On Dante (Canto 7)

When Dante crosses from the circle of the gluttonous to that of the avaricious, his way is barred by Plutus. Virgil comes to the rescue, saying to Plutus,

Shut up, you cursed wolf of Hell!
Swallow your rage and let it gnaw your guts!
His passage to the hollows has its cause.
It is willed from on high, whence Michael brought
Vengeance against  the arrogant revolt.

The thing is, this has happened before:

When Dante tried to enter the circle of the gluttonous, his way was barred by Cerberus, and Virgil came to the rescue.

Before that, when Dante tried to enter the circle of the Lustful, Minos blocked his way, and was reprimanded by Virgil.

Before that, when Dante first entered Hell, Charon blocked his way, and was reprimanded by Virgil.

At every stage of Dante's journey, he is checked by the forces of evil.

This suggests two things to me, on an allegorical level. One, Satan stands in opposition to our spiritual growth. You say, Duh. But this bears repeating because we are not likely to persevere in our walk with God, unless we realize that Satan is putting rocks in our way to trip us up and turn us back. Were Dante not with Virgil, he would have been turned back four times already in his journey towards God; if we are not connected to God ourselves, vigilant and seeking the help of others, we too will be hindered in our walk with God.

Two, Satan defends his territory. Again, duh. But what surprised me about Charon and Minos and Cerberus and Plutus is that their territory is terrible; there's nothing pleasant or good about Hell to make it worth protecting; yet protect it they do, against any inroad that goodness, in the form of Dante and Virgil, wish to make. This made me think of the territory that Satan has staked out in this present world: widespread human trafficking, religious violence in the Middle East, even the consumerism and narcissism of American culture. He has also tried to stake out territory in the lives of individual believers: addictions and besetting sins. When we seek to make inroads into the territory which Satan has claimed in our world and in our lives, he resists us.

But thankfully, Satan loses.

When Dante passes Plutus, Virgil tells Plutus that Dante's trip is "willed from on high," an echo of Virgil's comment to Charon and Minos that in Heaven "power is power to do whatever it will." In other words, Dante goes forward because Dante going forward pleases God. Satan objects, but God's will simply steamrolls him. All Virgil has to do is speak of God's will, and forward Dante goes, no matter what Satan thinks of it. God's desires trump all.

This is encouraging, for God desires us to walk closer with Him, and to overturn the strongholds Satan has built in this world and in our lives. We may feel that we have the fight against evil harder than Dante does; after all, we have no Virgil to simply command that we be let go. We are living in a world under Satan's sway, and so we will feel as though we have to fight harder than he does, to see victory. Yet see victory we will. That is assured, on the basis of God's will and power and provision for us in Christ.