Satan, the Enemy

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph. 6:12

Just as there is a God, Holy Spirit, and Jesus, there is a real enemy. He is most commonly referred to as Satan.

According to Ephesians 6:12, there is a battle going on in this world. If we are born into the family of God by the spiritual birth (John 3:3), we are on the winning side. We will battle much of our lives with the weakness of our own flesh. Some battles, however, may be influenced by Satan. We should certainly know more about him.

Here are some biblical facts about our enemy:

• His other names include: Abaddon, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Belial, Satan, Lucifer, prince of devils (Mat. 12:24), devil, prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), prince of this world (John 15:30), son of the morning (Isa. 14:12).
• He is a cherub.
  “ Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” Eze. 28:14. Cherubim have at least two wings. They were used to keep man out of the garden after they sinned and also, protected the tree of life (Gen. 3:24).
• He was in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
  “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;…” Eze. 28:13.
• He knows the Word of God.
  “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Gen. 3. He knew what God had said, so that he could get Eve to doubt what she was to do to obey God. Satan also knew God’s Word enough to change the wording.
• He was a beautiful creature created by God to make music for Him.
  “… every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” Eze. 28:13
  “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” Eze. 28:17
  
   The idea that Satan is an ugly, red, pitchfork-wielding, six-winged, and tailed creature is not from the Bible. Those images were created from older literature such as Dante Alighieri’s Italian poem, Divine Comedy written between 1308 -1321. The 14,233-lined poem has little biblical teaching and mostly incorporates Catholic doctrine, which greatly influenced the writer.
• He was perfect until he sinned.
  “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Eze. 28:15
• He was proud and thought himself God.
  “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High …” Isa. 14:13-15.
  “Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:” Eze. 28:2 (King of Tyrus was likened to Satan: Eze. 28:13.)
• He was thrown out of heaven.
  “ How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Isa. 14:12.
  “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” Eze. 28:16 Also: Luke 10:18
  “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev. 12:9 Also: Rev. 20:10.
• He has appeared before God.
  “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them…” Job 1:6-8
• Satan could provoke nations, as he provoked Israel: I Chron. 21:1. He tried to get David to number Israel. Also: Isa. 14:12.
• Satan could tempt even Jesus: Luke 4:1-13.
• He can fill one’s heart with the wrong ideas, if we let him.
  “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” Acts 5:3.
  “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.” Mat. 13:19
• Satan could transform himself into an angel of light: II Cor. 11:14-15. As this angel, he can deceive many into thinking he is good or helpful.
• He is behind many of the false, unbiblical religions.
  “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Rev. 2:9.
• The devil attempts to devour whomever he can.
  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” I Pet. 5:8.
• Satan has free rein to travel throughout the world.
  “And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” Job 2:2.
• God can allow Satan to test, and even bring bodily harm to God’s people:
  “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” Job 1:12 & Job 2:6
• He is the accuser of the brethren.
  “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Rev. 12:10.
• He can control people.
  “But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying , Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” Mark 8:33
  “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.” Luke 22:3
• He can influence us, if we are weakened by sin, and if God gives him permission to do so (Job 1).
• He is a murderer and liar.
  “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. 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.” John 8:4.4.
• The Lake of Fire was originally created by God as a place of punishment for Satan and the devils that followed him.
  “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Mat. 25:41
• He will temporarily be bound during the millennial reign of Christ.
  “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Rev. 20:2-3
• He will eventually end up in Hell and the Lake of Fire.
  “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”  Isa. 14:15 

He (the devil) can make men dance upon the brink of Hell as though they were on the verge of Heaven.” – Spurgeon

A free, printable version of this study is at https://openthoumineeyes.com/lessons/satan.html