SATAN – THE ENEMY OF GOD

In this series of posts I am going to focus on identifying Satan and his methods of attack against believers in his ongoing war against God. How does this relate to prophecy? I believe these attacks and the deceptive powers of evil spiritual forces is going to continue to increase until the Lord Jesus returns to take His throne as King of kings. It’s important that the believer be vigilant and aware of the enemy’s tactics until that time.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

From the earliest beginnings of man’s time on earth, Satan emerged as the enemy of God and of His special creation—man and woman. We know that the angels were created before man since the book of Job declares that the sons of God rejoiced when the earth was created.

Job 38:4–7 “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

One can’t help but wonder what happened to make Satan the enemy of God. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel provide some insight.

Isaiah 14:12–14 “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! 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.”

Satan developed a misplaced sense of pride. At some point he determined in his heart that he would position himself in authority over all the other angels and ascend to the dwelling place of God to become like God or equal with God. The obvious question—Why would he ever think such a thought?

Ezekiel 28:11–15 “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; 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. 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. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”

It is obvious from the wording of this section of verses that though addressed to the king of Tyre, the reference is to the evil source of power behind the earthly king of Tyre—Satan. He is identified as having “been in Eden the garden of God.” The only intelligent beings identified as being in Eden were God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent; and scripture specifically identifies this serpent as Satan.

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan….”

Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan….”

Ezekiel tells us that Satan possessed the fullness of wisdom and beauty to perfection. He was adorned with the most beautiful gems and was evidently a very gifted singer. He had also been chosen to serve as one of the cherubs covering God’s throne. In fact, he is described as “perfect in thy ways” until iniquity or unrighteousness was found in him. I believe this iniquity was found in him the moment that he determined to be like God.

We know from the record of the Revelator that Satan had enough influence among the angelic host to cause a third of the angels to join in his rebellion.

Revelation 12:3–4 “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:”

This rebellion resulted in their falling from heaven and being cast to the earth. I believe it is this fall to which Jesus referred in the words recorded by Luke.

Luke 10:18 “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

I also believe that it was this fall that marred the original creation of earth and resulted in the six-day recreation that included man. (See the journal on Genesis 1 at my website for further details.) Satan didn’t wait long to once again act against God and recruit man to join his rebellion. Sadly, this proved to be far too easy.

In the next post we will begin to look at how to identify the attack of the enemy on the believer.