I joined the Air Force in 1976 and was assigned to the Triple Nickel (55th TFTS), the first F-15 squadron to exist. When I reported for duty the squadron only had one airplane with the tail number of 086.
The pilot’s I worked with had to know everything there was to about the aircraft they were flying, its strengths and limitations, and the various ways it could be used in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. They had to learn to fly it during the day, during the evening, all the emergency procedures, and how to refuel midair.
In additional to know their own capabilities, they had to know as much as they possibly could about their enemy. This was huge. Who is the enemy? What are his capabilities? What equipment does he use? What tactics does he use?
A large part of the training a pilot experienced had to do with the enemy. They would memorize friendly and enemy aircraft silhouettes so they could visually ID friends or foes. They even had war games where our pilots would be the enemy and attack using the same tactics a real foe would use.
It’s important to know your enemy. That’s why we’re going to focus on the character of the enemy in this post and in later posts look at his kingdom, his strategies and tactics, and how to recognize the presence of the enemy in your life.
None of what’s presented here is to glorify the devil or in any way provoke you to a deeper study of the devil. Be warned, many who seek to put more attention on the devil and his ways fall into a snare and can fall away from following the Lord.
This information is presented to make you aware of who you are fighting and lead you to an understanding of how you can overcome each and every strategy of the devil in your life. This information will help you see that some of the battles you are fighting are spiritual in nature and can only be resolved by you standing in the the power and authority of Jesus Christ.
Your Enemy’s Character
With that said, let’s look at the character of the enemy we all face.
Satan
The word Satan is the proper name of the enemy of God. The word means adversary. You can get the gist of the word by looking at some of it synonyms. Words like, opponent, rival, enemy, foe, challenger, contender, competition, opposer, and opposition.
All of these words just show the meaning of adversary when used of the devil. He is the one who opposes God with evil intent and refuses to submit to His rule and authority. Satan rebelled against God and he is attempting to oppose everything God is seeking to do in this world.
Satan is opposed to God. He sought to exalt himself over God. He led one-third of the angels in heaven in a rebellion against God and was cast to the earth. He is continually and actively fighting against God with all of his ability and might.
He is against all of mankind because of his hatred for God. Man is created in the image of God. He will do anything possible to work against the plans of God for mankind. He came to the earth and deceived Adam and Eve to rebel against God and give him rule over the earth in place man. Now he seeks to bring destruction and death to the whole planet.
Your adversary hates you with a passion and is seeking any way that he can gain access in your life to destroy God’s plans of blessing.
The Devil
The word devil means someone who slanders or accuses. If you slander a person, you make a false statement about them and present it as fact with the hopes of bringing injury or damage to their character or reputation. To accuse means to make a charge against someone of an offense or a crime. The main goal of the enemy’s slander is to bring about separation. Just so you know, the devil accuses everyone.
The devil is called the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). This verse shows us that the devil accuses believers night and day before God. Nothing good ever comes out of his mouth. He is constantly slandering you before God. But there is no fear of the enemy separating you from the love of God. Jesus Christ stands before God in your defense and covers you with His blood.
He also slanders you to yourself. I’m sure you’ve heard the voice of the enemy saying something like this, “You call yourself a Christian? Look what you did yesterday. You’re a fake. You’re just a hypocrite. You don’t really believe in God or you wouldn’t act the way you are acting.
Every word is to stop your pursuit of God. Every word is designed to draw you further away from the God who loves you and gave Himself for you. When the devil slanders you, take that thought captive, reject it, and draw close to God.
Use what the devil means as a destructive thing for the glory of God. Every time He accuses you, thank the Lord for His forgiveness and cleansing. Repent from any sin if necessary and walk in the freedom of the Lord.
The Devil also wants you to listen to the gossip and slander of others and spread it to others. When someone shares something about someone else in a slanderous way, stop the work of the enemy by saying, “Let’s pray for them right now.”
The slander seeks to:
Bring injury or damage to your character or reputation
Discourage you from following God with your whole heart
Cause separation between you, God, and others
Beelzebul the ruler of demons
Scholars differ on the origin and meaning of the word Beelzebul. It was a title that they gave to the Prince of demons, Satan. For our purposes the meaning of the word is not as important as to what it points to. Satan is the leader of the demonic realm. He has an army of demons that have joined him in his rebellion against God and are his foot soldiers in opposing God’s kingdom.
Belial
The original meaning of the word is worthless, corruption, and extreme wickedness. In between the Old and New Testaments people began using the term as another name for Satan. The name is used only once in the Bible and is a polar opposite of the word Christ. (see 2 Corinthians 6:15)
Angel of the Abyss/Abaddon/Apollyon
These names are seen in Revelation 9:11:
11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
The abyss is also called the bottomless pit. It’s a literal place in which God is keeping the more dangerous demonic forces held under lock and key. It’s the place that satan will be cast into for 1,000 years when Jesus returns to the earth at His second coming (see Rev 20:1-3). Satan is described as the angel of the abyss.
Abaddon is a Hebrew word that describes the place of destruction. It is also used as a name for the devil. Some Hebrew scholars translate the name Abaddon as The angel of death, others simply as destroyer. The Greek word Apollyon means destroyer.
Does this name sound familiar? It should. In the last post we saw that Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)
Serpent
3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)
Two words describe the reason the Bible portrays Satan as a serpent: temptation and deception.
Temptation
The devil is a tempter. We see him at work in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and with Jesus in the wilderness. His goal is to come and test your resolve and see if he can move you toward an evil purpose. Temptation comes to draw us away from God and the devil entices you to constantly follow your own desires over those of the Lord.
You can absolutely be assured that Satan will continually be around to tempt you and seek to draw you out of the protection and blessing of the Lord. After the devil tempted Jesus three times in the wilderness, Jesus rebuked him and sent him on his way. Luke tells us:
13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13)
Satan is always waiting for an opportune time to try and tempt you. Don’t worry. Be alert and command him to leave and he will have to go.
Deception
His second goal is deception. The idea of the serpent being the most crafty means cunning and clever, skilled in deception. Simply put, deception is convincing a person to believe something which is not true for one’s personal advantage.
You must learn to discern the voice you are hearing in your mind. You only have three choices when it comes to your thoughts. It’s either your own thought, God, or the devil or one of his demons.
The same holds true with those who speak to us. They are giving us their thoughts, God’s thoughts, or the devil’s thoughts.
That’s why it is so important to be able to discern the voice you are hearing. Any time the devil speaks it will always involve deception. He will never tell you the truth without a motive to trap you. His voice will always lead you away from a simple obedience to the Word of God.
Anything that contradicts the world of God is a lie deception and will result in a foothold for the devil. Never believe anything that contradicts God’s word, even if it “feels” right.
Dragon
I couldn’t find out a lot of history on why the devil is called a dragon. The most plausible reason is that dragons were considered by many to represent evil and the power of chaos that opposes the will of God. The Scriptures clearly connect the dragon with Satan. The book of Revelation shows the dragon’s hatred and opposition to God.
Key Lessons Learned
I’d like to end this post with a simple list of the things we learned about the character of the devil. Here is what we learned today:
The devil is real.
He is your full-time adversary who will relentlessly oppose any good work in your life.
He is constantly slandering and accusing you in an attempt to damage your character and reputation and cause a separation between you and God and others.
He is the ruler of the demonic kingdom.
He is worthless, corrupt, and extremely wicked.
He is a destroyer and actively pursues your destruction.
He is sly and crafty like a serpent and constantly seeks to tempt you to do evil and deceive you from simple obedience to the word of God.
He brings chaos and destruction to the plans that God has for your life.
Remember the purpose of this post is to begin to understand the character and mindset of your adversary, Satan. Don’t be overwhelmed or fearful of his evil intentions against you. In future posts we will look at all the things God has made available to you to overcome every work of the enemy in your life.
You must remember that Jesus won the victory over the devil through His death and resurrection. Being aware of your enemy will prepare you to effectively stand against everything the enemy wants to bring your way.
In our next post we are going to look at the kingdom of darkness in our further attempt to know our enemy. Don’t worry, we’re part of the kingdom of God if we are in Christ Jesus. Wahoo.
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