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I listen to heavy music and I have had people tell me on numerous occasions the vocals sound like the voice of Satan, even when the band is clearly Christian (see For Today if you are curious). Movies tend to portray Satan with a raspy, scary, loud voice, but what does the bible say? And conversely, what does the bible say about the voice of God? Here are some verses I found:

Exodus 19:19 (NIV)

As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Deuteronomy 5:22 (NIV)

These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire...

1 Kings 19:12 (NIV)

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Job 37:2-5 (NIV)

Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. ... After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways...

I couldn't find anything on the voice of Satan.

Is the voice of the devil ever described in the Word or is it something man made?

Jon Ericson
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styfle
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    Lucifer was the most beautiful angel, before he rebelled. Therefore, I imagine he has a beautiful voice, too. :) – Flimzy Aug 26 '11 at 06:23
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    @Flimzy Good point. It would appear that the movies have it all wrong; God has a roaring voice and Satan is a smooth talker. – styfle Aug 26 '11 at 14:36
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    @Flimsy. You would do well to reference your statements. – dleyva3 Aug 26 '11 at 17:07
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    Why would God and Satan have voices at all? God is NOT an old guy with a beard or someone that looks like Morgan Freeman... or has a voice. – Sklivvz Sep 02 '11 at 08:24
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    @Sklivvz: Did you read any of the verses I wrote? – styfle Sep 02 '11 at 17:10
  • Lucifer != Satan –  Aug 15 '12 at 03:24
  • How do you know that "For Today" is Christian? Reading through their wikipedia page, I'm not convinced many Reformed theologists would agree with their claim that they are Christian. –  Nov 27 '14 at 15:53
  • @user10620 Read their lyrics or any interview with them. Not sure much emphasis should be placed on Reformed 'theologists' agreement on the status of someone's eternity. – Alex Strasser Jan 03 '19 at 00:24

1 Answers1

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I think what you are seeing is a reaction to a stereotype created by our culture and the popular media. Much like the picture in the minds of many people of the Devil parading around in red tights with a pitch fork.

In actual fact, scripture teaches us that Lucifer, whose name means "Light Bearer", was the "Morning Star" who fell from heaven in Isa 14 and Ezekiel 28 describes him as "the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty". He is understood to have been an archangel and a prince of heavenly worship. Other scripture teaches that he comes as an "angel of light" (2 Cor 11:14).

So, in actual fact, the devil is likely to present as someone visually and audibly beautiful. Some allowance may need to be made for subsequent corruption after he fell, but since angels are purely spiritual beings, they likely can manifest in our realm in any form that serves their purpose.

Now, while I personally don't care for grungy metal and don't find it either pleasing or uplifting, I find it unlikely that it's inherently demonic simply because it uses raspy metallic vocals.

  • "since angels are purely spiritual beings, they likely can manifest in our realm in any form": if they are "purely spiritual" the cannot manifest in our realm at all. – Sklivvz Sep 02 '11 at 08:22
  • @Skilwz: And yet scripture recounts many tales of angels appearing to people, sometimes looking like normal "men" and sometimes so terrifying to behold people dropped to the ground in terror... Perhaps your interpretation of "purely spiritual" does not have the same limitations as mine. –  Sep 02 '11 at 21:15
  • Lucifer still isn't Satan :D –  Aug 15 '12 at 03:25
  • @SoftwareMonkey If the OP thinks that growly singing is beautiful, does that mean it could be the Devil's voice? – Kaz Dragon Aug 15 '12 at 11:19
  • @Kaz: I am saying you can draw no conclusion either way. We have a stereotyped idea of what the devil should be like which is almost certainly inaccurate. –  Aug 15 '12 at 17:46