Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
This is the first mention of Satan in the Bible, and while he is not on every page, he has a leading role. He is called the Destroyer (Revelation 9:11), the enemy (Luke 10:19), the father of lies (John 8:44), a murderer (John 8:44), the evil one (Matthew 5:37) and many other things.
Satan is God’s enemy, but he cannot attack God directly, so he attacks those made in God’s image, and dearly loved by him. Satan knows his doom is sure, and wants to bring as many people down with him as he can.
Here the Bible says he is crafty. Other translations include sneaky, clever, cunning, subtle, intelligent and shrewd. Satan is a clever devil who is good at what he does. If you lived a thousand years, you could easily become an expert at something: music, math, logic, drama or any number of things. Satan has been around longer than that, and has refined his craft to an art form.
He is so skillful, in fact, that he leads the whole world astray (Revelation 12:9), wrote John. We know how to split the atom and fly to the moon, but after thousands of years, because of Satan’s influence, there is still no consensus on who God is, what he requires, or if he even exists. Satan is an evil genius who leads the whole world astray.
By Shane W. Houle, Director of Scripture Engagement