Satan Stood Up

There is a devil ... the Word of God says so.

1st Chronicles 21:1 ... "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel."

In this scripture ... Satan, for the first time is introduced to us by name. He appears not merely as an "adversary" who seeks to injure man from without, but as a "tempter" able to ruin him by suggesting sinful acts and thoughts from within. With this point of view, as a tempter, the revelation made of him here is the most accurate that we find in the Old Testament.

When Satan or his evil spirits tempts us, they do so with God's permission. (Job 1:12; Job 2:6; Luke 22:31) If Satan therefore provoked David to number the people, God allowed him to do so. And what God allows, He may be said to do. So with the statement ... "Satan provoked David" ... can we therefore conclude that all temptation is permitted by God?

In this setting, the word "provoked" means ... to prick, by implication, to seduce ... entice, move, persuade, provoke, stir up.

Was it a sin for David to count the number of men in his army? He said it was. But I believe only because ... "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Because of being provoked, David lost his confidence in God, and was naturally curious to know whether the number of fighting men in his army was sufficient for the battles ahead.

From this we see that Satan has access to man and can place doubt in the heart and mind as he did with David. Not only does God allow temptation from the devil, there may be times when He also allows our "adversary" to bring physical adversity, health wise to our lives.

Job 1:6-8 ... "Now there was a day when the sons of God (fallen angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job ..."

He hasn't changed one bit; I'm speaking of Satan or as he is called in the Greek ... "diabolos" ... the devil. He told God he was walking up and down, going to and fro in the earth. He was doing back then exactly what Peter said he does yet today ...

1st Peter 5:8 ... "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

Well, he's not a lion, but he wants to make you think he is. Yes, he is a spirit being, a fallen angel ... but, "fallen" is the key word here. As a spirit being, if God would allow him to use all the power that he could command ... because he operates in a different realm than we live in, the spiritual realm vs the natural physical realm ... he could bring against us temptations and afflictions we could not defend against.

But he's not allowed to do so ... by God's command ... and God's watching him.

1st Corinthians 10:13 ... "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

There are two things I want you to understand about this scripture. First, the phrase, "such as is common to man." This is what I just spoke about. Satan is not allowed to use anything against us, that is not in our natural realm, common to man. He cannot attack us with things from his realm that we would not have a defense against. Second, notice the attack or temptation still comes ... God allows it to come ... but He gives you the power "to bear it."

This is all within God's plan for your life. Sorry ... but that's just the way it is. One other observation needs to be made here; it was God who brought Job to Satan's attention. More or less, God set him up for Satan to do with him as he pleased. This reminds me of Peter in ...

Luke 22:31-32 ... "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ..."

Both Job and Peter could have said, "Thanks a lot Lord, but I would just as soon not go through these tests." Job's attitude toward his afflictions was ...

Job 2:10 ... "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"

You might say, "I'm willing to receive good from God, but not evil." What do you consider evil? Is everything you don't like evil? According to Jesus, a man was born blind just so He could walk by him and heal his blindness. Look at what He said in ...

John 9:1-3 ... "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

I don't know if I can prove this scripturally, but I am of the opinion that ... just as God must allow man to operate with "free will" ... so also does God allow Satan to operate freely within the boundaries He has laid out for him. There is nothing that is outside of God's authority, outside of His control, not even one small molecule, which means Satan is also under God's command and control.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 … "You know not the work of God, Who does all." (Amplified)

Many times God, in working out all things in His providence, including correction in the church, makes use of various means and ordains whatsoever comes to pass; but even so … God is not the author of sin ... yet Satan serves His purposes. Therefore He has decreed that evil in nature be established as a result of sin; and Satan, as god of this world is allowed to operate in that evil.

It has been said by the early church fathers years ago ... "God afflicts not willingly, but if it must be done, let Satan do it." Satan delights in bringing misery and affliction to mankind and will never miss a chance to do so.

But God has given us help to stand against the attacks of our adversary. Paul said in Ephesians 6:11 … "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

The wiles … what are they, what does this mean? The word means … "methods, schemes and strategies."

The idea here is that Satan does not carry on an open warfare. He does not meet us face to face. He doesn't use mere force; rather he practices war only covertly in darkness; our enemy is usually invisible to us. Almost the entire Christian struggle or warfare is against his "schemes and strategies."

The devil may be stupid ... but he's not ignorant.

The battle is real ... because the devil is real.



Comments welcome.