1 Peter 5:8 warns believers to be aware of the attacks of our adversary the devil. The first of his primary tactics is obstruction of God's truth through imitation of God's works and God's Word and deception through "doctrines of demons." Satan's second tactic is temptation, in which he appeals to our natural desires and suggests that we fulfill them in perversion of God's intended way. Thirdly, Satan uses oppression to try to drive people into despair and frustration, doubting God's goodness and "falling away" from the faith. Job gives us an excellent picture of how Satan oppresses the righteous, using unjust nations, extreme weather events, sickness, and even supernatural occurrences to oppress us, with the goal of weakening our faith and causing us to blame God for all the bad things that happen to good people. Then he will accuse us before God as he has many before us. If Satan cannot get us to curse God, then he will attempt to get God to curse us. In the case of true believers, he will fail in both, since God has given us everything we need to "withstand in the evil day." |
