Category: Satan
Satan: Chief of a Global Enterprise
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle John writes: “So the great dragon was thrown out — the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him” (Rev. 12:9).
Finally, we see the scope of Satan’s work as deceiver. John watches the cosmic battle between Michael the archangel and the great dragon. Michael prevails, and the dragon and his angels are cast down to earth (Rev. 12:7-12). We addressed this passage in greater detail in Chapter 2. For our purposes now, however, we focus on Satan’s role as chief executive of a sinister global enterprise. John writes that the evil one “deceives the whole world.” But what does the apostle mean by this?
As we explore in future posts, the Greek word often translated “world” (kosmos) may be interpreted in a number of ways, from the planet Earth to the world system under Satan’s control. But John uses a different Greek word here: oikoumene, which occurs fifteen times in the New Testament and, for the most part, refers to the entire inhabited earth.
In this sense, the gospel is to be proclaimed to all the world (Matt. 24:14; Rom. 10:18). Christ is to judge the world at the end of time (Acts 17:31). Other general references to the world as the inhabited earth include: Luke 2:1 (Caesar’s whole empire); Luke 4:5 (kingdoms of the world Satan shows Jesus); Acts 19:27 (the world that worships the goddess Artemis); Hebrews 1:6 (the inhabited world into which Christ is born); and Revelation 3:10 (the whole world that faces a time of testing).
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Satan: The Original Usurper
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed” (1 Tim. 2:12-14).
Satan is a usurper by nature. That is, he seizes authority not rightfully his. He rises up against God in an effort to displace his creator as the object of worship. He’s also a usurper by proxy, acting through intermediate means to attack God and God’s people. For example, he incites David to number his troops (1 Chron. 21:1; cf. 2 Sam. 24:1). He fills the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to seek undue credit for an otherwise good deed (Acts 5:1-11). He takes control of Judas Iscariot, inspiring him to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3; John 13:27). And he gives the antichrist his power, throne, and authority in the last days (Rev. 13:2).
But the earliest example of Satan operating as a usurper by proxy is his temptation of Eve in the garden. Paul alludes to this tragic event in his instructions to Timothy, urging the young pastor not to grant women authority over men in the local church. Paul is not prohibiting women from speaking or praying publicly in the church, for we see women like Phoebe, Priscilla, and the virgin daughters of Philip taking active roles in the community of faith.
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Satan: Master of Disguise
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes: “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:13-15, emphasis added).
Paul continues to expose the “super apostles” in Corinth for what they are: deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. They present a triple threat to the church as they proclaim “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and “a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4). And yet, the church welcomes them with open arms. That’s because the “super apostles” successfully disguise themselves as true apostles. They don’t necessarily oppose the apostle Paul, but they claim to have eclipsed him in spiritual gifts and public ministry.
For example, their speaking skills are far superior – or so they say – and their boldness in the church projects a contagious confidence that Paul seems to lack, as evidenced by his humility and self-inflicted poverty (2 Cor. 10:10; 11:5-10). If that isn’t enough, Paul’s physical presence is “weak” (2 Cor. 10:10), no doubt in part from the beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and other hardships he faced as he carried on his apostolic ministry.
The “super apostles” likely are physically fit and attractive, while Paul, if alive on earth today, would never make it on Christian television. In all of this, the false apostles are rotten to the core but come wrapped in the clever disguise of eloquent purveyors of the gospel.
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Satan: A Cunning Seducer
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly” (2 Cor. 11:3-4, emphasis added).
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul depicted Christ as the last Adam and second man in order to show how Jesus’ death and resurrection reversed the effects of the Fall and secured a glorious future for us (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Borrowing from that analogy in his second letter, Paul now likens the church to a second Eve. As Adam and Eve became one flesh (Gen. 2:24), Christ and the church are joined in a covenant relationship.
The image of salvation as betrothal between Christ and his followers is consistent with first-century Jewish marriage customs involving two separate ceremonies: the betrothal, and the nuptial ceremony that consummates the marriage. Usually, a year separates the two events, yet the betrothed young woman legally is regarded as the man’s wife and obligates herself to remain a virgin. The contract is binding; only death or a formal bill of divorce may end it. If the betrothed woman cheats on her husband, she is considered an adulteress. She may be banished under Roman rule or stoned under Old Testament law (Deut. 22:23-27).
Since Paul spent considerable time planting the church in Corinth, he feels a personal responsibility, as spiritual father, to ensure the church’s faithfulness to the Lord. But in his absence, Corinthian believers have welcomed seducers into the church – self-proclaimed “super apostles” who teach “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and “a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4-5).
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Satan: The Consummate Schemer
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes: “Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:10-11, emphasis added).
And: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, emphasis added).
In each of these passages, Paul points to the evil one’s schemes. First, as believers, we are to educate ourselves about Satan’s plots so we may prevent him from gaining an advantage over us. The Greek word translated “schemes” in 2 Corinthians 2:11 is noemata and basically means “thoughts,” “purposes,” or “designs.” No doubt, these are malicious schemes intended to cause harm.
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