My daughter’s illustration of Revelation 12:15

Dear Friends,

They shall not pass.

THIS is power

Jesus describes Satan as the father of lies (John 8:44), which makes perfect sense given that Satan invented lying (“Ye shall not surely die:”). In order to better resist his advances, we need to keep our eyes fixed on the truth; case in point, the true balance of power between God and Satan. We need to not be duped like these people:

[2Th 2:9-10 KJV] 9 [Even him], whose coming is after THE WORKING OF SATAN WITH ALL POWER AND SIGNS AND LYING WONDERS, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

I don’t think it’s any accident that Scripture gives us extensive details regarding Satan’s temporal defeats and his final doom. God bless us to not be deceived!

Satan never had a chance

Because we are “forgetting machines”, as someone has described us humans, we need to periodically remind ourselves of who wins and who loses in the cosmic struggle between good and evil.

It’s like this: God wins, Satan loses…big time.

And if you are paying attention, it’s not one long reign of Satanic terror followed by a sudden death blow to Satan; he’s actually already suffered a string of crushing and humiliating defeats.

I’m going to paste some extensive Scriptures below, but I contend they are worth your time.

This is for you, brothers and sisters. Enjoy!!!

Doom, defeat, humiliation…do you get the point?

God foretells one of Satan’s major defeats right out of the gate, in the first book of the Bible:

[Gen 3:15 KJV] 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT SHALL BRUISE THY HEAD, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Again in Ezekiel 28 (which I grant may also have a temporal application to a literal king):

[Eze 28:13-16 KJV] 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was] thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I WILL CAST THEE AS PROFANE OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD: AND I WILL DESTROY THEE, O COVERING CHERUB, FROM THE MIDST OF THE STONES OF FIRE.

One darn thing after another

In the holy angels’ epic rout of the armies of darkness, described below, I love how God doesn’t even directly participate in the battle. Why use a hammer to crack a nut?

[Rev 12:7-10 KJV] 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Actually, Revelation 12 contains a litany of the devil’s frustrations as he irrationally, hopelessly and desperately wars against all that is holy and good:

The attempt to devour the Christ child…

[Rev 12:4 KJV] 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, FOR TO DEVOUR HER CHILD AS SOON AS IT WAS BORN.

…fail!

[Rev 12:5 KJV] 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP UNTO GOD, and [to] his throne.

The attempt to kill His mom…

[Rev 12:13 KJV] 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN which brought forth the man [child].

fail!

[Rev 12:14 KJV] 14 AND TO THE WOMAN WERE GIVEN TWO WINGS OF A GREAT EAGLE, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

2nd attempt to kill His mom…

[Rev 12:15 KJV] 15 AND THE SERPENT CAST OUT OF HIS MOUTH WATER AS A FLOOD AFTER THE WOMAN, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

fail!

[Rev 12:16 KJV] 16 And the earth helped the woman, and THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, AND SWALLOWED UP THE FLOOD which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

The Jesus Ricochet

As alluded to above, the Incarnation did not, um, go well for Satan. Let us look at a more literal rendering.

In Matthew 4, Jesus successfully fends off Satan’s advances using Scripture alone, not even the tiniest fraction of His true power. Oh, the humiliation!

In addition, we see Satan’s legions, those venomous and powerful ministers of darkness who existed before the foundation of the world, being dominated by…a bunch of country bumpkins and their friends.

[Luk 10:17-18 KJV] 17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, EVEN THE DEVILS ARE SUBJECT UNTO US through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?

Satan’s next gambit…

[Jhn 13:2 KJV] 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s [son], to betray him;

…would ricochet back at him in severe fashion:

[Jhn 12:31-33 KJV] 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD BE CAST OUT. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

[Heb 2:14-15 KJV] 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that THROUGH DEATH HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM THAT HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, THAT IS, THE DEVIL; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The Twitter effect

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not like there’s a demonic free-for-all going on until God finally decides to do something about it. If you think such a free-for-all is going on, you have probably been spending too much time on Twitter, Fox News or MSNBC, and you haven’t spent enough time pondering what the demons would actually do with a carte blanche. I recommend the first two chapters of Job, Mark 5, and the following verses to help reorient you:

[2Pe 2:4 KJV] 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and DELIVERED  [THEM] INTO CHAINS OF DARKNESS, to be reserved unto judgment;

[Jde 1:6 KJV] 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath RESERVED IN EVERLASTING CHAINS UNDER DARKNESS unto the judgment of the great day.

[Rev 20:1-3 KJV] 1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And CAST HIM INTO THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, AND SHUT HIM UP, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Their torment is coming

…and the demons know it:

[Mat 8:29 KJV] 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to TORMENT US BEFORE THE TIME?

And in a stroke of poetic justice, the very people victimized by the devil…

[Rev 2:10 KJV] 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, THE DEVIL SHALL CAST [SOME] OF YOU INTO PRISON, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

…will be on the bench!

[1Co 6:3 KJV] 3 Know ye not that WE SHALL JUDGE ANGELS? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Their torment is here

Sorry, Far Side fans…Satan doesn’t march around hell gleefully torturing the damned with cold coffee and long aerobics sessions. Satan didn’t make hell for the damned; God made hell for Satan (and saved some space for the wicked):

[Mat 25:41 KJV] 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS:

Though Revelation calls him a dragon, he’s not a happy camper in the lake of fire. Behold and wonder at the final abode of Satan:

[Rev 20:10 KJV] 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Eternal torment in the lake of fire…you can’t lose bigger than that!

Epic Fail

Satan, his minions, and his children are under significant limitations now, and will eventually be cast into eternal torment. The evil ones’ campaign against the Light will ultimately fail, in epic fashion, and we will get to see it, and we will enjoy paradise forever.

Based on all of that…

Don’t worry, be happy!

God bless,

TFOTF