aim is to be like the Most High (which makes his temptation of Eve to be like God make a bit more sense — he projected his ultimate fantasy into the imagination of Eve). In pursing this however, Satan counterfeits the true acts and operations of God. Satan also attempts to be like the Most High in counterfeiting His very nature, a triunity. And if Satan is trying to counterfeit the triunity of God, then God is really and truly triune!
*The above views of the beasts and the dragon represents my own personal opinion and is not in any way representative of orthodox church doctrine
