Is Satan crazy to think he can defeat God? What has been Satan’s strategy and what will be his strategy in the end times. If we are entering that time we need to know our adversaries plans. Watch this Nelson Walters video with special guest Pastor Doug Hamp as they discuss this amazing and neglected topic. Watch out for Part Two.
Consider connecting with Doug Ham and his book series Corrupting the image
Satan’s really believes he has a fighting chance against God. God cannot lie which Satan sees as God’s achilles heel. God made him the wisest of all his creatures. He knows he cannot defeat God. Satan hopes to get God on a technicality so he remains the God of this world. God had given dominion of the world to Adam but Adam and Eve by their sin gave dominion of the world to Satan.
We often hear people say, ‘The end justifies the means.’ In other words, it’s okay to do something dishonourable, if necessary, in order to achieve something honourable. But that is not a biblical perspective. God is as concerned about the process as much as the product.
“So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.“ 2 Samuel 6:17
Early in King David’s career, he learned this lesson the hard way. He was moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. But he failed to follow God’s instructions on how to transport the Ark. A man died as a result, and the Ark’s movement was delayed for three months. There is a lesson there: God cares about how we serve Him as much as He cares about what we accomplish. For example, not only are we to speak the truth, but we are also to speak the truth ‘in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). We are to defend the faith but with ‘gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15).
Do God’s work today—yes! But do it God’s way so He is free to bless and honour it. God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.Hudson Taylor
“In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6
“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalms 37:27-29
God tells us what is next on His agenda for this world. The rule of Satan and man on planet Earth is coming to an end. We are fast approaching the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to this earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom about which we are given a lot of detail in God’s Word.
Check out http://www.millennialkingdom.net and Matthew Bryce Ervin’s book, One Thousand Years with Jesus – The Coming Messianic Kingdom.
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:1-6
Salvation in the midst of judgment is a common theme in the early chapters of Genesis. Just as God provided hope in the midst of punishment for Cain after murdering Abel by giving him a mark to protect him (Genesis 4:15).
When God judged the world (Genesis 6:18) the Lord spared Noah and his family. Additionally, the judgment of the city of Babel (Genesis11:1–10) when God established the nations was followed by the call of Abram (Genesis 12:1–9) to establish His own nation, Israel, once again offering hope despite judgment.
It can therefore be expected that in the Bible’s first pronouncement of judgment at “The Fall“, God would offer the hope of salvation in the midst of judgment. I think the scriptural evidence shows that the following Scripture is messianic.
“The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly, you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’”Genesis 3:14-15
The essential messianic view is that Genesis 3:15 ultimately predicts the coming of a future individual (a “seed”) who will have victory over the serpent (Satan) through His own death.
A foundational element of that view is that the serpent must be identified as something other than just a mere snake. It appears to be, in the words of C. John Collins, “the mouthpiece of a Dark Power, whom later texts would call Satan.” A number of factors lead to this observation. For example, snakes cannot talk, even in Genesis. Moreover, a mere serpent from the good creation, apart from an evil force animating it, would have no reason to challenge God’s words or tempt humanity. Additionally, it is not the serpent’s seed that will be crushed by the woman’s seed after a long conflict but the serpent itself, indicating longevity, not normal for mere snakes.
Significantly, later biblical writers identified Satan with the serpent of Genesis
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Romans 16:20
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:9
Although in Gen. 3:14 the Lord addresses the actual serpent, in the following verse (Genesis 3:15), He appears to address the dark power. As well, some have proposed that in Gen. 3:15 there is an alleged prediction of the virgin birth because of the use of the phrase “her seed” not a man’s seed.
The messianic view as espoused here posits that Gen. 3:15 teaches that the seed of the woman, although being struck, will also strike the serpent and his seed and thereby win victory for humanity. This text is just the beginning of the story. As John Sailhamer says, “More is at stake in this brief passage than the reader is at first aware. A program is set forth. A plot is established that will take the author far beyond this or that snake and his ‘seed.’
The verse shifts the meaning of seed from a collective group to a particular individual descendant of the woman. The evidence for this is that a singular pronoun and a singular verb are used to refer to the seed. In Gen. 3:15, the biblical author uses singular pronouns and verb forms in reference to the seed, so he plainly has a specific offspring in view.
When the original readers considered Genesis 3, they would have recognized that its author wrote of more than a mere serpent. As such, they would have expected not a long conflict between snakes and humanity, but a battle between a terrible dark force and a divinely powered deliverer. The problem of identifying the serpent was resolved in Jewish theology “by the doctrine that the serpent of Eden was the mouthpiece of the devil.” As a result, ancient Jewish interpreters also viewed the woman’s seed as the messianic victor over the serpent. This messianic reading of Gen. 3:15 is evident in the Septuagint and the rabbinic literature of the Targumim Pseudo-Jonathan, Neofiti, Onqelos, and the midrash Genesis Rabbah 23:5.27
God’s pronouncement of judgment (Gen. 3:14) is directed to the serpent proper—meaning the actual animal and not the dark force behind it. Since a serpent from the animal kingdom is an amoral being, it is surprising that the animal itself would be cursed. The purpose of cursing the animal is for it to become a perpetual reminder of the devastating destruction caused by the role of the serpent in the sin of Adam and Eve.
In the Millennium we read in Isaiah 65:25, “In Israel, the wolf, and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the serpent’s food will be dust!” During Jesus Millennial reign the curse has not been totally lifted but in Israel, the curse on animals has been partially lifted but the curse on the serpent will remain. In this way, the serpent will remain an eternal outward symbol of the spiritual defeat of the dark force behind the fall.
In an apparent midrash on Gen. 3:15, the author of Hebrews writes:
“so that through his [Jesus’] death He might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the Devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death”Hebrews 2:14–15
Abraham is also promised that his seed will bless the nations (Gen. 22:17–18). In Baalam’s second oracle, he describes Jacob’s seed as “His king” who “will be higher than Gog(Antichrist)” and whose “kingdom will be exalted.” Just as Genesis develops that the woman’s seed would spring from a royal dynasty, this oracle identifies the seed as the end-time messianic king who will defeat the enemies of Israel and rule over an exalted kingdom. In the very next oracle in Num. 24:17–19, the promise of the future messianic king (“A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel”) makes a thematic allusion to Gen. 3:15. Although Num. 24:17 uses different words than Gen. 3:15 for both the blow struck and the head that is crushed, the thematic literary allusion is plain. The expectation is that when the messianic king arrives, he will crush the heads of Israel’s enemies, reminding the readers of the promise that Eve’s offspring would crush the head of the enemy.
The rest of the Hebrew canon makes extensive direct and thematic allusions to Gen. 3:15, firmly identifying the woman’s seed as a royal and messianic figure. Perhaps the most significant way that later biblical writers develop the “seed” theme is in the Davidic covenant. David is promised a “seed” who will have an eternal house, kingdom, and throne (2 Sam 7:12–16), reminding readers of the promise of the royal seed described in (Genesis 3:15; 17:16; 35:11; 49:9–10). There are many more “seed” theme references and Micah 7:17 predicts that in the eschatological future, the enemy nations will submit to the Lord and “lick the dust like asnake.” Speaking of that same future time in an intertextual reference to Gen. 3:15, Ps 8:6 proclaims that the messianic king will have “everything under his feet.” The same image of the ultimate defeat of the nations is found in Psalms 110:1, where the messianic king is promised that God will make His enemies a footstool for His feet.
It is appropriate therefore to conclude that the evidence supports Genesis 3:14-15 as the first messianic prophecy of the Bible. The fact that the “seed” theme is carried through the Bible by different authors over an extensive period of time is proof positive the Bible is the inspired word of God. Fulfilled prophecies are also proof positive that the many prophecies about Jesus’ second coming that are not already fulfilled (Israel established as a nation again) will be fulfilled.
“They (Saints) came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:5-6
I am content with weaknesses, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Who can say such a thing? From a worldly standpoint, it is insane. It was Paul that said it and it is useful to look at Paul’s circumstances at the time of making such an outlandish statement.
“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Christians in Pakistan are truly living as Christians despite intense persecution.
To put this Scripture passage in context, Paul tells us of his experience of being taken by God into the heavens where it would be easy to become conceited. Why? “Because of thesurpassing greatness of the revelations“ he was given and where “he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” This was why he was given a thorn in the flesh. But what was that thorn in the flesh? It was “a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”. For us, it should be remembered that whenever we are being obedient to God’s call that we can expect messengers of Satan to harass us. Persecution comes with the territory of being an obedient Christian.
Paul discloses this experience not so that we should focus on the attack; we are to focus on Jesus’s words instead. The Lord’s revelatory word of grace to Paul becomes the apostle’s reason for living – to proclaim the gospel. He can now “boast” in the weaknesses of his many sufferings and persecutions, knowing that such weakness brings on the power of the Holy Spirit toenable himto do what God has for him to do (2 Corinthians 12:9–10). He also discloses this experience as a way to help us understand that God does use Satan and his demons for his purposes particularly to teach us that a humble and contrite heart is what He desires.
Lessons to Be Learned from the “Thorn” in the Flesh
Sometimes our most blissful experiences with the Lord follow, precede, or are accompanied by hardships and suffering.
The Lord says, “no” to Paul’s request to remove the thorn. Do we recognize that sometimes God’s answer to our prayers may be “no”? And that he might have a higher purpose for us in our predicament, as he did Paul?
The Lord also promises: “my grace is sufficient for you.” Despite our suffering, God is with us to comfort us, just as he was with Paul despite all his hardships and experiencing persecution.
Like Paul, the Lord may want us to learn that there is strength and power in humility, weakness, and suffering. As Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
We are witnessing shakings that disrupt virtually every life, disrupting the world, setting cities on fire, changing governments, and ushering in an agenda that wars against God’s people. Is there a way to stand strong and immovable through it all? Jonathan Cahn tells us how to find it – and live it.
There is no doubt in my mind that God is using Jonathan Cahn to alert the church to what God is doing in line with end times Biblical prophecy. Regardless of what Satan does to deceive the world when the Antichrist comes on the scene, our hope must be in the fact that God is in control of history. Satan’s time of controlling the world is coming to an end. Make sure you are on the winning side.
The Dark Trinity in America EXPOSED // Jonathan Cahn PROPHETIC WORD
America has exorcised God step by step since the ’60s: first prayer out of schools, God out of education, laws. culture, entertainment, in fact, God out of everything. People are becoming like their idols; taken over by technology.
Is it possible that behind what is taking place in America and the world lies a mystery that goes back to the gods of the ancient world…and that they now have returned?
The good news out of all this catastrophe is that it proves God is in control. Note in Jonathan Cahn’s video that the timing of these events is prophesied. Note also that Christians have the power to stand against these principalities and powers. It is time for Christians to rise to the occasion. We have the Holy Spirit to empower us to cast out these demonic powers and to do what it is God has called us to do. It is time to act boldly.
Watch this video by Jonathan Cahn its timing is perfect. It is a must-watch video not only for Americans but what is happening in America is happening in Australia. God is being exorcised from our nation and the demonic is taking over all aspects of our culture.
An ex-psychic whose encounter with tarot card reading as a child led her on a journey into new-age practices and the occult is offering a dire warning about the “deception” and dangers she encountered.
Jenn Nizza spent years doing readings and communicating with what she believed were the dead loved ones of her clients — until she had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything.
The hidden dangers of alternative spirituality in contemporary America and its churches.
Nizza recently told “The Playing With Fire Podcast” about how her journey into the occult unfolded at a “very young age” when the “door was open” inside her home. Despite being culturally Catholic, she said paranormal discussions were a regular occurrence with her family.
“In my home, it was very acceptable to talk about paranormal activity, what people commonly call ghosts, which, of course, were demons,” she said. “I had my very first tarot card reading [at the age of 13].”
Around the same time, Nizza said she had already begun experiencing what she now believes was demonic oppression. She started having dreams about events that would essentially come true. Rather than flee from these practices and experiences, Nizza became enamored and dove in even deeper after her first tarot reading.
“That’s when I really walked through the door, because I was so intrigued by it, and I started seeking it out. … I went full-in,” she said. “It was a rabbit hole of destruction. … I had my own tarot cards. I kept going for readings; I became addicted to it.” Nizza found herself exploring numerology (the occultic practice of exploring the relation of numbers to events) and astrology (divination that involves celestial objects), among other techniques.
At the same time, she faced struggles with depression, as well as an eating disorder.
Still, Nizza forged on and started doing readings for friends, family, and eventually other clients. She said she eventually believed “every single lie the New Age,” told her.
She Believed She Was Helping
Nizza said she really believed she was helping people through her “abilities” and made an important proclamation about many of the psychics and mediums she has known. While many Christians might assume these individuals have diabolical plans, most believe they’re assisting others.
“This is part of the destruction that happens,” she said. “I think it’s the first line of deception … I’ve always been a compassionate person and these psychic mediums, for the most part, are nice, compassionate people that really do want to help other people.”
But people engaging in such things, she said, have become spiritually vulnerable, believing the evil they’ve allowed in is somehow a form of good.
“Satan masquerades as an angel of light,” Nizza said. “You think that you’re a servant of righteousness.”
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14
A Warning About Demons
Rather than receiving information from sources of good, she said demons, whom she described as fallen angels, are “giving psychics information.”
“Demons are real and they hate us, and they hate God, and they’re on a mission to get us away from the Lord,” Nizza said, adding they predict what will unfold but can’t know for sure.
As a former medium, she believed she was communicating with the dead but now acknowledges the spirits she once channeled were demonic.
“There is no good spirit talking to a psychic. … They masquerade as your deceased loved ones,” Nizza said. “When it seemed like mom or dad or grandma, and you’re crying with your client … that seems good and comfortable.” But the ex-psychic said mediums are actually convening with evil.
Finding Jesus in the Mess
As for Nizza’s own journey away from the occult, she said she eventually hit her absolute lowest point and found herself calling out to Christ.
“When I was 36, I first cried out to Jesus,” she said. “I was at the lowest of the low, the lowest moments of my life — one of the darkest moments. … My soul, my spirit, knew to cry out to Jesus. I needed Him.”
By the time she turned 37, her Christian journey had finally begun.
Reflecting on all that unfolded, Nizza — who believes she was oppressed throughout her life but not possessed — found it fascinating she turned to Christ rather than the spirits she spent years adoring.
“I didn’t cry out to a deceased person, a spirit guide, an angel, anybody who I thought I was communicating with all those years,” she said. “I cried out to Jesus Christ and He really did show up.”
Nizza continued, “The Gospel is what saves.”
She also offered a warning to anyone considering or in the midst of pondering occultic and New-Age practices: beware of the dangers. “If you go down the wrong road — it just takes one tarot card reader on TikTok, one person in the new age, one ‘love and lighter’ to tell you that you are gifted,” she said. “And you are going to go down the rabbit hole of destruction.”
“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation !2:7-9
This war in Heaven has not yet taken place. These verses are from the Book of Revelation written by John on the island of Patmos, decades after Jesus had ascended to Heaven. The Book of Revelation is a vision of future events.
God has tolerated Satan as an accuser for a long time. Remember when Satan was allowed to test Job.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Job 1:6-7
Jesus when on earth acknowledges Satan as king of this world. He had not yet been thrown out of Heaven. God has allowed Satan to act freely within limits to deceive mankind. The war with Satan and his troops is an “end times” event of the near future. Satan with his angels will be thrown to the Earth; then Satan knows he has only a little time. Satan’s last desperate and terrible efforts to deceive mankind are to involve the Antichrist and the False Prophet.
“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”Revelation 12:12
“Then the dragon became furious with the woman (Israel) and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring (Saints), on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” Revelation 12:17
God’s Word (Bible) reveals amazing detail of future “end times” events. We should use “end times” Bible prophesy when delivering the Gospel to those the Holy Spirit leads us. It demonstrates God is in total control of history.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.“2 Timothy 3:16
According to Gallup polls, the so-called American church is in decline. However, -Roger Olson, a scholar with a Ph.D. in religious studies who has studied American religious life (especially Christianity in all its expressions) for many years says that what is really happening is that new expressions of Christianity are popping up that are flying “under the radar” of critics who claim “the American churches” are losing members. People are flocking from many of the old, so-called “mainline” churches and many are attending new collective expressions of Christianity that may or may not be called “churches.” Throughout the South and Midwest thousands of “cowboy churches” are popping up. Most of them do not belong to any denomination or are only very loosely affiliated with, for example, a local Baptist association of churches. There are literally thousands of immigrant churches that are hardly noticed by the bean-counters. For example, the Redeemed Christian Church of God of Nigeria has at least seven hundred congregations in the U.S. I am told that many of these congregations are large and growing not only through immigration but also through evangelism and people leaving other churches to attend these.
Churches that are truly born again, Bible-believing churches are not in decline because they are empowered by the Holy Spirit and are doing what God has called them to do. They have a Biblical worldview and therefore know Jesus is returning to this planet in the not too distant future first to remove His Saints and then to pour out His wrath on an unrepentant lawless world and they are acting accordingly.
They also know what Jesus said about the time before His return. It will be a time of great tribulation for Christians as God deals with the rebellion both in the heavenly and earthly realms. Satan and His demons are finally cast out of heaven and Satan enters the Antichrist and increases persecution first Jews and then of the Saints.
“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.” Ezekiel 28:15-16
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” Revelation 12:7-10
“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”Revelation 12:12
“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.” Revelation 12:13-14
“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” Revelation 12:17
The Bible tells us that we have an enemy and one that’s more dangerous because he is invisible.
The Christian needs the armor of God more today than ever because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
“My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart” (Psalm 7:10)
God offers Himself as a shield to those who trust in Him. It is up to us to “take up” and “put on” the whole armor of God, but once we have, we can say with confidence:
“My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart” (Psalm 7:10).
“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him”Proverbs 30:5
Prayer is a key to the armor of God as we take up the helmet of salvation, which guards our minds and thoughts and keep it from being taken captive. The sword of the Spirit helps us fight off the enemy the way Jesus did during His temptation, and that’s with the Word of God. Three times Jesus rebuked the Devil by using the Word of God, and there’s more. We need to “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). What we need is the truth of God’s Word that secures us in our stand against the enemy, and then the breastplate of righteousness which we attain once we trust in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), but we’re not quite done yet since we need “shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). Once equipped, we can now be ready for spiritual warfare.
Are you ready to face the coming end-times tribulation that Jesus told us Christians will endure prior to His return to put things right? You will not be unless you understand who your enemy really is and put on the full armour of God.
Extracts from the article Shielded by God by Jack Wellman May 8th, 2019
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 