I don’t normally give the devil the time of day; his days are
numbered, and he knows it. Besides, in Christ we already have the victory. Having
said that, however, doesn’t mean that the devil has just rolled over and buried
his head in the sand; until that last moment, he will continue to create as
much trouble for you and me as he can. Still, I also believe that God is still
very much in control, and when the dust settles, it will be God’s will and plan
that prevails.
As I thought about all this, and since I haven’t considered
the topic for a while, I looked through the Scriptures to see what kind of ways
the Bible describes Satan and his antics. Though I’m sure I missed several,
here are some random thoughts on fourteen characteristics of Satan, or if you’d
prefer, the devil.
The Devil as Persecutor
“Woe to the earth and
the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury”
(Revelation 12:13). Think about that for a moment. He’s “filled with fury” which means that there’s nothing but fury in him.
You couldn’t put anything else into him if you wanted. “Fury,” a word that my dictionary defines as “intense, disordered,
and often destructive rage,” and he’s “full” of it. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
The Devil as the
False Accuser
The devil is the “accuser
of our brothers, who accuses them before God day and night” (Revelation
12:10). Could you imagine endless accusations by someone who has a grudge
against you? Endless, day after day, night after night, every time you turn
around, there’s that guy with a giant chip on his shoulder, making all sorts of
accusations against you. It would be one thing if the accusations were valid,
but these are all false. Being accused of something you’re not guilty of,
that’s the devil for you.
The Devil as Liar
“For he [the
devil] is a liar and the father of lies”
(John 8:44). When we think of someone as being the “father” of something, what
we’re saying is that the “something” had its genesis with that person. He or
she was the inventor of it, and as the inventor, that person is likely also an
expert in the operation of the invention. As the “father of lies,” the devil is an expert. I would dare say that he’s
probably forgotten more about lying than all of us put together ever knew about
it. The point is, we need to be aware that in this life we will regularly face a
barrage of lies.
The Devil as Warrior
The devil “makes war”
(Revelation 12:17) against the children of God. At the risk of sounding
critical, sometimes I think that here is where we often have our heads buried
in the sand; we don’t know that we’re at war. There’s shrapnel flying all
around us, and we scarcely seem to notice. Have we become desensitized to the
barrage of our old enemy’s attacks?
The Devil as Murderer
“He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning”
(John 8:44). It is interesting that the second generation of mankind on the
earth already witnessed the first murder. Right before Cain killed his brother
Abel, the Lord warned Cain, “sin is
crouching at your door” (Genesis 4:7). Who is behind sin? The devil. Who is
ultimately behind murders is the same devil that crouched at Cain’s door, and
every other murderer’s door since him.
The Devil as Prison
Warden
We’ve all heard stories of people who have gone to prison
for their faith. Their only crime was that they were Christians. “The devil will put some of you in prison to
test you” (Revelation 2:10) speaks to his control and involvement in the
institutions of men.
The Devil as Road
Block
In speaking to the Thessalonians, Paul said that “Satan stopped us” (1 Thessalonians 2:18)
from visiting them. What’s stopping us from blessing and ministering to others
in the name of Jesus? Perhaps it’s the devil himself who sometimes also sets up
roadblocks for us today.
The Devil as Sickness
Obviously we would never go so far as to suggest that there
is a demon behind every illness, but as in the case of Job’s misfortunes, it’s
clear that the devil is behind some of them. “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful
sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” (Job 2:7).
Likewise, in speaking about the crippled woman He had just healed, Jesus said
that, “Satan has kept [her] bound for eighteen long years” (Luke
13:16).
The Devil as Promoter
of Betrayal
“The devil had already
prompted Judas Iscariot” (John 13:2). Later that evening Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to
betray me” (John 13:21). Have you ever betrayed anyone? Have you ever felt
betrayed by someone? Guess who was likely behind it. That’s right, the devil.
The Devil as Deceiver
Is it only some people who are fooled by the devil’s antics?
No, he “leads the whole world astray”
(Revelation 12:9). There isn’t a person alive today, or one who ever lived,
that hasn’t been deceived by the devil at one time or another.
The Devil as Worker
of Miracles
It is interesting that when we think of miracles, we always
seem to think of the good. However, the
truth of the matter is that often it is also the “spirits of demons performing miraculous signs” (Revelation 16:14).
The devil can “even cause fire to come
down from heaven to earth in full view of men” (Revelation 13:13). Here too
is where we often error; not every miracle or healing is from God. If it serves
the devil’s purposes, he can physically heal us too.
The Devil as Bible
Scholar
In the temptation of Jesus, the devil said, “throw your self down, for it is written”
(Matthew 5:6). If the devil knows the Bible well enough to quote (and misquote)
it back to Jesus in an effort to tempt Him, how much more so can the devil do
likewise to us? It’s not only Christians who like to quote Bible verses.
The Devil as an Angel
of Light
Paul spoke of people “masquerading
as apostles of Christ” and that “Satan
himself masquerades as an angel of light.” He then goes on to speak of how
in such cases even righteousness becomes a masquerade (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Think about that for a moment; why would someone pretend (wear a mask) to be
righteous if they were not trying to fool and deceive others? This in turn
means that even the pastor himself could really be a demon in disguise. Ouch!
The Devil as Possessor
“Satan entered Judas”
(Luke 22:3). Think about that. One of the twelve was “entered” and possessed by the devil. Is it really too farfetched to
think that others who we think of as Christian leaders cannot also be “entered” and possessed by the devil? Of
course that then raises the whole question of being simultaneously possessed by
the Holy Spirit and the spirit of the devil at the same time, which I do not
believe is possible. The only answer then is that, going back to our previous
point, maybe that person masquerading as a Christian leader really isn’t even a
Christian at all. Being possessed of the devil is not just fanciful fodder of
Hollywood horror films; it can be an unsettling reality.
So Where Do We Go
From Here?
I do not mention all these devilish characteristics to strike
fear. Though Satan will use every possible means to deceive and destroy, as I
said at the beginning, we who are in Christ are already victors (1 Corinthians
15:57). Though skirmishes from the devil’s camp do still remain, the battle is
already won. Thank you, Jesus.
I mention these biblical references to the satanic antics
simply to encourage discernment, and perhaps for some of us, to wake us from
our lethargic slumber. Let’s not be fooled; not everything that sounds
Christian, nor everyone who claims to be a Christian, really is. Don’t fall for
“the trap of the devil” (2 Timothy
2:26). As Jesus said, “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
We would do well to meditate on that verse.
I mention these things because I believe that “even now many antichrists have come” (1
John 2:18), and I sometimes fear that one of the ploys of the devil is to cause
people to embrace a spirit of universalism, which I see as becoming more and
more prevalent in the world today. “Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1
John 4:1).
Finally, I mention these things because like you, I too am
looking forward to the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as such I
also want to encourage us all to be ready for that great and wonderful day. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes,
I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with
God’s people. Amen” (Revelation 22:20-21). That day could be today. Are you
ready?
All Bible quotations taken from the New International
Version (NIV).
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons: Kennington Fox
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