If you asked someone to describe Satan in colloquial terms they might say, “he is one sneaky rascal.” That is certainly true in the simplest terms but only scratches the surface. “Just how evil is Satan?” Look at a few examples of what he did through men in history. Genghis Khan was responsible for the deaths of as many as 40 million people, 10% of the world’s population. He once slaughtered 1,748,000 in one hour. Mao Zedong 20th century despot ruler of China until 1976, was responsible for up to 78 million deaths—not to mention Hitler, Stalin, and many others.
What can nauseate the strongest stomach is reading the details of the torture methods wicked people have employed. One that vividly illustrates the cruelty Satan can inflict through men came from Vlad III Dracula of Romania, known as Vlad the Impaler. It’s believed he impaled as many as 100,000 of his enemies. After the insertion of a pole or metal rod, he stood them upright leaving the victim slowly sliding down the pole thrust through them. For days and even weeks they suffered pain beyond description. He was known for holding elaborate feasts in the mist of the dying victims and rotting corpses. Disgusting, I know. Yet this example of Dracula is still not the worst. Take the sum of all the evil acts and torture done now and in history, it still doesn’t begin showing the depth of what Satan is capable of doing. He is the enemy we face every second of the day.
Having taught this subject for years, I’ve come to realize believers can miss ways he attacks by focusing on the obvious and miss his deception. The Bible gives over 40 names and titles to describe Satan. Repeatedly, Christians are warned about his tactics as a deceiver. It began at creation. Eve said, the serpent deceived me (Gen 3:13). It continues to the end, the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9). A 6th century BC general and military strategist wrote a book still used by the military today. He said, “All warfare is based on deception.” It’s almost humorous to watch programs about the American Revolution where the British troops line up on one side of the battlefield and face the American troops lined up on the opposite side. They shoot at each other and make an open frontal attack. Satan doesn’t work this way.
Satan works by deception. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf employed the 6th century BC principle on deception in the Gulf War 1990-1991. His strategy well illustrated the danger of Satan’s deceptive tactics. Schwarzkopf concocted an elaborate ruse. He deceived the Iraqis by making it appear U.S. Marines would mount an amphibious assault on Kuwait City. All the time, U.S. Army ground forces 150 miles away were preparing for the main assault from Saudi Arabia. This cut off the Republican Guard troops from supply lines and a way of retreat. Satan goes after believers in a similar fashion. He distracts on one front and sneaks in from the rear and can catch believers completely off-guard.
OK, that’s a lot of human examples, however, each one helps us better picture Satan’s unseen work. My prayer is this SW will jar complacent believers to realize we are living in perilous days and to see the intense battle in which we are engaged. Satan uses humans to accomplish his work, but our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12 NIV). What may appear as an endeavor of evil people is actually the work of Satan. We must battle the real enemy with the right weapons and not the people he uses.
Jesus promised, I will not leave you as orphans (Joh 14:18), because the Father would send the Holy Spirit as our Helper (v26). Through Him we possess divinely powerful weapons (2 Corin 10:5). He has given us the Armor of the Spirit (Eph 6:12). Plus, believers have the promise that God limits what Satan can do, Jesus defeated him, and the Holy Spirit restrains him (2 Thess. 2:6, 7). Yet, this does no good until we accept the fact every believer, including us, are part of a war Satan is fighting against the Lord.
A subtle strategy of Satan that is easy to miss could be called the ‘perfect storm’. We know he battles against individual believers. But we may fail to recognize his deceptive tactics among groups—churches, marriages, families, and friends. Like the ‘perfect storm’ he brings all the right elements in place. It can be several people under stress, a marriage in which both partners are struggling with their individual problems, churches in which opinions, personalities, likes and dislike are misunderstood, etc. He can bring together little storms and create a huge storm that brings destruction, wounds, and broken relationships. Blame becomes rampant. Everyone misses the fact we’re in a battle against Satan who desires to steal and kill and destroy (Jn 10:10) all followers of Christ by any means.
Sustaining Word for the Week: We can not only survive but can win the battle, if we recognize and battle against the real enemy. Pray for the discernment of spirits (1 Cor 12:19).