In the book of Genesis, the serpent played the role of tantalizing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.I Chronicles 21:1 ” ….Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.” Isaiah (14:12) gives a glimpse of Satan’s origin. In I Samuel (28:7), Saul, a King anointed by God, felt helpless while seeing his enemies and asked help from a witch to know the will of God. In the Old Testament we find Satan operating as a mediator between man and God. People find Satan as a convenient means to understand the will of God in spite of a prophetic warning given in Isaiah (8:19) “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?” With this weakness of mankind, Satan stood between men and God preventing them from knowing the Living God. (II Corinthians 4:4)

Blinding our eyes from seeing the richness of God’s provision:

We cannot see God’s provision but we can have them through our faith even without seeing it.

“As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” II Corinthians 4:18

The things we see during our needy hours are transient and Devil takes over us in this situation. Hagar had very little water in the wilderness and the Devil persuaded her to think that all the water in the world were emptied when she ran out of her little storage of water, and she thought her son was going to die without water. We depend on our little resources and forget the richness of our Creator who even provides the need of the have not’s. We struggle to convert the stone in our hand into bread ignoring the truth that the creator of the stone is still able to provide the bread too. God allows such needy situation in our lives to make us humble but Satan takes this as an opportunity to make us tremble. Israelites crossed the Red Sea on foot and were unable to believe that, the God who led them so far will be able to provide them with bread too. Judas Iscariot had forgotten God’s provision and speculated on the costly oil that had been used to anoint the Provider and his speculation led him to an eternal death.

Blinding our eyes from seeing the insight of the word of God.

A handsome young man named Saul, who went out searching for donkeys was led by God to Samuel. When Saul arrived, God prompted Samuel to anoint Saul as Prince over His people. But even till his last breath, he was unable to identify God who called him. He restricted himself to Samuel who was used by God as an instrument. When Samuel passed away, Saul depended on evil sources to understand the will of God. Quest for fame had separated him from God and he was unable to withstand David’s fame and spent all his life chasing David.

Satan told Jesus to jump down from the mountain to prove His relationship with God and gain fame. In other words Satan wanted Jesus to perform for an identity. Do not serve God for an identity but serve God in a way that people could identify Jesus. The relationship is already proven by God and there is no need to show that relationship but there is a need to live in that relationship with God. Our identity is in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Blinding people from understanding the purpose of living:

The purpose of our life is to worship God. But in today’s context, worshiping God is restricted to a section of church service, i.e. before preaching the word singing songs of praises, chanting praises through prayers and rejoicing in God’s presence by welcoming the Holy Spirit. Beware! Devil also does the same. We had seen Satan in the presence of God in Job (chapter 1&2) and in Zachariah (3:1-2).  Even an unclean spirit started praising God while they were being driven out, to dupe the person who is driving them out in Jesus’ name.

“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:16-17).

Devil makes petitions and God grants them too but devil prays to God for a place to stay and a soul to tempt.

 “And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” Matthew 8:31

Need is an infinite subject. Devil claims wealth from God and gives it to people who crave for wealth without allowing them to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness. Adam and Eve disobeyed God for wants in spite of God’s provisions. Devil thinks that every human seeks God for material blessings. This aspect of Satan is made known in Job chapter 1. Satan applied the same technique to Jesus and asked Jesus to bow down to acquire wealth but Jesus reminded him that man should only bow down to His father, who is worthy. Thus, Jesus is the one who had done away Satan’s role in the relationship of man and God.