JESUS AND THE SATAN: The Polarization of Satan, YHWH, and the Right Hand of God’s Roles – Christopher Hansen

It is an often used image in literature throughout the Western world, the idea of the man who is placed at the right hand of God. In Christian works, this is generally thought of as Jesus Christ, the son of God who is his right hand, and for good reason, as it is attested throughout the imagery in the New Testament. [Numerous examples are: Acts 2:33, 7:55-56, Romans 8:34, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 3:1, Hebrews 1:3, 8:1,10:12, 12:2, 1 Peter 3:22, Revelation 3:22, and Matthew 22:44]

 This idea is continued in various other works throughout history, and it became a central point of discussion in St. Thomas Aquinas’ “Summa Theologica,” in regards to the anthropomorphic implications. However, there is a stark contrast to this in the Old Testament, being that it is neither the Holy Spirit nor Jesus who sits at God’s right hand in the ancient Hebrew text. Instead, this role belongs to  Ha-Satan, the Satan. By the time that the New Testament was developed, however, the Satan had lost this position.

JESUS AND THE SATAN: The Polarization of Satan, YHWH, and the Right Hand of God’s Roles – Christopher Hansen

In Job 1-2, Satan acts more in an auxiliary capacity to YHWH himself. As N. H. Tur-Sinai noted, the Satan acts as the eyes and ears of God on Earth, “It is his duty to draw attention to each and every subject of the king who might conceivably harbour seditious thoughts. It is his duty to warn the king of all his subjects, including those who may appear to be utterly loyal.” [Tur-Sinai, N. H. (H. Torczyner), "The Book of Job: A New Commentary", Revised Edition 1967, (Jerusalem,Israel: Kiryath Sepher, 1957), p. 42. ]

 Satan is, thus, not the arch enemy of God ..... but instead he is a servant of God, acting as his eyes on the Earth and testing the loyalty of professed believers and followers, under the instruction of God.

Within the Book of Job, the evidence of this is most clearly seen in Job 1:6-12,wherein Satan appears to YHWH, who then asks him from whence he came. Satan’s reply is, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” (Job 1:7).

God then asks Satan whether he had taken interest in his servant Job, obviously curious as to Job’s loyalties and where they lie. God then tasks Satan with testing Job, to see if he truly is loyal

JESUS AND THE SATAN: The Polarization of Satan, YHWH, and the Right Hand of God’s Roles – Christopher Hansen

A clear representation of this council is in Genesis 3:22:
“And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.  He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’”
These Divine Council portrayals are used at various times elsewhere in the Bible, for example
Psalm 82 - A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty;  he judgeth among the gods.
The idea of a council ruled by a head God, and comprised primarily of the children of said deity is also a consistent notion in Ancient Near Eastern literature.

JESUS AND THE SATAN: The Polarization of Satan, YHWH, and the Right Hand of God’s Roles – Christopher Hansen

This is where the idea of the role of the right hand of God is greatly established in Biblical literature, especially as a role being occupied by the Satan in particular. So here the right hand of God’s role is clearly defined as that of a divine prosecutor, which coincides with the portrayal of Satan in Job, who is searching the Earth in an attempt to find disloyal subjects of God, and bring them to the Lord’s attention, i.e. his role is to accuse them of unfaithfulness, sin, and the likes, as he does with Job —claiming Job’s faith is only due to his wealth and possessions (Job 1:9-11)— and in Zechariah, as he is about to accuse Joshua/Israel. The notion of an accuser/satan standing at the right hand of a divine presence, whose role it is to help bring judgement and a verdict of guilt in regards to divine crime, is further elaborated on in Psalm 109:6-7.“Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand.  When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him.”
The motif of the Satan standing at the right hand of some divine entity —manifest as God, the angel of God (Zechariah), or now this evil sent by God, however always at the right hand of something from YHWH or YHWH himself— seems to be a well permeated notion in the ancient Hebrew theology. Satan is, unlike the other  beings, a special servant of God.

John 16:7-8.

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and  judgment [...]”