by Pastor Steve Ellison
It seems to me that Christians often ascribe more power and ability and knowledge to Satan than he actually possesses. God is omniscient. Satan is not. Satan has received his knowledge in much the same way that mankind has. In His infinite wisdom, God has doled out information in a steadily progressive revelation of Himself. Satan clearly knows the Scripture and with good reason. If he is to understand the times and the working of God, he must read the inspired Word of God. That is his only source of foreknowledge. John the Baptist’s anxiety laden question to Jesus from Herod’s prison is a somber and sad reminder of John’s desperate situation. It also brings to mind the plight of Satan. John asked if Jesus was the One or if he should look for another. Ever since God’s ominous decree in Genesis 3:15, Satan had been forced to over and over and over again ask that same question. Is this the One or shall I look for another?
Since Genesis 3:15, Satan knew that he would be locked in a desperate, unending, truceless conflict with the “Seed of the Woman”. Satan also knew that his blows would only touch the heel of his enemy, but he would feel the blows from the “Seed of the Woman” on his head. Thus Satan has always been well aware of his inevitable merciless defeat. As a side note, do not miss that Jesus opened and closed His ministry in the book of John by referring to His earthly mother as “woman”. The wedding at Cana and the Crucifixion provided perfect bookends for that subtle declaration from Christ that He was indeed the “Seed of the Woman” promised in Genesis 3:15. From Genesis 3:15 forward Satan would have to frantically examine every male child to see if this was the One sent to crush his head.
In Genesis 11, God made a promise to Abraham that narrowed it down to his descendants. It is hard to imagine the consternation and the glee and the anxiety felt by Satan when he heard that promise. It is also hard to imagine the hatred Satan felt for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Judah and David and Solomon, etc. and etc. It is very easy for me to read about Abraham betraying his wife not once but twice and Isaac, his son, doing the same thing and feel judgment for them. However, I need to realize that I have never had the forces of hell unleashed on me as they must certainly have had. Never again read the genealogies of Christ without remembering that those individuals must have faced temptation and attack that we never have. The Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament is one long series of Satan trying to prevent, corrupt, or destroy the line that would produce the “Seed of the Woman” and God responding in a continual thwarting of Satan by sending, purifying, and preserving that holy line. Never read the stories of individuals in the line of Christ without remembering that they were always the focus of the evil one who roams about seeking to kill and destroy. Remember that when you read of the failures of Abraham, Isaac, Judah, Jacob, Rahab, David, Bathsheba, Solomon, etc. Do not read of the mass murders by Pharaoh in the Old Testament and Herod in the New Testament as simply the acts of evil men. See them for what they were: Satan trying to prevent the first Christmas. You think that modern society has a war on Christmas? Yes, it does, but it is so small and insignificant and too late that it is almost laughable. The real war on Christmas ended in an emphatic defeat of Satan and the powers of hell. Now he is only waiting for the final crushing blow to his head which is just as certain as Christmas was. Hallelujah and Amen.
