It says in Proverbs 14:15:

The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

Then it says in Proverbs 14:18:

The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Again, the word “prudent” is associated with knowledge.

It also says in Proverbs 22:3:

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Satan came in the form of the serpent that was of all the beasts of the field most “prudent.” To be “prudent” means to be wise. Satan came in the form of a creature that had a reputation for wisdom or for knowledge. To be prudent or to be wise means you have understanding and possess knowledge. The serpent was wiser than all the other beasts of the field; that is, in the way he presented himself to Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Eve was curious about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because she did not understand it and she felt she lacked knowledge concerning it. It was the tree of the “knowledge” of good and evil. Eve knew “good” and Adam knew “good” because they had been created “good” and God was “good.” However, “evil” was the knowledge they did not understand. Evil had mystery surrounding it. What was evil? What could that be? If they touched the tree or ate of the tree, what would happen? God had said that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were going to experience “knowledge” of good and evil; you would come to learn or to know of “evil” and this is the point that Satan operated on when he said, “Ye, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” He formed the question in a certain way so that she would direct the conversation back to that one particular tree of interest, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan spoke of all the trees and he said, “Hath God said that you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” God had not said that, but God had said they may eat of every other tree. The way Satan formed his question showed his deceptive nature. He caused her to be the one that brought up the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She said, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Now Satan could address the whole subject of eating of the tree and he outright lied to her and said, “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Again, the key word is “knowing.” He is saying, “You will gain knowledge of evil and you will be as gods.” The word “gods” is “elo-heem,” the same word that was used to refer to God. Since it is referring to both Adam and Eve, it is a plural word and I think it is correctly translated in the plural as “gods.” They would be as gods knowing good and evil.

So now this supposed revelation concerning this tree is implying there is more to it than God had said and that “the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,” as it said in verse 6. It was a tree to make you gain knowledge and to be like God. And this information was coming from the serpent that was more subtil or more prudent than any other beast of the field. That is how Satan came, as someone wise and knowledgeable in the things of God. God was the one that spoke about the tree, so it was the Word of God, but Satan came with a “fuller explanation” or a more complete understanding than what God had actually said. He presented himself as knowing more than God and having more information and more details and possessing more wisdom and knowledge than man. He is implying that they did not understand exactly what God had meant when he spoke about that tree.

This is how Satan came in the beginning and, in a way, it shows how Satan comes as an angel of light. Light makes manifest and it reveals things and Satan comes saying that their eyes will be opened and they will gain knowledge, “a tree to be desired to make one wise.” This is the tactic that Satan took as he entered into the serpent in order to approach Eve as a “wise” one. Eve took the bait and she was deceived. In the New Testament in 2Corinthians, chapter 11 God gives insight into the workings of Satan and his deceitful nature and the manner in which he comes against the churches and against the people of God. It says in 2Corinthians 11:13:

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

Satan transformed himself into a serpent in the beginning, because the serpent was a wise creature and more prudent than any beast of the field and it was a creature that you might expect to possess knowledge of things unknown. Likewise, the unsaved emissaries of Satan transform themselves into the appearance of “the apostles of Christ.” It goes on to say in 2Corinthians 11:14:

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

He transforms himself into a being that looks to be a being who possesses wisdom and knowledge and understanding. He is a theologian and he knows the Bible and he can help you to know that “speaking in tongues” is a sign of having the Holy Spirit; he can assist you to know that when you fall over backwards and are slain in the spirit, that is a good thing. For women, he can find Scriptures for them to show that they can justify teaching and preaching of men, despite the fact that the Bible says the woman should not usurp authority or teach men. Yet, Satan is able to come with “knowledge” that would allow a woman to teach men. Satan can help people in the churches to find Scriptural support for getting a divorce and remarrying after getting a divorce. So, Satan comes with the idea that these are areas we should investigate further and not to keep people shackled in the marriage relationship any longer – we need to free them! Satan comes, again, and again, with additional understanding and knowledge, adding to the Word of God or subtracting from the Word of God, but He is always making reference to Scriptures.

When someone stands upon the Word of the Bible, Satan is always at-the-ready to come and say, “Hath God said it quite the way you understand it?” With a little twisting here and a little changing there, grace is no more grace; with just a little work added to the mix, we have the dead fly in the apothecary that sends forth a stinking savor. But Satan says, “Look, it is plain as day – believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. We do not need to get into confusing matters like man being dead in sins or about predestination or election, because it says right here in Acts, chapter 10 that if you believe you will be saved. It is the simplicity of the Gospel. It is a simple salvation plan and there is no need to make it more complex than it needs to be.”

Yet, it is Satan that is behind these attacks on every Word of doctrine and every point of Scripture. He has been battling the Word of God through the ages, always trying to deceive, as he deceived the woman Eve and down through the centuries he has continued to deceive the corporate church that was associated with the true eternal bride of Christ that was part of the corporate church. Satan would successfully deceive all the denominations. Just think of the Catholic Church that came to believe that the pope is infallible. He deceived church after church and their candlestick would be removed. He sowed tares among the wheat and infiltrated the churches with false doctrine and false teachers. He was always after the “woman,” the true bride of Christ, but God kept her and protected her so Satan failed to destroy the woman through his deception, as it says of Satan’s greatest assault against the corporate body of Christ and the elect that was within it, in Matthew 24:21-24:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets…

And, again, who are the false prophets? It says in 2Corinthians 11:13-15:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

They are not ministers of Christ, but they are ministers of Satan, the serpent, and they follow the dictates of their father the devil who was a liar from the beginning and the father of it. They come in the same manner and they have the same spirit and they also love the lie and hate the truth because it is their nature. They are deceiving and they are, themselves, deceived. These are the one that it speaks of in Matthew 24:24:

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets…

A false Christ is a false gospel because Christ and the true Gospel are synonymous. False prophets are deceitfully using the Word of God, like when people say, “You can walk down the aisle and become saved.” Or, they may have a crusade and there are 50,000 people in the stadium and the preacher is stirring up everyone as he says, “Have you not had enough of serving sin and Satan? Do you not want to live forever?” He gets everyone worked up in their emotions and he convinces some through their emotions to come down the aisle and maybe there are 5,000 people that come down the aisle to “accept Christ.” Yet, it was a false prophecy from a false prophet because it is a false gospel – that is not the way of salvation, according to the Bible. This is just the tip of the iceberg today concerning false Christs and false prophets because they are everywhere present.

It goes on to say in Matthew 24:24:

…and shall shew great signs and wonders…

There will be speaking in tongues and falling over backwards and whatever else they can offer. There will be supposed “healings” and there will be the “name-it-and-claim-it” gospel, and so forth.

It goes on to say in Matthew 24:24:

… insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The implication is that this is not possible for Satan, the master deceiver, to do with his lie. Lies started with him and he is the father of it. He begat the lie and he brought it forth like his child and nourished it down through the centuries and he certainly has become more and more successful in presenting the lie to mankind. He was an excellent liar at the very beginning when he spoke to Eve. As far as we know, this is the first sin that took place and already Satan was showing that he had a talent in the area of telling lies. We know when you practice something and repeat it, you get “better” at it. You become more skilled in the performance of it and, certainly, since over 13,000 years have passed, he has become more adept at lying. Satan has not changed course and he has not altered his game plan; it is always the lie. He may decide to present a good deal of truth with it and to refer to the Bible as he builds his lie. He may refer to three or four verses as he tries to present his lie as a good theological study, but it is still a lie because he also includes “error” and alterations that are meant to take the hearers from the “narrow way” to the broad way that leads to destruction. This is his particular talent that he has specialized in and he is quite able to deceive mankind. What does God say about man and man’s heart? The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

This describes the heart of man after the fall into sin. At the time that the serpent came to her, Eve did not have that wicked heart. She had a good heart and a heart that had not sinned and a heart that had not believed a lie and this applied to Adam, also. Yet, the serpent deceived her and slew her through his deception. Then Adam took of the fruit from Eve and he was also slain through this deception. But that was a time when man was much more prepared and able to resist the allurements and the words of the Master Deceiver. Now mankind has a heart that is “deceitful above all things,” so how can he withstand and resist the father of lies that is able to tell a tale that even the elect might believe, if it were possible? Thankfully, it is not possible.