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How Satan Operates in Our World:

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Satan’s Operational System Exposed

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The Satanic "Trap" System

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by

R.A. Coombes

Author: "America, The Babylon" Vols 1 & 2

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Ephesians 6:12

 “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.”
 

 

Most of the human world rejects the idea that there is a super-natural entity named Satan. Many “Christian” church-goers also think there is no super-natural being as Satan or Lucifer or the Devil. Most genuine believers have at best, only a vague idea of how Satan operates in our world. It seems few believers recognize or understand how Satan interacts in our world. Consequently, Satan is having a field day with both believers and unbelievers, even strong, growing and maturing believers in Jesus Christ.

So the question you are no doubt asking now is: “So how does Satan operate?” The answer is simple, so simple that you may have a knee-jerk reaction that wants to dismiss the answer.

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Satan's Method: "The Trap System"

 

The answer is: “Satan operates via “The Trap System.” In other words, Satan sets traps. By the term “traps” we mean mental traps. Satan attacks the human mind to create a mindset.

We must understand that Satan is a super-human being who functions on an intellectual level far superior to that of human beings. He has a program in place to take advantage of his superiority. Satan’s operational program is to subvert, disrupt and attempt to overthrow God, God’s Will, and God’s Authority as Ruler of all creation.

Satan’s program is a far reaching program that includes a long-term attempt to completely control and rule Planet Earth and its inhabitants. To achieve this goal requires open warfare against God using angelic ‘troops’ who joined in him in rebelling against God in what could be best described as an attempted “coup de etat.”

 

The Kosmokrator

 

Among those angelic troops are special forces with orders to manipulate human leaders of each nation on Earth. Their assignment goals are to manipulate human leaders to enact laws and develop attitudes that disrupt God’s plans. This particular angelic class is referred to in Ephesians 6:12 as “The Kosmokrator” in the original Greek text. 

The term “Kosmokrator” is translated in the KJV as “rulers of the darkness of this world.” That English phrase is an attempt to translate the following original Greek text.

  προς    τους   κοσμοκρατορας   του    σκοτους    τουτου
against    the     world rulers       of the   darkness   of this

That is the actual, literal reading of the original Greek text. It is what Paul actually wrote. The key word that we need to examine here is the Greek word  κοσμοκρατορας or trans-literated = kosmokrator. This word is a compound word, meaning it is two separate words joined together to become one single word.

 Κοσμοκρατορας =     κοσμο   + κρατορας
                                   Cosmo  + kratoras or Krator
                                   Cosmo  + to rule or rulers

Cosmo by itself in Greek is the word “cosmos” or Kosmos. We use that word today today as “cosmos” meaning the universe and as a part of the term Russians use for their men who go into space – “cosmonauts” as opposed to our “astronauts.” The Greek meaning of cosmos or cosmo in its simple form means “world” or “a world.”

The compound word then of cosmo and krator combined can be translated as a ‘world ruler’ or in the plural – ‘world rulers.’ In Ephesians 6:12 the word is in the plural form, so it means “world rulers.”

When we look at the overall phrase of Ephesians 6:12, we have a somewhat complex phrase that defies a literal rendering into English grammar because it would violate English rules of grammar. The best way to translate this phrase, most literally and still put it into proper English grammatical form is as follows:

“against the rulers of this dark world.”

Here we’ve split up the compound word – kosmo-krator and put the modifiers “of this” and “dark” adjoining the word “world” to put it into a more correct grammatical structure.

The verse itself lists some of the various classes of the fallen angelic realm. These classes are of the angelic order and they are not demons. Demons are regarded as a much lower class and are not listed in the verse. The demon category applies as a sub-class of apparently the lowest rank in the angelic hierarchy.

The Kosmokrator class however, functions as a high-level angelic functionary assigned to manipulate the top echelon of a nation’s leaders.
A “Kosmokrator” is assigned to an individual nation to manipulate it to take whatever actions deemed by Satan that are designed to disrupt God’s plans and purposes.

 

QUESTION:

Now you should ask, “How do we know this?”

The answer is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. In Daniel we find that the Hebrew equivalent of Kosmokrator is the word “Sar.” It is found in Daniel chapter 10.

 

The Kosmokrator of Persia: The Ambush Trap

 

In Daniel Chapter 10 we need to understand the contextual background of the chapter. Daniel has made a prayerful petition to God. He awaits an answer for 21 days. Finally, in a vision the archangel Gabriel appears to Daniel and in verse 11 opens a conversation in which he tells Daniel to not be afraid. Starting with verse 12, Gabriel explains to Daniel the reason why God’s answer to Daniel was delayed for 21 days. The explanation is quite remarkable.

 

In Daniel 10, verse 12 we read:

v. 12. “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

v. 13. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

v. 14. “Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

 

Gabriel is telling Daniel that God heard his prayer from the moment Daniel uttered his petition. Gabriel then tells Daniel, that he, Gabriel, was immediately dispatched with a response. Then note in verse 13 the very first word is “But.” This introduces sharp contrast.

Gabriel states that the “prince” of the kingdom of Persia “withstood” him for 21 days. Now the Hebrew word for “withstood” is a military term that means “to ambush” or in the vernacular, “to bushwack.” Gabriel was ambushed or ‘bushwhacked’ for 21 days. This should raise a question to the reader: “Who did this?”

The answer is, “the prince (or “sar”) of the kingdom of Persia. This ambush was so powerful and so effective that Gabriel says the Archangel “Michael” had to come to assist in springing Gabriel from the ambush so that he, Gabriel could continue on his mission to deliver God’s message to Daniel.

So who is the “prince” or “sar” of Persia? Is it the human King, Cyrus? You mean to tell me that Cyrus and his army was so powerful that it could hold up God’s archangel? You mean that Cyrus was so powerful that it took 2 archangels to defeat Cyrus and his human forces? Hardly! Humans are no match for an Archangel. However, a “sar” or “kosmokrator” apparently has enough powerful resources, that at least in this case, Gabriel was delayed from accomplishing his mission for 21 days.

The entity in question who accomplished delaying Gabriel was a kosmokrator-class angelic entity assigned to manipulate and move the Persian nation and its governing leaders to take measures that opposed God’s will and plans for humanity. Now if we look at the latter part of Daniel 10 and verse 20:

 

Kosmokrator of Greece

 

“Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.”

Here, Gabriel tells Daniel that he must leave Daniel and go do battle against the “prince” or “sar” of Persia and then later he says the “prince of Grecia” or “Greece” will come.

This is a classic example where we see the curtain pulled back to gain a glimpse of angelic warfare and the fact that a class of angelic beings, called the Kosmokrator are assigned to manipulate the leaders of each nation to do Satan’s will. These are the Kosmokrator-class beings.

Now Ephesians 6:12 also tells us that another class of the angelic realm is assigned to intervene against God’s chosen peoples, namely Israel and the Church. All of these forces are engaged in a grand “cosmic” civil war.

The Satanic forces routinely conduct operations along the mental frontiers of humanity. The main battle tactic of these campaigns that involve humanity are “mental assault” on human minds. The goal of such assaults is to mentally disorient the human race from truthful reality.

Mental assaults against human beings carry an almost “guerilla” type of secrecy, primarily involving Satan’s most effective weapon – “The Mental Trap” system. You see, Satan loves the mental trap system.

The Satanic “mental trap” system seizes and directs a human mind into disorientation from truth and from reality. It clouds the situation so that the human has no grasp of the truth and reality all around him.

 

Satan’s Trap System can be divided into 3 distinct categories:

 

#1. Laws of Religiousness or Religious Rules

#2. Intellectual Rationalism

#3. Experiential/Emotional Religiousness

 

Those are the 3 categories of Satan’s “Mental Trap” system. They form an incredible “one-two-three” knockout punch on the human mind. Interestingly, one euphemistic name for this is system is “The LIE System.”

Satan operates in the human world, via the “Mental Trap” or “Big Lie” system within those 3 distinctive categories of what we can refer to as nothing more than blatant ‘deception.”

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Satan Knows How to Set Mind Traps For Humans

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If you doubt me and you should, because I’ve not yet cited textual proof for this claim, I direct your attention to the Apostle Paul’s second epistle to Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 26.

“And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

The term “snare” is the Greek word “pagidos”  or παγιδος  (see also Strong’s reference #3802). The Greek term not only means trap or snare, but it also carries the idea of unexpectedly or deception. It also carries the idea of attractiveness and enticement.

The essence of a successful trap is concealment and attractiveness. Can you make the trap attractive and yet conceal it with deception. To be successful, a trap must be concealed so that the prey has no idea of the danger of a trap. It is also important that the trap be attractive, in order to draw in the prey.

Satan knows that the essence of a good trap is to make it attractive and to keep the trap concealed so that his victims, (humanity) has no clue at to the surroundings and incapable of recognizing the trap.

In dealing with humanity, we noted earlier that Satan has 3 types of traps or 3 types of bait for his traps, which we categorized earlier but let’s review and explain them.

Satan’s 3 Mind-Trap Methods Explained

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#1. Religious Rules or Laws of a Religious Nature

 

For an example of this type of trap, let’s look at the Gospel of John, chapter 8 and verses 33, 39, and  44-45

v. 33 “They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?”

v. 39 “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”

v. 44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

v. 45 “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”

Here we have a verbal exchange in progress between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees. The Pharisees are arguing with Jesus when Jesus speaks of bondage and that those who believe in Him shall be made free from bondage in verse 32. “And he shall know the truth and the truth shall make him free.”

The Pharisees state their offense at Jesus’ remarks and claim that they are Abraham’s seed, and never in bondage to sin, so that they ask how it is that they could be made free by Jesus when they were already free.

Jesus responds by telling them that whoever commits a sin is a slave of sin. In verse 38 he tells them

“I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.”

At this, the Pharisees are incensed and again let Jesus know that Abraham is their father. Jesus responds by telling them that if they were really the children of Abraham they would do the works of Abraham, but instead He reminds them that they seek to kill Him.

He then proceeds to tell them that their father is Satan or the Devil and then describes them as doing the works of the Devil.

…|Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

He basically tells them that when Satan speaks a lie that they are all fools enough to fall for it.

Now the question to be asked here is: “Who are these Pharisees?”

Look at John 8: 33 and 39 and you’ll find their own self-evaluation of themselves.

They claimed a religious connection. They claimed a religious connection to Abraham and noted just how religious they were. In essence they were saying, “Look at us, We are soooo religious” and they were. You couldn’t get any more pious and religious than the Pharisees. The connotation is that anything religious must be of God and that if something is religious it can not possibly be from Satan, because Satan hates religion. Right?
That is the underlying, unspoken implication and essence of the Pharisees’ argument with Jesus.

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Anything that is religious simply cannot be Satanic, right?

WRONG!

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Let’s define the term “religious.”

Religion: Any system that seeks a relationship with the Creator-God based upon the principle of “human merit” or the “human merit principle.” Now what do we mean by “human merit principle?”

Human merit principle: “You can do something, be something, act in a certain way, and by what you do, you have or establish a relationship with the Creator God.

Act a certain way. Be a certain way, and by doing so, God will establish a relationship with you. You can “earn” God’s favor by doing something. God will be pleased by your actions and relate to you based upon your actions and efforts. This is the human merit principle. It is being “religious.”

It is called “works.”

Being "Religious" is Human Effort or "Works"

The idea is that by human effort, human actions we can have or establish a relationship with God. The Human Merit Principle claims that we can earn favor with God.

Look at it another way. Within the “Girl Scout” movement is a young girl’s division called the “Brownie” division. To be promoted into the Girl Scouts a girl must earn “brownie points” and when enough are earned she becomes elevated to the status of Girl Scout.

Take that same “brownie point” concept into the theological realm and in essence all religions operate on a “brownie point” system.

Act a certain, Be a certain way, and by what you do, you earn ‘brownie points’ with God. That is the “human merit principle” approach. It’s the approach the Pharisees believed gained them a relationship with God.

Jesus tells them that instead of God being their father their brownie point system is simply Satan’s deception system.

Satan has so deceived them that they believe that acting a certain way, being a certain way, requires God to do something for them in return. In other words the idea is that God works on a paycheck type of system.
Yet, Jesus says that Satan is their father and they, the Pharisees do the “lusts of their father, Satan.”

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Now let’s examine this from the Satanic trap perspective.

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Satan trapped the Pharisees. How did he do that? He persuaded their ‘minds” and they were unable to see the concealed mind-trap and looked at the attractive bait of ‘works’ as a means of gaining favor with the Creator. The essence of this is that God hates and rejects human effort or human works if it becomes a means to an end, namely the end being the idea of earning something from God.

This same sort of wickedness is present in the modern-day American church in something known as the Prosperity Gospel – also known as the “name it, and claim it” movement. This movement has gained a large foothold in what is supposed to be the ‘professing Church.”

These folks promote the idea that – “if you do something for God, then He is obligated to do something for you, in return.” Some TV evangelists have promoted to viewers the idea of taking out a second mortgage on their home and sending the proceeds to the TV ministry and in doing so, God will be obligate to pay the donor back and often times in multiples, like double the money back or some other ridiculous claim.

God operates only on the basis of Grace through faith in the work of Jesus Christ alone, not by any of our human activities. God freely gives us gifts and these are gifts that are in our best interests. He does so regardless of our actions.

Now, let’s move along to Satanic Trap #2.

 

Satanic Trap #2 – Intellectual Rationalism

 

Let’s define the term “Intellectual Rationalism.” Intellectual Rationalism is the operations of the human mind apart from, or operating independently from The World of God.

An intellectual rationalist is someone who does not know or believe the scripture. We should note that the Pharisees were “intellectual rationalists” as well as being religionists. They were double-whammied, so to speak and were very proud of their intellectual capacities to rationalize everything, apart from the Word of God, yet all the while claiming to be God’s servants.

Can you see why “intellectual rationalism” might be appealing bait for a Satanic trap? No? Think of it this way.

What happens if someone comes up to a person and says, “My your smart. What things you have accomplished by the exertion of your mind.”

Such words appeal to the person’s ego and pride. This particular trap system is effective against unbelievers, but also sad to say with even believers also. We see that in Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians in chapter 4, verse 4.

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Notice in that verse, “the god of this world” – in other words, Satan traps the minds of unbelievers. Satan always works against the human mind. In this case, unbeliever’s minds are blinded so that they cannot see the ‘light’ of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Later in Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul warns them that they too are susceptible to Satan’s trap system. II Corinthians 11:3

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Here Paul reminds the Corinthians that just like Eve was “fooled” and they too could be fooled. Let’s take a closer look at what Paul is saying here.

The word “beguiled” is the Greek word “ex-ahpah-tah-oh” (Strong’s #1818) which would be better translated into our modern English as “deceived thoroughly.” The Greek word stresses the idea of total deception. Eve was totally and completely fooled. She bought into Satan’s Big Lie - hook, line and sinker – as a fisherman might put it.

The second word we should notice is the Greek word “phtharay” (Strong’s #5351 phtheyroh) – which is the word “corrupted” and it carries the idea of being seduced.into corruption. Notice the how the seduction trap starts? Notice the words “your minds” should be seductively corrupted but notice the mental seduction is away from something.

Believers can be seduced/corrupted away from – the simplicity that is in Christ. Question: The simplicity of what in Christ?

The answer is the simplicity of salvation, namely that Christ died for our sins and that it is a gift given to us and received on the basis of faith not by human effort.

I Corinthians 15: 3

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”

Ephesians 2: 8-9

v. 8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

v. 9 “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

The simplicity that is in Christ is salvation in Christ’s death for us as a gift obtained on the basis of faith not by human effort or not by the human merit principle.

So what is Paul saying here? He fears that just as Eve was thoroughly deceived by Satan’s Big Lie, so too he fears that believers might be seduced away from the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, namely the simplicity of believing by faith that Christ died for our sins. He fears that the seductive corruption will be the trap that we have to ‘work’ or add human activity to the salvation process.

Now for those who might not be deceived by religiousness and following religious rules or regulations or who is not caught up in intellectual rationalism of thinking apart from God’s Word, then Satan has yet another attractive dish, perhaps for you.

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Satanic Trap #3:

Religious Experience/Emotionalism/Miracles

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If Satan can’t appeal to someone on the basis of following religious rules and regulations or by having their mind operate apart from the Word of God, then perhaps Satan can appeal to someone on the basis of religious emotional experiences such as miracles.

Let’s look at Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 13 and 14.

v. 13 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

v. 14 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Satan works via religious experiences through false teachers, deceptive ministers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ.  Even Satan can transform himself into a messenger of light.

This type of Satanic trap can also catch both unbelievers and even believers who are not carefully operating/thinking along the lines of God’s Word.

Yet, there is something more to come on regarding this particular trap method of miracles. The real miracle doozies are yet to be shown.

Let’s look at Paul’s second epistle to the Thessalonians and chapter 2 verses 8 through 10.

v. 8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

v. 9 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

v. 10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

The Wicked One is Satan but in verse 9 we find that that “Even him, his coming is after the working of Satan” is a reference to the Antichrist.

How will Satan operate through the Antichrist? The Antichrist will be enabled to perform signs and lying wonders. Verse 10 tells us that these are with all deceitfulness. In other words, Satanic deception.

A primary characteristic of The Antichrist will be “all deception.”

Let me repeat that. The primary characteristic of the Antichrist will be his deceptive nature. Why? Because Satan operates via deception using traps.

What did we say earlier about Satan deceiving Eve? Satan used deceptive trap.

Satan always uses deception. Satan’s traps are mental deceptions and his ultimate “ace in the hole” deception trap is supernatural miracles.

So that, what can be the telltale signs of the Antichrist?

 

#1. Deception. He will manifest a continuing pattern of deception

#2. At some point, he will manifest supernatural signs and wonders. He will do things that will make people’s jaws drop.

 

Now there is a third indicator and it is the dead-ringer indicator. The prophet Daniel tells us that this Antichrist will commit the Abomination of Desolation on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and proclaim himself to be God. That will be the sure-fire sign proving who he is.

Remember though, that the first tell-tale indicator of the Antichrist is deception. The Antichrist will produce a pattern of deception and deceptive practices. This deceptiveness character trait will manifest first. Later, the miraculous signs and wonders will be manifested.

For those who read this who are prophecy watchers, or “watchmen on the wall” – and on the lookout for possible candidates that might be the Antichrist – the only real tell-tale sign we can hunt for is “deceptive operations.”

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