By Elizabeth Prata
Do you know how many times the Bible records when satan actually spoke to someone, and his words were recorded?
Three times.
He is a dominating figure and an overarching theme in the Bible, but for all that, this fallen angel only spoke three times that the Bible records.
Let’s take a look.
We all think immediately of the dramatic moment in Genesis 3:1-4, satan in the guise of the serpent speaks to Eve.
In Job 1:7, 9–11; Job 2:2, 4–5 satan speaks to God.
In Matthew 4:3, 6, 9 satan tempts Jesus while He is in the wilderness.
We know about satan from Isaiah 14 that Isaiah records satan’s inner desires, and from Ezekiel we see why Lucifer fell. We also know that Jesus said that satan spoke to Him regarding a request to sift Peter. But satan’s actual words bear looking at.
#1 Garden of Eden
In the garden of Eden, satan questioned what God had said by slyly twisting it. ‘Did God really say you may not eat from any tree in the garden? This was a distortion. Yes, God commanded them about the fruit of the trees. No, God did not say whey could not eat from any, but could eat from all, except one. This forced Eve into a defensive position, and in defending God, she overstated the command.
Then satan simply contradicted God. God had said they will die if they eat of the Tree of Good and Evil. Satan said “No you won’t.”
So, bear in mind that those 2 methods worked for satan- distortion and contradiction.
#2 Job’s Righteousness
In the book of Job, satan found a righteous person and targeted him. Before God, Satan proposed that Job’s righteousness was conditional and temporary. That if circumstances changed, Job’s righteousness would vanish. He was saying essentially that God was bribing Job into righteousness. His charge against Job was also a charge against God.
Remember David’s lament, “against you and you only have I sinned.” Even though David committed adultery and murder, his ultimate sin was against God. Same with satan in accusing Job. Satan was also accusing God.
So, bear in mind that satan sows doubt by challenging a person’s affections and motives, and reduces God to heavenly Butler delivering the goods to a worshiper.
#3 Wilderness Temptation
In the Wilderness Temptation, satan directly dealt with Jesus Himself. In Genesis he approached the humans directly. In the Job situation he accused a believer before God. Here, He went head to head against the Second Person of the Trinity!
Satan pinpointed a potential weakness. In the first temptation, Jesus was hungry, so satan focused on that, saying that Jesus could turn the stones into bread of He wanted.
In the third temptation (I’ll cover the second temptation in a moment), satan appealed to ego- perhaps seeing Jesus as ‘second fiddle’ under God’s authority…? Seeing that satan himself chafed under God’s authority perhaps he thought he could entice Jesus with that approach.
In the temptation, satan said that he would give Jesus all the authority and splendor in the universe…if he’d just bow and worship satan.
In the Wilderness Temptation, satan also used scripture to tempt Jesus in no doubt was a physical weakness- Jesus hadn’t eaten for many days! It is the only time that satan quoted scripture, and of course he distorted it. He referred to Psalm 91, saying in Matthew 4:5-6,
Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:
‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’;
and
‘On their hands they will lift You up,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.'”
He was misusing Psalm 91:11-12,
For He will give His angels orders concerning you,
To protect you in all your ways.
On their hands they will lift you up,
So that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
Saran did not present the entire verse. He omitted “to guard you in all your ways”. This changes the context to suggest a literal interpretation of physical protection, instead of the true meaning, which is obedient living under God. God’s intent is to protect those who humbly obey, but satan’s omission changed the verse into a self-exaltation. In other words subtly changing the focus to one’s self while inspiring a reckless confidence.
He did the same to Eve, subtly changing the focus of God’s words (which were not written down at that time).
Of course, Jesus saw through that immediately and challenged satan with rightly quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah”.
Subtlety works
We are told in Genesis 3:1 that satan is subtle. We have seen his subtleties in his tactics of contradiction, distortion, appealing to physical weaknesses, spiritual weaknesses, ego, and twisting scripture by omissions or ripping out of context.
Think of the demon-possessed slave girl in Acts. She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17). If the translation you read includes the definite article “a way” then that is obviously a subtle change from Jesus being the ONLY way to salvation. (Acts 4:12).
The main problem is that the demon possessed slave girl was widely known to have a spirit of divination. She made much money for her masters. For Paul to allow her to continue proclaiming God’s salvation with serpent tongue would give the wrong impression- that the Apostles were cooperating with or otherwise tolerating satanic influences. Nothing could be further from the truth.
So, we need to be aware of satanic influences in the teachers we follow, and do not tolerate them. They subtly twist God’s word, as we have seen satan himself do. Satan is nothing if not pragmatic, he does what works.
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3).
We should seek wisdom from His word, and seek it from credible pastors, starting with our own. Be aware of satan’s schemes. They worked against humans all those centuries ago with Eve and they still work today. Here are a few of them we have seen in just the 3 times satan spoke in the Bible:
Distorting the word
Appealing to ego
Exploiting a spiritual or physical weakness
Denying God’s authority
Contradicting His authority
Sowing doubt
DECEPTION!
Further Resources
A good question concisely answered with insight and wisdom in 7 minutes-
The Strategies of Satan from Bible Study Tools
