Fraud is, I understand, the second most profitable criminal activity after drug trafficking. And scamming by electronic devices has grown incredibly in recent years.
The scammers art is based on lies; temptation; invoking fear/ agitation/ anxiety; and emotional manipulation.
But, of course, there is nothing new under the sun. Satan is the ultimate scam artist and always has been. He uses the same techniques as modern scammers: lies (there is no truth in him); temptation (sin is fun); fear (the world has a fear of death. Satan uses this to tempt people to grab as much so-called pleasure as possible before they die); and emotional manipulation (Satan tempts people to sin and then induces feelings of guilt and helplessness).
Satan’s most successful scam: the fall of man.
As we have seen all scams are based on lies, temptation, fear or agitation, and emotional manipulation. Let us examine Satan’s temptation of Eve in these terms.
Lying. Eve was aware that they were not to eat of the fruit from the tree that was in the middle of the garden and that the penalty was death. Now we cannot be sure about what conception of death she had. No-one at that time had died and they had not killed any creature. All the animals were vegetarians.
However, Satan clearly lied to her:
Genesis 3:4
“You will not surely die.”
This is the first recorded lie. It led to death coming into the world and hence Satan can be called a “murderer”.
John 8:44 (the words of Yeshua to the Pharisees)
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is in truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
The serpent (Satan) boldly denied the truth of what God had said; he was calling God a liar. Anyone who denies what scripture actually says is to be treated with great caution.
Of course, before the events in the garden, Satan had led his rebellion for which he won over one-third of the angels. This rebellion occurred sometime between Genesis 1: 31 when “God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good”, but before the start of chapter 3.
Prior to his rebellion, Satan and been beautiful, excellent and held a lofty position in heaven’s hierarchy.
Ezekiel 28:12 – 15
“Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.
You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones, you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.””
Satan has “beauty” and “wisdom”. He is not stupid. It may seem to us complete folly to rebel against God, but millions of people do it every day.
Pride and an overwhelming desire to be God’s equal led to his rebellion.
Isaiah 14: 13 and 14.
“For you have said in your heart:” I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.
Pride and desire for glory led to Satan’s downfall. He was cast out of heaven and lost control of the earth which was passed to Adam.
To try to regain control of the earth and to spoil God’s creation, in wickedness and vindictiveness, he went after the comparatively innocent and naïve woman. She was probably seen as more vulnerable as she had had less direct contact with God.
And as we have seen, the scam to regain control of the earth began with a lie.
Tempting. An important part of the scammer’s art is temptation. He has something good to offer (indeed it is too good to be true !!!) For this reason, it is helpful to the scammer to have as much information as possible about the intended target; to know how to “hook” them.
Satan promised Eve that She and Adam, “will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan argued with Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would be really good for them. It would make them God’s intellectual equal and powerful. All sin promises pleasure but ends in ruin. And, of course, there is much more to God than knowing good and evil.
Eve had probably not previously given much thought to the tree but now she begins to look at it differently.
Genesis 3:6
“So when the woman saw that tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.”
The fruit now appealed to her physical appetite, her emotional appetite and to her desire for an enriched life.
1 John 2:16
“For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.”
The induction of fear/ agitation/ anxiety. This is the third part of the scammer’s art. Satan told Eve that God wanted to keep them from being like Him. He would stop her from doing what she wanted to do. She better make up her mind quickly before God finds out what she’s up to. Thus, he put her under pressure, and we don’t think clearly under pressure.
In our time, the world has a fear of death. Satan and his demons use this to entice people to go after as much so-called “pleasure” as possible before their time is up. This promotes the attitude of “I’ll do what I want with my life”.
Emotional Manipulation. This is the fourth part of the scammer’s art. Satan appeared to Eve when she was on her own. Her husband could not Interfere. His first approach was to get her to doubt God’s instructions: “Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). But Eve has a correct understanding of God’s instructions.
Satan changes tack. He denies the penalty for disobedience (as we have seen a direct lie). He suggests that God has an ulterior motive. He wants to keep them in a subservient position. He is, Satan suggest, not playing fair with them. Satan says that by going against God’s instructions, Eve could be just like Him. Satan manipulates her by posing as her friend and the one who has her best interests at heart.
The emotional manipulation of Eve focuses on her sense of fair play and her pride. Ans as we have seen, having been guided into temptation Eve begins to look at the forbidden fruit very differently.
The limits to Satan’s powers.
Only the Holy one of Israel is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Satan has none of these abilities. He is a created, supernatural being, but God limits his power and his actions. We can see the limitations of his power in Job chapters 1 and 2 and in the Book of Revelation chapters 19 and 20.
It seems likely that emboldened by his success against Adam and Eve, Satan decided to attack the integrity of Job “who feared God and shunned evil”. After all, Job was a member of the same fallen race as Adam and Eve.
But first let us note God’s questioning of Satan when he appears at the heavenly counsel. He is clearly there on sufferance and is obliged to answer God’s questions. In Job 1: 6 and 7 God questions Satan about what he has been doing and where he has come from. I’m sure that God knew the answer, but He was expressing his sovereignty over Satan. Satan answered, “from going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it.”
Satan’s reply shows that he may be able to move about quickly, but that he can only be in one place at a time. He therefore required his minions (the other fallen angels) to aid him. He cannot be omnipresent.
God described Job as “My servant”. Satan may have considered this to be a challenge. Satan will have believed he could entice Job to sin. But Satan could not know what was in Job’s heart or that of any other person for that matter. He did not have the ability to understand Job’s motivation as God did. Also, Satan cannot foretell the future. He totally miscalculated Job’s devotion to God. He could only see Job having the same kind of low cunning which he possessed. Job would surely curse God if he lost his blessings.
But Job faced with terrible tragedies, even the loss of his children, humbly accepted God’s sovereign control over all circumstances. He fell to the ground and worshipped God, a deliberate act of humility by one totally dependent on God. This must have been incomprehensible to Satan. Satan is far from being omniscient.
Satan needed God’s permission to act against Job. Although in rebellion, he is still accountable to God. We can see the limitations placed by God on Satan in his first request to test Job.
Job 1: 12
“And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
Satan is not omnipotent.
It is interesting to note that when Satan is allowed to pursue his evil intent, even these actions can form part of God’s plan. Although Satan may try to hamper God’s will, he is limited by God for His divine purposes.
In the case of Job, we see that God is (as He always will be) sovereign. It was indeed Satan who planned and implemented Job’s suffering. God allowed Satan to test Job for a time, but God Himself delivered Job and blessed him with even more than he had before.
From Satan’s evil plan, God had accomplished a good purpose. The relationship between God and Job was tested and it withstood the test. It was finally made clear to all that God was sovereign but also compassionate. Through his terrible experience Job learned to appreciate more God’s gifts to him and to see God’s great compassion. The Lord allowed Job to suffer in life to enlarge Job’s capacity for communion with Him.
James 5:11
“You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”
Let us now turn to Revelation and see Satan’s role in the Tribulation.
Having been defeated in warfare in heaven and permanently expelled, Satan turns to try to destroy as many as possible on the earth. Here Satan is depicted as the “fiery red dragon”. He brings forth and empowers the first Beast (the Antichrist) and the second Beast (the False Prophet). He cannot initially get at Israel because of God’s protection, so he turns against believers in Yeshua, and many are killed (the tribulation saints).
Satan will believe that he has a great, final opportunity to harm God’s creation, but in reality, he is allowed by God to be part of His plan to test those who remain on the earth; those who have had the opportunity to respond to the two witnesses, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the angels. It is interesting to note, that it is God who sends the “strong delusion” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). God remains sovereign and only allows Satan to act in pursuance of God’s plan.
Thus, we see that Satan (unlike Adonai) is neither omnipresent nor omniscient nor omnipotent. God is sovereign. And when he allows Satan to pursue his evil plans, he is limited to that which is profitable for God.
The threat Satan and his minions present to non-believers.
Satan is a created, supernatural being with wisdom as well as evil intent. Although as we have seen in the first two chapters of Job, his abilities and powers ae a pale reflection of those of God to whom he remains accountable. He showed in the Book of Job that he is the adversary of God and of mankind. But we see in Revelation that his time is short.
Scripture presents several descriptions of Satan’s present status and powers.
Luke 11: 15. The ruler of demons.
“Beelzebub”: the name originally referred to a Philistine god who had power over storms. The Israelites changed the name to mean “Lord of the flies” as an insult. The demons referred to are the fallen angels who supported Satan. The term “demon” originally referred to pagan gods before becoming associated with Satan’s minions.
2 Corinthians 4:4. The god of this age.
Non-believers have a barrier to overcome. The “god of this age” has blinded their minds. Because of Satan’s ability to deceive, what the world holds to be obviously true, is painfully wrong.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Psalm 14: 12)
“This age” refers to the current world mind-set expressed in the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views of most people. Satan “has blinded” people to God’s truth through the world system he has created. Without a Godly influence, man, will follow that system. This system pander to the depravity of the non-believer and deepens their moral darkness.
Ephesians 2: 2. The prince of the power of the air.
Satan controls the morally careless and evil walk of the non-believers. The term “the spirit of the age” refers to the prevalent sins of our time. The world has a mould into which it presses its devotees. It is a mould of deceit, immorality, selfishness, violence and rebellion. Non-believers are willingly obedient to the god of this age. The earth has been Satan’s domain since Adam lost it and it will remain so until Yeshua returns to reclaim it.
Zechariah 3: 1 and 2. The opponent of God’s work.
As we saw in Job chapter 1, Satan stands before God to make accusations against those who follow God’s way. In Zechariah 3, it is the High Priest Joshua who is accused. He is defended by the “Angel of the Lord” with Satan as His opponent.
Matthew chapter 4. The perverter of God’s word.
In Matthew 4 we have the temptations of Yeshua by Satan. Satan perverts God word in an attempt to tempt Yeshua. But each time, Yeshua responds with the exact word of God to show believers the power of scripture in battling the evil one.
Satan wanted Yeshua, who was very hungry, to turn stones into bread. There would have been nothing wrong in itself in doing this. But Satan was tempting Yeshua to do a miracle outside of the will of God. That was never going to happen.
Yeshua quotes Deuteronomy 8: 3. Bread alone does not sustain life. Ultimately God is the One who sustains life. Thus, it is our responsibility to trust God and to stay in His will.
In Matthew 4: 6, Satan tempted Yeshua to throw Himself from the top of the Temple to demonstrate God’s protection. He uses Psalm 91, but he omitted the words “to keep you in all your ways”. Satan tempted Yeshua to gain public attention through spectacle rather than through His righteous life and message as God intended.
Satan blatantly twists the meaning of Psalm 91. He uses a passage about trusting God into a flagrant attempt to justify testing God. Yeshua replies with a verse from Israel’s wilderness experience at Massah (Deuteronomy 6: 16) when grumbling Israel demanded that Moses produce water where there was none.
2 Corinthians 4: 3 – 5. Satan obscures the gospel.
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
Satan is responsible for blinding the non-believer. He seeks to keep them in the darkness.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…” (1 Corinthians 1: 18).
1 John 5: 19. Satan holds the whole world in his sway.
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one …”
People are either saved or lost. The “lost” are “under the sway of the wicked one”. The position of each group depends entirely on their relationship with Yeshua.
“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and he wicked one does not touch him.”
What concerns should believers have over Satan and his minions?
As we have seen Job “feared God and shunned evil”. Therefore, God placed a hedge around him. No harm could come to Job which God did not allow.
We can take comfort from the Bible’s teaching that God protects His own.
Hebrews 1: 14
“Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.”
Satan’s actions are limited by God’s sovereign control. Satan is only a minor character in Scripture compared with the Lord of the Universe.
Of course, this does not mean that trials won’t come our way; to test the mettle of our faith. But Job showed the way by accepting God’s will. Peter expressed the same view.
1 Peter 1: 6 – 8.
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love …”
God has promised that we will not be tempted beyond that which we can bear.
1 Corinthians 10: 13
“… God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
God is so good that He will not let believers experience anything for which He has not prepared them. He will give every believer the grace and power to endure. Furthermore, endurance will bring its own reward:
James 1: 12
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
With God’s help we can overcome Satan and his minions. Although we live in a fallen world, Satan does not have free reign to do whatever he wishes. God is, and always will be, sovereign.
James 4: 7
“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
Scripture describes Satam as trying to snare the righteous.
1 Timothy 3: 7
“Moreover (an elder) must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
We do need to keep ourselves strong. We cannot do it alone. We need God’s protection against evil and the evil one.
Satan and his minions use subtle tricks to attempt to deflect us in spiritual warfare. Our real battle is not with the humans who belong to cults, false religions and agnosticism, but with the demons working through them. Life on earth is an ongoing battle with temptation. Coping with deceptive temptation requires truth and righteousness.
Satan’s forces of darkness ae highly structured for the most destructive purposes like sexual perversion, occultism and Satanic worship. Since the fall of man, every day has been evil; a condition which will persist until the Lord returns and establishes His righteous kingdom. In the meantime, Satan’s work against us will be aimed at: getting us to distrust God; getting us to listen to doctrinal confusion and falsehood; to hinder our service to God; to tempt us to live hypocritically; to entice us to his world; or, to get us to reject Biblical obedience in some other way. Doubt and discouragement are his tools.
However, we must never forget that ultimately Satan’s power over believers is already broken and the great spiritual war has been won through Yeshua’s sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection. He has forever paid the price of sin and death.
Conclusion.
Satan as the supreme scammer has had his successes. We see this principally in the fall of man when he used all the scammer’s arts (lying. Tempting, agitating and emotional manipulation).
He should not be underestimated. He is as clever as he is evil. He is a dangerous adversary who deceives non-believers.
But Satan’s powers are limited. God is sovereign and only the Holy One of Israel is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Satan cannot outwit God.
Believers, earnestly striving to follow the word of God, can know God’s protection and overcome adversity. We know that Satan is a defeated foe whose time is rapidly running out.
AMEN.