The Devil made you Do It

Q: Does the Devil know the bible?

A: Yes, I believe it is safe to say that the Devil knows the Bible. It is the best way in which he has deceived so many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, for centuries. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we see where the Devil's knowledge of scripture helps him deceive Eve into causing the Fall of mankind. "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden' (Genesis 3:1)?" The Devil knew exactly what it was that God told Adam which allowed him to question Eve. One thing to notice is how Eve didn't know what God had said to Adam which assisted in her being deceived. "The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die (Genesis 3:2-3).'" God did not say anything to Adam about not touching the tree. Adam either didn't convey the message to Eve properly, she forgot what was said to her, or just didn't know. In either case, her ignorance of the truth had catastrophic consequences.

Unfortunately, Eve is not alone in her lack of understanding of the Bible. Many Christians are guilty of the same problem and that has played right into the Devil's hands. The Bible says the Devil accuses and slanders believers, deceives the whole world, tempts believers and is the Father of lies amongst other things. His influence has led to many false teachings which have found a home under the banner of Christianity. We have people, who call themselves Christians, believing in such things like Jesus was not God, that Jesus was the spirit brother of the Devil, that God desires all Christians to be wealthy, that God chooses who goes to heaven and hell and many other errors. All of these are the byproduct of simply not knowing the Bible and thus giving the Devil ample opportunity to deceive people. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)." It is not heeding the instruction of the Bible to correctly handle the word of truth that is behind the Devil's ability to accomplish his deception. Quite frankly, many so-called Christians are content with not even opening the Bible to see if what they believe is true or not.

The perfect example of the Devil's knowledge of the Bible comes during his temptation of Jesus recounted for us in Luke 4. After tempting Jesus to turn a stone to bread and offering Him the kingdoms of the world, the Devil leads Him to Jerusalem and to the top of the highest temple. There he says to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone (Luke 4:9-11).' The Devil clearly says "it is written" which means he knows the Bible. However, unlike Eve in the Garden of Eden, Jesus, being God Himself, knows the Bible as well. Each time He is tempted by the Devil He shows us how to deal with Devil's schemes. After each temptation, Jesus responded with "it is written" or "it says." When the Devil realized he was not going to be successful with his temptation he left Jesus alone. Christians need to familiar ourselves with the Bible so well that when a counterfeit teaching or temptation comes along we will recognize it immediately by matching it up with the truth.

We have established that the Devil does know the Bible. I hope that we have also established that the only way to avoid falling for his schemes is through knowledge of the Bible ourselves. But, we must go one step further. Just like the Devil, many Christians know the Bible, but not all of us know the Bible in context. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14)." Full understanding of the Bible only comes through the discernment of the Holy Spirit. We need God to teach us the meaning of the Bible so that we can correctly handle it. While we will never face the temptations of Eve and Jesus, we definitely get tempted by the Devil in various ways. The Christian life is all about trusting in and depending on God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to guide is into all truth. God wants us to mature in our faith and knowledge of the Bible "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11)." The full armour of God talked about in the Bible is knowledge of His Word. By putting it on, having full understanding of it, we can shield our minds from the Devil's attempts to lead us astray.