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by Lynn Austin

Know Your Enemy
In the military, "intelligence" denotes information about the enemy. Do you have enough "intelligence" on your adversary to march confidently into spiritual warfare? Answer either true or false to these statements about Satan.

1. Satan is a myth devised to explain evil.
2. The devil has a tail, horns, and a pitchfork.
3. Satan knows Scripture and fears God.
4. Satan can't tempt you once you become a Christian.
5. The devil is a wicked counterpart to God with unlimited power to do evil.
6. Satan's name means "father of lies."
7. The devil was once an angel.

Answers to Build Your Bible Power
1. False. Satan has been active since creation (Gen. 3:1) and was an adversary of God's people in the Old Testament (1 Chron. 21:1). Jesus confirms in John 8:44 that Satan was an actual being.

2. False. Satan takes several forms, but this one is never mentioned in the Bible. He appeared as a serpent in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1), and sometimes masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). But the form he uses most effectively is to remain invisible (Eph. 6:12).

3. True. Satan quoted God's word when he deceived Eve (Gen. 3:1) and he quoted Psalm 91 when he tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:6). Whenever Jesus confronted demons, they were afraid of him (Luke 8:27-33), and James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."

4. False. If the Son of God was tempted by Satan (Matt. 4:1-11), Christians can expect to be tempted as well. Jesus warned Peter that "Satan has asked to sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31, 32).

5. False. God is eternal; Satan will ultimately be destroyed (Rev. 20:10). God is omnipotent; what the devil's power can do is limited by God (Job 1:12). God is omnipresent; the devil can be only in one location at a time (Job 1:7). God is omniscient; the devil prompted Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2) and unwittingly helped to fulfill God's plan at Calvary.

6. False. Although Jesus calls him "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44), satan is a Hebrew word meaning "accuser" or "adversary." The Hebrew root word means "to lurk for, persecute, hate, or oppose."

7. True. The prophet Isaiah describes Satan's fall from heaven because of pride in Isaiah 14:12-17. The New Testament confirms the existence of these fallen angels in Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4.

Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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