Adam Knowlden
10-06-2004, 12:45 AM
<font color="red"> Luke 10:18
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. </font>
Since his fall from paradise, the dark one, has strategized and contimplated various ways to destroy the Will of God.
Unfortunately for Him, he cannot stop the plans of God, but he has attempted to manipulate God's Will in the past, and in the current age, attempts to manipulate our wills to turn our back on God. His objective is straightforward:
1. Keep non-christians, in that state, rendering them defenseless to his power
2. Those who are saved, keep them weak so he can manipulate and ruin their lives.
Why?
Is this some cosmological game of chess between Good and evil?
The answer is found in the book of Zechariah...
<font color="blue"> Zechariah 3
Clean Garments for the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD , and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD , who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. </font>
He is the accuser of mankind.
We see this again in Psalms,
<font color="blue"> 6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
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Why would the sins be before the Lord continually? Because Satan is standing there accusing him!
He is raging with jealousy and hatred against humanity. In Zechariah 3 he is standing before God accusing the High Priest of Israel, naming all the sins Joshua has done, and why he does not deserve God's Will.
Before we go any further we need to determine exactly what will of God is. Because Satan's chief objective is to stop the Will of God.
What is the will of God?
<font color="red"> 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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<font color="blue">Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, </font>
<font color="brown">Luke 3:6
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
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<font color="green">Luke 5:32
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. </font>
<font color="666666"> Acts 2:17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: </font>
God's Will is to bestow Grace! To bring all to Himself.
Grace is the essence of His Will throughout all of human history! He desires for us to accept His Grace, so much He sent His Son to the cross to prove it.
http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/passion/cross.jpg
Satan cannot manipulate God's Grace, although he has tried countless times, and this enrages him beyond anything. Yet he never stops accusing us before the Lord. In desperation he hopes the accusations he brings before the Lord will justify the breaking of God’s promises.
We see him doing the same thing to Job,
<font color="brown">
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD , and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. </font>
The scene starts with Satan roaming the earth, seeking who he can accuse.
God asks him if he can find one thing to accuse Job of.
He cannot, but quickly shows his true deceptive nature. He cannot find anything to accuse Job of, so he accuses God Himself!
<font color="red"> 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you </font>
This evil spirit will stop at nothing to accuse us and try to bring illegitimacy to God's grace.
In the Old Testament era, or the times of the old covenant, Lucifer tried to thwart God's grace by getting God to not send His Son.
His first attempt to do so was in the days of Noah.
First note, God predicted the arrival of Jesus in Genesis,
<font color="red"> 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.
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This is a direct prophecy of Christ, and the first mentioned in the scriptures. God told this directly to Satan, sealing his doom. Since this time, until Christ descended to hell and took the keys, Satan has stopped at nothing to prevent the birth of Christ.
From the original sin in the garden, it was God's Will to bestow grace to mankind. From the curse of the garden it has been Satan’s will to steal that grace from us.
We see in Noah's day he very nearly succeeded. He had the world so corrupted with sin, God was sad He ever created mankind:
<font color="blue"> And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
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God was so fed up with the evil of the world; he was simply going to destroy the world and everyone in it.
However, God had made a promise, to crush Satan’s head.
<font color="red">8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. </font>
We see God's grace again. He saw a way to fulfill His promise, and did so, in the process destroying the entire earth, and all life save Noah, his family and the animals on the great ark.
Satan thought he had won, and manipulated God's Will, but he had not.
As time passed and man replenished the earth, the devil got back to work. God had made a covenant with Abraham, to bring from his seed to raise a great nation from which the savior of the world would come.
<font color="brown">Genesis 15
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness </font>
Here about Abraham's righteousness and God's Grace here,
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Romans-4.mp3
From this point on, it was Satan’s objective to destroy Israel.
Satan thought he could win by accusing God's people before the Lord, and get Him so angry he would destroy Israel and thus not send His Son. This is why we see Satan again and again try to corrupt Israel by getting them to sin against God.
Psalm 106 gives a quick rendition of the sins of Israel that occurred during the time of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
<font color="red">6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our fathers were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. [2]
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wasteland they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD .
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their Glory
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them-
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the LORD .
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the desert,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD ,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
and rash words came from Moses' lips. [3]
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the LORD had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He handed them over to the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.
44 But he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.
47 Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the LORD , the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!"
Praise the LORD .
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Lets see a few verses from this chapter:
<font color="red"> 8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, </font>
He saved them on an account of the promise he had made to Abraham to see His Will bestowed on earth, to shower man with His grace.
<font color="green">43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
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And here:
<font color="blue">Numbers 14
The People Rebel
1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
13 Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 'The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.'
17 "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
20 The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' 35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."
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Here after God answered their prayer for food and gave them Manna, they disobeyed again:
<font color="blue">19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
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Why? Why did He put up with their disobedience again and again? The plan He established for His dispensation of Grace,
<font color="blue">Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. </font>
He had this dispensation planned from the foundation of the world, and no matter Satan’s attacks, it would not be stopped.
<font color="blue"> Peter 1
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
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Satan’s strategy was to get God to destroy Israel and break His covenant with Abraham and the covenant He made with Israel at Mt. Sinai
Listen to the covenant here:
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Exodus-20.mp3
The very covenant that would bring about the bloodline of Christ.
http://www.homeworship101.com/images/biblevs_jud2.1_covenant.jpg
We can see this was Satan’s strategy from several instances in the bible.
For example we read in 2 Peter:
<font color="red">2 Peter 2:15-16 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. </font>
In Numbers 24, Balaam was hired by the King of Moab to put a curse on Israel. The attempt to curse Israel failed,
<font color="brown"> 10 Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the LORD has kept you from being rewarded." </font>
But Balaam, under the influence of Satan, gave Balak a true strategy to crush Israel. What an enemy could not accomplish against Israel, Israel could do to itself - through its disobedience. By yeilding to the temptations of satan.
Israel was tempted and joined to Baal of Peor.
Baal was the great Canaanite fertility god, and the worship of Baal was a constant enticement for Israel.
The women of Moab, coming among the men of Israel, seduced them to both sexual sin and idolatry.
The result of this sin is told in Numbers, but summed up in the chapter of Psalms we read:
<font color="brown"> 28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
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The point of this is showing Satan’s strategy to destroy Israel. He would get the nation of Israel to sin, so God would judge them. This was his plan before Christ came, to get God to break his vow and annihilate Israel from whom the Christ would be born.
<font color="green"> Chronicles 21
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
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Here Satan caused David to doubt God's vow to protect Israel so long as they keep His covenant and instead to number his troops, doubting God.
The result...
<font color="blue"> And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
9 And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
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Satan knew the covenant God had made. That if he could get Israel to break it God would have to judge them, by oath of His covenant. However, he did not take into account God's grace. In God's grace He always found a way to deliver Israel, so His promise to bring up the Redeemer through Abraham's seed would be fulfilled.
His new goal is to divert the world from the grace of God. Before Christ was born, His strategy was to not allow His birth to occur. That failed and Christ was indeed born and took on the sins of the world. This ushered in the age of Grace, which we now live in.
He could not stop the age of God's Grace that was fulfilled in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
His only hope now is to manipulate the will of man to reject God's Will for them, to receive His grace. For the believer, his goal is to keep us weak, so we will not help turn others to God's Will.
That is the master plan of the enemy.
Now that we understand why, it is easy to see why Satan will stop at nothing to cause chaos.
We also know that God has put a hedge around each of us. We do not know the degree of this hedge or how it varies for each person, but we do know God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can withstand, and he restrains Satan from doing whatever he wants in our lives.
If it were up to Satan he would simply kill us. This is obvious, for as soon as God removed His Hand, Satan killed everyone one Job loved.
<font color="red"> 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
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Jesus called him a murderer as well:
<font color="blue">John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. </font>
He does have the ability to tempt us but again, God restrains him from tempting us above what we can handle.
<font color="red"> 2 Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: </font>
Christ explains this in the Lord's prayer, which you can listen to here:
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Matthew-6.mp3
We also see he cannot force our will to sin. He can only "draw us away" and "entice", by tempting our lustful desires. We are the one who actually performs the sin.
<font color="purple"> 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
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The limitations of his power to influence us are not fully given in the bible, but we do know this much, he cannot tempt us beyond what we can endure and God has a hedge around us.
<font color="red"> 1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
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This hedge simply refers to the measure of grace God shows each of us.
<font color="blue"> 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
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And this hedge of grace is around unbelievers as well. For example, many of us should be dead literally, myself included. We were living in sin and by all rights deserved punishment, yet God's spirit strived with us and protected us from the wrath of Satan until we came to salvation.
Part of this hedge are the invisible guardian angels that fight against the devil. We won't get too heavily into angelology in this series, but the bible does mention guardian angels that are assigned to minister and protect us,
<font color="brown">13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
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God's hedge is even around the unbeliever, and of course the believer. Moreover the believer is given armour and a weapon to fight against the enemy with. Which will be discussed. But the only time in the bible we read this hedge completely is gone, is when the age of Grace is over, and the tribulation starts and Satan has full reign to do as he wills on this planet.
In summary:
The Will of God is grace- We know this because He did not even spare His own son on this account.
<font color="red"> Romans 8:32
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? </font>
In the Age of the Old Covenant, the period before Christ arrived, He established the law and the prophets, so Christ could fulfill them. This showed the value of His Grace.
In the time of Christ, The Father let His Will be known through teachings of Christ.
<font color="green">49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
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In the age of Grace, after Christ died and resurrected, He desires all people to come to Him through His son, so His grace can be administered.
<font color="green"> Luke 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. </font>
It is satans objective to thwart His will, or Grace. He does this out of pride, jealousy, and hatred both towards God and mankind.
In the age of dispensation, he tried to manipulate God's wrath to destroy Israel the chosen nation.
In the time of Christ, he tried to tempt the Lord to make Him an unworthy sacrifice. He also tried to kill Him numerous times, through the King, The Religious Leaders, and eventually succeeded through Judas Iscariot.
After the time of Christ, Gods Will(Grace) is fulfilled, so he tries to block God's Will for our lives which is the Free gift of Mercy God offers through His Son's sacrifice.
For believers Satan desires to keep us weak and prevent and the witness of God's Grace to others.
Before we can discuss overcoming strategies of the enemy we had to first understand why he is attacking and what his goal is.
We can go into much greater detail than this, but this is the basic summary, so we can get to the heart of the issue, stopping Satan’s will for our lives!
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. </font>
Since his fall from paradise, the dark one, has strategized and contimplated various ways to destroy the Will of God.
Unfortunately for Him, he cannot stop the plans of God, but he has attempted to manipulate God's Will in the past, and in the current age, attempts to manipulate our wills to turn our back on God. His objective is straightforward:
1. Keep non-christians, in that state, rendering them defenseless to his power
2. Those who are saved, keep them weak so he can manipulate and ruin their lives.
Why?
Is this some cosmological game of chess between Good and evil?
The answer is found in the book of Zechariah...
<font color="blue"> Zechariah 3
Clean Garments for the High Priest
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD , and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD , who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. </font>
He is the accuser of mankind.
We see this again in Psalms,
<font color="blue"> 6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
</font>
Why would the sins be before the Lord continually? Because Satan is standing there accusing him!
He is raging with jealousy and hatred against humanity. In Zechariah 3 he is standing before God accusing the High Priest of Israel, naming all the sins Joshua has done, and why he does not deserve God's Will.
Before we go any further we need to determine exactly what will of God is. Because Satan's chief objective is to stop the Will of God.
What is the will of God?
<font color="red"> 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
</font>
<font color="blue">Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, </font>
<font color="brown">Luke 3:6
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
</font>
<font color="green">Luke 5:32
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. </font>
<font color="666666"> Acts 2:17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: </font>
God's Will is to bestow Grace! To bring all to Himself.
Grace is the essence of His Will throughout all of human history! He desires for us to accept His Grace, so much He sent His Son to the cross to prove it.
http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/passion/cross.jpg
Satan cannot manipulate God's Grace, although he has tried countless times, and this enrages him beyond anything. Yet he never stops accusing us before the Lord. In desperation he hopes the accusations he brings before the Lord will justify the breaking of God’s promises.
We see him doing the same thing to Job,
<font color="brown">
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD , and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. </font>
The scene starts with Satan roaming the earth, seeking who he can accuse.
God asks him if he can find one thing to accuse Job of.
He cannot, but quickly shows his true deceptive nature. He cannot find anything to accuse Job of, so he accuses God Himself!
<font color="red"> 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you </font>
This evil spirit will stop at nothing to accuse us and try to bring illegitimacy to God's grace.
In the Old Testament era, or the times of the old covenant, Lucifer tried to thwart God's grace by getting God to not send His Son.
His first attempt to do so was in the days of Noah.
First note, God predicted the arrival of Jesus in Genesis,
<font color="red"> 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.
</font>
This is a direct prophecy of Christ, and the first mentioned in the scriptures. God told this directly to Satan, sealing his doom. Since this time, until Christ descended to hell and took the keys, Satan has stopped at nothing to prevent the birth of Christ.
From the original sin in the garden, it was God's Will to bestow grace to mankind. From the curse of the garden it has been Satan’s will to steal that grace from us.
We see in Noah's day he very nearly succeeded. He had the world so corrupted with sin, God was sad He ever created mankind:
<font color="blue"> And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
</font>
God was so fed up with the evil of the world; he was simply going to destroy the world and everyone in it.
However, God had made a promise, to crush Satan’s head.
<font color="red">8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. </font>
We see God's grace again. He saw a way to fulfill His promise, and did so, in the process destroying the entire earth, and all life save Noah, his family and the animals on the great ark.
Satan thought he had won, and manipulated God's Will, but he had not.
As time passed and man replenished the earth, the devil got back to work. God had made a covenant with Abraham, to bring from his seed to raise a great nation from which the savior of the world would come.
<font color="brown">Genesis 15
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness </font>
Here about Abraham's righteousness and God's Grace here,
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Romans-4.mp3
From this point on, it was Satan’s objective to destroy Israel.
Satan thought he could win by accusing God's people before the Lord, and get Him so angry he would destroy Israel and thus not send His Son. This is why we see Satan again and again try to corrupt Israel by getting them to sin against God.
Psalm 106 gives a quick rendition of the sins of Israel that occurred during the time of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
<font color="red">6 We have sinned, even as our fathers did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
7 When our fathers were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. [2]
8 Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
to make his mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
11 The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.
14 In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wasteland they put God to the test.
15 So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon them.
16 In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD .
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it buried the company of Abiram.
18 Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their Glory
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy them-
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the LORD .
26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the desert,
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD ,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
and rash words came from Moses' lips. [3]
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the LORD had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.
40 Therefore the LORD was angry with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.
41 He handed them over to the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.
44 But he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.
47 Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the LORD , the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!"
Praise the LORD .
</font>
Lets see a few verses from this chapter:
<font color="red"> 8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, </font>
He saved them on an account of the promise he had made to Abraham to see His Will bestowed on earth, to shower man with His grace.
<font color="green">43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
</font>
And here:
<font color="blue">Numbers 14
The People Rebel
1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
13 Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 'The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.'
17 "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
20 The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' 35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."
</font>
Here after God answered their prayer for food and gave them Manna, they disobeyed again:
<font color="blue">19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
</font>
Why? Why did He put up with their disobedience again and again? The plan He established for His dispensation of Grace,
<font color="blue">Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. </font>
He had this dispensation planned from the foundation of the world, and no matter Satan’s attacks, it would not be stopped.
<font color="blue"> Peter 1
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
</font>
Satan’s strategy was to get God to destroy Israel and break His covenant with Abraham and the covenant He made with Israel at Mt. Sinai
Listen to the covenant here:
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Exodus-20.mp3
The very covenant that would bring about the bloodline of Christ.
http://www.homeworship101.com/images/biblevs_jud2.1_covenant.jpg
We can see this was Satan’s strategy from several instances in the bible.
For example we read in 2 Peter:
<font color="red">2 Peter 2:15-16 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. </font>
In Numbers 24, Balaam was hired by the King of Moab to put a curse on Israel. The attempt to curse Israel failed,
<font color="brown"> 10 Then Balak's anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the LORD has kept you from being rewarded." </font>
But Balaam, under the influence of Satan, gave Balak a true strategy to crush Israel. What an enemy could not accomplish against Israel, Israel could do to itself - through its disobedience. By yeilding to the temptations of satan.
Israel was tempted and joined to Baal of Peor.
Baal was the great Canaanite fertility god, and the worship of Baal was a constant enticement for Israel.
The women of Moab, coming among the men of Israel, seduced them to both sexual sin and idolatry.
The result of this sin is told in Numbers, but summed up in the chapter of Psalms we read:
<font color="brown"> 28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.
31 This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.
</font>
The point of this is showing Satan’s strategy to destroy Israel. He would get the nation of Israel to sin, so God would judge them. This was his plan before Christ came, to get God to break his vow and annihilate Israel from whom the Christ would be born.
<font color="green"> Chronicles 21
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
</font>
Here Satan caused David to doubt God's vow to protect Israel so long as they keep His covenant and instead to number his troops, doubting God.
The result...
<font color="blue"> And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
9 And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,
10 Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
11 So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee
12 Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.
13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.
14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
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Satan knew the covenant God had made. That if he could get Israel to break it God would have to judge them, by oath of His covenant. However, he did not take into account God's grace. In God's grace He always found a way to deliver Israel, so His promise to bring up the Redeemer through Abraham's seed would be fulfilled.
His new goal is to divert the world from the grace of God. Before Christ was born, His strategy was to not allow His birth to occur. That failed and Christ was indeed born and took on the sins of the world. This ushered in the age of Grace, which we now live in.
He could not stop the age of God's Grace that was fulfilled in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
His only hope now is to manipulate the will of man to reject God's Will for them, to receive His grace. For the believer, his goal is to keep us weak, so we will not help turn others to God's Will.
That is the master plan of the enemy.
Now that we understand why, it is easy to see why Satan will stop at nothing to cause chaos.
We also know that God has put a hedge around each of us. We do not know the degree of this hedge or how it varies for each person, but we do know God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can withstand, and he restrains Satan from doing whatever he wants in our lives.
If it were up to Satan he would simply kill us. This is obvious, for as soon as God removed His Hand, Satan killed everyone one Job loved.
<font color="red"> 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
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Jesus called him a murderer as well:
<font color="blue">John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. </font>
He does have the ability to tempt us but again, God restrains him from tempting us above what we can handle.
<font color="red"> 2 Peter 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: </font>
Christ explains this in the Lord's prayer, which you can listen to here:
http://www.biblebible.com/order/audio/KJV-Scourby-dramatized-Matthew-6.mp3
We also see he cannot force our will to sin. He can only "draw us away" and "entice", by tempting our lustful desires. We are the one who actually performs the sin.
<font color="purple"> 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
</font>
The limitations of his power to influence us are not fully given in the bible, but we do know this much, he cannot tempt us beyond what we can endure and God has a hedge around us.
<font color="red"> 1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
</font>
This hedge simply refers to the measure of grace God shows each of us.
<font color="blue"> 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
</font>
And this hedge of grace is around unbelievers as well. For example, many of us should be dead literally, myself included. We were living in sin and by all rights deserved punishment, yet God's spirit strived with us and protected us from the wrath of Satan until we came to salvation.
Part of this hedge are the invisible guardian angels that fight against the devil. We won't get too heavily into angelology in this series, but the bible does mention guardian angels that are assigned to minister and protect us,
<font color="brown">13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
</font>
God's hedge is even around the unbeliever, and of course the believer. Moreover the believer is given armour and a weapon to fight against the enemy with. Which will be discussed. But the only time in the bible we read this hedge completely is gone, is when the age of Grace is over, and the tribulation starts and Satan has full reign to do as he wills on this planet.
In summary:
The Will of God is grace- We know this because He did not even spare His own son on this account.
<font color="red"> Romans 8:32
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? </font>
In the Age of the Old Covenant, the period before Christ arrived, He established the law and the prophets, so Christ could fulfill them. This showed the value of His Grace.
In the time of Christ, The Father let His Will be known through teachings of Christ.
<font color="green">49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
</font>
In the age of Grace, after Christ died and resurrected, He desires all people to come to Him through His son, so His grace can be administered.
<font color="green"> Luke 24:47
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. </font>
It is satans objective to thwart His will, or Grace. He does this out of pride, jealousy, and hatred both towards God and mankind.
In the age of dispensation, he tried to manipulate God's wrath to destroy Israel the chosen nation.
In the time of Christ, he tried to tempt the Lord to make Him an unworthy sacrifice. He also tried to kill Him numerous times, through the King, The Religious Leaders, and eventually succeeded through Judas Iscariot.
After the time of Christ, Gods Will(Grace) is fulfilled, so he tries to block God's Will for our lives which is the Free gift of Mercy God offers through His Son's sacrifice.
For believers Satan desires to keep us weak and prevent and the witness of God's Grace to others.
Before we can discuss overcoming strategies of the enemy we had to first understand why he is attacking and what his goal is.
We can go into much greater detail than this, but this is the basic summary, so we can get to the heart of the issue, stopping Satan’s will for our lives!