THE BATTLE AXE

No winner can ever be declared in a one man contest or battle. Winning a contest requires an opponent because as they say… “it takes two to tangle”. Moreover, the battle becomes easier if you conduct pre-battle preparation. One form of this type of preparation is called “espionage”. In order to conduct a successful espionage mission, you must seek to learn everything about the enemy, his territory and his tactics. In other words, you must: 1. Clearly identify your opponent/enemy 2. Understand his mission and nature; and you must 3. Know and study the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses The book of 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) warns: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. Hence, as we understand here, the devil is the believer’s adversary. He is the opponent and the wicked force that is to be confronted in the process of conducting spiritual warfare. “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” – 1 John 5:19 (KJV). Now the nature of this wickedness can be identified by the wicked forces that have ruled this world since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The above scripture validates that every part of the world is living under the oppressive control of the devil’s wickedness. This is the reason for which the word of God calls the devil “the wicked one”. Many, in the Body of Christ, have posed the question “Why did God create the devil?” They have asked this question, again and again. The moment they are confronted with an unpleasant situation or calamities that are beyond human explanation, they wonder…Why did God create this wicked devil? Why did God create the devil? God did not create satan as a devil in the beginning, for everything God created was good. Satan was created in perfect beauty, having tremendous glory in heaven. In the word of God, we learned that satan was ranked the highest amongst all angels. He had the specific and unique assignment of covering God’s Throne. Let us examine the passage below from Ezekiel 28:12-15 (KJV), as it relates to satan before he fell from grace to grass. Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.Thou wast perfect in their ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.