The Biblical Reference Snippet Series within The Prodigal Band Trilogy continues with this possibly final post in the series (unless I can come with another one). I am including this because several parts of the three-books-in-one trilogy claim that God is in control, not any person who thinks he or she is in control of local or world events—the so-called ‘world controlling’ elites definitely think they are in control because of their money or power—and not the one who wants to be ‘like the Most High’ (Isaiah 14), Satan/Lucifer, either.
If Satan was in control, would Earth even exist with life on it? Because Satan loves death and destruction. If those Satan thinks he controls, the elites who think they control everything, were actually in control, then why has it taken them so long—thousands of years—to get control? Because Satan deceives them into believing they are in control, because Satan, the ‘Adversary,’ is the ultimate deceiver.
Biblical references show this from the point of view of God the Almighty (the Old Testament Book of Job Chapters One and Two), and His Son, Christ (Matthew Chapter Four).
In Job Chapter One, starting with verse 6, Satan ‘presented himself before’ God, and they converse, with Satan ‘ordering’ God to ‘put forth thine hand’ and ‘touch all that he (Job) hath, and he will curse thee (God) to thy face” (Job 1:11). But God tells Satan, ‘Behold, all that he hath is in thy (Satan’s) power; only upon himself (Job) put no forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord’ (Job 1:12). Sounds to me like God controlling Satan to me, as in the rest of the chapter Satan does all sorts of damage to Job’s resources and even children, but does not hurt Job, who in anguish still refuses to curse God, saying (to paraphrase verse 21), the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. And then comes Chapter Two, where, again, Satan wants to destroy Job and have Job curse God, but God refuses to allow it:
{2:3} And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a
perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity,
although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him
without cause. {2:4} And Satan answered the LORD, and
said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for
his life. {2:5} But put forth thine hand now, and touch his
bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. {2:6}
And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he [is] in thine
hand; but save his life.
So Satan brings upon Job ‘boils’ on his skin from head to toe, which Job deals with by scraping the boils among ashes. Job’s wife then enters the picture:
{2:9} Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain
thine integrity? curse God, and die. {2:10} But he said unto
her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall
we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
So what is the point? One, Job, in great pain, still refused to ‘curse God and die’ though Satan ‘knew’ that Job would do such a thing (and did Satan use Job’s wife to try to convince Job to do so?). Two, did Satan take Job’s life after God told Satan not to take his life (when God told Satan to spare his life)? No, because God told Satan not to take his life. Further, why did Satan show up with the ‘sons of God’ (that is, the angels) in the first place? Likely, to ‘prove’ to God that he, Satan, was just as powerful as God and also to tempt God. But God was not tempted by Satan; he used Satan to make a point about Job, that Job would not give in to Satan’s desires. So, did Satan control God or did God control Satan? Did Satan kill Job? No, because God told Satan not to kill Job.
And speaking of controlling Satan, Christ, the Son of God and God made flesh, had a similar encounter with Satan in Matthew Chapter 4, right after John the Baptist baptizes Christ and then Christ gets into the ‘wilderness.’
{4:1} Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. {4:2} And when he
had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an
hungred. {4:3} And when the tempter came to him, he said,
If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread. {4:4} But he answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. {4:5} Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple, {4:6} And saith unto him, If thou be
the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall
give his angels charge concerning thee: and in [their] hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone. {4:7} Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. {4:8} Again,
the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; {4:9} And saith unto him, All these things
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
{4:10} Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve. {4:11} Then the devil leaveth
him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
So, when Christ told Satan, to ‘get thee hence,’ Satan left Him. So, did Satan control Christ or did Christ control Satan? Then, in Matthew 16, Christ is telling His apostles that He is going to go to Jerusalem and be killed, and rise again on the third day (16:21). Then Peter begs Him not to do that (16:22). Then Christ tells Peter:
{16:23} But he
turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou
art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that
be of God, but those that be of men.
Then in Luke 22:3—
{22:1} Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh,
which is called the Passover. {22:2} And the chief priests
and scribes sought how they might kill him [Christ]; for they feared
the people.
{22:3} Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot,
being of the number of the twelve [apostles]. {22:4} And he went his
way, and communed with the chief priests and captains,
how he might betray him [Christ] unto them. {22:5} And they were
glad, and covenanted to give him money [thirty pieces of silver]. {22:6} And he
promised, and sought opportunity to betray him [Christ] unto them
in the absence of the multitude.
That is, Satan’s spirit can actually enter people. Since Judas Iscariot was the one apostle who betrayed Christ for ‘thirty pieces of silver,’ it makes sense that Satan’s entrance into Judas would aid this cause, which, as Christ had told Peter and the rest in Matthew 16, was going to happen anyway. So, did Satan enter Judas because Judas wanted Satan to enter Judas, or because Satan was doing God’s will so that Judas would betray Christ, so that Christ would become the ultimate sacrificial lamb? (Remember, we’re talking Passover time here.)
Continue reading “Snippets of the Prodigal Band Trilogy Biblical Reference Series, Episode Seven: God, Not Satan and Not the Elites, Is In Control (and He Even Controls Satan)”
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