HATH GOD SAID?

Time with Jesus - 27 Sept. 2013

Hi all,

“Who Done It?” Books by the likes of Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, DBE (born Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) have been popular since shortly after WW1. Certainly, the characters in her books don’t quite ring true in the 21^st century. Nevertheless they remain popular. Her Miss (Jane) Marple and Hercule Poirot remain gripping reading. 

The extent to which her writing was influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes is uncertain. What is clear is that the techniques employed by them are so similar, it’s hard not to think that Poirot isn’t a son or grandson of Holmes! 

In the case of Holmes and Poirot, the culprit is almost always revealed in the final couple of chapters. Then if you go back to the various scenes and reread the account, you wonder how it is that you were so dense that you missed it the first time you read it. As Holmes would say, “Elementary my dear Watson” or as Poirot would say, “It’s all in the little grey cells”.

The Bible is not a “Who Done IT?” On the contrary; we are introduced to the known villain in Genesis 3, where he is victorious over Adam and Eve by the use of deception. 

He spoke to Eve and suggested that the fruit would make her as wise as God. Furthermore, it looked good and felt good and she fell for his line “hook, line and sinker”. Mind you it’s not clear whether she knew exactly what God had said concerning eating that fruit. Certainly, at best, she misquoted God’s instructions to Adam. 

However, we know Adam was with her, apparently through the entire dialog between her and the serpent; he stood there with – to quote my late school principal – his “mouth wide open and his mind in neutral”. It seems it was similar to what we so often see on TV. 

The husband stands there next to the wife. He is supposed to be the head of the family, but she answers all the questions. Then he “tappy-laps” after her and does exactly what she says. The whole thing originates back there in the garden. The ladies have learned very well and the heads of the men still bob up and down like a cork in the ocean!

Satan hit the jackpot. Adam tried the fruit and that was that. Now Adam had been given this world and all that was in it to look after. You might say he was the king of the planet. God had given the “title deed” to earth to him. Why not? Adam was the one it had all been created for.

All he had to do was keep his nose clean and he would have remained in charge. He was the first of a race of people who would ultimately extend God’s family. Don’t be surprised. He was created “male and female”. Not a trinity, a duality! All God had to do was remove the “female bit” from his side. But I digress.

Anyway, the big Lummox stood there, watched the Satan/Eve dialog. He said and did nothing. He was a bright lad. Anyone who could give names to all the animals must have been one smart “cookie”! My former School Principal back in the 1950’s would have shouted at him, “Don’t just stand there, DO SOMETHING!”

For Satan, it was like feeding strawberries to a donkey. Then, when they had both munched and lunched, the title deed to planet earth was in his pocket. Mind you, serpents don’t have pockets! Well, not now anyway.

Satan has only three forms of temptation. 

John told us what they are in his first epistle. ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:15-16 KJV 

In the case of Eve, he used all three in his web of deceptive lies. The fruit looked good. (the lust of the eyes) It felt good (the lust of the flesh) and would make her wise. (the pride of life). Without Adam’s intervention, she had no chance.

For ±4000 years this formula of his worked successfully on all Adam and Eve’s offspring. They already had a “sin nature” so it wasn’t difficult for him to corrupt any of them. Also, Satan is no fool. Before his fall, he was the “anointed cherub”. In simple everyday terms today, he was “head honcho” after the Trinity! His sights were on being the next member of God’s family or more. 

When he found it wasn’t going to happen, he freaked out so had to get out; him and a whole bunch of his buddies. (⅓ of all the angels)

Satan knew that God would want the “title deeds” to earth back. God had told him as much in Genesis 3. He knew God would send someone to “crush his head”. He knew the person would be male, born through a woman “normally”! Who would it be?

That’s why Satan corrupted the human race with the exception of Noah and his family. After the flood he went through the various possibilities and tried his best to murder all the male children he could. When he knew the deliverer would come through Jacob’s offspring, he tried to murder them all. He failed.

He knew exactly who it was when God said publicly, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased”. For Satan, the gloves were off. Now he had to deal with Jesus.

 Today’s meditation focuses on the “struggle” between Satan and Jesus for the Lordship over this world. Satan’s appears to have a standard question. “Hath God said?” He used it successfully with Adam and Eve. It was his tried and tested way to success. There is only one way to answer Satan’s question. Quote from God’s Word. That’s what Jesus did. We can do likewise with similar success.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 27 Sept. 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	HATH GOD SAID?
We are told, the Marquis of Queensberry rules in boxing were written by John Graham Chambers in London in 1866. Today the phrase is sometimes used to refer to a sense of sportsmanship and fair play. This was ±1900 years after Jesus’ confrontation with Satan in the wilderness. Furthermore, it’s clear Satan knew nothing about them and wouldn’t honour them. Have you ever thought about that confrontation? It was inevitable, it would take place. The outcome of this would determine the future of the entire creation. In it, Satan used every trick available to him to defeat Jesus. As we know, he hated mankind and everything associated therewith. He had used a moment of weakness in an innocent couple to trick them. He wanted that which God had given them. He deceived them into disobeying God’s command. God told Adam that if he ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die. God said nothing to Eve about not eating that fruit. We have assumed God’s instruction applied to them both. We do not know it as a fact. This means that it is entirely possible that nothing would have happened when she sampled it. If this is the case, it adds an additional depth to the devious ways of Satan. For instance if she had already eaten a fruit from the tree without any apparent outcome, she could give Adam a bit to try for himself. “It won’t hurt you if it didn’t hurt me!” This could well have been her unspoken comment to Adam. It’s a bit academic. He listened to Satan’s lies. He was tricked into eating. That constituted the fall of man and the terrible consequences with which we are all painfully aware. Please know that I’m not seeking to make Adam’s sin less serious than it was. The point is, Satan would willingly have done so if necessary. This also reinforces the fact that each of us is responsible before God for what we do. Satan asked her a question. It’s what he usually does today. He tempts us to question the validity of God’s Word. For example, God’s Word tells us that unrepentant sinners end up in hell. Today, millions of Christians don’t believe. It really doesn’t matter if they believe or not. It will happen regardless of man’s opinions. Satan succeeded in tricking Adam into eating a toxic fruit. Of course, Satan was half right. Adam became acquainted with the disastrous consequences of being disobedient. Now he was aware of evil. He didn’t need to know about evil. It didn’t make him a better man. Sin warped him. It always does! I don’t have to murder someone to know it’s wrong. I know it now. When the deed is done, I’m worse off than before. I know it experientially. Deception had defeated Adam. He sinned and it was “game over”. So he tried the same trick on Jesus. But Jesus was not Adam. Adam only had one sin to worry about. Jesus had to be obedient to all the Jewish Law. Jesus was tempted when He was weary, hungry and thirsty. Satan offered Jesus everything He had come to achieve. Jesus answered all Satan’s questions by quoting from God’s Word. Every one of Satan’s “Hath God said” was answered with “It is written”. Jesus won the battle. And this is the point today. When Satan tempts us, we must state “It is written”. It’s the only way to defeat Satan. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			1 The snake was more clever than all the wild animals the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden'?" Genesis 3:1 GW	"Hath God said?" the serpent asked the time he tempted Eve. "Hath God said?", His purpose was intended to deceive The woman into doing that which her husband knew Was something God instructed him they should not ever do! "Hath God said?" And when she looked the fruit had such appeal. "Hath God said?", But when she touched it was so good to feel! It seemed so very innocent. To eat would make them wise. They'd be a little more like God and see with open eyes. "Hath God said?" He tempted her and so she took and ate. "Hath God said?" But nonetheless, she fed some to her mate. Who, through these proceedings had silently looked on, Neglecting his authority to say to sin, "Be gone!" "Hath God said?" The wilderness was shimmering with heat. "Hath God said?" the devil asked attempting to defeat The Son of God incarnate who stood in Adam's place; The man who represented the fallen human race. "Hath God said?" The devil asked when to the Man he came; "Hath God said?" He tempted Him. The test was just the same. "To satisfy Your hunger, just turn these stones to bread. If You are who You say You are, why shouldn't You be fed?" "Hath God said?"; "Just look at all the kingdoms which are mine." "Hath God said?"; "A miracle will prove You are divine. If You are the Son of God, then You can jump from here. His angels will protect You and harm will not come near!" "Hath God said?" the devil asks of Adam's race today. "Hath God said?" "Is that a fact? Did God really say The thing you know He told you? "Perhaps it isn't true." That's only just the devil's voice and he is tempting you. Hath God said?" he questions; "But doesn't it look good." "Hath God said?" "That can't be wrong; Do what you feel you should. It doesn't really matter, so let it all hang out." The devil keeps on tempting us to disbelieve and doubt. "Hath God said?" Of course He has. It's written in His Word. "Hath God said?" That question is utterly absurd; And just like the Lord Jesus, we'll make the devil flee When everything we say and do with God's Word does agree! Jim Strickland Written 1988
			3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 Jesus answered, "Scripture says, 'A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.' Matthew 4:7 GW
			7Jesus said to him, "Again, Scripture says, 'Never tempt the Lord your God.' Matthew 4:7 GW
			10 Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan! Scripture says, 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came to take care of him. Matthew 4:10-11 GW
			16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 I have been told by the word of the LORD: 'You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.'" 18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 1 Kings 13:16-19 NIV
			26 When the prophet heard the report, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the LORD's command. The LORD has fulfilled His word by causing the lion to attack and kill him." 1 Kings 13:26 NLT
			8 Whoever tells you good news that is different from the Good News we gave you should be condemned to hell, even if he is one of us or an angel from heaven. Galatians 1:8 GW
			11 I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Psalms 119:11 NLT