Know Thy Enemy - Week 2: Tuesday

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

Commentary

H.H. Pope Shenouda III
The Devil is experienced in fighting and knows our nature: The devil has been fighting man for more than seven thousand years, since Adam... imagine what experience he has gained. Undoubtedly, he is the creature most capable of understanding the human soul and how to fight it. He has examined the human soul very well and knows the strong and weak points in it, as well as the way to fight it. The devil is the greatest psychologist and psychoanalyst. Psychology to him is not mere theories but an experience on the practical and scientific levels and on a great scale which includes humanity as a whole. Thus, he knows when he should fight, how to fight, and when to wait. He knows the gates to the mind and to the heart.

The Devil is intelligent and resourceful: He is called, "the old serpent" (Rev. 20:2, 12:9), and the Holy Bible says that "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field " (Gen 3:1). He is intelligent and wise in evil, and the Bible requires us to be, "wise as serpents" (Matt. 10:16). The wisdom of the devil is all mischief, malice and subtlety. The devil's intelligence appears in that he changes his plans and methods according to the circumstances. Among his dangerous wiles are: lying, deceit, and beguilement which he weaves so intelligently that the person fought cannot be aware of it. He may also introduce sin disguised as virtue... and so on.

Questions

• How does the devil fight you?

• Are you willing to fight back?

• Are you wise as serpents as the Bible instructs us to be?

• How can you fight back?