Ephesians

The Satanic Strategy

Now we will give closer attention to Satan’s strategy—and our Lord’s counter-strategy—for the actual conduct of this battle.

The devil is a cunning and wily strategist. Read the Old Testament and you will see that nearly every saint, every prophet, every patriarch, every one of the great and glorious kings of Israel was defeated at one time or another by the devil. The wisest and greatest of men are absolutely helpless to outwit the devil by their own human power.

Yet we are not without hope. The Bible tells us that we can be victorious over Satan. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” says James 4:7. This diabolically brilliant strategist who has held the world in chains for centuries will flee when you are alert to his schemes. What, then, is the satanic strategy?

The only human being who ever consistently defeated the devil, not only in life but also in death, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He put His finger squarely on the strategy and the tactics of Satan when He said, “…the devil…was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). How does the devil plan to oppose the work of God in the world? By murdering and destroying. One of the names given to the devil in the book of the Revelation is “Apollyon,” which means “Destroyer” (see Revelation 9:11). To destroy is to create chaos, to lay waste, to ruin, to make desolate. There you have the explanation for the whole tragic story of human history: a Destroyer is at work among men. Our God is a God of creativity, beauty, harmony, order, and perfection. There is enough evidence left in the world of nature, and in the world of ideas, to see this marvelous symmetry, beauty, and perfection of God. The world was created as orderly and beautiful.

Then came the Destroyer. It is his delight to smash, mangle, twist, mutilate, disfigure, and blast in every way he can. It does not make any difference whether it is bodies or souls, flesh or ideas, matter or spirit—the aim of the devil is exactly the same in every case. That is why the devil can never offer anything positive to human beings. He can make nothing. All he can do is destroy what God has made. His power is totally negative, completely destructive in every way.

The devil carries out his tactics by lying, distorting, counterfeiting, and masquerading. He uses illusion and fantasy to lure human beings to their destruction. This is what Paul calls “the devil’s schemes.” Read through the Bible and you will see how many times the work of the devil is referred to this way—as snares, traps, illusions, wiles, and schemes.

The tactics of the devil fall into two major divisions. He attacks the human race both directly and indirectly. And through these two avenues he maintains his worldwide control over the human race. The Bible tells us there are hosts of fallen, rebellious angels called “demons,” whom Paul calls here rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The term “heavenly realms,” of course, does not refer to heaven, the dwelling place of God. It refers to the realm of the invisible, the unseen, spiritual realities of life. The devil and his hosts are not visible. The devil’s activity is carried out in the heavenly realms, where God works, as well as the devil.

The Bible tells us very little of the origin of the devil and his angels, these authorities and invisible powers. There is enough to suggest that Satan was created originally as an angel of light and strength and beauty. There is a brief reference to the fall of this great angel due to the sin of pride (see Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19). Lifted up by pride, he set out to rival God and, in doing so, he fell from his exalted place, taking a third of the angels with him. They became the devil and his organized kingdom of darkness, set in opposition to the kingdom of God. It is through these hosts of wicked spirits that Satan is able to make a direct assault upon human life.