"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

A central theme of the Bible is that the devil is the enemy of all humanity. The very name Satan, the designation the Bible uses most for this evil being, helps reveal his malicious intent. God calls things what they are. Satan is a Hebrew noun meaning “adversary”—the enemy, opponent, antagonist or foe. The verb forms of the noun mean to “accuse,” “slander” and “be an adversary”. The other term the Bible most often uses to describe this being, devil, is similarly revealing. Devil is translated from the Greek word diabolos, the root from which we get the word diabolical, used to describe something wicked or sinister. Diabolos means “an accuser, a slanderer” (W.E. Vine, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “Devil, Devilish”).

Jesus Christ says Satan is “a liar and the father of it” and that “there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). The Bible reveals the enormity of his lies and their impact, with the apostle John stating in Revelation 12:9 that he “deceives the whole world.”

Satan, the avowed enemy of God and His people, has only one goal: to cause as much damage to the plan of God as possible. Learn what you need to know about your adversary—who he is, where he came from, and how to withstand him.