Delivered to Satan (1:19b-20)

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which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme. (1:19b-20)

It is a part of the church’s ministry, as it is a ministry of God Himself, to deliver certain people to Satan. Our Lord taught in Matthew 18 that those who continue in sin are to be put out of the church. Such people who are excommunicated are delivered to Satan. That is precisely what Paul called for in the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 5:4-5) and what he did to two of the false teachers in leadership at Ephesus, and what by implication he invites Timothy and us to continue to do.

To deliver someone to Satan indicates that they had not before been fully in his power. In 1 John 5:19 we learn that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Unbelievers walk “according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). Those who are to be delivered to Satan must, therefore, have been in some way under the umbrella of protection provided by the church. Even unbelievers receive a certain amount of protection from their association with the community of redeemed people.

The history of Israel testifies to that truth. There were in Israel those who were not personally redeemed. Paul reminds us in Romans 9:6 that “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” Yet those unredeemed Jews still experienced the abundant blessings God poured out on the nation. They received a share of the inheritance in the Promised Land, and a measure of God’s protection from their enemies. The benefits of the priesthood and the sacrificial system were theirs.

The same is true in the church. There are unbelievers who are blessed by virtue of their association with believers. In 1 Corinthians 7:14 Paul wrote, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.” Nonbelievers in a Christian’s family are beneficiaries of God’s blessing on the Christian.

So there is in the shelter of God’s people protection from the full force of Satan’s fury. Unbelieving Jews were better off than unbelieving Gentiles outside the covenant community. Unbelievers who associate themselves with the church today are better off than those outside the church. They benefit from God’s grace and goodness to his children. Delivering someone to Satan removes the insulation and protection afforded by the believing community. They are out from under God’s hand of blessing and they are fully under Satan’s control.

There are times when, in the sovereign plan of God, believers are turned over to Satan for positive purposes. There are several illustrations of that in the Scriptures.

Job was a man who seemingly had it all, wealth, family, wisdom, honor, and personal godliness. Job 1:1-5 introduces us to him:

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Then an event took place unknown to Job that was to turn his world upside down:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not made 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; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:6—12)

Satan, as usual, sought to tear down God’s work. He implied that God’s children serve Him out of selfish motives, because of the benefits He grants them. To prove the falsity of that accusation, God turned Job over to Satan:

Now it happened on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, that a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 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.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died; and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. (Job 1:13-22)

Job’s reaction vindicated God, and proved Satan wrong. He showed that true saving faith is permanent and does not depend on positive circumstances. Job’s love for God was not selfish, based on the benefits he had received. Job loved God with an unbreakable love for who He is, not for what He had given him. God used Job to make a point with Satan. The purpose of the book of Job is not so much to teach us how to handle suffering as to show the strength of the faith of a godly man. Through all his suffering, his physical ailments, his wife and close friends turning against him, and his bewilderment as to why all this was happening to him, Job never lost his trust in God and thus showed his godliness. His attitude is best summed up in his words in Job 13:15: “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” He never did find out the reason for his suffering because God never told Him. When in reply to his questions God appeared to him and declared His sovereign right to do as He pleased (Job 38-39), Job humbly accepted that:

Then Job answered the Lord, and said, “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask Thee, and do Thou instruct me.’ “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees Thee; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)

Job was delivered to Satan to learn to glorify God, and to give God honor. A true child of God can be delivered to Satan to bring greater glory to Him.

In Matthew 4:1-11 we read the account of One who is far more upright than Job, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

As God put Job into the hands of Satan, so also did He turn His Son over to Satan. He did so to prove Jesus’ character, that He would stand true as the perfect and obedient God-man. Despite being weakened by forty days of fasting and isolation, Jesus successfully resisted all of Satan’s temptations to rebel against His father. He, like Job, was handed over to Satan to bring God glory.

Second Corinthians 12:1-10 reveals another example of how God’s faithful people are sometimes handed over to Satan:

Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Few men had as much to boast about as the apostle Paul. It was largely through his efforts that Christianity spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. He had the unique privilege of seeing the resurrected Christ on at least three occasions. He also was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write much of the New Testament. He even had an experience so dramatic and startling that he didn’t know exactly what had happened, and was forbidden to tell what he saw. Some today have falsely claimed to have gone to heaven and returned, but Paul actually did it.

To help Paul carry out his resolve not to boast, God allowed him to be tormented by a “messenger of Satan.” The Lord allowed Satan to use that individual to afflict Paul. God’s purpose was to keep Paul humble and dependent on His grace, and to allow His strength to be made manifest.

The story of Peter in Luke 22:31-33 gives further evidence that God sometimes allows believers to fall into Satan’s grasp. Our Lord warned him: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Satan desired Peter, like he desires every believer, to defect so that he could win a victory over God. If he could have caused Peter’s faith to blow away like chaff in the wind, he would have destroyed someone important in God’s plan. Peter was a leading figure in the early years of the church, hence he was a prime target for Satan. Jesus’ prayer indicates there were divine limits on what Satan could do to Peter, as there were with Job and Paul. God’s purpose in allowing Satan to sift Peter was again to prove the strength of saving faith and show Satan that he could not take any believer out of the Lord’s hand. Having learned the futility of relying on his own strength (v. 33), Peter could warn others of the danger of pride.

A final positive illustration of people who are turned over to Satan is found in the book of Revelation. Revelation 7:9-15 describes believers in the Tribulation:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them.”

An entire generation of believers, exposed to Satan’s wrath during the Tribulation, will learn to praise God as no other generation has. God will lift those believers to a higher level of praise because they have suffered much and their deliverance is great. They will be richly rewarded by God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:17; Rev. 2:8-10).

As the above illustrations show, God’s people can be handed over to Satan for positive purposes. It may be to show the genuineness of saving faith, to keep them humble and dependent on God, to enable them to strengthen others, or to offer praise to God. In each case God receives the glory.

There is another category of people delivered to Satan, however. They are handed over to Satan not for positive purposes, but for judgment. The Scriptures also give illustrations of those people.

Saul was seemingly the embodiment of all anyone could ask for in a king. He had an imposing physical appearance (1 Sam. 9:2; 10:23), was a forceful leader (11:7), was humble (10:22), and was patient with those who opposed him (10:27; 11:12-13). Yet those qualities were deceiving (16:7). Despite the privilege of being God’s anointed king, with the Spirit’s enablement, Saul’s heart was not fully devoted to the Lord. He usurped the role of the priests and offered a sacrifice (13:8-9). Then he flagrantly disobeyed God’s instructions to destroy completely the Amalekites (15:2-28). As a result, the Lord rejected him and his heirs from being king over Israel and anointed David in his place (16:12). The Spirit of God came upon David (16:13), and left Saul (16:14), signifying the transfer of the kingship. In His place came an evil spirit (16:14-16) to torment Saul.

Saul, who had begun so well, now slid rapidly downhill. He became insanely jealous of David. He tried to murder him, forcing him to flee for his life. Saul then relentlessly pursued David through the Judean wilderness. He even murdered a group of priests who had aided David (1 Sam. 22:9-19). His rash and foolish vow almost caused him to execute his son Jonathan (14:24-30, 37-45). Finally, bereft of God’s counsel and facing a massive invasion by the Philistines, he sought help from a medium (1 Sam. 28:4ff.). That was his final act of rebellion against God; the next day he was killed in battle.

Saul’s life exhibits the tragic consequences of being handed over to Satan for judgment. He had been part of the covenant people, God’s anointed ruler. He had known the presence of the Spirit in his role as king. Pride and impatience led to disobedience, and God abandoned him to Satan, not for His glory, but for judgment.

Judas Iscariot had privileges Saul never dreamed of. He walked with Jesus during the three years of His earthly ministry. He heard our Lord’s teaching and saw His miracles. Considering all Judas’s privileges, John 13:27 is one of the most tragic verses in the Bible. The scene is the night before Christ’s crucifixion, as He and the disciples are sharing a last Passover meal together: “And after the morsel, Satan then entered into [Judas].” Judas had been part of the community of the apostles, blessed and protected by the presence of God’s Son. Now God handed him over to Satan, and he went out and betrayed Jesus to His enemies. Later, overcome with remorse, he committed suicide. Judas, like Saul, was cast out of the place of protection and blessing because of his sin and perished in hell.

The Corinthian church was plagued by many problems, not least of which was their toleration of an incestuous affair (1 Cor. 5:1-2). Since they failed in their obligation to put the offender out of the church, Paul did so:

For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 5:3-5).

The phrase “deliver such a one to Satan” is the only use of that terminology apart from 1 Timothy 1:20. Paul put the sinning member out of the church (cf. Matt. 18:15-17; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14). The purpose was “for the destruction of his flesh.” That could refer to physical illness, death, destruction of a marriage, the breakup of a family, loss of a job, or a myriad of other afflictions. Satan’s power over this particular individual in Corinth was limited, however, as it was with Job, Paul, Peter, and Christ. Although his flesh might be destroyed, since this was a true, but sinful believer, his spirit would be saved. Satan can destroy a Christian’s effectiveness, but not his eternal life.

As noted in the previous chapter, Paul reminds Timothy of his accountability to the church and the Lord as he fights the spiritual war. Here Paul speaks of Timothy’s responsibility to deal with those teachers purveying error. He is to follow Paul’s example and deliver them to Satan.

Some of these errorists were troubling Ephesus and the surrounding region. They are the ones who were teaching heresy (1:3, 6-7). They also had failed to pursue practical godliness. Rejected is from ap ōthe ō, which means “to thrust away,” or “refuse.” The false teachers had no devotion to maintaining a pure conscience. They had little interest in living for holiness. Bad theology has its roots in bad morals. Those who teach error do so in order to substitute a system that accommodates their sin.

A good conscience is the rudder that steers the Christian life. Because they rejected the pangs of conscience and the truth, it is no wonder that the errorists suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Professing to be Christians and teachers of God’s law (1:7), they were devoid of the truth. It is possible for a believer to have his faith “upset” (2 Tim. 2:18). Maybe that is another way to express the disaster of shipwrecked faith. It is all too common for Christians to wreck their usefulness, virtue, and sanctification by believing error.

Paul mentions two of the false teachers by name. Nothing further is known about either Hymenaeus or Alexander. Hymenaeus is mentioned again in 2 Timothy 2:17 with another false teacher, Philetus. A man named Alexander is mentioned as an opponent of the Christian faith in 2 Timothy 4:14-15. However since Alexander was a common name, there is no reason to assume both passages refer to the same individual. Both men Paul delivered over to Satan, that is he put them out of the church. They were removed from the protection and insulation of God’s people and put into Satan’s grasp.

Paul’s purpose in delivering them to Satan was that they may be taught not to blaspheme. Taught is from paideu ō, a word that refers to training through physical punishment. It is used in Luke 23:16, 22 to speak of Pilate’s scourging of Christ, and in 1 Corinthians 11:32 of those who suffered illness or death for abusing the communion service.

The physical consequences of their sin were to teach them not to blaspheme. To blaspheme is to slander God (cf. James 2:7). Misrepresenting divine truth from God, as well as speaking evil against Him, is blasphemy. Even Christians can be guilty of it (cf. Col. 3:8). When believers or unbelievers are delivered to Satan because of blasphemy, God desires that they learn the consequences of their acts. But remedial chastening is reserved only for believers (cf. Heb. 12:5-11).

How can one avoid being delivered to Satan for chastening? By receiving the truth and the righteousness of God in Christ, and then keeping faith and a good conscience. Believers will also be strengthened if they suffer for God’s glory. In either case, the antidote for being delivered to Satan is the pursuit of a holy life.