Matthew 2-13-23

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’” (Matthew 2:13, NKJV)

From the moment Christ was born into this world, Satan was on a mission to destroy Him. Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), and he will tolerate no threat to his kingdom. And yet he knows his demise is coming. After he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, the LORD said to him:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV)

Since the creation of man, Satan knew that the Seed of the woman was coming who would bruise (crush) his head. Satan was determined to do everything he could do to stop this from happening. First, he corrupted mankind to the point that God had to destroy the world with a Flood, but Noah found favor in His eyes. Second, the devil tried to wipe out the children of Israel through Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the male children (Exodus 1:16, 22). But God protected Moses and raised him up to deliver the people from Egypt. Then Satan tried to destroy the royal line of David through idolatry, wickedness, and child sacrifice. But God always preserved a remnant of faithful ones all the way to Joseph of Nazareth. Now the devil used King Herod as his pawn. Herod was power-hungry himself and was paranoid of any rival. When the wise men disobeyed his command, and did not report back to him, Herod flew into a rage. He ordered all the male children, two years old and under, in Bethlehem and the surrounding districts, to be massacred to make sure that the One born King of the Jews was dead.

Later, Satan entered Judas to betray Christ. He manipulated the Pharisees and chief priests to condemn Jesus and deliver Him to Pilate to be crucified. But in his diabolical glee he went too far, because through the cross, Christ conquered sin and death and broke the devil’s power over mankind.

This is the age-old conflict. Since the devil could not stop Christ, he now persecutes His followers. Therefore, we should not be surprised if we are shunned, despised, or attacked because of our faith in Jesus Christ and our stand for righteousness. In the words of songwriter Bruce Hornsby, “That’s just the way it is.”

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18, NKJV)

But we also know that if we trust Christ and persevere in doing good, then we will overcome. If we suffer with Christ, then we will also be glorified together with Him (Romans 8:17).