"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 1:9"
If nothing new is under the sun, God is the same today as He was yesterday, then maybe Satan is the same today as he was yesterday.
Fall of Lucifer
Satan was an angel, named Lucifer. He was perfect of beauty and full of wisdom, Ezekiel 28:12-15. He was possibly the highest of all angels, most beautiful of all God’s creations, and perfect. Though in Isaiah 14:12-15, we see that he wasn’t content with what he had and tried to take God’s throne. In Revelations 12:9, we see that God threw Satan and his angels out of Heaven onto earth. In Job 1:6-7, we see that Satan once had direct access to God where he accused people before God, but was only till Christ shed His blood for our sins, Revelations 12:11-12. Notice that Satan saw God’s thrown and how all creation worshiped Him(Lust of the Eyes), we know he found it pleasing to contemplate such thoughts because he tried to overthrow God(Lust of the Flesh), and we know Satan desired for himself to be honored and worshipped like God and have God’s authority over all creation. He saw himself better than God. (Pride of Life)
Fall of Man
The serpent (Satan) came to woman and subtly asked, “Did God really say you cannot eat from any tree in the garden?” Gen 3:1. Now from my understanding Satan can hear what we say. We know that Satan is the Prince and Power of the air, Ephesians 2:2. So I can only assume he knew that God told man that he could not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but notice he played ignorant. Woman answers, unaware to Satan’s plan, “No we can eat of any tree in the garden, except the one in the middle. You must not touch it or you will die.” Gen 3:2. I would like to point out God did not tell man he could not touch the tree, just not eat of it. Gen 2:17, and note the command wasn’t give to woman. So man must have passed the command down to woman. Now we see Satan response in verse 4, “you will not surely die.” Verse 5, “For God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” In verse 6, woman sees the fruit is good for food and pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. Then she ate of the fruit. Now I find it interesting in the same verse that her husband was with her. So man who God commanded him not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, sat back and watched his wife eat of the fruit. That leads into a completely different subject. Now I don’t think it was chance that Satan tempted woman instead of man. I think Satan was aware that man was leery of him and probably would have not eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because man feared the “death”. Unfortunately, we find that once man saw that woman got away with eating the fruit and did not “die”, he was no longer afraid of “death” and started to believe Satan insinuations. I would like to point out three things: 1) neither man or woman understood what God meant when he said, “for when you eat of it you will surely die.” they thought it meant immediate death instead of in a period of time…”death sentence”. 2) Satan never lied; instead he insinuated God was basically holding man and woman back by not letting them eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 3) Woman saw the fruit (Lust of the Eyes), it was pleasing to the Eye (Lust of the Flesh), and it desirable for gaining wisdom/becoming like God (Pride of Life). These are the same temptations Lucifer succumbed to and Satan tempted Jesus with.
Satan’s Traits
1) We see Satan was prideful, he desired to be God instead of a servant of God. We see this in Isaiah 14:12-15 when he says, “I will ascent to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly…, I will ascend above the clouds, and I will make myself like the Most High.”
2) Now we see Satan as an exceedingly beautiful angel in Ezekiel. Satan was likely the highest of all angels, the most beautiful of all of God’s creations, but he was not content in his position. Instead, Satan desired to be God, to essentially “kick God off His throne” and take over and rule the universe. Satan wanted to be God, and interestingly enough, that is what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden of Eden.
3) Satan is a leader/general, 1/3 of the angels followed Lucifer in the rebellion against God in effort to overthrow God. Revelations 12:4.
4) Persuasive, he was able to convince 1/3 of the angels he was better than God, and it would be much better if he was ruler.
5) Satan is the Prince and Power of the air, Ephesians 2:2. We know that Satan is not omnipresent, Psalm 139:7-10, he is not omnipotent, Revelations 19:6(KJV), and he is not omniscient, Psalm 139:12; Psalm 44:21; Hebrews 4:13…those are only traits of God.
a. Now if Satan personally puts thoughts in our minds, I do not know 100% but I can determine that since Satan is not omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient his demons have to report to him what they have learned or he wouldn’t know. I believe he or his demons can put random thoughts in your mind but I do not believe Satan can read your mind, Matthew 2:13-18. Satan did everything he could to use Herod to find and kill baby Jesus but since he could not read minds he failed.
b. we know he has spent 6 thousands plus years learning the nature of men
c. The nature of men is really his very nature acquired by human beings. (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, and noted in the Fall of Lucifer)
d. Matthew 12:34, “…for whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” Satan could ascertain the general flow of our thoughts by the words that we say and use them against us.
6) Satan is the ruler of this world, John 12:31.
7) He exists only to steal, kill and destroy anything in your life he can. John 10:10 8) Your enemy! 1 Peter 5:8
Satan’s Tactics
1) Knows who to attack - The fall of man shows Satan had a plan, he didn’t blindly temp woman and everything worked perfectly out for him! Satan needed man to eat the fruit because it wasn’t until man ate of the fruit that their eyes were opened and power of earth’s dominion was transferred! He is the King of Con-Artists!
a. Satan tempted the woman. Woman was indirectly told by man not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and most susceptible to eat it.
b. Satan knew man was leery of him but he also knew his best chance of getting man to sin against God was to get woman to first, he would see she would not immediately die nor any other visible consequence for eating it.
c. Satan did it while man was watching, knowing he couldn’t directly temp him first but indirectly through woman, cause man to doubt God’s goodness.
2) Satan’s temptation comes through something familiar.
a. Satan came as the serpent, who talked. I can only assume woman had seen talking serpents/animals before because she wasn’t leery, afraid, astonished. It was like it had happened every day. (For us the familiar could be: music, TV, internet, movies, friends, etc)
3) Satan is a smooth talker!
a. He didn’t come and say, “Hey, God say you can’t eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?” He said, “Did God say you can’t eat of any tree in the garden?” He played dumb, innocent, nonthreatening.
b. He caused doubt, not by directly calling God a liar but by insinuating (side stepped activating man’s and woman’s personal defensives) God was holding them back from becoming a “god” themselves. He used their ignorance of the death and their lack of trust, to believe God had their best interest in mind, against them. For when man saw his wife eat of it and nothing happened he partook of the fruit.
c. He was able to make man and woman forget everything God had provided for them and focus on the 1 thing they could not have by implying God was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting woman to share His knowledge of good and evil.
d. He never “lied”!i. He played off the ignorance of man and woman and let their minds run off of his insinuations about God.
ii. He just failed to tell all of the truth, consequences, or his exact purpose!
4) He tempts us with the same things he tempted woman and Jesus with and these are the very temptations he succumbed to when he fell from Heaven.
a. Lust of the Eyes - seeing the fruit
b. Lust of the Flesh - pleasing to the eye
c. Pride of Life - desirable for gaining wisdom
5) Makes us discontent with what God has given us
a. He made woman forget all God had given her and focus on the 1 thing she couldn’t have!
b. Satan fell from heaven because he was discontent on everything he had!
c. Contentment is the root of many sins and heartache: financial disasters, adultery, marital unhappiness, stealing, love of money, unhappiness from life, depression, suicide, greed, putting other things before God, coveting your neighbor things, and many more.
Resisting Satan
1) Resist the devil by standing firm in the faith. 1 Peter 5:8,9
a. By being self controlled (vs.8)
b. By being sober (vs.8)
i. Strong’s Concordance reveals the Greek word has the meaning of “abstain from wine”
ii. Intoxicating drinks lessons out ability to resist the devil
c. By being alert (vs.8) - Satan wants to catch you napping, “prowls around like a roaring lion”
d. Recognizing your enemy and his purpose - to rob you, steal from you, and destroy you (vs.8)
e. By standing firm in the faith! (vs.9)i. A solid relationship with Christ is a strong defense against the enemy
2) Submit yourself to God, and then Satan will flee from you. James 4:6-8
a. By living a life of humility (vs.6). The proud and arrogant are easy targets for the devil.
b. By submitting yourself to God (vs.7)
c. By drawing near to God (vs.8). The closer you are to God the harder you make it for Satan to harass you.
d. By true repentance (vs.8)
i. If we live our lives with unrepented sins in our lives, we do not have a secure foundation from which to resist the enemy.
ii. Note: Repent means about-face, 180 degrees. To turn completely away from the sin!
e. By purifying our hearts (vs.8)
i. Jesus shows us the heart is where sinful conduct originates. Matthew 15:18-19
3) Putting on the full armor of God! Ephesians 6:10-18 - This entire portion teaches us to stand our ground against the devils schemes! This “stand our ground” also interprets to the same “Resist” found in 1 Peter 5:8, 9; James 4:6-8.
a. Be strong in the Lord (vs. 10) - fully depending on Him!
b. Put on the armor of God - (vs.11-13)
c. We must wear:
i. belt of truth (John 17:17, John 8:32, John 14:6, 2 Corinthians 6:7) - just as the belt is central to the armor of God, the word of God(The Bible) is central to all that pertains to spiritual warfare.
ii. Breastplate of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 59:17, Proverbs 10:30, Psalms 37:17, Romans 3:21, 22; Romans 5:17) - knowing by the word of God, we have been made and righteous of God, we will tightly secure our breastplate of God.
iii. Shoes of preparation of the Gospel (Luke 18:19, Isaiah 61:1, 2) - are you prepared to reach the lost?, lay hands on the sick and see God heal them?, to stand against the oppression of the Devil? Standing is what we are called to do!!! We are to prepare and equip ourselves to stand and fight!
iv. Pick up the shield of faith (Hebrews 11:1, Mark 11:23, 24; Romans 10:17) - faith comes by hearing the spoken word of God. It says “above all take up the shield of faith”, the reason for this is simply: salvation, righteousness, the gospel, word of God, must all be received by faith!
v. Helmet of salvation (Psalm 103:2) - take hold to all the benefits of salvation, wholeness, deliverance, and health through the victory of Jesus Christ’s of Death and Resurrection! Strap the helmet on tight!!! Satan knows that to control you he has to gain control of your mind! If you do not wear your helmet of salvation you are leaving your benefits in Christ vulnerable to be removed by your theology!
1. The enemy will try to knock your head off by telling you that healing, deliverance, and wholeness (spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally) is not really included in the redemptive work of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus on the cross! All the enemy will allow you to retain of salvation is heaven, and will then proceed to send you there as quickly as possible as he destroys everything you have!
vi. Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God! (Mark 4:3-10; Luke 6:45; Luke 4:3-12) - the sword here is you speaking the word of God
1. To properly wield the sword, you must be knowledgeable of what the Bibles says. And receive it into your heart. Keep receiving it and you will reach the point that your heart will begin to overflow out of your mouth! Matthew 12:34
2. Remember the scabbard that held the sword hung on the belt of truth, the logos, the bible, the written Word of God. The Bible is the source of the Word that needs to fill your heart, (The scabbard). Then when needed, the sword, (the spoken Word of God) can be smoothly extracted and from the scabbard (heart) and wielded effectively.
3. Learn promises that God has given us in His written Word! It will help show you His will and give confidence to stand/resist the enemy when he comes.
d. Lances of Prayer! (vs.18)(1 Timothy 2:8; 1 John 5:14,15, 1 John 5:10,11) - Roman soldiers carried an assortment of lances. Long and short lances. Lances with single heads, duel heads, and trident lances. Some were thrown like spears, others were for close combat. Each lance had its own purpose.
i. Vs. 18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
1. This references all types of prayer (of intercession, of faith, of thanksgiving, of supplication, of agreement, of petition, corporate prayer, and praying in the spirit.)
2. Note all prayer is about relationship not rituals! There aren’t exact words we do in conjunction to actions that something happens. It is simply relationship, for there is nothing you can do, it is all about Jesus Christ!
What is the point?
Knowledge! Sir Francis Bacon said: “Knowledge is Power” and he also said, “Knowledge and human power are synonymous.” Of course, this was speaking more towards political power of voice. But it is just the same spiritually too! Matthew 24:22-24 speaks of men leading people astray because they have a form of godliness, they know some truth, but God is not in them. The only way to combat this, to not be deceived is to read and study the Word of God! So that God might show you deception by troubling your spirit! Adam and Eve sinned in the garden because they didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind God’s Law/Command. They didn’t have the faith to trust that God knew what He was doing when He made the command and that the command was for their benefit not His. Recognize Satan’s tactics! They haven’t changed since he rebelled against God, they haven’t changed since Adam and Eve sinned, they haven’t changed since he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and they will still have not changed today! When you feel discontent, Identify it as a spiritual attack and rebuke it! Do not let it take root in your life! When you lose focus of everything God has blessed you with and zone in on the things you do not have, identify it and cast it out of your thoughts! When you are sitting there watching a movie, per se, and you feel you need to change the channel! Change it!!! Don’t let your flesh talk you into finish watching it. You don’t realize what might be taking root in your spirit! When you start to doubt victories in your life, rebuke it! When you start to hear the words of your mouth not line of with the Word of God, fall on your knees and repent and READ, READ, and Pray! Learn the enemy’s strategies, war tactics, and then seek God on His defensive tactics to resist the enemy by reading the Word of God and Prayer! God is doing something BIG right now, not just in my life but I constantly hear teachings lining up with the direction God leading me! He is stirring his disciples, creating a hunger for Him, calling them out of religion and to Him! Continue to read, pray, and fast on a regular basis! Remember as Christians it is not let my will be done anymore but it is God regardless of my will; let your will be done in my life!
