Satan’s Greatest Desire
By Curtis Holland

Much material over the years has been written about the will of Yahweh. Millions of people have spent countless hours studying the Scriptures searching out the will of Yahweh, many pondering His greatest desire. Far fewer, however, have considered the Scriptures teach us-- warn us— of Satan’s greatest desire.

Why study the will of Satan? Why learn of his greatest desires? Scripture tells us plainly why we should. We’re warned of these things for a reason. Yahweh warns us of these things for our benefit.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Eph 6:11 NKJV

Put on the whole armor of Yahweh, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

If we are ignorant of Satan’s desires, we will not resist him and we will be devoured. We would also not recognize the wiles of the devil for what they are and fail to stand against them.

  The desires or goals of Satan are revealed in the pages of the Bible. We will not delve into every desire of Satan here. We will ask and answer the question “what does Satan wish for himself?” “Of all of Satan’s desires, which is the greatest?” The answer is “worship, worship, worship”. Sound strange and redundant? Bear with me and you’ll see it’s not as strange or redundant as it sounds.

Worship!!

We’ll start with this story from Matthew. Here, Yahshua is being tested in the wilderness and the Devil comes to tempt Him.

(Matt 4:8-11NKJV)

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

10 Then Yahshua said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship Yahweh your mighty one, and Him only you shall serve.' "

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

We’ll focus on verse nine. It is here Satan makes his intention clear—he wants to be worshiped!! Let’s read the similar account in Luke 4.

           (Luke 4:5-7NKJV)

5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.

In verse six, Satan offers Yahshua kingship over everything they saw from the mountain. We see in verse seven that it was for a price. He offered it in exchange for worship!!

There is a valuable lesson to be learned from these two passages. We need to understand that if Satan would approach Messiah in the manner described, he would have no problem with approaching anyone else like this either. If he’ll approach Yahshua like that, he’ll approach you and me.

Worshiped By Whom?

Okay, so he wants to be worshiped. Is it enough for him to be worshiped? Is he content being worshipped by a few or does he desire being worshiped by many? Who does he want to worship him? He wants not only to be worshiped, but also to be worshiped by one and all. To be served by a few kooks in some corner somewhere isn’t good enough for him. He wants the entire world to worship him. How do we know this? Again, the Bible warns us of this. It also tells us how he how he plans to get it.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev 12:9 NKJV)

Here, we see Satan’s plan and his target. His plan is deception and his target audience is the entire world.

Rev 13:1-8 NKJV

1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.

2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.  

3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"

5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.

6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against Yah, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.

7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

8 ALL who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Let’s review this most interesting passage of Scripture. In verse two, we see that it’s the dragon that empowers the beast. The dragon is identified as Satan in Revelation 12:9, which we read earlier. Verse three tells us ALLthe world follows the beast. Not some or a few, but ALL. We see Satan being worshiped by the entire world in verses four and eight. Verse eight also tells us who will worship Satan— those “…whose names have not been written in the Book of Life…”.   So this means not everyone will be worshiping him or granting him his wish. He will make war (imprison, kill, persecute, etc) those who refuse to serve him (verse seven).

Worshiped As Who Or What?

Up to this point, we’ve seen that Satan wants not only to be worshiped, but he wants to be worshiped by the entire world. Is this enough? Scripture says “no”. What else could he possibly want? Scripture tells us he wants to be worshiped as Yahweh and rule the earth as the Most High!! He wants the world to believe he is Yahweh.We’ll read of this in Isaiah.

Isaiah 14:12-14 NKJV

12 "How you are fallen from heaven,

O Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:

'I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of the mighty one ;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High .'

Let’s examine these verses. In verse twelve, we see this passage is about Lucifer, or Satan. Verses 13 and 14 reveal his thoughts and intentions. What does he mean when he says “ I will exalt mythrone above the stars of the mighty one” ?He means he wants to put his throne in the place of Yahweh’s throne. Satan makes himself very plain in verse 14-- he wants Yahweh’s position. He wants to be the Most High! His greatest desire is to exalt his own throne to the position of Yahweh’s throne, rule in Yahweh’s stead, and be worshiped as Yahweh, or as the Most High!!

This begs other questions-- how badly does he want this? Is he willing to give up his quest after realizing it is unachievable? Or does he want it at all costs? Once again, Scripture holds the answer. We’ll see he intends to achieve his goals right up to the end.

The key to this question is found in Revelation 20. In the opening verses (1-4), we’re told of an angel casting Satan into a bottomless pit and keeping him there for a thousand years. He is to be released at the end of the thousand years. How Satan responds to his release will depend upon how he spends his time in his prison. He’ll have a thousand years to consider his life up to that point. He can spend this time reevaluating his evil thoughts, goals, and desires or he can spend it making plans on how to achieve them. The details of what goes through his mind or how he spends this time are not important. Whether or not he believes his goals are still achievable is not relevant. Perhaps he simply wants to achieve his goals so badly he would rather die in the attempt than to give up his quest. These things are beyond our comprehension. What we do know is that Satan comes out of his prison either unchanged or changed for the worse, desiring the same things he did prior to his imprisonment. He still intends to accomplish his goals.

Rev 20:7-10 NKJV

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison

8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from Yahweh out of heaven and devoured them.

10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Please notice Satan is still working with deception. These people probably didn’t follow Satan realizing who or what he is. He deceived them (verse 10). Satan will spend his time in prison working on another plan of deception. Scripture doesn’t reveal what this plan is, but we can be certain it will be powerful. Think about it. This will be at the close of the thousand-year reign of Yahshua. There will have been a time of peace, stability, healing, and prosperity the world has never seen. People will have been taught the ways of Yahweh. Yet, some will still fail to learn and exchange the truth for a lie, giving it all up for a satanic sales pitch.

Let’s quickly review what we’ve learned. What does Satan want?

1.       Worship.

2.       To be worshipped by the entire world, all mankind

3.       To be worshipped as Yahweh.

4.       To become the Most High and rule in His stead.

So Satan wants worship, worship, and worship. That doesn’t sound so strange and redundant anymore, does it? So now that we know what his greatest desire is, that’s the end of the discussion and the conclusion of the matter, right? Well, not quite.

Success?

There is something else to consider as yet another issue arises out this understanding of Satan’s plan. It’s a matter of the plan’s success. How successful will this plan be? From a prophetic standpoint, it will be somewhat successful, or successful to a point. After all, Revelation 13 teaches us the whole world will marvel at the beast and worship Satan, the one who empowers it. All but a few will be deceived. In that regard, it will succeed. In regard to Satan actually exalting his throne to its desired position, it will never succeed, as it will fail in the end. Satan will be imprisoned and later cast into the lake of fire. Satan will fail to achieve his ultimate goal.

We see that it will have some success in the future, but what about now? How successful is it now? The conditions around us tell us that his plan is not only in motion as we speak, but is also enjoying some success. Let’s take a look at how Satan does this. It’s quite simple-- he tells lies.

John 8:44 NKJV

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

It’s not as if he goes out on speaking tours or booking signings spewing outright lies himself. Satan and Yahweh have this common trait— they use men to do their work. In the past, Yahweh used prophets and the apostles to spread His message. He still uses men to do this. So does (has) Satan. He gets men to do his dirty work for him.

2 Cor 11:12-15 NKJV

12 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Messiah.

14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Paul warns us that he uses false teachers presenting themselves as teachers of truth. How do these men work? Do they tell boldface lies, or do they use another method? Must a lie be easily detected for what it is? We need not guess as the Scriptures hold the answer.

Ps 56:5 NKJV

All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.

           2 Peter 3:16 NKJV

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twistto their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

These men twist the words of Scripture, distorting the message. The lie being told may not be easily discerned for what it is. This is where the gifts of knowledge, discernment and wisdom are invaluable. Psalm 56 is a prophecy of Yahshua’s trial when false witnesses twisted His words and sayings. Peter warned us of people twisting Paul’s writings. We’ll now see how this is being done today. When Peter says they are untaught, he means they do not know the Scriptures. They are, however, well versed in the “traditions of men.”

Look at most of the churches covering the landscape today. What are some of the more common teachings? One is that the law is “done away.” Any given Sunday you may hear “Jesus did away with (or abolished) the law.” They teach how Christ freed them from the law. They do this, in part, by twisting the words of Paul. We won’t delve into an in depth study on this here. I’ll simply refer you to a few passages as examples. Colossians 2 is often cited as a basis for not keeping the Sabbath and high days. Mark 7 is used as a reason to eat the unclean meats of the Torah. Revelation 1:9 plus the resurrection accounts found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke are used to justify Sunday observance. These are but a few examples of how churches twist the Scriptures to teach the law is changed or even abolished.

However, such interpretation of the Scriptures involved raises an intriguing question that demands an answer. Who brings about these changes, or what spirit motivates such teachings? Again, Scripture holds the answer.

Dan 7:25 NKJV

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,

Shall persecute the saints of the Most High,

And shall intend to change times and law.

Then the saints shall be given into his hand

For a time and times and half a time.

Please notice what this verse says. Daniel likens the intention of changing times and laws to speaking pompous words against the Most High! They are one and the same! Daniel does not say all pompous words spoken against the Most High involve the changing of times and laws. However, we must understand any attempt to change times and law are indeed pompous words. We see it is not the spirit of Messiah that teaches such things, but the spirit of anti-Messiah that does. It is a message of disobedience. Let’s see what the New Testament says about this.

1 John 2:18 NKJV

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Anti-messiah is coming, even now many anti-messiahs have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22-23 NKJV

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Yahshua is the Messiah? He is anti-messiah who denies the Father and the Son.

23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

In other places, John identifies those who deny Yahshua coming in the flesh as anti-messiahs. Does that mean there is only one way to deny Yahshua is the Messiah, and denying He has come in the flesh is the only way? Of course not. John does not say this. Let’s see how else this may be done.

We need to determine what Yahshua came to do as Messiah. What was His mission? What did He teach about the law? Here’s a prophecy from Isaiah and its fulfillment in Matthew.

Isaiah 42:21 NKJV

Yahweh is well pleased for His righteousness' sake;

He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

Matt 5:17-19 NKJV

17 "Do not thinkthat I came to destroy* the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy* but to fulfill. {*NIV renders “abolish”}

18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

His teaching about the law was to exalt it and make it honorable. He did this by His example as well— keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7, the Passover in Matthew 26, the Sabbath in Mark 1:21. Paul follows this example in several places in Acts. There is no prophecy telling us Messiah would come to abolish or ‘do away with the law’. As we saw in Isaiah and Matthew, it says just the opposite.

So what is the point of this? I’m glad you asked. The message of Anti-Messiah (or an anti-messiah) is a message of disobedience. This message teaches men the law is changed or abolished. It teaches men to dishonor and disobey it. It is contrary to the one of Yahshua the Messiah. The Jesus Christ of mainstream Christianity (or “churchianity” as I’ve heard it called) is a false messiah, an anti-messiah!! It presents a Jesus holding the law in low esteem. It presents a Jesus debunking, disobeying, abolishing, teaching against, and otherwise dishonoring the law. Yet they present him as the Messiah, the Savior of the world!! Such a one does not fulfill the words of Isaiah 42:21. Such a one does not point to Yahweh. He points to the one who empowers or inspires him-- Satan! He bears a greater resemblance to the one described in Daniel 7:25.

We also learn something about the men Peter warned us about. They are untaught in that they do not know the Scriptures. They are, however, very skilled in the “traditions of men.”

Satan has used this method and others to deceive people into believing he is the true Creator, the one the Scriptures identify as Yahweh. We can conclude that Satan has indeed had some success with his plans.   It’s no wonder the Scriptures warn us over and over again about deception! We must be truly thankful to Yahweh for the warnings He has given us about our adversary and his plans.