Know Your Enemy (originally published November 9)

No military unit goes into a fight without first doing some research. The group researches the lay of the land, the resources available to them and other important matters. They are also, however, researching the enemy. When one enters a fight, he must know his enemy very well if he expects to win.

We are, everyday, engaged in a spiritual fight (cf. Ephesians 6:12). Satan is our enemy. As Peter put it, he is our “adversary” (First Peter 5:8). What can we learn from the Bible about our enemy? There are many things, but we will notice just three.

First, he is the devil. The word “devil” means “accuser” or “slanderer.” We can get this picture of Satan in the first two chapters of Job. Asked where he has been, Satan answers, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it” (Job 1:7; 2:2). The answer from God both times is, “Have you considered My servant Job” (1:8; 2:3). The picture is this: Satan is going throughout the earth and then bringing names before God of those he is “accusing.” [NOTE: Keep in mind that in the book of Job, every time you see the name “Satan,” the literal Hebrew phrase is “the Satan”, which means “the accuser”.] God then brings a name before Satan, and the devil has no answer. He must then resort to the anguishing pain brought upon Job. Could God say of you to the accuser, “Have you considered my servant___________?”

Second, he is the great deceiver. Satan is the greatest liar of all. He dupes people into sin with whimsical packaging and beauty. He forgets to tell the whole story of sin. Speaking of the devil, Jesus said, “When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). How many billions of souls will be lost for all eternity because they were duped by Satan?

Third, he is the destroyer. Sadly, Satan will defeat countless numbers of people. They will lose their souls forever because they fell for his schemes (or “wiles”; cf. Ephesians 6:11). The good news is that we do not have to fall for his lies. He has already been defeated, as was foretold in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), and accomplished with the death and resurrection of Christ.

Every day we fight temptation and sin. By knowing the enemy we can be better prepared to fight. He is not some silly costume with horns and a pitchfork. Satan is serious about causing us to lose our souls. May we fight him every day…and win!

Comment originally published by Jim and Donna Faughn on November 10:

I knew you’d work Mike Tanaro’s DUPER line in there somewhere. Great article (as usual)