Shayla: Who has actually had direct encounters with the Devil himself?

Meforshim:

Many assume that Adam and Eve dealt with him in the Garden and failed miserably. However, the Bible doesn’t actually say that it was the Devil in that serpent in Genesis.

• Genesis 3:1 HCSB Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden'?"

We assume that it was the Devil because John referred to Satan as “the ancient serpent” and alluded to the deception for which that serpent is so famous.

• Revelation 12:9 HCSB So the great dragon was thrown out--the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
• Revelation 20:2 HCSB He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years.

Paul also made that same allusion and tied it to the ongoing temptation the believers were struggling with.

• 2 Corinthians 11:3 HCSB But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.

We also assume that identity because of the nature of the Messianic prophecy necessarily ties the serpent with Satan’s loss at Calvary.

• Genesis 3:15 HCSB I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

So I think it’s safe to say that Adam and Eve were dealing with a Satanically possessed creature. I just want to make it clear that the Bible doesn’t categorically state that.

Job had a direct battle with the Accuser but there is nothing to say that Job actually saw either Lucifer or anyone possessed by Lucifer during that encounter.

• Job 1:6-12 HCSB One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" "From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and walking around on it." 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil." 9 Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are spread out in the land. 11 But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face." 12 "Very well," the LORD told Satan, "everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself." So Satan went out from the LORD's presence.
• Job 2:1-7 HCSB One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" "From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and walking around on it." 3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause." 4 "Skin for skin!" Satan answered the LORD. "A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face." 6 "Very well," the LORD told Satan, "he is in your power; only spare his life." 7 So Satan left the LORD's presence and infected Job with incurable boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

King David succumbed to the Devil’s incitement.

• 1 Chronicles 21:1 HCSB Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count the people of Israel.

Jesus dealt with the Devil successfully.

• Matthew 4:1-11 HCSB Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. 2 After He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached Him and said, "If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." 5 Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you and, they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." 7 Jesus told him, "It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God." 8 Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to Him, "I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus told him, "Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him." 11 Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.
• Mark 1:12-13 HCSB Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels began to serve Him.
• Luke 4:1-13 HCSB Then Jesus returned from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, He was hungry. 3 The Devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 But Jesus answered him, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone." 5 So he took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The Devil said to Him, "I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. 7 If You, then, will worship me, all will be Yours." 8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." 9 So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you, 11 and they will support you with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." 12 And Jesus answered him, "It is said: Do not test the Lord your God." 13 After the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time.

It seems that Jesus struggled with the Devil directly during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the trials, and Calvary.

• John 14:30 HCSB I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over Me.
• Cp Ephesians 2:1-2 HCSB And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
• And Ephesians 6:11-12 HCSB Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

After succumbing to the Liar’s incitement, Judas followed through by willfully accepting his role as betrayer and was possessed by the Devil himself.

• John 13:2 HCSB Now by the time of supper, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot's son, to betray Him.
• John 13:27 HCSB After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, "What you're doing, do quickly."

Michael the archangel argued with the Devil over Moses’ body.

• Jude 1:9 HCSB Yet Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the Devil in a debate about Moses' body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

There is a popular fiction series called “Left Behind” that tries to say that when the Antichrist is wounded, Satan will possess him and give him the power to rule the earth. There are a couple problems with Mr. LaHaye’s notion. The Bible doesn’t say that the Antichrist is possessed. It merely states that his authority will come from the dragon.

• Revelation 13:2-4 HCSB The beast I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like a bear's, and his mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 One of his heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but his fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?"

If anyone is possessed, it would be the False prophet who looks like a lamb but sounds like a dragon. This is especially true if we consider the phenomenal miracles he can work. Notice that his principle power is atmospheric? Compare that to Ephesians 2:1-2 and 6:11-12.

• Revelation 13:11-15 HCSB Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth before people. 14 He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound yet lived. 15 He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So in conclusion I would have to say Adam, Eve, Job, David, Christ, Judas, Michael and the False Prophet.