“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

Greetings, Everyone!

While I was in junior high school (before they called it middle school), I spoke to my father about my friends. One of my questions was, “Why do my friends constantly stab me in my back?” My father replied, “They were never your friends.” It crushed me at thirteen because we went to elementary school together and promised to be friends forever. When it comes to enemies, we see them as what is depicted in shows and movies. They wear the color black, and they always do their most dirty work at night. However, as we obtain more life experience, we learn that is further from the truth. Our enemy can be standing right before us, and we don’t even know it. Operatives, this is your second assignment, “Know Your True Enemy” and who is our enemy, Satan, Day Star, son of Dawn (Is. 14:12), also known as Lucifer.

According to Rev. 12:7-12, there was a war going on in heaven with God and Satan for ages, “At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued” (Dan. 12:1, NLT). He is also called the Ancient Serpent (Rev. 12:9), meaning he existed for a long time. So, he is a master at his craft if he convinces one-third of the angels to follow him, “His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born” (Rev. 12:4, NLT). Even Christ said He witnessed Satan fall, “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!” (Luke 10:18, NLT).

Also, he is not omnipotent (all power), omnipresent (everywhere present), and omniscient (all-knowing). Remember Operatives, God allows him to harm us, and he must ask for permission (Job 1:6-12, Job 2:1-7, and Luke 22:31-32). His powers are subject to God’s sovereignty, God’s authority. Satan is also known as the father of lies, lord of temptation, and the accuser. According to Gen. 3:1-13, Satan taught Adam and Eve those three things. He taught them to lie, to be tempted, and to accuse one another. The lie that the serpent told Eve (Gen. 3:4-5) she told Adam and convinced him to eat it (3:6). Once their eyes were open to what they did, they hid in shame (3:7). The accusing starts when Adam told God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (3:12, ESV). “The woman whom you gave to be with me...” Does that sound like an accusation to you? What about Eve’s statement, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (3:13, ESV). Satan does not want you to repent and to be accountable for your sins. He will continue to lie, tempt, and accuse God’s people. Zec. 3:1-2, ESV, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

Satan accuses man to God and God to man. This demonstrates chaos, and he is the author of it because God is not, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinth. 14:33, ESV). That is why Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matt. 5:37, ESV). Knowing your enemy's tactics will help you become more prepared and equipped. However, Satan is a strategist and will never give up.

Next month, we will learn methods to defeat Satan in Know Your True Enemy, Part II.