Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Satan's Deceptions
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Genesis 3:5
Satan's words are partly true and partly false. We can see a pattern developing here. God gave clear instruction, simple teaching to Adam and Eve. When Satan entered the scene, he deceived them into disbelieving, distrusting God's plain, unambiguous directions.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian and the World (Part Two)
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Genesis 3:14-15
Satan had little trouble deceiving Eve and goading Adam to sin—just as he has swayed every other human being except Jesus to sin. However, he will not go unpunished for his part in deceiving the whole world. God makes this clear in Genesis 3:14-15, where he curses the serpent. God says plainly that Satan would be put down; the woman's Seed—Messiah—would “bruise his head.” The Hebrew word for “bruise,” qâmal, means “to slay, kill.” When a person's head is “bruised” in this way—given a killing blow—he dies, while the same blow on the heel causes pain and damage, but not death. God's curse on the serpent signals what the ultimate end of Satan will be. Even so, we still must resist the Devil's daily, evil influences. He and his demons are still around. Despite putting a hedge around us, God does not forbid Satan to try to deceive us after baptism. He tried his best to turn Jesus from His course (Matthew 4, Luke 4), but our Savior showed us how to fight and repel him. Satan is still trying to deceive and tempt human beings, especially God's children, since they have been chosen to be part of the Family destined to take over his throne with Jesus Christ. God will always be faithful to His character and to His promises, so Satan does not waste his time attacking Him. There are easier fish to fry—us. Some doubt still exists in Satan's mind whether we will endure to the end, so we must be strong and resist him in the faith (I Peter 5:9), remembering Paul's encouraging words in Romans 16:19-20: “I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple [pure] concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” The Greek word rendered as “crush” (syntribô; Strong's #4937) in verse 20 means “to break the power of, deprive of strength, debilitate.” It can also be translated as “crush” or “bruise,” as in Genesis 3:15.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Binding of Satan
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Jeremiah 17:5-7
If our trust, faith, or confidence is in any person—and this would certainly include ourselves—God says that we are cursed! Such a wretched belief system cannot help but bear diseased and poisonous fruit. If we depend on human abilities—ours or someone else's—to overcome Satan and recognize and resist his devices, he will sooner or later pull one over on us. If our trust is misplaced, the verse says our heart departs from the LORD, meaning we are surrendering our best and only true defense against the deceiver. Sometimes, he goes for our weaknesses, yet at other times, for our strengths. Sometimes, his ploy is in plain view, but at other times, he plays an indefinite waiting game. Who can anticipate all his methods of deception? We simply cannot foresee where he will come from—or when or how. Clearly, on our own, we are outmatched and outgunned. We need what no mortal can provide. A couple of verses later, God gives the flipside, the only means we really have against deception: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:7). Recall what God has done and is doing for us. While the world lies under the sway of the wicked one, God has freed a little flock and is actively protecting His sheep. We should not live in terror—we have not been given a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:6). Alone, we cannot stand against Satan, but our source of strength is Jesus Christ. Walking in that relationship causes us to adopt the character image of the Father and the Son. The more we think as They do and act as They do, the less likely we are to be taken in by Satan's subtlety, cunning, or one of his long cons. Just as we are no match for Satan, so the Devil is no match for the Father and the Son. In fact, They have already defeated him and desire to make Their home with us—which They will do if we love Them and keep Their words. This protects us from deception—our growing relationship with God and submitting to the truth at every turn. The people who will survive the deceptions of this end time are those who have the Father and the Son as their focus—in their very being—so much that the false messiahs and prophets cannot get in the door. The ones who are kept from deception have a love of the truth (see II Thessalonians 2:9-12). Their security comes not because of personal strength but as a result of the protection that God gives because they have consistently demonstrated that their heartfelt desire is to live with the Father and the Son for eternity, no matter the cost in the present. So, they will engage in frequent prayer, focused study of the Word of God, and occasional fasting to humble themselves and work on dislodging the hooks. Those who will survive Satan's deceptions have their hope in God because they already know they can trust Him with their lives, regardless of what happens. Because their hope and trust are in the right place, they are blessed—and part of that blessing is the spiritual strength to resist and overcome the father of lies.
David C. Grabbe
The Truth About Deception (Part Three)
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1 John 5:19
“The whole world,” according to Paul in Ephesians 2, is motivated by, driven by, captive of, that spirit being, the adversary who hates Jesus Christ with a passion that we cannot even begin to imagine. Because he hates Him and because we are part of His body, he hates us. But he tries to sell himself to us—himself and his way—as though it were really attractive, glamorous, beneficial, good, fulfilling, and rewarding. In Genesis 3, from the very beginning, we find evidence of opposition to God. By following Satan's misdirection, Adam and Eve found themselves in opposition to God, and they attempted to hide from Him. However, a critical choice had been made. According to Romans 5, the same choice has been made by every one of us to join in opposition to God rather than submit to Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian and the World (Part Two)
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Revelation 12:3-4
Surely, these angels did not just fall obediently into line, especially as he was proposing full-blown rebellion against God, but Hêlêl eventually managed to convince one-third of them to follow him. From this we can see that Satan has formidable powers of persuasion, an uncanny ability to deceive others into doing things to further his aims. He likely promised them freedom and power.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Binding of Satan
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