The Deceptive Devil
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Camouflage and
Counterfeits
The Bible says, “The serpent was
more subtil than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had
made” (Genesis 3:1, KJV). Snakes
are the ultimate experts in
camouflage. Whether hiding in the
grass or entwined in the branches of
a tree, they are masters of blending
into the scenery to remain
undetected.
More than that, they are also experts
in counterfeiting creatures that are
more dangerous. For example, when
threatened, the harmless bull snake
will vibrate its tail in the dry
leaves to mimic the sound of his
venomous cousin, the rattler.
For every good creation of God, even
love, Satan has a convincing
counterfeit. For instance, in the
Exodus story, Pharaoh’s
magicians were frequently able to
counterfeit the power and miracles of
God (Exodus 7: 10-12). Likewise,
Satan is the most dangerous and
effective when he is imitating
God’s miracles and messengers.
Scripture warns about “the
spirits of demons, performing
sign” (Revelation 16:14).
It is Satan’s penchant for
deceit that makes God’s job
complicated. Unlike God, who works
only with the confines of truth and
respect, Satan will cook up a stew of
truth and lies in whatever
combination will work best to destroy
the lives of those he seeks to
manipulate.
This is especially frightening for
God’s church, because the devil
appears to be most lethal when he
masquerades as a spiritual being
working inside the church. Jesus
warned, “Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves”
(Matthew 7:15). Satan knows the Bible
thoroughly, and he quotes and
misquotes passages at the drop of a
hat to achieve his ends (see for
example, Matthew 4).
The Sword and the
Serpent
Since Satan uses even the Bible in
his attempts to trap us, obviously,
our only protection lies in knowing
God’s Word, in storing His
truths deep within our minds. David
said, “Thy word have I hid in
mine heart, that I might not sin
against thee” (Psalm 119:11,
KJV). The New Testament says,
“The word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).
Jesus used this sword to fight off
the devil when He was tempted in the
desert, and it is still needed and
available today.
Satan poised the first question found
in Scripture. He asked it in an
attempt to discredit God’s Word:
“Hath God said?” (Genesis
3:1, KJV). From the first insidious
query to the present, Satan has ever
been seeking to undermine the faith
of God’s children by casting
suspicion on God’s Word. Sin,
suffering, and death entered the
world when Satan succeeded in leading
our first parents to doubt and
disbelieve God’s truth. Planting
seeds of skepticism regarding the
dependability of Scripture remains
the devil’s primary war tactic.
This is exactly what Jesus faced
when, starving and tempted, He
combated the arch villain in the
wilderness. However, He deflected
every assault with Scripture. He
“[put] on the whole armor of
God” and so was “able to
stand against the wiles of the
devil” (Ephesians 6:11). Paul
continues this thought by counseling
us to “take the … sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of
God” (verse 17).
Indeed, the serpent trembles when
God’s people take hold of the
living sword of His Word and turn it
against him. Victory comes to
God’s children when they claim
and believe the powerful promises in
the Word,” that through these
you may be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world though
lust” (2 Peter 1:4).
Every Serpent Can Be
Beaten
Some wit has said, “Adam
blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent,
and the serpent didn’t have a
leg to stand on.” The account of
that first temptation on this planet
does focus on the serpent and Eve.
Correspondingly, we find the first
prophecy pictures an ongoing battle
between the woman-who ultimately
represents the God’s church-and
the serpent (see Genesis 3:14, 15).
This prophecy promises the ultimate
victory of the woman’s seed, the
coming Savior, who would kill the
serpent. In verse 15, God, speaking
to the serpent, says, “I will
put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel.”
Notice that the serpent bites the
heel of the woman’s heel, not
the toe. The heel is the back of the
foot, the lowest part of the body.
Satan gets us from behind, when we
are at our lowest point. He came to
tempt Jesus when He was weak and
tried after forty days of fasting.
The good news is that Satan only
manages to bruise the heel of Christ
and the church, which continues to
limp along despite the injury. On the
other hand, the serpent receives a
mortal wound to the head, promising
the ultimate victory of Jesus over
the devil.
When the Lord commissioned Moses to
return to Egypt and lead His people
to freedom, He gave him a strange
sign. God told him to take his
shepherd’s rod and ‘cast it
on the ground.’ So he cast it on
the ground, and it became a serpent;
and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord
said to Moses, “Reach out your
hand and take it by the tail’
(and he reached out his hand and
caught it, and it became a rod in his
hand)” (Exodus 4: 3,4).
In the Bible, a rod is a symbol of
power and protection (see Revelation
12:5; Psalm 23:4). The changing of
Moses’ rod into a serpent
signaled to Moses that God would give
him power over and protection from
the forces of evil as he ventured
into the snake pit of Pharaoh’s
palace. God has promised the same
power to all of His children who seek
to work with Jesus to liberate others
from slavery to Satan. Jesus
confirmed this: “Behold, I give
unto you power to tread on serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy: and nothing shall by
any means hurt you” (Luke
10:19). More on this in the next
section!
Flying
Serpents
Dozens of cultures have legions and
traditions about flying serpents or
dragons. These can be seen the world
over in ancient carvings and art.
Fables are often rooted in some
element of truth. For example, there
is a snake in the tropical rain
forests that can spring from a tree,
flatten its ribcage, and glide a
short distance-something like what a
flying squirrel does.
Beyond this modern example, many
Bible commentators believe that at
one time snakes had wings and could
fly. The fossil record is full of
examples of flying reptiles, like the
pterodactyl that lived before the
Flood. Moreover, the bible itself
alludes to the existence of flying
serpents. One prophecy says,
“Out of the serpent’s roots
will come a viper, and its offspring
will be a fiery flying serpent”
(Isaiah 14:29). Genesis 314 explains
why we do not see flying snakes of
this sort today: “The Lord said
to the serpent: ‘Because you
have done this, you are cursed more
than all cattle, and more than every
beast of the field; on your belly you
shall go, and you shall eat dust all
the days of your life.’”
If part of the serpent’s
punishment for tempting Eve was that
from then on it must travel on its
belly, it is clear that before the
curse, it propelled itself
differently. Satan is called
“the prince of the power of the
air” (Ephesians 2:2). Just as
the curse grounded the serpent,
Lucifer’s wings were clipped
when he was cast to the earth (see
Revelation 12).
Furthermore, because snakes do not
rely on energy from food to generate
body heat, they can survive on an
extremely meager diet. Some wait
months between meals, and a few
survive by eating a single, large
meal just once or twice a year.
Likewise, Satan has perfected the art
of patiently waiting for his prey to
relax its guard so he can devour it.
It’s Not Wise to
Play With Snakes
A young man in Orlando, Florida, was
nearly killed by his pet anaconda. He
had owned the snake for many years
and had always felt comfortable
allowing the creature to coil around
his arms and neck. Somehow, though,
he had not noticed that what once a
manageable, six-foot-long novelty had
become a sixteen-foot-long monster.
One day, while this young man was
demonstrating to friends the
confidence he had in his pet, the
constrictor began to squeeze his neck
and chest. After a desperate
struggle, the man’s friends and
his knife-wielding mother were able
to force the creature to release his
prey. The man barely survived.
Some people have convinced themselves
that it is safe to communicate with
Satan or even to debate the devil.
However, the fate of Eve when she
fell into the hands of the enemy
illustrates well that this is a big
mistake. We should never toy with
temptation-even the
“littlest” of sins can be
deadly.
When we depend upon our own wisdom,
we are no match against the evil
genius of the great serpent. However,
through Christ, we can stomp the head
of this sinister snake. Jesus was
speaking of this power over evil when
He said, “These signs will
follow those who believe: In my
name… they will take up
serpents” (Mark 16: 17, 18).
Some misguided pastors have
interpreted this passage to mean that
Christians should double as snake
charmers-that they should prove their
faith by handling rattlesnakes or
other venomous vipers. For obvious
reasons, the membership in these
congregations has always remained
small. The New Testament account of
Paul’s shipwreck reveals how to
understand this passage correctly:
The natives showed us unusual
kindness; for they kindled a fire and
made us all welcome, because of the
rain that was falling and because of
the cold. However, when Paul had
gathered a bundle of sticks and laid
them on the fire, a viper came out
because of the heat, and fastened on
his hand. So, when the natives saw
the creature hanging from his hand,
they said one to another, “No
doubt this man is a murderer, whom,
though he had escaped the sea, yet
justice does not allow him to
live.” But, he shook off the
creature into the fire and suffered
no harm. However, they were expecting
him to swell up or suddenly fall down
dead. After they had looked for
a long time and saw no harm come to
him, they changed their minds and
said that he was a god (Acts 28:
1-6).
As God saved Paul from the venom of
that serpent, He will save us from
the poison of sin. “You shall
tread upon the lion and the cobra,
the young lion and the serpent you
shall trample underfoot” (Psalm
91: 13). However, we are never to
deliberately seek out snakes to flirt
with disaster. That would be tempting
the Lord (see Matthew 4:7).
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