The Devil and Man’s Thoughts
The devil can’t read our thoughts as God knows our thoughts for the following reasons:
First-The Bible declares that only God is Omniscient. Omniscience is defined as “the state of having total knowledge and the quality of knowing everything.” God knows everything (1 John 3:20). In the Old Testament, we read in 1 Kings 8:39 that God alone knows every human heart. And in the New Testament we read that Jesus knew the thoughts of his audience “He knew what was in each person” (John 2:25; Matthew 9:4; John 6:64; Matthew 9:4; 12:25; Mark 2:6-8; Luke 6:8).
Satan and his angels are not omniscient they can’t read our minds. But Satan and his demons can make intelligent guesses as to what is going on our minds by our actions and by studying our weaknesses. Satan has been observing the human race for thousands of years and has become an expert in predicting what people may be thinking and then try to use this to tempt them.
Second-The Bible declares that only God is Omnipresent which means that God is present everywhere. The Bible reveals that God can be both present to a person (Isaiah 57:15) and present in every situation at any given time (Psalm 33:13-14). Satan can’t be in more than one place at a time.
Although Satan is a powerful angel and uses his power to cause us to sin, his powers are limited. Jesus said that the devil has been already defeated, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Therefore, the believers need not fear him. For Jesus declared, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
Thus, only God knows everything and He is everywhere, whereas Satan as a created being is very restricted in his powers.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
