What if I told you about a person who, without you even being aware of it, is your mortal enemy? This person is very powerful, he has many allies gathered to fight with him against you, and he is evil to the core. He is crafty and relentlessly committed to your destruction. And to top things off, when he wants to, he acts without being seen or heard.
Do you want to learn more about this enemy? Are you interested in taking steps to protect yourself and your loved ones from this person’s attacks?
This enemy is the devil. His name is Satan.
Who is Satan? The answer to that question is harder than you may think. Stories about Satan have circulated through the human race for thousands of years. Many are exaggerations, superstitions, or just plain lies about him. And he seems to be happy to contribute to the confusion! But what is the truth about Satan?
Thankfully, there is a reliable source of information. It is the Bible. We can learn a great deal about Satan from examining the pages of the Christian Scriptures. A good place to start is the first time that Satan appears in the Bible, in the book of Genesis. We discover several things about Satan.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman [Eve], “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden [of Eden]’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:1–5
First, Satan chose to appear to Eve in disguise as an animal, a serpent. But Satan is not an animal; he spoke to Eve with intelligence. He has the ability to think and to make choices like a person.
Satan is also described as “crafty.” He is cunning and shrewd. He was set on deceiving Eve.
We will look at each one of these actions by Satan in the pages that follow. The Bible tells us that what he does to destroy Adam and Eve he will do to destroy us. Satan is crafty. He is a liar. He arrogantly challenges what God says. And he does it all through deception and trickery.
What can we do to protect ourselves from this evil enemy? There is only one hope. We must turn to the Creator of the universe, the one who rules everything. God can and will keep us safe from Satan’s evil plots. Without His protection, we are all helpless against Satan’s attacks.
Once we see Satan for who he is and how he operates, it changes our whole outlook on life. We gain insight into the evil in this world. And we learn to trust God Almighty to rescue us from these forces of wickedness.