Weird Stuff in the Bible

Is Zeus Real? The Names of Satan Throughout Scripture
Acts 14

Introduction
I received a thought-provoking message from one of our listeners this week: Alana writes in:
I find it interesting in Acts 14 when the crowd claim that Paul and Barnabas are Zeus and Hermes that Paul and Barnabas do not deny that Zeus and Hermes exist. That Paul and Barnabas simply point out that they are only mortal men.
Now, there’s a couple ways you could read Paul’s deflection in this story, which we’ll study through in a moment. This took place in Lystra, where there was a temple of Zeus worship, and it ends with sacrifices being offered to him.
One way to read Paul’s comment is that he’s just ignoring Zeus as an irrelevant idol. Another way to read it is that Zeus is real. That despite the idols and temple of Zeus being meaningless structures, perhaps there is a spiritual entity behind them.
In fact, I Corinthians 10 even tells us that sacrifices to idols are offered to demons.
I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to Acts 14, and let’s get weird.
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(Continued)
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to be talking about names of Satan throughout Scripture.
We’ve gained a lot of listeners lately. My most recent episode, Demons in Dry and Desolate Places, was the most popular episode I’ve done so far on the entire podcast. And really quickly. Within three days of posting it, it was my most-downloaded episode of all time. But not only that, but that was within three days; within three days of posting it, it broke every record I had for this podcast. Day One downloads, Podcast downloads, Youtube downloads. So to everyone who tuned in, thank you for being here.
It was also the end of a series that I had done on demonology. And we got a lot of listeners all throughout that series, but demonology is kind of a dark and depressing topic. And I was kind of wanting to talk about something a little different as we head through the holiday season. So this week and next, let’s talk about Satan.

The Context in Acts 14
Let’s read through the story there in Acts 14, and then we’ll look at a few relevant Scriptures to put all these pieces together.
Acts 14:8-18
8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
Breaking in for a comment here. Just a brief history. Lystra had a Temple to Zeus in it, as I mentioned before. The Lystrans or Lycaonians, whatever they were called, believed that Zeus and his son, Hermes, had visited the city long before, physically manifesting there. And you’re probably aware of this, but Zeus is the chief deity in Greek mythology. The Head Honcho, the Grand Poobah, a false copy of the Supreme Deity of the Universe in the dominant religion of those days.
And let’s also look at the phrase “the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.” If you’re a longtime listener of this podcast, you’re probably aware of the fact that in Genesis 5 and 6, spiritual beings called the sons of God had came down prior to the flood, but it also says they came down again after the flood. We aren’t told when they came down again, but we know they did. These beings, which we can call angelic but I consider them distinct from the angels, were worshipped as gods.
So it’s an interesting phrase that this is what the people believed was essentially happening when they saw the miraculous healing powers of Paul and Barnabas.
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
As I said, Hermes was believed to be the son of Zeus. Hermes’s role in Greek Mythology was also the messenger of the gods. That’s why it says they called Paul “Hermes” “because he was the chief speaker.”
13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
So yes, idols and temples are dead structures. They’re built by man’s hands and a chunk of wood or stone can’t do anything for you.
But I Corinthians 10:18-20 say
18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
On this podcast, I have made a distinction between demons and fallen angels as a point of being technical. That distinction is clearer in the Hebrew. Here in the New Testament, the word there for demons is in the Greek Daimonion. (Day-Moe-Nee-Ohn). Kind of looks like the English word “dominion.” Daimonion is a more vague term that actually means “any spiritual entity lesser than god.” It’s where we get the word “demon,” and we usually use it to refer to demons. But Daimonion can also refer to false gods, such as here in
Acts 17:18
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”
(or foreign gods, as some translations say)
So the Daimonion or “demons” or the idols they represent can correspond to false gods. And if you’ve paid attention as you read your New Testament, you’ve probably picked up on this fact. We also see this idea in the Old Testament, in passages such as
Deuteronomy 32:16-17
16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
    with abominations they provoked him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
    to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
    whom your fathers had never dreaded.
Deuteronomy 32 is pivotal to understanding the cosmological viewpoint of the Bible, and if you don’t know that, I encourage you to revisit a recent episode I did about territorial spirits and the Deuteronomy 32 worldview.
But now that we’ve established this fact, now let’s look at Zeus and whether he corresponds to any particular spiritual beings.

The Identity of Zeus
And if you’ve read today’s episode title, you probably know where I’m going with this. I believe Zeus was a demonic figure, but that Zeus was actually a title that Satan himself used. Satan has numerous names and identities and titles. Lucifer, the devil, the dragon, the serpent, that neighbor who keeps coming over to ask if he can borrow your tools. And we’ll look at a few more, and I think you’ll see some links here to Zeus.
No. 1: Lots of ancient gods were tied to some kind of concept. Thor was the god of thunder. Loki was the god of mischief. Zeus was the god of the skies. He was considered in charge of the heavens and weather-related phenomena, which is why he was often depicted as holding a thunderbolt. His domain was considered the sky.
So it’s interesting that one of the names or titles for Satan is this in
Ephesians 2:1-2
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience
The prince of the power of the air. Satan’s dominion is in the heavens as well. Now, not “heaven” as in God’s home, but “the heavens” as in the skies.
I work at a Christian radio station and one of my favorite thoughts is that we blast our FM signal out from a 340-foot radio tower and we project the Gospel right through Satan’s airspace. We pierce right through his domain, the skies. The Bible says Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and Zeus was known as the god of the skies.
No. 2: In the book of Revelation, it opens with Jesus writing a series of letters to churches who were in the area of Turkey at that time. These letters could be read as directed at the churches of our modern day, too, but these were real, physical, literal places at the time Revelation was written.
Revelation 2:12 and 13 begin
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.
That was ESV. Other translation might say, “where Satan’s seat is.” What is the throne or seat of Satan?
Virtually all the commentaries agree as to what this is a reference to, an altar or idol to Zeus in that city. I’ll quote here from the NIVAC by Craig Keener: “More of the scholars think of the famous huge throne-like altar of “Zeus the Savior,” whose sculptures included serpents; it was a monumental colonnaded court in the form of a horseshoe, 120 by 112 feet, whose podium was nearly 18 feet high.”
This was a fascinating piece of architecture from ancient times, and if you trace this object throughout history, it was actually uncovered in 1870, and moved one piece at a time to Germany, and Adolph Hitler reconstructed it to make a speech from in 1933. You can find out a lot of interesting things that I don’t have time to go into today; the only interesting thing I want to focus on today is that Jesus refers to the altar of Zeus as the Seat of Satan in Revelation 2. Another connection there between Zeus and Satan.
No. 3: What was Zeus’ role in the pantheon of Greek gods? As I said before, Zeus was the head honcho, the big cheese, of the numerous greek gods. He was supreme. He commanded these deities. They called him El Jefe.
And this is also what the Jews of the Bible thought of Satan. There are a couple of his names or titles used in Matthew 12:24, right after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man. And this may sound familiar because we just looked at this story in last week’s episode.
Matthew 12:22-24
22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
Beelzebul- or some translations might say Beelzebub- is called the prince of demons. The word “prince” in the Bible did not mean how we mean it today. When we say “prince,” we are often referring to the son of a king, like in a Disney princess movie.
But when the Bible says “prince,” it means “he who is first.” The leader, the big kahuna. Obviously, Satan is the leader of all evil spiritual beings. So if we have already agreed that the Greek gods- if they existed at all- would be demonic figures, then it follows that their leader would be the prince of demons.
And we received another name for Satan right here: Beelzebul. Where did that come from? This is a deity whose name has changed over time, and it goes all the way back to a particular Old Testament figure whose name you will recognize: Baal.
This is surely the most common false god that the Israelites were tempted with in those days. The Canaanites worshiped this figure known as Baal, and Baal-worship became sadly ubiquitous in Israel’s own history as well. But what was so tempting about this deity of Baal? Why was there such a strong spiritual pull toward this figure?
In II Kings 1, a King of Israel named Ahaziah makes a big mistake.
Verse 2
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick;
Actually, he makes two big mistakes. He got hurt falling through the lattice, but his big mistake was what he did for a solution
(Continuing on through verse 4)
so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.
So Ahaziah was not going to get better, but he would die, because Ahaziah asks for help from a deity named “Baal-zebub.” It’s just Baal with “zebub” added onto it. It is essentially the same deity of the god of the Canaanites, just with “zebub” added onto the end. And it’s obviously the same guy that the Pharisees are talking about in Matthew 12.
If you follow Baal worship throughout history, you see him show up in every religion that conquered this territory of the Middle East up through the time of Jesus.
When the Babylonians and Persians rolled through, they adopted Baal worship. When Daniel was captured by the Babylonians, his name was changed to “Belteshazzar,” which means “Bel is My Prince.”
In Jeremiah 51:44, God says
And I will punish Bel in Babylon,
    and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed.
The nations shall no longer flow to him;
    the wall of Babylon has fallen.
It’s spelled a little differently in Jeremiah. Bel instead of Baal. But it’s the same. As the Babylonians or Persians would conquer territory, they would change the names of these deities to match their languages or spellings.
If you go through history, the Greeks took the name “Bel” and made it “Belos.” (B-e-l-o-s).
And then the Romans took the name “Belos” and made it “Zeus.” But these are all the same deity: Baal, Bel, Beelzebub, Belos, Zeus- they’re all the same god- the god that Matthew 12 calls “the prince of demons.”
So, putting all these pieces together, I think it’s a pretty strong case Zeus does and doesn’t exist. No, Greek mythology is not real, and there is no man in the clouds or on Mount Olympus holding thunderbolts.
But yes, Zeus also does exist because the sacrifices offered to idols are offered to demons. And of all the deities Paul would not want associated with, I’m sure Zeus was at the top of his list.
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Housekeeping/Mailbag
Next time on this podcast, I would like to do an episode called Satan’s Master Plan. I want to tie together a lot of things we’ve been discussing ever since the start of this podcast to answer that question. And that’ll be our Christmas episode. It’s not Santa’s Master Plan. It’s Satan’s Master Plan. Which is kind of a strange thing to do for Christmas, but then again, this is a strange podcast.
And that episode will come out the Wednesday before Christmas, actually. Christmas is on a Wednesday this year, so I won’t put an episode out on that day. But I’ll be back with even more weird stuff in January.
I’ve been talking about a book of Enoch series for a while, and I’ll eventually do it, but God’s been showing me a lot of fascinating things that I want to share with you before I go into a book of Enoch series, which I’ll probably be in for several months.
So I’ve got a lot in store for you; make sure you’re subscribed so you can get it all!
And thank you for some kind comments left this past week. I’ll share a few: My name is also Luke and I have always been curious about this same exact statement Jesus made about the unclean spirit going through dry places and finding no rest. Thanks for diving deeper!
Well hey, thanks for diving deeper with me and for being a fellow Luke who likes weird stuff.
Another says: cool :D glad I found this weird channel.
Another user said: My wife is a therapist for a Christian faith recovery center …. Some of these women come in with heavy demonic influence.
I replied: yeah it is my experience/opinion that there is a close link between mental illness and demonic oppression, and it can be hard to know where to draw the line between the two.
And thank you to a Spotify user who left the comment about the Naaman episode a few weeks ago: Five stars!! Never noticed the dirt before.
If anyone has feedback for me, feel free to leave a comment on whatever platform you’re listening on, or send me an email to WeirdStuffInTheBible@Gmail.com.

Closing Thoughts
In closing, if you have any familiarity with Greek mythology- or if you’ve seen the Disney cartoon Hercules from the 90s- you know about another Greek deity of the underworld named Hades. And when he’s not being voiced by James Woods, Hades is known for trying other drag the souls of humanity down into hell.
So you may be wondering: if Satan is anyone in Greek mythology, wouldn’t it make more sense that he personified Hades instead of Zeus?
And my answer to that is: that’s how deception works, bro. And by the way, yes, Satan is much more Hades-like in reality. But we all know Hades is the bad guy. Satan doesn’t want you to think he’s the bad guy. He wants you to think he’s the good guy.
That’s why he masquerades as an angel of light (according to II Corinthians 11:14). He pretends he’s the good guy, when in reality he’s the epitome of evil. He takes what is ugly and makes it appear beautiful. He takes what is bad for you and tricks you into thinking it’s good for you.
And that’s why when you want to figure out what’s of God and what’s of Satan, you can’t always trust your eyes. You can’t always go with what looks good or what sounds good or what feels good. Sometimes what is best is not always what makes us happiest in the short term. Sometimes what is right is not always what’s most comfortable. And sometimes what is true looks weird.
Most of those people in Acts 14 probably meant it as a compliment to Barnabas and Paul to compare them to Zeus and Hermes. To them, Zeus was the ultimate good guy god, and to have such a negative reaction to their words would have looked weird. But it was not true.
And always stand on the side of true, even when going with what is true makes you look weird. Thanks for listening, God bless you for sticking around until the end, and we’ll see you next time on Weird Stuff in the Bible.