Devices and Wiles of Satan

by C. Jones (Wales)

PAPER 1 — INTRODUCTION

Satan, or the Devil, is a created being of amazing power and knowledge and must not be underestimated. He is the arch-enemy and adversary of God and man. He slanders and accuses God to man, Gen.3.5, and man to God, Job 1.9. He is "the prince of the devils," Matt.12.24; "a murderer and a liar," Jn.8.44. He is the "prince of this world," Jn.12.31, 14.30, 16.11; "the god of this world," 2Cor.4.4; "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," Eph.2.2, and "the accuser of our brethren," Rev.12.10.

Satan will attack and tempt believers and he is indeed a formidable foe, but we are to remember that he is not omnipotent, omniscient nor omnipresent, and "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world," 1Jn.4.4.

If we study the Scriptures prayerfully, we can avoid being "ignorant of his devices," 2Cor.2.11, and can learn something of his wiles, Eph.6.11. Such knowledge will help us, in the power of the Spirit, to resist the Devil so that he will flee from us, Jas.4.7. Satan will adapt his subtle approach depending on circumstances and the person he attacks. Sometimes he approaches "as a roaring lion," 1Pet.5.8, and at other times as "an angel of light," 2Cor.11.14.

Hath God said?

Let us consider the ways in which Satan led our first parents into sin. In Gen.3 we learn of the fall of man, and here we hear Satan slandering God to man. All the sin, sorrow, sadness and suffering that people have experienced have been a consequence of this fall. Physical death and spiritual death, in the sense of eternal separation from God, are a direct result of sin, Rom.5.12.

In his malignant cunning Satan did not approach Adam directly to induce him to sin, but first spoke to Eve. Satan was aware of Adam's great love for Eve and believed that if Eve sinned she would be able to persuade Adam to sin also. Satan knows our weakest points and will direct his attacks accordingly.

In his approach to Eve through the serpent, Satan sought to sow doubts in her mind regarding the truth of what God had said and as to the goodness of God's motives in withholding something which Adam and Eve would enjoy and from which they would benefit. When Satan asked Eve "hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?", Gen.3.1, she replied by misquoting what God had said regarding not eating "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," Gen.2.17, by adding "neither shall ye touch it," Gen.3.3. God, in His sovereignty, had limited man's freedom by prohibiting the eating of the fruit of one tree only. He had said nothing about touching it. Satan was seeking to cause Eve to deviate from God's Word and to doubt that His prohibition was for her benefit and that of her husband Adam.

So we learn of some of the devices of the Devil. He causes men and women to doubt the truth of God's Word and to doubt the love of God. Satan seeks to undermine the authority of God's Word and confidence in His Word. He will try to persuade people that if they cannot fully understand the reasons for God's commands and prohibitions then they need not obey them. Satan will add to, or subtract from, the Scriptures and attempt to persuade people to disobey God. He strives to cause men and women to try to get rid of God's restrictions so that they are free "to do their own thing," to do that which is right in their own eyes, Jud.21.25. as a consequence of Satan's success in causing the majority of people to doubt the truth of God's Word and His wisdom and love, we have the chaos existing in the world today.

Satan next flatly contradicted the truth of God's Word and also denied the severity of God by saying "Ye shall not surely die," Gen.3.4. He persuaded Eve that, rather than dying, if Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit then they would acquire knowledge and information, and be like God and know good and evil, Gen.3.5. Satan persuaded Eve that God's Word was not true and that He withheld from them things that were good. Today, Satan still seeks to prevent people believing that "the wages of sin is death," Rom.6.23, not just physical death, but eternal separation from God. He strives to prevent people believing in the existence of heaven and hell and in the existence of God Himself. Satan also endeavours to convince people that he, Satan, does not exist. If people treat Satan lightly and as the subject of foolish jokes they will not suspect the power of the evil forces seeking their eternal loss. Eve was unaware of God's holy hatred of sin. She could not foresee the awful consequences of sin. She did not believe what God had said regarding judgment any more than people believed Noah's preaching before the Flood came or Lot's warnings before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 2Pet.2.5-8. The Lord said concerning Satan "he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it," Jn.8.44. Eve's experience and that of countless multitudes since has proved the truth of these words.

Eve was tempted and fell. She did not consult Adam, who was her head, 1Cor.11.3, but looked at the tree and saw that it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, Gen.3.6. This corresponds with God's warnings given regarding love of the world. We read in 1Jn.2.16 concerning those things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh (good for food), the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes) and the pride of life (to be desired to make one wise).

Eve ate and gave to Adam who, in eating, disobeyed the prohibition he had received from God, Gen.2.17. Eve was deceived by Satan and sinned, then Adam knowingly, deliberately and rebelliously sinned, 1Tim.2.14. It all started with doubting God's Word and with Eve believing that she, and not God, knew what was best for human beings.

—to be continued (D.V.)