Meditation

Meditation for 10/01/2019

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

The connection of serpent imagery with Satan is clearly established in Revelation 12:9. “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

The infliction of a fatal wound to the head points to the victory of Christ at the cross (John 12:31: “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.”). Satan’s final defeat is revealed in Revelation 20:7-10 “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Megog—to gather them fro battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, we know that the day will come when Satan is once and for all time will be dealt with harshly and for all eternity. Satan is the great deceiver, liar, and stands for everything evil that we have in this world. We also know that when You send Jesus back to earth, He will restore all things to its original state of perfect, just as You created everything in the beginning. You have made all things perfect, it was mankind that perverted all things and tarnished Your creation. You have also made a perfect plan for us to spend eternity with You in the kingdom, though we each must make a conscious decision to accept You through Your Son, Christ Jesus. We have all been prepared to instruct others in the ways of Your Son, thus in Your ways. Abba, we love and worship You in all things and in all ways possible, that one day when it is our turn to join You, we will be fully prepared to accept the gift of the kingdom of Heaven. This we seek and in this we pray that all we love and cherish in this world, we also accept You, too. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“We are not made rich by what is in our pockets; rather by what is in our hearts.”

KNOWING GOD:

“In that day, the lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.” (Isaiah27:1)

Leviathan was the sea monster in ancient Hear Eastern creation stories in which the creator slew the monster. Isaiah’s use of the mythological creature does not imply that the myths were true. Using the figure of he sea monster as a symbol of evil, the passage relates the future day of the Lord’s new creation to the destruction of evil. Inasmuch as Satan is evil personified, the passage anticipates the eschatological (end times) victory over Satan that Christ will accomplish at His return.

I AM:

Last Things, Stan’s Defeat: (Revelation20:7-10)

The age-long adversary of humanity faces eschatological defeat. The principle of defeat was, accomplished at the cross. The preliminary manifestation of he defeat is seen in the binding of Satan for one thousand years. The final establishment and torment of Satan in the lake of fire. Such an end was announced in embryonic form in the prophetic word of Genesis 3:15 and reaffirmed by Jesus in John 12:31. Those interpreters who look for a literal thousand year reign find here a description of international rebellion led by Satan against the political kingdom of Christ. Some would identify this period of temptation with the tribulation.

Second Thought of the Day:

“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” (Revelation20:2-3)

At the climax of history Satan will be defeated and eternally punished. Satan is a loser whom no one should be foolish enough to follow. Those who do will follow Satan and his beastly forces can look forward to “special rewards.”

Some will say that they would never follow Satan, but they cannot tell you anything about God’s Word, except that it contains all we need to know. You would think they might open the Bible and read it for understanding, so that they would not fall in Satan’s lap through his lies and deceitful ways. Otherwise, they too will follow him to the lake of fire!