The
Messenger
CONT., page 2
SATANÕS EFFECTUAL WORK
Let us now consider SatanÕs purpose in
the works of God. Yes, Satan does
indeed have a purpose in Yahweh GodÕs design, for as we have already seen in
Job, he is sent by Him. Isaiah 45:6-7 clearly states, ÒI am
Yahweh, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness,
causing well-being and creating evil; I am Yahweh who does all these.Ó And as you will see, there are many
purposes in SatanÕs work, and we will begin with the matter at hand.
Regarding
Paul, we see that Yahweh God gave him over to Satan to torment him so as to
keep him from exalting himself.
What was His purpose in turning Job over to Satan? He proved Job, for Yahweh said that he
was blameless, upright, feared Him, and turned away from evil. And in the end, as with Paul, SatanÕs
work humbled him: ÒTherefore I
retract, and I repent in dust and ashesÓ (Job 42:6). And what about the church? What is SatanÕs purpose in them? This is of course a most relevant and
important question.
First,
in The Issue,
page 3, we note that what Satan did to Christ
at the hands of the Romans, so he does to the Body of Christ. Christ was blindfolded so that He could
not see, so Satan blinds the Body of Christ so they do not see. Thorns were placed upon His head, so the
cares of this world are placed upon the head of Christians. He was beat beyond recognition (Isaiah
52:14), so the Body of Christ does not look like the free and victorious
Christ. They balded His cheeks (in other words they shaved off His
beard, Isaiah 50:6), so the church has lost its masculine identity and is
feminized. And the list goes
on as to how Satan has afflicted, altered, and corrupted the Body of
Christ. All of this was done so
that the Body would stand in the place of the Crucified Christ. And of course for 2,000 years they have
gone to death.
Adding to this, there is yet another testimony we see regarding the angel Satan and the church, and that is in the wilderness wanderings of the sons of Israel. What do we find there regarding SatanÕs purpose? In Exodus 33:2-3, we find that because of the continual failures of the Israelites, Yahweh declared that He would not go with them into the Promised Land, but would send an angel to go with them: ÒI will send an angel before [or in the presence of] you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.Ó
We
find that this forty-year wilderness journey was in fact a type of the period
of Christianity. There are many
evidences of this, some of which can be seen by reading
here.
And, this is confirmed by the equally attesting like account of
YahshuaÕs own forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, where He was tempted by the angel Satan. To read more about this clear testimony,
click
here.
Now, you will recall that Yahweh said He would send an angel with them into the wilderness. Undoubtedly, this was one that would deliver them. However, this was not the case with ChristianityÕs wilderness. Instead, the angel they received was the angel Satan. And, this is testified to in what is written about the IsraeliteÕs wilderness. In Deuteronomy 8:2 and 15, we read:
ÒYou shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. . . . He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint.Ó
There
is a great deal of similarity between this account and that of PaulÕs account
regarding the thorn in the flesh.
It is quite interesting that the Greek word for the ÒthornÓ that was in
PaulÕs flesh, Òskolops,Ó literally means
Òpointed.Ó And similarly, in the
wilderness there were scorpions with their pointed stingers. And of course while Paul spoke of the
angel Satan, the wilderness had its same type—the fiery serpents!
Whether
it be the angel Satan tormenting Paul, or the testimony of Satan in the fiery
serpents in the wilderness, or Yahshua in the like wilderness being tempted by
Satan, or even Satan being sent to afflict and test Job in his own wilderness
experience, we see in each the evidence that the angel Satan has been sent into
the church to effect these like purposes.
And one of the most revealing testimonies is that stated in Deuteronomy
8: Òthat He might humble you,
testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His
commandments or not.Ó How well has
the church done in this test? They
have failed horribly!
Let
us now look at another purpose in SatanÕs role in the church. In fact, this is so significant and
impacting that it will be covered in its own section. This is the role of Satan as the
covering or head of the church for 2,000 years.
Continue
to page 3 of The Messenger for SATAN—THE COVERING, THE HEAD