The Enemy: Defeating Satan

Chapter 2: Who is the Enemy?

      One problem with today's war on terror is that the enemy is hard to identify. Terrorists don't wear uniforms; don't represent a single nationality, age, or sex; and do their best to blend into the civilian population. This is a great strategy since terrorists are outnumbered and outgunned by the armies of their targets. Any direct open confrontation between terrorists and an army would result in total defeat of the terrorist. By hiding the way they do, they neutralize their disadvantages.

The same is true for our enemy. Satan knows he is no match for God's people when God's people are prepared and aware. God's Word tells us in 1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." In order to neutralize our advantage, the enemy has to hide from us. He has to come at us when we are not ready. He has to convince us that we are the weaker force. Better yet, he has to cause us to doubt that he even exists.

He Hides Inside Doubt

The best strategy for the enemy is to convince the church that he does not exist. If he doesn't exist then there is no reason for believers to prepare for him. There is no reason to resist him. There is certainly no reason to actively pursue him and destroy his plans. Even though God within us is more powerful than the enemy, if we doubt the existence of the enemy we will not call upon God to turn the tide of battle. We won't even recognize when we are in a battle. As a result, our doubt strengthens the enemy's ability.

Satan knows he is no match for God's people when God's people are prepared and aware. God's Word tells us in 1 John 4:4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." In order to neutralize our advantage, the enemy has to hide from us. He has to come at us when we are not ready. He has to convince us that we are the weaker force. Better yet, he has to cause us to doubt that he even exists. Those in the church who reject the existence of Satan explain the Biblical accounts as simply a metaphor for evil. To them, Satan is a mindless force of evil without purpose, direction, plans, or independent power. This mindless evil derives its authority from those who believe he exists. The movement to deny the existence of Satan has taken on the guise of he-who-shall-not-be-named.

The tragic result is that the enemy is free to come at the church hidden within a cloud of doubt. Those who doubt are disarmed. If Satan is not real, then there is nothing to fear and no reason to prepare for an attack. If Satan is not real, there is no reason to turn to God and pray for deliverance. Those who doubt give up their advantage and are totally unprepared for the ferocity of the attack.

The Enemy is Real

If the first step of an intelligence analysis of our enemy is to correctly identify the enemy, then our enemy is Satan and his demons. They are real beings who, for reasons covered in the next chapter, have entered into war with God. This conclusion is based on overwhelming Biblical evidence.

The truth is that nothing in the Bible even hints at a purely metaphorical force of evil. From the first encounter with Satan in Genesis to his final defeat in Revelation he is treated as a real person. Consider the encounter with Satan in Genesis 3. To Eve, he appears as a serpent. I am not sure what the creature that approach Eve really looked like but from the nature of the conversation Eve was not dealing with a mindless force. Eve clearly interacted with an individual; an individual with a plan and a purpose (the details of that plan are covered in a later chapter). Later God confronts Satan and pronounces judgment on him in Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." This statement is addressed to a person not a manifestation of evil. If the one who will crush the enemy's head is the real person of Jesus Christ, then a natural consistent reading of the passage requires that the one who will strike the heel of Christ must also be a person.