The
Deceptive Devil
“Woe
to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For
the devil has come down to you, having great
wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
–Revelation 12:12
Knowing Your
Enemy
Someone has estimated that between 3600 B.C. and
the present human beings have fought 14,531 wars.
During that same period, we have had more than 5,300
years of war, compared to about 290 years of
peace.
A ferocious war is raging between the forces of
good and evil. It is a cosmic conflict between
Christ and Satan, light and darkness, love and
selfishness. And as was true of the demoniac,
this war takes place in the heart and mind of
every human soul. I have no doubt that you have
felt this combat being waged in your own heart.
These daily skirmishes with temptation have life
or-death consequences. To fight this spiritual
war you and I need spiritual weapons. “For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
according to the flesh. For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down stronghold” (2 Corinthians 10:
3, 4). And we must know our enemy the devil.
Christians must avoid two extremes when
considering satanic activity. As C.S., Lewis
aptly put it:
There are two equal and opposite errors into
which our race can fall about the devils. One is
to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to
believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy
interest in them. They themselves are equally by
both errors, and a materialist or magician with
the same delight.
With this concept of balance in mind, let
us remember that one of the key components of
winning a war is understanding the modus
operandi of our enemy. The coaches and scouts
of professional football tams study videotapes of
opposing teams to understand their strategies
better and discover ways to counteract their
various plays. Similarly, before a championship
fight, professional boxers analyze and evaluate
every maneuver of their opponent.
I do not intend to give undue attention to the
devil here; the principle message in the Bible is
Jesus Christ and how we can live for the glory of
God. However, Scripture does record a great deal
about our archenemy. Satan, the serpent, appears
frequently from Genesis to Revelation. So, as
Mark Twain said, “We may not pay [Satan]
reverence, for that would be indiscreet; but we
can at least respect his talents.”
So, to understand better how the demoniac cam to
be possessed by these armies of darkness, it is
both prudent and profitable for us to dedicate
substantial time to understanding the deadly
devices of the devil. While you may not enjoy
this ominous section as well as other parts of
this study, you can be sure it is the one Satan
fears most and would prefer that you neglect.
The legions of devils that possessed the nameless
man in our story were not without a leader. You
can be sure that Satan was not vacationing on the
French Riviera when Jesus had this showdown with
the army of demons on the beach of Gadara. And
even though they are not specifically mentioned,
you can be sure that the angels of God were also
stationed around Jesus.
In other words, the war that began in heaven was
continuing right here on earth with the same
principal forces. And if we pull aside the
spiritual veil on the shore of Gadara, we can see
it: Christ and His angels arrayed against Satan
and his demons-each striving for the heart and
life of a miserable madman. “For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places (Ephesians 6:12).
When we catch this glimpse of what happening in
the spiritual realm, we can clearly see that this
battle is just a microcosm of the greater battle
between good and evil that begun in heaven.
The Origin of
Sin
If you ever fond yourself lost in the woods,
you would do well to try to retrace your steps to
the point where you became lost. Likewise, before
we can actually understand how the demoniac came
to be the host for a legion of unwelcome devils,
we need to ask, “Where did the devil come
from?”
Did our perfect and holy God create a flawed and
wicked devil? Of course not! Rather, God made a
splendid, perfect angel named Lucifer, who was
the most powerful and beautiful of God’s
creatures, the highest and brightest of all the
angels of heaven. “You were the seal of
perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty”
(Ezekiel 28:12). However, because Lucifer made a
series of selfish evil choices, he became a devil.
Driven by pride, he chose to become an enemy of
God.
Notice how Scripture describes Lucifer, who is
now called Satan:
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer
son of the morning! How you are cut down to the
ground, you who weakened the nations! For you
have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God; I will also sit on the mount of the
congregation on the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I
will be like the Most High’ (Isaiah 14: 12-15).
Lucifer allowed his beauty, intellectual
brilliance, and high position to fill him with
arrogance. You might even say that the devil’s
vanity led to his insanity!
Ezekiel 28: 12-17 gives some additional insight
into his fall:
You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom
and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the
garden of God; every precious stone was your
covering…. The workmanship of your trimbrels
and pipes was prepared for you on the day you
were created. You were anointed cherub who covers;
I established you, you were on the holy mountain
of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of
fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from
the day you were created, till iniquity was found
in you…. Your heart was lifted up because of
your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the
sake of your splendor. *
___________
*The
Bible records many other details about Lucifer (see
Luke 4: 5, 6; 10:18; John 8:44; 2 Peter 2:4; 1
John 3:8; Jude 6; Revelation 12: 7-9), but the
two passages quoted above are the most complete.
We can only guess as to how long Lucifer served
God willingly and with joy before he began to
cherish the poisonous seeds of pride in his heart.
Perhaps it was millenniums of time. It might be
hard to imagine, but if we had known Lucifer
before his fall, we would have loved him. Of
course, some seem to love him the way he is now!
This naturally raises another question: Did God
make a mistake? Was there a glitch in His angel-making
factory so that when Lucifer came off the
assembly line, he was destined for a breakdown?
Not at all! God is perfect, and God is love. I
suppose that if He had wanted to, the Lord could
have all of His creature’s mere robots.
However, cannot love. Indeed, true love must be
freely and willingly given.
So, God took a risk when He bestowed this ability
to receive and give love freely. His subjects
might end up rejecting His love and rebelling
against Him. However, God gave the ability anyway.
He did so for the same reason that most couples
decide to have children even though they know
that doing so is a risky business. They bring
children into the world despite realizing that
they will choose to resist their love. They do so
because, like God, they want to share their love.
Here’s another question that often arises
unnecessary doubts about God: If He is all-powerful,
why didn’t He just vaporize the wayward
angel when he began to revolt?
God allowed Lucifer to carry out his rebellion
for several reasons. First, it helped to settle
any potential questions about the freedom of
choice God gave His intelligent creatures. Now,
no one say that God forces sentient beings to do
anything against their will. They are free to
choose their own paths.
Second, God’s immediate destruction of
Lucifer might have given the other angels serious
doubts about His love and government-particularly,
those who might have wondered if Satan was
actually on to something. God, in wisdom and in
love, is allowing the devil to make his point,
thereby letting the whole universe see the
terrible results.
Third, it would pain a loving God to know that
His children obeyed Him out of a horrifying fear
of being exterminated. Like any good parent, He
wants His sons and daughters to obey Him because
of willing love and good reasons rather than from
coercion and fear.
Remarkably, in spite of God’s patience and
goodness, Lucifer refused to repent. Instead, he
devised such a cunning rebellion that he managed
to recruit one-third of all the angels to join
his unholy war against the Creator. Eventually,
God cast Lucifer and his followers, now called
“devils” and “demons,” out of
heaven.
War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his
angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was
a place found for them in heaven any longer. So
the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of
old, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives
the whole world: he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:
7-9).
Fallen but
Brilliant
Famous Hollywood women, especially the high
profile movie stars, seem to be instantly
recognizable in public. We wonder how they can do
simple things, like go to the supermarket,
without being swamped by overzealous fans. Most
of them manage just fine. How? They have a simple
trick: When they do not wear makeup and trendy
hairdos, most people do not recognize them. The
public has become so familiar with the glamorous
but imaginary illusion of whom these people are
that the real-life stars can circulate among the
crowds undetected.
Lucifer has a similar strategy. “Satan…
transforms himself into an angel of light” (2
Corinthians 11:14). Satan is delighted when
people portray him with his stage image. You know
the one: the ugly red, bat-winged creature that
is part man and part beast. He loves being
pictured as having split hooves, pointed ears,
and a long, pointed tail-and don’t forget
the goatee or that pitchfork he supposedly uses
for stoking the fires of hell.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed
such foolish concepts come from a mixture of
Greek mythology and medieval art, and absolutely
no such nonsense can be found in Scripture. As
the quotations above from Isaiah and Ezekiel show,
the Bible describes Satan as a brilliant, highly
attractive angel with an uncanny ability to
communicate. When we realize these
characteristics are combined with his devilish
designs, we know that we must be very wary.
Satan is a self-proclaimed enemy of God whose aim
is to defame His character and capture His
kingdom. He also despises you and your loved ones,
and he has plans to destroy you because he knows
how much God treasures you.
This is why the story of the demoniac
demonstrates so well that our only hope is to
place our lives in the protective care of our
mighty Savior, praying earnestly for His guidance.
Without Christ, we are easy prey to Satan
unending attacks, but, as Scripture says, “He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the
world” (1 John 4:4).
The Bottomless
Pit
The first time I toured the famous Carlsbad
Caverns in New Mexico, our guide led us by a
gaping hole that seems to drop away in endless
darkness. It’s affectionately called, “the
bottomless pit.” Of course, it isn’t
really bottomless. In fact, the bottom is only
140 feet down. Apparently, it gets so littered
with trash from passerby that rangers have to
rappel down into it once a year to pick up the
debris.
The Bible speaks of a bottomless pit where Satan
will be imprisoned for a millennium. The apostle
John wrote:
I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in
his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that
old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years. And he cast him into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a
seal upon him, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season (Revelation 20: 1-3, KJV).
This prophecy will find its fulfillment
immediately following the second coming of Jesus.
It speaks of a fate that causes the devil to
tremble.
The biblical expression “bottomless pit”
is a translation of the Greek word abussos,
from which we get the word “abyss.”
This word appears also in the story of the
demoniac. There the demons beg Jesus “not [to]
command them to go out into the abyss” (Luke
8:31).
So, what is the bottomless pit, this abyss that
the devils dread? It is a symbol. No one can
escape from the bottomless pit. The pit, then,
represents the condition Lucifer and his angels
will find themselves in when they are bound on
earth during the millennium, the thousand years
about which Revelation 20 tells us. During that
time, there will be no one alive on earth for the
devils to tempt. Those who have accepted God’s
salvation will be taken to heaven, and
unrepentant sinners will have died at Jesus’
second coming (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17;
Revelation 19: 18,21).
During this protracted period, Satan and his
minions will be “chained in darkness,”
bound by the circumstances of having nobody to
tempt or manipulate. Scripture says God will not
spare the angels who sinned, but will deliver
them “into chains of darkness to be reserved
for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4; cp. Jude 6). It
is perfect torment for workaholic devils to have
nothing to do, which is why the demoniac devils
were so upset. “They cried out, saying,
‘what have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son
of God? Have you come here to torment us before
our time?’” (Matthew 8:29). They were
concerned that Jesus would chain them before God’s
timetable as revealed in the Bible actually calls
for it.
Note this, too: People often treat others the way
they feel they should be treated. Jesus said,
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man,
he goes through dry places, seeking rest” (Luke
11:24). This “dryness” is a symbol of
the absence of God’s spirit, which is why
David said, “The rebellious dwell in a dry
land” (Psalm 68:6). Perhaps Satan and his
devils had this man in chains because they know
they are fated to end up in a dry, desolate place
devoid of God. “His own iniquities entrap
the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of
his sin” (Proverbs 5:22).
Serpent Phobia
Four times in just one year, John
Fretwell’s air-conditioning equipment
company in Dallas was robbed. So, Fretwell went
on a snake hunt in Oklahoma and brought back what
might be the ultimate in burglar protection:
seven diamondback rattlesnakes.
Now, he displays the snakes in the window of his
business office, with a sign that says: DANGER
SNAKES BITE. Before going home at night, he frees
the five-foot rattlers to glide around the
premises. In the morning, armed with a hooked
stick and a burlap bag, he rounds them up. The
seven rattlers seem to be warding off the
burglars. Most people find them stealthy reptiles
revolting and terrifying.
Few people relish the idea of studying snakes.
The subject might not sound very appealing;
however, Scripture makes these cold-blooded,
legless reptiles a symbol of Satan, so it is
profitable for us to consider what they reveal
about him.
Of course, we know that the first time the devil
communicated with the human race was through a
medium of a serpent (see Genesis 3:1). This
naturally forged a permanent association of Satan
with the serpent. Hence, the symbol stuck all the
way through Revelation 20:2, KJV, where he is
identified as “the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil, and Satan.”
Snakes have mastered virtually every environment
on earth. You will find them in the sea, on land,
under the ground, and in trees. There are even a
few varieties that can sail through the air.
Satan has adapted his enticements to tempt every
person in almost any environment.
The benefits to understanding snakes are great.
When I lived in the desert mountains as a young
man, rattlesnakes were abundant. A basic
knowledge about their habits and behavior helped
me avoid ever being bitten, despite several close
encounters.
Perhaps this is the reason Jesus commands us to
be ‘wise as serpents,” and harmless as
doves” (Matthew 10:16). To be as ‘wise
as serpents” and avoid being bitten, we must
understand at least a few basics about our clever
enemy.
Camouflage and
Counterfeits
The Bible says, “The serpent was more subtil
than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made” (Genesis 3:1, KJV). Snakes are the
ultimate experts in camouflage. Whether hiding in
the grass or entwined in the branches of a tree,
they are masters of blending into the scenery to
remain undetected.
More than that, they are also experts in
counterfeiting creatures that are more dangerous.
For example, when threatened, the harmless bull
snake will vibrate its tail in the dry leaves to
mimic the sound of his venomous cousin, the
rattler.
For every good creation of God, even love, Satan
has a convincing counterfeit. For instance, in
the Exodus story, Pharaoh’s magicians were
frequently able to counterfeit the power and
miracles of God (Exodus 7: 10-12). Likewise,
Satan is the most dangerous and effective when he
is imitating God’s miracles and messengers.
Scripture warns about “the spirits of demons,
performing sign” (Revelation 16:14).
It is Satan’s penchant for deceit that makes
God’s job complicated. Unlike God, who works
only with the confines of truth and respect,
Satan will cook up a stew of truth and lies in
whatever combination will work best to destroy
the lives of those he seeks to manipulate.
This is especially frightening for God’s
church, because the devil appears to be most
lethal when he masquerades as a spiritual being
working inside the church. Jesus warned, “Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves”
(Matthew 7:15). Satan knows the Bible thoroughly,
and he quotes and misquotes passages at the drop
of a hat to achieve his ends (see for example,
Matthew 4).
The Sword and
the Serpent
Since Satan uses even the Bible in his attempts
to trap us, obviously, our only protection lies
in knowing God’s Word, in storing His truths
deep within our minds. David said, “Thy word
have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin
against thee” (Psalm 119:11, KJV). The New
Testament says, “The word of God is living
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword” (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus used this sword
to fight off the devil when He was tempted in the
desert, and it is still needed and available
today.
Satan poised the first question found in
Scripture. He asked it in an attempt to discredit
God’s Word: “Hath God said?” (Genesis
3:1, KJV). From the first insidious query to the
present, Satan has ever been seeking to undermine
the faith of God’s children by casting
suspicion on God’s Word. Sin, suffering, and
death entered the world when Satan succeeded in
leading our first parents to doubt and disbelieve
God’s truth. Planting seeds of skepticism
regarding the dependability of Scripture remains
the devil’s primary war tactic.
This is exactly what Jesus faced when, starving
and tempted, He combated the arch villain in the
wilderness. However, He deflected every assault
with Scripture. He “[put] on the whole armor
of God” and so was “able to stand
against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
Paul continues this thought by counseling us to
“take the … sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God” (verse 17).
Indeed, the serpent trembles when God’s
people take hold of the living sword of His Word
and turn it against him. Victory comes to God’s
children when they claim and believe the powerful
promises in the Word,” that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world
though lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
Every Serpent
Can Be Beaten
Some wit has said, “Adam blamed Eve,
Eve blamed the serpent, and the serpent didn’t
have a leg to stand on.” The account of that
first temptation on this planet does focus on the
serpent and Eve. Correspondingly, we find the
first prophecy pictures an ongoing battle between
the woman-who ultimately represents the God’s
church-and the serpent (see Genesis 3:14, 15).
This prophecy promises the ultimate victory of
the woman’s seed, the coming Savior, who
would kill the serpent. In verse 15, God,
speaking to the serpent, says, “I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.”
Notice that the serpent bites the heel of the
woman’s heel, not the toe. The heel is the
back of the foot, the lowest part of the body.
Satan gets us from behind, when we are at our
lowest point. He came to tempt Jesus when He was
weak and tried after forty days of fasting.
The good news is that Satan only manages to
bruise the heel of Christ and the church, which
continues to limp along despite the injury. On
the other hand, the serpent receives a mortal
wound to the head, promising the ultimate victory
of Jesus over the devil.
When the Lord commissioned Moses to return to
Egypt and lead His people to freedom, He gave him
a strange sign. God told him to take his shepherd’s
rod and ‘cast it on the ground.’ So he
cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent;
and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to
Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by
the tail’ (and he reached out his hand and
caught it, and it became a rod in his hand)”
(Exodus 4: 3,4).
In the Bible, a rod is a symbol of power and
protection (see Revelation 12:5; Psalm 23:4). The
changing of Moses’ rod into a serpent
signaled to Moses that God would give him power
over and protection from the forces of evil as he
ventured into the snake pit of Pharaoh’s
palace. God has promised the same power to all of
His children who seek to work with Jesus to
liberate others from slavery to Satan. Jesus
confirmed this: “Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy: and nothing
shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
More on this in the next section!
Flying
Serpents
Dozens of cultures have legions and traditions
about flying serpents or dragons. These can be
seen the world over in ancient carvings and art.
Fables are often rooted in some element of truth.
For example, there is a snake in the tropical
rain forests that can spring from a tree, flatten
its ribcage, and glide a short distance-something
like what a flying squirrel does.
Beyond this modern example, many Bible
commentators believe that at one time snakes had
wings and could fly. The fossil record is full of
examples of flying reptiles, like the pterodactyl
that lived before the Flood. Moreover, the bible
itself alludes to the existence of flying
serpents. One prophecy says, “Out of the
serpent’s roots will come a viper, and its
offspring will be a fiery flying serpent” (Isaiah
14:29). Genesis 314 explains why we do not see
flying snakes of this sort today: “The Lord
said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done
this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and
more than every beast of the field; on your belly
you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days
of your life.’”
If part of the serpent’s punishment for
tempting Eve was that from then on it must travel
on its belly, it is clear that before the curse,
it propelled itself differently. Satan is called
“the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians
2:2). Just as the curse grounded the serpent,
Lucifer’s wings were clipped when he was
cast to the earth (see Revelation 12).
Furthermore, because snakes do not rely on energy
from food to generate body heat, they can survive
on an extremely meager diet. Some wait months
between meals, and a few survive by eating a
single, large meal just once or twice a year.
Likewise, Satan has perfected the art of
patiently waiting for his prey to relax its guard
so he can devour it.
It’s Not
Wise to Play With Snakes
A young man in Orlando, Florida, was nearly
killed by his pet anaconda. He had owned the
snake for many years and had always felt
comfortable allowing the creature to coil around
his arms and neck. Somehow, though, he had not
noticed that what once a manageable, six-foot-long
novelty had become a sixteen-foot-long monster.
One day, while this young man was demonstrating
to friends the confidence he had in his pet, the
constrictor began to squeeze his neck and chest.
After a desperate struggle, the man’s
friends and his knife-wielding mother were able
to force the creature to release his prey. The
man barely survived.
Some people have convinced themselves that it is
safe to communicate with Satan or even to debate
the devil. However, the fate of Eve when she fell
into the hands of the enemy illustrates well that
this is a big mistake. We should never toy with
temptation-even the “littlest” of sins
can be deadly.
When we depend upon our own wisdom, we are no
match against the evil genius of the great
serpent. However, through Christ, we can stomp
the head of this sinister snake. Jesus was
speaking of this power over evil when He said,
“These signs will follow those who believe:
In my name… they will take up serpents”
(Mark 16: 17, 18).
Some misguided pastors have interpreted this
passage to mean that Christians should double as
snake charmers-that they should prove their faith
by handling rattlesnakes or other venomous vipers.
For obvious reasons, the membership in these
congregations has always remained small. The New
Testament account of Paul’s shipwreck
reveals how to understand this passage correctly:
The natives showed us unusual kindness; for they
kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because
of the rain that was falling and because of the
cold. However, when Paul had gathered a bundle of
sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came
out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
So, when the natives saw the creature hanging
from his hand, they said one to another, “No
doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he had
escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow him
to live.” But, he shook off the creature
into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they
were expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall
down dead. After they had looked for a long
time and saw no harm come to him, they changed
their minds and said that he was a god (Acts 28:
1-6).
As God saved Paul from the venom of that serpent,
He will save us from the poison of sin. “You
shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the
young lion and the serpent you shall trample
underfoot” (Psalm 91: 13). However, we are
never to deliberately seek out snakes to flirt
with disaster. That would be tempting the Lord (see
Matthew 4:7).
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