Whenever God is ready to work something great in the life of a person, a married couple, or a nation, Satan precedes Him with his own plans to scutter God’s plans and prevent Him from blessing the person, couple, or nation. In fact, when a child with a bright and honourable future is born, Satan moves the witches, wizards and his agents to try and destroy that child. When a man or woman is about to marry a godly spouse with a bright future, he moves on friends, family, and his spiritual agents to do everything possible to destroy the marriage. He plots with his agents to pair godly people with his own agents who might be witches, wizards, or spiritually infested with demons so that the life of that godly man or woman will be destroyed. He can arrange circumstances to destroy the life of a bright student in school so that s/he does not grow into a successful individual. He hates those God blesses with talent and honour and will do everything to destroy such ones.
It is therefore not surprising that people with little prospects and potential are not targeted in families or societies while those with greater potential are hated, plotted against, envied, and derailed. He marshalls all his forces to ensure that people who are kind-hearted, godly, honourable, honest, and loved by God do not succeed. He can even arrange to kill the parents of kids with bright future or lead them to divorce, so that the kids become orphans, hopeless, and destroyed. He can introduce such divinely favoured ones to alcoholism, pornography, drugs, gambling, sports addiction, occultism, fornication, adultery, materialism, etc. through friends and bad company until they are led astray and finally destroyed. He can deceive you to make miscalculations against sound judgment or make decisions that seem so good to your eyes, only to end up losing your job, your capital/savings to ponzi schemes, thieves, bad business, etc. By making you lose your life savings, he destroys your family, future, and leads you to commit suicide.
This has been the case for ages and has been documented in the Bible as well as experienced in the lives of many faithful Children of God. The earliest record of such an action occurred in the life of Abraham and Sarah. God blessed Abraham in all things and promised him a generation of innumerable people. Year after year, Abraham looked forward to a child; but in vain did he wait for one. Prior to God’s appointed time, Satan moved Sarah to suggest the unthinkable: she pushed Abraham to take her maid, Hagar.
Abraham listened to Sarah and had Ishmael with Hagar, but lost his peace at home as Hagar started fighting with Sarah. All these preceded God’s glorious plan for Abraham. At the right time, God blessed Abraham with Isaac and he who was struggling for a child, became a father of many nations. After Sarah died, Abraham married Keturah and fathered seven more children with her: these also went on to become mighty nations.
Had Abraham waited on God for His promises to happen at His own appointed time, Ishmael would never have happened, and the Ishmaelites of Arabia wouldn’t have become an everlasting enemy of Israel.
Prior to the birth of Moses, the Israelites were informed through dreams that a redeemer was to be born. Joseph had told them to keep his bones and carry it with them back to Canaan on their return (Exodus 13:19), and God through Abraham had told them (in Genesis 15:13) that Israel will stay in Egyptian bondage for 400 years. Hence, when God was about to execute His plan, Satan struck first!
He moved on the Pharoah to first enslave the Israelites so that they would not have time for God, to think of and worship Him, and even to blame Him for their suffering. Indeed, this worked to a great degree as the Israelites mostly forgot about God. When it was about time for Moses to be born as a redeemer of the Israelites, Satan moved on the Pharoah to make a law that all male children should be killed and females kept alive. This was intended to destroy Moses and scutter God’s plans.
He did the same thing in Jesus’ time when he moved on Herod to kill all infants under two years old in Bethlehem. Yet, God overruled his plans and protected both Moses and Jesus. While Israel was encamped below Sinai, waiting for Moses to return from the mountain’s summit where he was communing with God, Satan moved on the Israelites to make an idol. Through this, the Law of God, which was being given to Moses, was destroyed (by Moses) and many people lost their lives. Satan moved on the people to rebel against God in the wilderness journey until most of the older generation were annihilated: they couldn’t see it nor walk into Canaan.
The saddest one happened just when they were about to enter Canaan. When their wilderness journey was about to end. Satan moved on them to rebel against Moses and two of the 12 spies: they made them leaders to return to Egypt, saying that they can’t take over Canaan. For this unfortunate decision, they were cursed to die wandering in the wilderness for forty years. They lost their blessings and their life. Satan succeeded in turning over the blessings God planned for them into their destruction.
While encamped at Shittim, they were also deceived through Balaam into idolatry. As a result, thousands of them died: they couldn’t see Canaan. Even Moses was tricked into anger and sin at the last minute, and for that, he couldn’t step into Canaan: he only saw it from afar on mount Pisgah.
This pre-emptive strike strategy by Satan has been used again and again through the ages and he still uses it today. In the lives of individuals, families and nations, he always moves people to make decisions and take actions that scuttle God’s plans for them. Satan works on the imagination, emotions, and psyche to cause disaffection. He works the imagination to great heights to foster enmity and bitterness by suggesting things that are intended to make one angry and determined to rebel. He can make you imagine things that aren’t true. He can suggest thoughts that aren’t real…
He does these to stiffen the heart, create rebellion, and block the blessings that are so near …and unfortunately, he might succeed but for the grace and mercy of God. The chronology of Bible history given above, shows that this is true: nothing happens by chance. When God was about to release the Jews from Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem, Satan moved on the king of Persia to prevent that from happening until Michael (Jesus) intervened. This spiritual battle was revealed to Daniel (Daniel 10:12-13). Even when the decree was issued for them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, Satan moved on Tobias and Sanballat to prevent that from happening: they became thorns in the side of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4: 1-3).
Wherever the Spirit of God is, there is love and peace. Wherever there’s hatred, enmity, rebellion, and anger, there’s Satan and his angels at work. For he is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). The deceiver and liar. He cometh not, but to steal and destroy. He roams like a lion seeking who he may devour. Beware of his devices, his suggestions, and his deceptions. He comes to us through dreams, imaginations, friends, movies, radio, colleagues, books, and things around us. We must be vigilant always… For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).
