Hi folks,
came across this little article. thought it was a nice one. sharing
it here with you.
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"... the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age understood;
for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:
Understand, Satan is a created being. He shares none of the
attributes of Almighty God -- not omniscience, omnipresence, nor
omnipotence, meaning that he is limited in knowledge and space and
power.
When it comes to predicting what God is going to do next, Satan has
to rely on what he can figure out, what he remembers from the
timeless past when he resided in heaven as a favorite angel, and
what he reads in Holy Scripture. Since the Holy Spirit does not
enlighten his understanding, Satan sees as the world sees, not with
the mind of Christ. Once we understand this, a hundred puzzles fall
into place.
The Apostle Paul pointed out that had Satan known what God was up
to, he would never have crucified Jesus. One might say that God
pulled the wool over the devil's eyes and fooled him. On that first
Easter Sunday morning, an imp rushed into the presence of his
satanic majesty, interrupting the two-day celebration over the
death of Jesus. The demon breathlessly announced that the tomb was
empty, the body gone, and the soldiers looked like they had seen a
ghost. Satan spewed out his champagne and cursed. He had been had
and he knew it. He had played right into God's hands and was
defeated.
Sometimes in biblical history, we see that the Lord manipulated
Satan, as in the cases of Job and Joseph. Sometimes, God gave him a
good comeuppance as at Mount Carmel when Elijah defeated the
prophets of Baal in a fire-calling contest. At other times, the
Lord used subterfuge to fool His enemy. Christmas is one of those
times.
Satan can read. He knew from Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be
born in Bethlehem. What he did not know was the timing of the
Savior's birth. So, in another of his endless efforts to thwart the
purposes of God, Satan pulled in demons from around the world to
concentrate on the Holy Land, specifically the region around
Bethlehem. That's one reason for the ubiquitous demon-possession in
the New Testament. The devils practically outnumbered the citizens.
They served as Satan's spies and were charged with keeping an eye
out for godly young couples about to have babies.
Satan was lying in wait for the Messiah
The first thing God did was to choose a man and woman not from
Bethlehem, but from Nazareth, far to the north. Secondly, He saw to
it that the woman's purity and morality would be doubted. The devil
can count; he knows it takes nine months to make a baby. He had no
way of knowing of Gabriel's visits to Mary and Joseph or of the
miraculous conception of this Baby. If he heard at all of this
young Nazarene couple, he quickly discounted them, certain that the
God he remembered from heaven would never deign to use obvious
sinners for so holy a role.
The third thing God did was to arrange to move Mary and Joseph to
Bethlehem in time for the birth, but not so as to draw attention to
themselves. When Caesar Augustus put out a call for a census of the
empire, God had put it in his heart. "The king's heart is like
channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He
wishes," as the Bible says in Proverbs 21:1.
Mary and Joseph were among thousands returning to their ancestral
homes for the census. Perhaps the roads experienced a primitive
form of gridlock. With Bethlehem's inns and available homes filled,
the young couple took the only thing offered, a stable. "She
brought forth her firstborn son and laid him in a manger, for there
was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). If the devil's imps
were vigilant, they would have dismissed the young family camping
out in a barn for good reason.
The God whom Satan remembered from heaven resided in a level of
glory unimagined on earth. Satan was unsure of a lot of things, but
one thing he knew -- God in heaven would not allow His Son to be
born in a barn. Doubtless he had told his demons to check the
finest homes for the most illustrious surroundings and outstanding
parents. But the Lord fooled him. "God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27). This
is a basic lesson of spiritual warfare which historically Satan
seems incapable of grasping. To this day, no carnal mind believes
it.
When Jesus was born, God prepared a welcoming committee of the
lowliest people on the planet -- shepherds -- primarily to reassure
the young parents that all was well. Satan had no way of seeing the
angels that appeared to these sheepherders that night or hearing
their clues on how to identify the Baby. "And this will be a sign
unto you: you will find a Baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger"
(Luke 2:12). No one noticed or cared when a small company of ragtag
shepherds ran breathlessly through the village looking for -- what
else? -- a stable.
Later, after Joseph had moved his little family into a house in
Bethlehem, a delegation of foreign visitors arrived. These "magi
from the east" had created no small stir in Jerusalem as they
naively announced their search for the one "born king of the Jews"
(Matthew 2). From the gifts they presented, Joseph was able to
finance a sudden trip to Egypt made necessary when murderous King
Herod sent soldiers on a search-and-destroy mission for the babies
of Bethlehem. Satan would have fumed to learn that the objects of
his wrath were already out of town, slowly making their way toward
Egypt where they would remain until Herod's death. Eventually, when
the holy family re-entered the country, they moved to Nazareth
where Joseph opened his carpentry shop.
Satan had lost Jesus
Jesus grew up with a normal Jewish childhood in Nazareth. He was
not a "Superboy in Smallville," amazing the hometown folks with His
miracles and inspired teaching. Had he done that, Satan would have
heard the talk about the boy wonder and come calling. The first the
devil learned of Jesus' identity was the day the Lord stepped into
the waters of the Jordan and waded to John the Baptist. Nudged by
the Holy Spirit, John called out, "Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!" And that's how everyone learned
that the Messiah was Jesus from Nazareth.
Jesus' baptism was His coming out. The gloves were off. God in
heaven was saying, "There He is, devil! Do your worst. We're
ready." The game was afoot; the battle was joined. It came to a
head one day three years later on a hill outside Jerusalem. For a
couple of days, Satan reveled in his victory. Then, on that first
Easter Sunday morning, an imp came running in, all out of
breath....
- By Joe McKeever