What is “born again?” What one “must be” for eternal life? [i] It is when the Devil is overcome! Jesus has brought peace to mankind and the end is as if near: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” [ii] Actually, Jesus has overcome the dominion of Satan since he is “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience.” [iii] Those “children” are “of the Wicked One.” [iv]
God plants seeds in many, but “then cometh the wicked one,
and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” [v]
Death is gain” because one is safely in another realm. The Wicked One — Satan
or the “Devil” — has no authority at all… he is only powerful in the world. Hence,
not only must the world be overcome but Satan as well.
Isaiah saw those days when the Wicked One would be overcome.
The key verses for this commentary are:
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. (Isa 14:11-19)
The last commentary was about the “Last Supper” of Judas. Judas, with
Satan in him, ate his last meal with Jesus and the other eleven apostles. Jesus
made Judas “king” and “high priest” for one day. He was the pretender to God’s
throne, and Jesus allowed him to pretend for one day.
As the key verses said, he would be “like the Most High God.” After the Last
Supper, the focus was on Judas. Jesus would serve him the bread and wine
as if Judas was Lord of all. Tradition is to take the elements of the last
meal one element at a time. Jesus sopped the bread and the wine together as if
Judas was nothing more than swine. Indeed, that is the case because Jesus showed
that He had power over the swine when they became the vehicles for demons to
flee. [vi]
J
Judas’s sop was slop! Judas missed the point. Jesus was mocking him; not him
personally, but Satan. He was implying, Here is your realm, Satan, and the
common chair on which you sit is your “throne.”
Jesus ascended into the clouds, but Judas descended into Hell as he was buried
in Gehenna. That left Satan with the same fate as the aforementioned swine — they
went over the cliff and the demons would need to flee! The pig example is there
for a reason. It would be the fate of Satan who would have no body to imbue!
Satan’s pomp died. “Pomp” is pageantry. Satan had put on a good show all
those thousands of years, and with one sop, Jesus diminished proud Lucifer! He
was a mere play-act “god.” It had been spiritual theater all those years, but
much like the “political theater” today, wherein many have lost their lives due
to his parading around as if he is God!
Lucifer had fallen from heaven before. Like Adam after him who was sent
out of the Garden Paradise, Lucifer was cast down from one of the several heavens.
According to Enoch, Lucifer would be allowed into the first heaven (the air of
the world) and the second heaven, a transitional realm wherein spirits can
travel to and from places in the world.
Lucifer, the Devil, was cut down to the ground once, and he would be
again. Sure, Judas hung himself, then look what happened: “Falling headlong, he
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18)… “by
transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” (Acts 1:28). As well
said is that Satan fell headlong, and that Satan went to Hell that day.
Isaiah got it right again when he wrote, “Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell, to the sides of the pit.” At his last supper, he was indeed
treated as if he was the Most High — higher than Jesus who served him. He
thought he would ascend above the clouds, into the heavens, but
alas, he merely climbed a tree, fell, [vii]
and descended into Gehenna (Hell)!
Jesus died the same day as Judas. Satan was not yet dead, but his host
was! Satan had no place to go other than Hell. He suffered the fate of the
swine. Jesus humbled Satan after making him “god” for a day, to wit: “This the
man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms” …”But thou art
cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch.”
Jesus is symbolized as a Vine, and the Cross, the Tree of Life, but Satan as
merely a disgusting dead branch. Blind Bartimaeus saw Jesus approach him. He
saw Jesus; as a Tree walking. He, perhaps, saw Jesus as the Tree of
Life! [viii]
On the other hand, Isaiah, who had “bright eyes” into the future saw Satan, not
even as the Tree of Knowledge of Evil, but as a dead disgusting branch! That makes
sense because Satan, like a dead branch, fell from the Judas Tree.
The forbidden tree is thought to be a fig tree. That makes sense because
Adam and Eve made their aprons of fig leaves because that was where they were standing.
Sacred Jewish literature confirms that (Books of Adam and Eve). Perhaps also because
the fig tree withered and died in the parable of the fig tree. [ix]
Satan lived on, but his flesh died the same day that God’s “Flesh” did. So
far, only God’s Flesh has survived death, but Satan still seeks new flesh for
himself!
God’s Flesh slept for parts of three days in a tomb. Jesus had given up
the Holy Ghost. One might ask, Just what was the Holy Ghost doing during
that time? Judas gave up his “ghost” as well. It makes sense that since
Jesus descended into Hell [x]
that he accompanied Satan on his voyage to its depths. Can you not see the Holy
Ghost of Jesus with His heel on the head of Satan pushing him to the grave just
as promised Adam in Genesis 3:15? That is likely why Judas had to die when
Jesus did — they went to another realm to fight the spiritual battle!
God in the Flesh let Jacob win the wrestling match [xi]
way back when. It was a foreshadowing of the day that Judas died! “We” just as
Jesus, “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephes 6:12). The Holy Ghost and Satan
wrestled the day that both died. That time, Jesus won the wrestling match. It,
however, was not a fight to the death, but an example of the Power of Jesus
over Satan. Christians can rest assured who will win the final battle. Isaiah
saw that wrestling match as well, “Thou (Satan) shalt be brought down to hell,
to the sides of the pit” (EPhes 6:12).
John saw that too: “And He (The Angel or Ghost of God) laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set
a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”
(Rev 20:2-4).
In that day, the wrestling match will continue. Jesus made Satan in Judas
king for a day, but with Satan in the bottomless pit, Jesus will reign for a
thousand years. Remember that “one day is as a thousand years, and one-thousand
years as one day?” [xii]
Well, that one “day” was the millennial (sic) reign of Satan. That was his reign
that he always sought!
Jesus always wins the match except when he allows others to win. Christians
must be confident that Jesus will always defeat Satan. When the righteous look
at the brazen serpent as dead, they see Judas dead in his tree, and at the same
time the Serpent of old, dead in possibly the seed of the same tree!
In the grand finale, God will take the unrighteous and destroy them (Gog
and Magog) with fire from the face of the earth, “and (John saw) the Devil that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever”
(Rev 20:10). The “unholy trinity” — Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet —
will be cast into Hell for ever. Perhaps the “false prophet” is Judas or some
apostle like him who also has Satan in him.
Judas as the false prophet? Did he not come with Jesus in “sheep’s clothing”
as false prophets would? [xiii]
Did Judas not have Satan in him? Not actually a ravenous wolf but as a roaring
lion? [xiv]
Did Judas not “devour” Jesus when he ate the “body” and “blood” of Jesus, so to
speak?
The question remains? Will Judas remain dead, or will Jesus pour out Living
Water on him to revive him for the final match? God did that with skeletons; why
could he not do that with the bones of Judas? [xv]
Speaking of hypocrites, Jesus said, “For ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones,
and of all uncleanness” (Mat 23:27). He was describing Judas when he confronted
the scribes and Pharisees! Judas would be nothing more than “dry bones” as in Ezekiel
vision. Perhaps, Judas will arise from the bottomless pit to continue the fight
just as Satan will in his final days!
What should Christians do as the battle goes on? Look at Satan in Judas as
already dead, and the Serpent in his pit. They should trust God to fight the
battle on our behalf. [xvi]
Just what did Jesus “finish” on the Cross? He finished what He and Jacob had
started so long before. He finished the wrestling match between wicked Israel
and himself!
(picture credit: Crosswalk.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment