Looking for trouble ∙

Looking for trouble ∙

The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” – Job 1:7

Revelation 12:9-11

 9 The great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last – salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth – the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

In modern English, “Looking for trouble” is a colloquial expression. It basically means to do something or act in a manner that will very likely result in trouble, difficulty, or danger.

Sung by Elvis Presley

If you’re looking for trouble You came to the right place

If you’re looking for trouble Just look right in my face

I was born standing up And talking back

My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack

Because I’m evil, my middle name is misery

Well I’m evil, so don’t you mess around with me.

1 Peter 5:8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

He is known by many names: Satan, the Devil, Abaddon, Angel of Light, Apollyon, Lucifer, the great dragon, the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the wicked one, and the evil one. To mention his names lends a bit of dignity to him. So I typically refer to him as the enemy.

He remains in the shadows, invisible. Yet he is well-known. He makes his presence known anywhere, whenever he desires. He is the god of this world and he has temporary dominion (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Peter envisions the enemy as a lion, perhaps the fiercest of all known beasts of that day. The lion was well known as a menacing, cruel, ferocious beast of prey. In Peter’s mind’s eye, he sees this huge intimidating, vicious feline on patrol pacing back and forth. He roams about, he goes from place to place, he prowls, he stalks, he is always on alert, watching, glaring, sizing up the terrain, and searching for potential prey.

His mere presence is intimidating, but if that’s not enough, he terrorizes his would-be victims with his roar. Regrettably, all children of the King are on his watchlist. Of course some more than others depending upon how effective they are in serving the Father.

The enemy’s goal is always to same. He wishes to spread damage, destruction, and death. He wants to make the Father’s children ineffective. He is highly skilled, exceedingly brilliant, and has about 5000 years of practice. How long do you think it took him to deceive Eve and provoke Adam to sin?

He seeks not merely to frighten or capture his prey; he seeks to maul and devour it.

The Greek word translated devour is katapiomai from kata – down and pino – drink. It has the sense of gulping down, swallowing hurriedly, or gobbling it up. Visualize for a moment two dogs on either side of a barbecue watching hamburgers being cooked. The chef is momentarily distracted, two hamburgers fall off. One heads in the direction of a small Yorkshire terrier. He lets it hit the ground and then begins to nibble at it, taking as many mouthfuls as he can, as fast as he can. The other hamburger heads towards a Rottweiler. The Rottie catches it in midair and swallows it in one gulp. He devoured it.

REFLECT & PRAY

James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Father thank You that You are the Lord God omnipotent, the ruler of all, pantokrator.

INSIGHT

From the book of Job, we understand that the enemy has direct access into the very presence of the Father. He is currently free to come and go as he wishes.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

But the enemy is always looking for trouble. He has convinced himself that the only reason that Job is faithful is that the Father has abundantly blessed his life and continues to protect him. He challenges the Father to a test. You know that and I know that, but Job had no idea what is about to occur in the heavenly court. He had not read the book of Job because he had not written it yet.

The Father grants the enemy permission to make Job’s life miserable. The enemy’s goal is to cause Job to turn his back on the Father. Perhaps it is best captured by the words of his wife, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). She is telling him to give it up, curse the Father God who brought all these terrible things upon him and drop dead. She is promoting the enemy’s plan. One can only imagine what it must have been like for Job to have such an uplifting, encouraging, and supportive companion.

Job’s response is magnificent, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong (Job 2:10).

All of the trouble and misery that the enemy has brought to the human race is nothing compared to what he is about to do. He has had a certain amount of restraint placed upon him by the Father throughout human history. But that restraint will be removed, and the enemy will be thrown out of heaven and hurled down to the earth.

Revelation 12:9-11

 9 The great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last – salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth – the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

Up until now, the father of deception and lies has been deceiving himself. He thought everything was going to work out for him in the end one way or the other. Now he realizes that time is running out and he is livid.

Before, the enemy was pure evil, mean, and nasty. Now anger has been added to the mix. And he takes it out on the children of Israel and the children of the King who are alive on the earth. The enemy becomes obsessed with annihilating the Jewish people and all of the children of the King who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Revelation 12:17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman [the nation of Israel] and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God [the Jewish people] and hold to the testimony of Jesus [Christians].

It will be a terrible time, the worst of all in times for all of humanity. That is why it is called The Great Tribulation.

Satan is powerful. He is the ruler of this world, in Greek kosmokrator (Ephesians 6:12). But the Father is Ruler of All, the Lord God Omnipotent in Greek pantokrator (Revelation 19:6).

Ordinary children of God who stood firm and resisted the enemy overpowered him. How? They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony (Revelation 12:11). Did they somehow exercise authority over the enemy because of the blood of Christ? One day we will know for sure.

Luke 10:19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy.

“The victory of Satan over believers is both earthly and temporary (Revelation 13:7), while their victory over him is final and eternal” (Osborne).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 3-13-2

© Dr. H 2022