Preface

SATAN. It’s not a very popular name. Definitely not in the “Top 10” list of potential baby names—although some parents may reconsider it once the child turns two. But think about what your own reaction is to that name. Some people are very fearful when they hear the name. Others just mock and laugh and consider Satan to be a myth or just a symbol or allegory. Many people’s opinion falls somewhere in between—they see Satan as a real being in Bible days but really don’t see how he fits into today’s modern world and their personal lives. They assume that Satan is mostly restricted to “dark jungle areas” and has lost most of his influence in modern society and so they just ignore him. In any case, the majority of Christians don’t usually give Satan much thought because they think that it’s not important to know much about Satan since he’s the bad guy—as long as we know God, right? But the Bible actually shows us that these views of Satan are reckless and dangerous because, whether we know it or not, we are in a serious war with Satan daily!

Ephesians 6:11-12 says: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Forour struggleis not against flesh and blood, but against therulers, against the authorities, against the powersof this dark world and against the spiritualforcesof evil in the heavenly realms.”

These verses written in the New Testament speak of a very realistic modern battle—“our struggle”—against the devil and his governing forces. Satan would love for us to ignore this unseen battle. Satan thrives where he is ignored. These verses describe a very powerful enemy: “rulers, authorities, and powers.” They are not something to be ignored or toyed with. Imagine if your country was under attack by an enemy and you decided that you were just going to ignore that enemy. Would that make your safer? And remember, the fact that our enemy is UNSEEN can actually lead to more power or influence over us, because we may tend to underestimate or ignore those things we cannot see or hear or touch. Just like ignoring the power of an unseen disease—we can still become victims. So the more we understand about our enemy, the better equipped we are to resist him. Wise military commanders always study their enemies. And make no mistake—Satan is YOUR enemy and he’s no dummy. He’s had millions of victims already. So here’s an important question: How much do you really know about your enemy Satan? The more you understand about him, the better equipped you will be to resist him.

“...in order that Satan might not outwit us. Forwe are not unawareof his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11)

So, who is this mysterious enemy of ours? The shadowy world of Satan and his work is not revealed in one specific book of the Bible, but rather, much like the story about God himself, God’s foil—Satan and his story is woven throughout all of Scripture. So if we only focus on a few verses, then the true picture will be blurred or misunderstood. But if we follow the story of Satan systematically from Genesis to Revelation, then we see a clearer picture of this person we sometimes call the devil.

Yes, Satan is our enemy for sure, but there is so much more to this person and his story that we may not realize. His story forms one of the most amazing of all true stories. Yes, there’s things that we would expect like witchcraft, sorcery, animism, etc.—it’s all there in the Bible. But as we study his life story, we begin to get some other powerful answers about God that we’ve probably not considered much, and perhaps see a side of Satan that we’ve never really seen before. So I challenge you NOT to ignore this key character of the Bible anymore. Read his story—not just parts of it, because God himself wanted you to know it and he recorded it in the Bible for us to learn. You won’t be disappointed.