Satan's Battle With God
by Jim Showers
This audio message was delivered during our
2007 Prophecy Conference season.
(37-minute message)
Satan’s Dilemma Leads to Tragic Consequences
1. When Adam sinned, Satan gained control of Earth from man (Lk. 4:5–6).
2. As a result, God’s theocratic Kingdom on Earth changed.
•No human representative
•Creation corrupted (polluted by sin)
God Responds With His Plan of Redemption
1. Key to God’s plan: the man-child Redeemer (Gen. 3:15)
2. God’s objective: to glorify Himself
•by crushing Satan (Rom. 16:20)
•by restoring His theocratic Kingdom to Earth (Isa. 9:6–7; 11:1–10)
Since the Fall, Satan Has Waged
All-Out Spiritual War With God (Eph. 6:12)
1. Satan’s objective: to keep God from completing His plan of redemption
•If he were to succeed, he would avoid God’s eternal judgment
Throughout History, Satan Has Worked
to Defeat God’s Plan of Redemption
1. His strategy prior to Messiah’s coming: to prevent Messiah from coming to Earth
|
Satan’s Attack |
God’s Response |
|
Kill the godly line—Cain kills godly Abel
(Gen. 4:1–8; 1 Jn. 3:10–12) |
Raises up another godly line—Birth of godly Seth (Gen. 4:24) |
|
Apostasy—Intermarriage of godly Seth and ungodly Cain
(Gen. 6:1–6) |
Human government, capital punishment—the flood
(Gen. 6:7—9:7) |
|
Apostasy—Tower of Babel
(Gen. 11:1–9) |
Languages—causes people to scatter, fill the earth |
|
Kill the Messianic line—Pharaoh’s attempt to annihilate Israel
(Ex. 1:8–22) |
Deliverance—Raises up Moses to deliver Israel (Ex. 2:1—12:28) |
|
Apostasy—Satan’s many attempts to lead Israel into apostasy |
God gives Israel the Law, Tabernacle, sacrifices—eventually captivity |
|
Kill the Messianic line—Haman’s plan to annihilate Israel
(Est. 3:13) |
Esther’s intervention saves Israel
(Est. 8:1–14) |
|
Apostasy—Antiochus Ephiphanes attempts to eliminate Judaism, 167 b.c. |
Maccabean revolt succeeds in 164 b.c. with rededication of the Temple |
2. His strategy since Messiah’s First Coming: to prevent Messiah’s Second Coming
•Eliminate Israel, prevent Messiah from sitting on David’s throne
•Last 2,000 years have been marked by tremendous anti-Semitism:
- Libels - Forced conversions
- Stealing of Jewish children - Theft
- Seizing inheritances - Torture
- Confinement in ghettos - Identification – distinctive clothing
- Economic restrictions - Jewish scapegoat
- Jewish conspiracy lies - Eviction
- Murder - Genocide
3. The Holocaust has been Satan’s greatest attempt so far to annihilate the Jewish people.
|
James A. Showers is vice president of The Friends of Israel. |