ATTACKED BY THE DRAGON
(This is blog12 in the series “Names of Satan.”)
While sometimes Satan comes across as an angel of light in order to deceive (2 Corinthians 11:13-14), other times he uses power and ferocity to intimidate and overwhelm. In the USA and Europe, for examples, he deceives with worldly wisdom that draws unbelievers in but ultimately destroys them. In India and third World countries he uses fear to manipulate and control. In the ‘civilized’ world, most people don’t believe in the idea of Satan. But in underdeveloped nations he is well known and greatly feared. In the first case, he sweet-talks his way in and deceives the pridefully ignorant. In the other he uses terror to subdue any resistance to his control. We’ve already seen Satan as Lucifer, the Bright One. Now we’ll look at the other side of the coin, Satan the destroyer.
Revelation 12:9 is a key verse in understanding Satan because it uses five names of Satan showing all these refer to the same person. “So ,the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). The Greek word for ‘Dragon’ is ‘drakon’ (as in draconian) and refers to a “hideous monster, a dragon, a large serpent.” This word stresses the cruel, violent and blood thirsty character of Satan.
Similarly, Satan is like a roaring lion going after its prey. 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” He seeks out any weakness and moves in for the kill.
Satan pretends to bring light and to want to help, but his goal is always destruction. Revelation 9:11: “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek he is called Apollyon.” Both these names mean “destroyer,” “destruction.”
“Demon” also means “destroyer.” Satan can only be one place at a time, so he works through his demons to spread his control and power. Demons are also called evil or unclean spirits, referring to the fact they don’t have a physical body. They spread their sin and uncleanness any way they can. They are spiritual terrorists, trying to destroy the work of God’s kingdom. As with human terrorists, no one is safe from them, they are deadly serious and have no softness or mercy. They serve Satan, who is their commander, and carry out his orders. They receive the worship given to idols or anything other than God (1 Corinthians 10:20).
Destruction and death are their main objectives. Satan is a murderer. John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning.” From Cain and Able on, Satan has been dealing in misery and death. He and his demons love it and feed off of it.
Horror movies, violence and destruction, rape, physical and emotional abuse, putting people in sexual slavery, or slavery of any kind – these all bring pleasure to Satan. Mankind is responsible as well, but Satan and demons incite and motivate people to go deeper and deeper into these things.
Abortion, too, is something Satan loves to promote. The millions of deaths of innocent babies, created in the image of God is one of his most successful campaigns. Suicide, which is on the rise today and is one of the leading causes of death for some segments of society.
Like a thief, Satan comes to destroy. John 10:10: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”
Satan and his forces torment (1 Samuel 16:14-23), cause fear (1 Samuel 18:12, 15; 2 Corinthians 11:4; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:15; Job 4:14-15), cause anger (1 Samuel 18:10-11), cause jealousy (1 Samuel 18:10-15) and harden consciences (1 Timothy 4:2). They incite persecution against us (Revelation 2:10).
Satan brings oppression on all he can, as a group or individually. His does this through sickness such as dumbness (Mark 9:17-29), blindness (Matthew 12:22), deformity (Luke 13:11-17), epilepsy (Luke 9:37-43) and other ways. He also uses the following to oppress: mental illness (Mark 5:1-20; 9:14-29; Luke 9:39), sin (Genesis 3:13-24; Ephesians 2:2), lawlessness (2 Corinthians 6:15) and death (Revelation 18:2; 9:13-18).
Does Satan have more success deceiving you as an angel of light, or scaring you with his violent power? Which do you think is most dangerous? Why? What is the key to victory for each one?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
Copyright © 2020
Recently I have compiled my almost 400 SPIRITUAL WARFARE BLOGS INTO 4 BOOKS (PDF) and put them on the spiritual warfare web site (https://www.christiantrainingonline.org/our-ministries/spiritual-warfare/learning-more/) You can find them on www.christiantrainingonline.org/ Go to the Spiritual Warfare web site ten clock on Learning More (Books) and you’ll find them. The best part is that I’ve thoroughly indexed them so you can look for any subject or topic you are interested in. There is an index in each book, but also a separate book that is just an index for all the topics covered in all the blogs. Hopefully you can easier find the information you are looking for that way. Pass these books on to others who might enjoy them. Read a blog a day and you’ll learn about Spiritual Warfare a little bit at a time. God bless!