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THE SERPENT Where Did the Devil Come From? by J. Preston Eby
THE SERPENT "Now the SERPENT was
more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made ...
and the SERPENT said unto the woman, You shall not surely die ... and the
Lord God said unto the SERPENT, Because you have done this you are cursed
above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust
shall you eat all the days of your life: and I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your
head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Gen. 3:1, 4, 14-15). The book of Genesis is
probably the most important book ever written. The word
"genesis" of course means "origin" or
"beginning," and the book of Genesis gives the only true and
reliable account of the basic entities and conditions of the universe and
of life. Genesis yields vital information concerning the origin of ALL
THINGS - and therefore the meaning of ALL THINGS! When God speaks of "the
beginning" He is speaking of the originating point of the subject in
question. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth" (Gen.1:1). Away back yonder, before the dim and distant ages
that are gone, our heavenly Father purposed and planned and commanded; and
lo, the worlds came into being! Out of invisibility came forth the
visible; where previously there had been but empty space, now matter
appeared and took form: a kingdom was in the making. It all began in
"the beginning." All these things had their origin in Him, and
they were His workmanship from the beginning of their creation. It is
interesting to note that in the Hebrew text this word
"beginning" is in the plural number - "beginnings."
There were many things begun all at the same time, as the manifold wisdom
of God found expression in innumerable ways to bring forth into the realm
of visibility the majestic purposes of God. There is neither time nor
space to enumerate all that is included in just two words: ALL THINGS.
"For by Him were ALL THINGS created, that are in heaven, and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: ALL THINGS were created by Him and for Him: and
He is before all things" (Col. 1:16-17). The truth to which the Spirit
of God would now draw our attention is this: When God speaks of "the
beginning" He is speaking of the ORIGINATING POINT of the subject in
question. It is written of Jesus when He had turned water into wine,
"THIS BEGINNING of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him" (Jn.
2:11). This means, simply, that the miraculous aspect of the ministry of
Jesus Christ had as its originating point this miracle of the water turned
into wine. He had performed no miracles before this time, but from this
day forth many more were to follow. This, so far as His miracles were
concerned, was "the beginning." Thus we may clearly see that if
something is manifested in a certain form "from the beginning"
that means that from the time it was first formed, established, and came
into being it has been in that condition. Webster defines
"beginning" as (1) a start (2) the time or place of starting or
coming into being; origin; source. It should not be difficult for anyone
who has working knowledge of the English language to understand the
meaning of "in the beginning" or "from the beginning."
The beginning of anything is simply THE TIME OR PLACE OF ITS STARTING OR
COMING INTO BEING. Yet, the whole teaching of
the church system has perpetrated a crude notion which collides head-on
with this plain and unmistakable truth of God's Word! Despite the fact
that "from the beginning" obviously means from the start,
origin, or coming into being of a thing, men have taught a doctrine for
long centuries which blatantly contradicts this simple statement of divine
fact. I speak of that which is taught concerning Satan - the Devil. Orthodoxy had long taught
that Satan was, in the beginning, a high and beautiful archangel in
heaven. The theologians and preachers recite over and over how Satan was
originally "the anointed cherub that covers ... the most beautiful
and wise of all God's creation!" This being was, so they say, the
ruler and leader of the angelic beings and apparently led them in their
praise of God and shouts of joy ...the greatest being God ever created,
one who had unequaled strength, wisdom, beauty, privilege, and authority,
and was next to God Himself. This blameless, perfect one, named Lucifer,
was created without any form of evil and with the greatest intelligence of
any created being. Then, we are told, this Lucifer, suddenly realizing how
beautiful and intelligent he was, became inflated with power and pride and
his heart was lifted up in rebellion against God. According to the story,
Lucifer gathered one-third of the heavenly angels to his cause, mustering
an army with which he planned to knock God off His throne and supplant
himself as king and god of the universe and there was war in heaven!
Luckily, God won, cast Lucifer out of heaven and he became, instead of an
holy angel, the Devil that he is today. It is nothing short of
amazing that such a doctrine could have enjoyed such widespread acceptance
in the light of the plain teachings of the Scriptures on this subject. Any
man who fails to discern between facts and fables, and who opposes or
rebels against facts, is a fool. Fools manifest their true state by
resisting and ignoring facts. Please remember, there is a world of
difference between facts, beliefs, and fantasies. I believe the core of
our natural earth is hot, perhaps molten. But no man knows anything about
the true conditions down there. There is no possible way of ascertaining
or demonstrating the truth or falsity of my belief. So it remains merely a
belief: it may be true, or it may be false. On the other hand, if I
thought our natural sun were made of red paint, that would be a fantasy,
just a highly improbable or irrational idea of my own. But facts are
altogether different. They are actualities, realities, whether they can be
demonstrated as such or not. Ice is cold. That is a fact which can be
demonstrated. The earth is round. That fact has through recent centuries
been conclusively demonstrated. It is neither a belief or a fantasy. Fire
burns; one must have air to breathe; these are facts, and, only fools will
oppose or resist them. Now we are going to state some facts. Let us
contrast what MEN say and believe with what GOD says! Man says that Satan IN THE
BEGINNING was holy, but later fell from that estate. JESUS said of Satan,
"You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you
will do. He was a MURDERER (not an angel) from the BEGINNING, and abode
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie,
he, speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. (Jn. 8:44).
In these studies on the Garden of Eden we are searching out the BEGINNING,
probing into the very midst of the past, the times before this age and
past ages, that we might understand the grand and glorious purposes of our
omnipotent and omniscient heavenly Father which He has purposed from the
beginning of the world. How authoritatively the Lord Jesus reveals that
way back there, in THE BEGINNING, in even HIS beginning, Satan WAS A
MURDERER! The verse we have just quoted
states that Satan "Abode not" in the truth. In the Greek text
this verb is the imperfect tense of HISTEMI meaning, I keep my standing,
or simply, I stand, and the form is meaning that even before the fall or
as far back as this person existed HE WAS NOT TRUE. Dr. Robert Young, in
his Literal translation of the Bible, renders this verse: "He was a
manslayer from the beginning, and in the truth HE HAS NOT STOOD, because
there is no truth in him. The MAN says that Satan IN THE
BEGINNING was perfect and sinless. But the apostle John, writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned these words in regard to Satan's
origin: "He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil SINS FROM
THE BEGINNING" (I Jn. 3:8). This could not be rightly said of Adam.
According to Genesis 2 and 3, it was not until after Adam was created in
spirit essence, after he was lowered into the realm of flesh, after he was
placed in the Garden, after he named all the animals, after the woman was
taken from his side, after she listened to the serpent and ate the
forbidden fruit - it was AFTER ALL THESE THINGS that Adam sinned. Adam was
not a sinner from the beginning. But the Devil, according to I Jn. 3:8
W-A-S A SINNER F-R-O-M T-H-E
B-E-G-I-N-N-I-N-G! Now, if we are to believe the Bible means what
it says - and I believe it does - we must believe that from his very
beginning SATAN WAS EVIL. WHO MADE THE DEVIL Did GOD create the Devil?
Well, we know he did not create himself! And he did not "just
happen"! The reason some have held the view that Satan was originally
an angel is because it seems to relieve God of the responsibility of evil
and sin in the world. When they are asked if a good God created a bad
Devil, they can reply: "No, He did not create the Devil; He created a
beautiful and powerful angel who later became the Devil!" This sounds
good on the surface, but when the Spirit of wisdom and revelation comes
from God, this line of reasoning is seen to be but shallow inductions of
the natural mind. How COULD an all-wise and
holy God create an evil Devil? Our reply to that is another question: If
God, all-wise and all-knowing, created a being and designed within this
being the inherent ability and potential to become evil - a will capable
of rebelling against Him, and if in His omniscience He knew beforehand
that this creature would become evil, is God then any LESS responsible for
the Devil? If we say God created a good being and did not know he would
become evil, then the Devil got a step ahead of God! If the Devil could do
something back there which God did not know he would do, or did not plan
for him to do, THEN HOW CAN WE BE SURE HE MIGHT NOT PULL A FAST ONE ON GOD
AGAIN! Ah, beloved, such carnal reasoning is an affront to the majesty of
the Most High God! Is it any less thinkable that God would create an evil
one than just to create one with the God-given ability to become evil? In
either case, there is absolutely no way to absolve GOD from the Devil! That "all things are of
God" is declared over and over again in the Bible. Did not the Lord
say to Pharaoh, that wicked man of rebellion against all that was of God,
"Even for this same purpose have I RAISED YOU UP, that I might show
My power in you, and that My name might be declared throughout all the
earth?" (Rom. 9:17). The infinite wisdom of God's mind cannot be
ascertained by these carnal little heads of ours. We must banish our
childish theology and bring our minds into harmony with the mind of
Christ. We must begin to peer through the mighty telescope of God's wisdom
as it looks through the vast universe of good and evil until heavenly
light bursts with blazing brilliance upon our inquiring spirits and we see
with crystal clear vision that God is in all things, and is responsible
for all things, including all the so-called evil things as well as good
things. Is it not a fearful thing to say that evil is of God? There is
nothing fearful about this view unless the TRUTH be fearful! I would not
be surprised if some of the compatriots of the prophet Amos may have
thought he was speaking blasphemy when by the Holy Spirit he said,
"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
shall there be EVIL in a city, and THE LORD HAS NOT DONE IT?" (Amos
3:6) There are untold millions of Christians who do not like to believe
that A-L-L T-H-I-N-G-S
A-R-E O-F
G-O-D - including evil. They much prefer to believe, as the harlot
system has taught them, that in the beginning God made everything
"perfect," then one of the "perfect" angels "made
himself" into the Devil and the Devil came in and wrecked the work of
God's hands and so degraded God's beautiful and perfect creation that the
Lord Almighty Himself was hard put to the test to discover some way to
restore the creation from the clutches of the Devil and after six long and
tortuous millenniums of conflict and struggle, contest and effort the
battle still rages on year after year and generation after generation, the
Devil out-foxing God at times, and God getting the upper hand eventually.
Childish prattle! Vain imaginations! Carnal-minded stupidity! Why, oh why can men not
believe the simple, unvarnished Word of God? Ah, we have God's own Word
for it - His positive statement that HE CREATES EVIL. "That they may
know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, THAT THERE IS NONE
BESIDE ME. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and
create darkness: I make peace, and CREATE EVIL. I THE LORD DO ALL OF THESE
THINGS" (Isa. 45:7). God creates evil! It cannot be! But here it is
in the Word. What will you do with it, beloved? "We must explain it
somehow," the fundamentalist says, "surely it cannot mean that
God creates evil, sin, sinners, devils, or wrongdoing - it must mean that
He creates physical evil - famines, pestilences, hurricanes, tornadoes,
forest fires, floods, calamities, judgments, etc. which God sends upon
mankind as punishment for their wickedness." Not so! The word here
for "evil" is the Hebrew word "ra" which is used
throughout the Old Testament to denote wickedness, sin and wrongdoing. In
some five hundred passages it is so used! For example, in Gen. 6:5 we
read, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of his heart was only evil (ra)
continually." Again, "And the Lord's anger was kindled against
Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all
the generation that had done evil (ra) in the sight of the Lord, was
consumed" (Num. 32:13). In Ps. 34:13-15 we are admonished, "Keep
your tongue from evil (ra), and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from
evil (ra), and do good ... the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
and His ears are open unto their cry. The very same word in the original
is also rendered "wicked" and "wickedness" more than a
hundred times. So God declares, "I form the light and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these
things!" Why should puny man attempt to shield the Almighty from the
responsibility He Himself has taken? If He says He creates peace, then
believe Him. If He says He creates evil, then believe that, too. Do you
remember how they brought the blind man to Jesus, and as the poor fellow
stood there, the disciples said to Jesus, "Master, who did sin, this
man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" Jesus replied,
"Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: BUT THAT THE WORKS OF
GOD SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST IN HIM" (Jn. 9:2-3). So through the evil
of blindness the glory of God was manifested in the end! Before continuing with this
thought we need to establish one other point where the word of men and the
Word of God differs. MAN says that the serpent in the Garden was one of
these long slender reptiles that have backbones and ribs and scales on the
outside of their bodies. Numerous pictures have been painted of the snake
dangling from the limb of a tree, conversing with Mother Eve. In the book
of Revelation we have a truth given by revelation to the apostle John
wherein is revealed a most important fact concerning Satan and the
serpent. This truth is stated twice in the book. Two is the number of
WITNESS, thus has God given a clear and unmistakable WITNESS concerning
the identity of the serpent. Hear, now, the Word of the Lord! "And
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him ... and I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years" (Rev. 12:9;
20:1-2). Here Satan is called
"that old serpent." The word "old" is from the Greek
word "archaios" which means ORIGINAL or PRIMEVAL.
"Primeval" means FROM THE FIRST AGE OR AGES: PRIMITIVE. "Archaios"
is from the Greek word "arche" which means A COMMENCEMENT OR
BEGINNING. Furthermore, "arche" is an abstraction of the Greek
word "archomai" which means TO COMMENCE IN ORDER OF TIME.
Putting this all together can we not see that Satan is that OLD serpent,
that ANCIENT serpent, that ORIGINAL serpent, that PRIMEVAL serpent, the
serpent of THE FIRST AGE, from the BEGINNING, who existed as a serpent
right FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIME! Phillip's translation reads,
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key of the pit
and a huge chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the SERPENT OF ANCIENT
DAYS, who IS both the Devil and Satan ..." Another version states,
"And he seized the dragon, the ORIGINAL SERPENT, WHO IS the Devil and
Satan ..." The Amplified Bible says, "And he gripped and
overpowered the dragon, that OLD SERPENT OF PRIMEVAL TIMES, WHO IS the
Devil and Satan ..." It is a common fault among us to repeat what the
theologians and preachers of Babylon say instead of saying what GOD SAYS,
but it is a very great blessing to us when once we comprehend the utter
simplicity of the truth of God and simply believe it. Practically all
sermons preached today are merely the philosophy of the preacher, and
practically all the philosophy of the preacher is the tradition of men
handed down from one generation to the next. These philosophies and
traditions of the church become the established doctrines of the sect, and
the graduates from the Seminaries become so zealous in propounding them
that they never once think to seek HIS face, come to know HIS will, or be
partakers of HIS glorious mind. Thus through a lifetime men go on
preaching, contending and arguing their time-honored traditions until they
become like the Pharisees of old, making the WORD OF GOD OF NO EFFECT
through their traditions. They become thoroughly robbed of their vital
association with Him, and lost to them is the grand and glorious TRUTH as
it is IN JESUS. MAN, on the one hand, says
that a fallen angel, Satan, used the serpent in Children in school learn what
we call definitions. A definition is an explanatory statement which tells
us just exactly what a certain thing is, as "an island is a tract of
land completely surrounded by water." God also gives us definitions
in His Word. He tells us exactly what certain things are. And in the
Scripture just quoted He has told us exactly what the serpent is:
"That original serpent, WHICH IS the Devil and Satan." Now let
us make this a little plainer. Definitions of men can be given backward.
For instance, the definition, "An island is a tract of land
completely surrounded by water," can be given thus: "A tract of
land completely surrounded by water is an island." This is but
another way of stating the same fact. It does not, in any way, change the
meaning. Now let us try this on the definition of the serpent. "That
original serpent IS the Devil" - "Satan IS that original
serpent." That, dear reader, is GOD'S OWN DEFINITION of the serpent
in As soon as this truth dawns
upon your enlightened heart, the knowledge of WHENCE CAME THE SERPENT will
speedily follow. The Word of God is certain and unmistakable. The Holy
Spirit emphatically declares, "Now THE SERPENT was more subtle than
any BEAST of the field which THE LORD GOD HAD MADE" (Gen. 3:1). Two
things are here revealed: the nature of the serpent is a BEASTLY nature -
and GOD MADE HIM! Suppose that instead of trying to explain this passage
in harmony with some cut-and-dried creed, we let all creeds go and wait
upon the Spirit of the Lord to give understanding of what the passage
really means, and then, if the creed does not harmonize with the light the
Spirit brings, throw the creed away. At any rate here is the statement in
the Word and we will be brave enough to receive it as TRUTH and trust the
same One who made it to explain it. "The SERPENT was more subtle than
any BEAST of the field which THE LORD GOD HAD MADE." These words
deserve pages of explanation, but can you not see that they are filled
with the spirit of revelation? God MADE the serpent, God MADE him with a
beastly nature, God MADE him subtle, God MADE him the Devil and Satan, God
MADE him a liar and a murderer from the beginning! It is completely impossible
for any man to truly know and love God until his spirit has been taught
that before all things, through all things, in all things, and after all
things is God, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, eternal, purposeful, and
filled with righteousness, love, kindness, forgiveness and truth. He was
before ALL THINGS and BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. There is no angel,
principality, or power anywhere in all the endless vastnesses of infinity
that does not hold his authority by direct appointment of God. In Him all
men and angels and creatures live and move and have their being. BY Him
and FOR Him and TO Him are ALL THINGS. From Him everything comes, by Him
everything exists, and in Him everything ends bringing glory to God
forever and forever, Amen. The imagination that a thing
can have its beginning in God, and then become something other than what
God foresaw, purposed, intended, or planned for it is a vain imagination
that comes from the distorted mind and the wild imagination of man and not
a truth that comes from the omniscient mind of our heavenly Father, for OF
HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO HIM, are all things; to HIM be glory forever
and ever! Amen! (Rom. 11:36). Even more enlightening is the translation
from Goodspeed which says, "For FROM HIM EVERYTHING COMES: THROUGH
HIM EVERYTHING EXISTS; AND IN HIM EVERYTHING ENDS. GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!
AMEN." Or as the Amplified Bible bluntly and beautifully words it,
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. - For all
things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him,
and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him. To Him
be glory forever! Amen - so be it." The words of this precious
portion of Scripture cast a ray of divine illumination across the gloomy
pages of human tradition that for centuries has confused men's minds and
attributed to Satan the power to be and to do apart from, and in rebellion
against God, causing men's faith in the omniscience, immutability, and
omnipotence of the Lord to falter and die. There came a blessed day in my
life when my Father in heaven let me hear a secret from His own heart, a
secret that few have understood throughout all generations of the Church.
When He breathed into my listening ear it well nigh stunned me because of
my own tradition and unbelief, yet I could not doubt the truth He taught
me when He said, "For by Him were ALL THINGS created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and INVISIBLE, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or PRINCIPALITIES, or POWERS: ALL THINGS were
created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all
things consist" (Col. 1:16-17). "ALL THINGS were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made" (Jn.1:3). I was
as one shocked by a lightning bolt out of the sky by these words because
for years all my teachers had instilled the very opposite into my mind.
"God," they told me, "made a beautiful, glorious angel, but
the Devil made himself!" But when I heard the voice of the all-wise
Lord, speaking from the throne of His all-powerful majesty, taking upon
HIMSELF all the responsibility for THE ENTIRE CREATION, my heart was
amazed in His presence and for the first time in my life the "purpose
of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will," began
to unfold in my deepest heart. God is THE CAUSE of all that
is. It all exists with the one purpose of showing forth His glory. Every
object in nature and every creature in the universe has its only reason of
existence in this - that the wondrous goodness and wisdom and power of God
may shine out through it. God is the end and aim of all things, because He
is their beginning and origin. All must fulfill His will because all came
from Him and exist only through Him. WHY THE DEVIL Over the years many books
have been written, many songs have been sung, many sermons have been
preached, and many things have been said about and blamed on the Devil.
Sad to say, but the vast majority of Christians fear the Devil more than
they do God! Satan has been blamed for everything from the car breaking
down to ingrown toenails. People have painted him as a huge, ugly, impish
personage with horns, bedecked with a red suit, having a long pointed tail
and carrying a pitchfork. The Word of God, however, has somewhat to say
about who and what Satan is and WHY HE IS WHAT HE IS. Jesus declared of Satan,
"The THIEF comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly" (Jn. 10:10). Out of God's own mouth proceeds the
assertion, "I have created the WASTER to destroy" (Isa. 54:16).
We gather from this passage that Satan is a created being with a definite
purpose. That purpose is stated in the opening words of the above quoted
verse: "I have created the smith (the Devil) that blows the coals in
the fire, and that BRINGS FORTH AN INSTRUMENT for his work." The "Smith" that
"blows upon the fire" is also the one who heats the furnace
seven times hotter! "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the
fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened
unto you." (I Pet. 4:12). Our trials and testings are associated in
the Word of God with the ministry of Satan. You never thought of Satan
having a MINISTRY? "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be TEMPTED (tested) OF THE DEVIL. And when the Tempter came
to Him, he said, If You be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread" (Mat.4:1-3). "Fear none of those things which You
shall suffer: behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, THAT
YOU MAY BE TRIED ... be faithful...
and I will give you a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10). "And the Lord
said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, THAT HE MAY
SIFT YOU AS WHEAT: but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not:
and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren" (Lk. 22:31-32).
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a
roaring lion, walks about, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR: whom resist
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same AFFLICTIONS are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world" (I Pet. 5:8-9). We flounder a bit in our
understanding of these things, but as time passes by and the Holy Spirit
takes the things of God and reveals them unto us, we begin to understand
that in all the universe a thing is a thing ONLY BECAUSE IT HAS ITS
OPPOSITE. Good without the knowledge of evil can scarcely be called good
at all. Who could possibly speak of the day if night had never been known?
There was no first light if there were no darkness? What could we know of
life if there were no death? What would we know of health if there were no
sickness? What would we know of wealth if poverty had not spread its
specter upon the earth? No man can be trusted until he has been EXPOSED TO
THE OPPOSITES, until he has been tempted. No man can be declared strong
until he has been tested for weakness. Nor can he be an overcomer until he
has faced the dreadful foe. Those who are worthy to slay their Goliaths
must first have slain their lion and their bear. No man can be an
overcoming Son of God until he has encountered THE SERPENT IN THE
WILDERNESS and come forth victorious! Everything has its right and
wrong, its truth and error, its good and bad, and the one must overcome
the other. Sweet must overcome and swallow up bitter, smooth rough, soft
hard. Life swallows up death, said Paul in II Cor. 5:4; and it gets its
strength from HAVING AN OPPOSITE WHICH IT HAS SWALLOWED UP. You cannot say
a certain yes in a decision, until you have first canvassed the
alternatives and said an equally certain no to each of them. The strength
of the yes is swallowing up the nos! Not in having no nos, not in ignoring
their existence, but in facing them and replacing them by the final yes.
Ah, beloved, God is God BECAUSE THERE IS AN OPPOSITE, an adversary, an
opponent, and God will be God to you, dear one, when you have encountered
the adversary in all his works AND OVERCOME HIM THERE! And here we have
God's perfect wisdom in the formation of the human race and in bringing
forth a convenient opposite, the wrong one, the evil one, THROUGH WHOM HE
WOULD BRING HIS VAST FAMILY OF SONS TO MATURITY. "Though He were a
Son, yet learned He OBEDIENCE by the things which He suffered" (Heb.
5:8). "For it became Him.... in bringing many Sons to glory, to make
the captain of their salvation PERFECT through sufferings" (Heb.
2:10). As one has written, "God
is constructing a temple, made of living stones, through which to manifest
Himself throughout the ages to come, hallelujah, and Satan was created (a
sinner from the beginning) as a chisel and hammer to be used in the
construction of this building. The living stones that are even now being
placed in this temple have been chosen, says the Lord, in the
"furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10). God, however, is mercy;
God is love; God is compassion. He is a healer, not a destroyer. It was,
nonetheless, necessary that an oven be heated in which to purify the gold
- a furnace in which the wood, hay, and stubble were to be burned - but
God, in His nature of love, could not perform the necessary affliction. It
was for this reason that He created AN INSTRUMENT that was capable of
performing this essential action in the lives of men, for in Satan God
literally created a chastening rod. "If we can realize that
behind the acts of Satan is the mighty hand of God working to bring forth
gold from these earthen vessels, we can rejoice, as David, in our
afflictions and trials and exclaim with him, 'It is good for me that I
have been afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes' (Ps.119: 7). Praise
God! When we begin to see the GOOD that comes from the assaults of Satan
on our lives, we are able to appreciate all the more the greatness of our
God and the depth of the wisdom of His great mind. Praise His wonderful
Name! He is truly a God of power and might, and ALL things are in His hand
- even this adversary whom we call the Devil." Ah, beloved, there is purpose
in affliction. There is purpose in trial. There is purpose in temptation.
There is purpose in suffering. There is purpose in sorrow. There is
purpose in pain. There is purpose in sickness and infirmity. There is
purpose in light and darkness. There is purpose in good and there is
purpose in evil. There is purpose in adversity and in the adver-sary who
brings it. Yes, my brother, my sister, there is purpose in the existence
and work of Satan! Without this understanding all the work of God in all
ages becomes a hit and miss, trial and error affair unworthy of our mighty
God of whom it is written, "The Most High ... lives forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to
generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing:
and HE does ACCORDING TO HIS WILL in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth: and NONE CAN STAY HIS HAND, or say, What doest
Thou?" One of the fundamental laws
of creation is that an OPPOSING FORCE is necessary for growth, and to
produce strength, stamina, and endurance. Any living thing that grows up
without any opposition is weak and powerless. God's NEW CREATION must be
strong and powerful, and anything that desires to be strong, or anyone,
must wrestle with a force that is contrary to them. Any man who wants to
develop muscular power to be strong, must spend weeks and months and years
in vigorous training doing heavy exercises, lifting heavy weights, using
the OPPOSING FORCE of gravity to DEVELOP HIS STRENGTH. A man who wants to
be a great wrestler, doesn't just wrestle when he is in the ring. At his
training center he has his wrestling partners with whom he wrestles by the
hour. If he didn't do this he would be weak and powerless in the ring. A boxer has his punching bags
and sparring partners, with whom he spends hours every day. Those OPPOSING
FORCES are indispensable to develop strength. A plant that grows in a
greenhouse sheltered from the winds and rains, pampered day after day, may
grow large, but it is inherently weak, and if suddenly exposed to the
elements will wither and die. But a plant that is constantly exposed to
the fierce winds and, pounding rains, burning heat and chilling cold, is
strong and not easily destroyed. So it is with us as human
beings. One who grows up in a sheltered environment, who is pampered all
his life, grows up a weak, spineless individual. ADVERSITY builds strength
of character. If we were never exposed to trials and tribulation, we would
grow up weak indeed! The more we are exposed to ADVERSE circumstances, the
more we have to wrestle with our environment, the more we are CHALLENGED
by the world around us, the stronger we become. Saints, IF WE WOULD BE THE
SONS OF THE MOST HIGH we must be STRONG in the Lord and in the power of
HIS might! Our Father wants us to be strong, so He has wisely given us
wrestling partners to wrestle with, so we will become strong. There are
opposing forces (thank God for them!) that we must constantly battle
against. Some of these adverse things are the principalities and powers in
the heavenlies. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places" (Eph.
6:12). There is a great and
magnificent future ahead for the Sons of God, and a great work our Father
has for us to do in the ages to come, and He is preparing us and making us
ready for the high and holy place he has for us. Can we not see that ALL
THE OPPOSING FORCES WE NOW ENCOUNTER are working together for our good -
to develop the strength, character, wisdom, and power we must acquire? Why
the Devil? After every battle I may say, Thank you, Mr. Devil! for helping
to make me a Son of God. In due time the saints are going to take the
place of these principalities and powers in the heavenlies, and instead of
them ruling over us, we shall rule over them. This is even now reality to
the degree that we have met them in battle and conquered. This is God's
plan for us! We see this principle
fulfilled in the life of Job. Job was no baby saint, for no one less than
God Himself had given testimony that Job was a perfect and upright man,
one that feared God and eschewed evil. God had blessed this man with great
wealth and a large family. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned
seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen,
and five hundred she-asses. His household was very great with many hired
servants so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. The thing we want to note is
that although Job was wealthy in temporal things, rich in spiritual things
and proclaimed perfect by the Lord Himself, he had not been "tried by
fire" as Sons of God must be - he was as yet UNTRIED, UNTESTED, and
UNPROVEN. In the midst of Job's ordeal of affliction and suffering the
spirit of prophecy came upon him and he opened his mouth and spoke
concerning the purpose of God in it all, declaring, "But He knows the
way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold"
(Job 23:10). Never do I cease to be amazed at how the preachers and
teachers, apparently without exception, join their voices in unison with
those of Job's contemptible comforters, indicting and blaming poor old
Job, charging that God brought all these calamities upon him because he
had sin in his life, or because he was self-righteous, or because of some
other appalling fault in Job. The only reliable testimony we have of Job's
true state of being is that spoken by the Lord Himself, and HE declared
that Job was A PERFECT MAN! Perfect, yes, but untried! His perfection
remained to be proven, tested, and demonstrated. Now, what does God do but
deliberately hand over this perfect and upright man into the hands of
Satan to do his worst upon him, only that he should not touch his life. It
was be cause God desired to test Job that He brought forth "the smith
to blow the coals up on the fire." Please note that it was not
Satan's idea to persecute poor old Job! Oh, no! it was God Himself who
brought up the subject! There Satan was, presenting himself before the
Lord, appearing for duty, and God asked, "Where have you been?"
Satan replied, "Walking up and down in the earth" (No mention of
Job at all). Well, Satan," the Lord asked, "Have you considered
My servant Job? Have you noticed that he eschews evil and fears God? Have
you noticed that, Satan?" You can be assured, dear ones, that Satan
HAD noticed Job, but he wasn't doing anything to him. One of the most glorious
testimonies of the preservation of the saints of God is given here in this
passage by Satan himself. "Does Job fear God for naught? Have You not
made a hedge around him and about his house and about all that he has on
every side?" Praise the Lord! Yes, there truly is a hedge around the
people of God, and that hedge is Jesus Christ Himself. The Psalmist
recognized and rejoiced in this fact when he said, "He that dwells in
the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, HE IS MY REFUGE and my fortress: my God
in Him will I trust:” (Ps. 91:1-2). "You've put a hedge around
him," Satan said, "and I can't get to him!" Then he went on
to say, "You must put forth YOUR HAND and touch all that he has, and
he will curse You to Your face." But the Lord, who searches the reins
of the heart, who knows them that are His, knows who can be trusted with
affliction, and will not allow any to be tested beyond what they are able
to bear. He therefore said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in
your power - in your hand - only upon himself put not forth your
hand." One can only know God by
vital relationship to Him. Job KNEW God! Job knew in his deepest heart
that God is good, loving, true, righteous, omnipotent, omniscient,
immutable and faithful in all His way. At one point in his trial he
exclaimed, "I KNOW that my Redeemer lives ... and though after my
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," and
again, "I KNOW that You can do everything, and that no thought can be
withholding from You" (Job 19:25-26; 42:2). Being a perfect man Job
understood the nature of God, he knew what God is like - how He is. Armed
with this knowledge he was unshakable and unmovable as the hand of Satan
moved against him. With lightning swiftness the misfortunes fell as
tribulation and affliction sorely smote this man of God. All hell broke
loose upon him. His possessions were gone. His servants were gone. His
cattle, his family, and his dwelling place were as though they had never
been. And now he was desperately ill, tormented with pain, and without
even a bed to sleep on he lies down in the ashes of what was once his
beautiful home to listen to the relentless arguments of his friends,
monotonously attempting by lengthy speeches to make a fool of him and
prove that his present despair was the result of his own sin and disfavor
with God. I do not know how many days their debate continued, but such
miserable comforters as these are always at hand, ready to attest that
those who have entered the furnace of affliction have been bad examples as
Christians, unbelieving, or that they harbor secret sins and so are
deserving of punishment. Unless the Lord Himself has convicted them of sin
by His Spirit, sufferers should pay no attention whatever to them.
"If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence before
God" (I Jn. 3:21). In one tragic day all Job's
earthly wealth and glory had vanished as a mist before the rising sun. But
did Job curse God for all this calamity? Did he even curse the Devil? Was
he a fair weather saint without spiritual understanding? No, indeed! He
rent his mantle, shaved his head, and falling upon the ground, HE
WORSHIPPED GOD with the unmistakable words of reverence, "Naked came
I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: THE LORD
GAVE, AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD"
(Job 1:22). You see, beloved, all
external evidence shouted aloud that God did not love Job, that God had
forsaken him, that God did not see him, that God wasn't concerned about
what happened to him, and that God wasn't just. It seemed that God had now
revealed Himself to be THE OPPOSITE of all Job had experienced and known
of Him. But, praise God! Job KNEW God! He therefore KNEW that in spite of
all the external evidence, in spite of how terrible and hopeless things
appeared, God had not forsaken him, God did love him, God did see him, God
was concerned about what happened to him, and God was just. Ah, this is
faith - trusting God's goodness and faithfulness, knowing that HE has
everything in control, that ALL is according to HIS purpose IN SPITE OF
ALL EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY! Faith declares with Job, "Though God
slay me, yet will I trust Him," - and then after being slain - TRUSTS
HIM! Job, stripped of all, tried by fire, tested in the furnace of
affliction, found that the key to life is not some creed or doctrinal
statement of what we believe about God, but that which we KNOW OF HIM out
of intimacy of fellowship and vital union with Him. "The trial of your faith
is much more precious than gold that perishes" (I Pet.1:7). Surely
this is the lesson learned by Job, and this is the lesson being learned by
us as we see our earthly dependencies passing away and withering as grass
before our eyes. How could we have a more perfect illustration of how God
uses EVIL and God uses SATAN as an instrument for our good? Although Job
suffered intensely, yet in the end HE WAS GREATLY BLESSED BY HIS HARD AND
BITTER EXPERIENCE. If God thus uses Satan, the embodiment of evil, as a
minister for good in the case of one individual, is it hard to believe
that ALL EVIL is utilized by God for good in all cases? The New Testament abounds
with this same truth, Did you notice how strangely Matthew and Mark speak
of Christ's temptation? "And immediately the Spirit drove Him into
the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil" (Mk. 1:12; Matt. 4:1).
What a strange statement! The Holy Spirit of God drives the sinless Son of
God into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan, the arch enemy of all
righteousness, a murderer from the beginning, and the father of lies! Ah,
but it was necessary for the Son to be PROVEN, to be made STRONG, to
OVERCOME in these realms before proceeding on into His glorious ministry
and the death of the cross. Truly God creates evil and uses it, too, for
His glory! The apostle Paul fully understood this great truth and
practiced it himself. He instructed the Corinthian believers to
"deliver such as one to Satan FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH that
the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," and he
declares in his letter to Timothy that he himself has delivered certain
brethren unto Satan "that they might learn not to blaspheme."
But the apostle had experienced something of this kind of discipline also,
for he says, "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, THE
MESSENGER OF SATAN TO BUFFET ME, lest I should be exalted above
measure." All this clearly shows that Satan is a creature created by
God for a specific work, and even that work shall result in blessing for
God's children and redound to the glory of God! Dear saints of God, don't
believe for one moment that anything in all God's great universe is out of
control! God is GOD, He IS in full control of every sphere of activity,
and Satan himself is under the [ENTER TEXT OF WRITING / SCRIERE HERE] |
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