It is an honor to have you as a member of our subscription service! Share today.
#63 Marriage: Satan Without a BrideSatan, as the adversary of Yeshua’s marriage to His Bride, who is often thought to seek the destruction of good, including the love and unity embodied in a Biblical marriage.“And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning’ ” (Luke 10:18, parentheses added). “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9).
Within authentic Christian theology, marriage is often seen as a sacred institution, designed by God for the mutual support of a man and a woman, and for the procreation and upbringing of children. It’s a covenant relationship that mirrors the love and unity between Christ and the Church. Satan, as the adversary of Yeshua’s marriage to His Bride, is often thought to seek the destruction of good, including the love and unity embodied in a Biblical marriage. This belief is based on passages that describe Satan as a deceiver and a disruptor of unity between Yeshua and His beloved Bride. The Bible encourages believers to be vigilant and prayerful to guard against any form of evil that might seek to disrupt their lives, including their marriages. A strong Biblical marriage is a sacred covenant, not just between two individuals but also with God. It is a lifelong commitment where a man and a woman are united in an unbreakable bond of love and trust. Rooted in Christ, a Biblical marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and the Church - His Bride. It is a relationship where both individuals support each other in their spiritual journey, fostering an environment of understanding, forgiveness, while reflecting the Life of Christ. In this divine union, they should seek to honor God, not only in their relationship with each other but also in their service to others. A strong Biblical marriage, therefore, is a testament and view of God’s Son’s relationship with authentic believers, who are the Bride of Christ. PRAY THIS PRAYER BEFORE MOVING FORWARD: Dear Father in heaven, I ask that You give me the power and the strength to understand the deeds and tricks of the enemy. I know that Satan attempts to play the role of a father in my life, and I choose this day to reject every way he attempts to deceive me. I claim Your Truth as my heavenly Father and stand on all of Your promises as Your child. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I accept that You are the only Father, Leader, and Rabbi who can be trusted. I embrace Christ as the only Teacher whom You have sent to train me as Your child. I pray for these things in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. GOD’S VIEW OF SATANThe Word of the Father came to the prophet, Ezekiel, communicating an accurate description of the enemy of marriage (Satan). When reading about the leader of Tyre, you’re reading about Satan. Tyre means “rock in Palestine”. In Hebrew, “leader” means commander. Satan was and is the commander of the Palestinians (Ezek. 28:2a). All we have to do is listen to the news, and we can see that this battle to harm God’s chosen people, Israel, is still going on. Satan’s heart was lifted, and he said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas” (Ezek. 28:2b). He tried to make his heart like the heart of the Father. Satan used his wisdom and understanding to acquire power and riches - the leading cause of divorce today. The Scriptures reveal to us that Satan is a god of wealth and materialism. He became lifted because of his great wisdom, but only to be ultimately destroyed (Ezek. 28:7-8). Since God, the Father, does not share His throne with anyone, Satan had to be thrown from heaven immediately after he lifted himself up. Pride-- exalting one’s self--is the original sin. Contrary to most teachings, the original sin did not occur in the Garden of Eden. It occurred in heaven when Lucifer, now Satan, attempted to take the role of the Father. God’s punishment for Satan was taking away all the children he had stolen, making him fatherless. There is no suffering worse than being fatherless. This is why God promises to be a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5). When Satan was in heaven, he was an anointed (stretched out) cherub (a winged angel who stood over the mercy seat/throne of God) who covers. He was originally blameless in all of his ways until unrighteousness was found in him (Ezek. 28:15). Because of the abundance of his trade (merchandise), violence-filled his heart. With this violence in his heart, he decided to pull his wings back to expose the Father. This was not a bright thing to do. What was he thinking? As a result of this act of exposing God, the Lord profaned him and removed him from the mountain of the Father. Satan became fatherless and a spirit being without a bride. Thus, he plagues believers with three questions.
Satan Without a BrideOne of the great mysteries has always been who replaced the vacancy Lucifer left open after he was removed from heaven. The answer is simple: Adam and Eve. Since the primary role of Lucifer was to cover the mercy seat of God and sing praises unto His holy name, Adam and Eve became the new instruments of praise for the Father (1 Chron. 16:9, 2 Samuel 22:50). Keep in mind that God designed just three objectives for heaven: 1) Praising His holy name,2) Spiritual warfare, and3) Securing Bridal members for His Son.God did not put extra responsibilities on Michael or Gabriel. He created a new being to fulfill the first role of the archangels, which was to sing praises and thanksgiving unto the name of the Father. Mankind was formed by the hand of God to do exactly that. Therefore, Adam and Eve were created perfectly, placed in a perfect environment (the Garden of Eden), and commanded to lift up the Father in all they did. God did not miss a heartbeat in acting upon the rebellion of Satan. This clearly communicates our purpose for being here on this earth: “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Confession of Faith). God took the design of heaven and mirrored it here on earth, by setting up the order of heaven through Adam and Eve. God took His perfect model of the FIRST FAMILY and designed, or formed, the first earthly marriage to replicate the forthcoming marriage of Yeshua. In heaven we discover God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit, overseeing the “sons of God”--His angels. On earth, He (Trinity) oversees the three parts (Trinity) of His earthly family--Adam, Eve, and their children. Satan was most likely jealous over Adam & Yeshua/Jesus having a bride. Adam represents the role of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3). Woman was formed to represent the role of the Holy Spirit. By the way, all the adjectives used to describe women happen to be the same adjectives used to describe the Holy Spirit. A surprise? Not really. Adam and Eve were created in the image of the “Us” (Gen. 1:26). God took His image from heaven and established it here on earth, continuing to fulfill His commitment to being a God of order. Satan’s act of rebellion did not throw God off from being worshipped and the center of the universe. Adam and Eve became a significant part of God’s instrument to punish Satan. Yes, we are vessels of punishment for the enemy (Ezek. 28:7-8). Now, our part in this world has expanded; we are created to worship the Father and bring punishment to the evil one by remaining faithful in our God given marriages. I wish I could say it all stopped there, but it didn’t. Satan was not about to give up on taking the role of the Father. Not knowing the mind and will of the Father, he was about to fall into God’s plan again. Isn’t it interesting that God removed Satan from heaven and placed him in the Garden of Eden, in a tree formed by Him, knowing Satan was about to tempt Eve with the same sin he (Satan) had fallen into? It’s also important to understand that when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them freedom and a command to eat from all the trees in the garden except the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” It sounds to me like God knew what Satan was about to do. He could have placed Satan on a planet in another solar system! But you see, that wasn’t God’s plan. God was using all of creation to put Satan in his place, once and for all. We were created for a specific mission that included all the key players in the Garden of Eden that day. Since Satan had/cannot know the mind of the Father, he does what was/is predicted. He attempts to steal the role of the Father in Adam and Eve’s life. Secondly, he proposes to break up the first marriage anointed by God. He knew the only way he could function in this role was to break the connection between God and His children - then Adam with Eve. He also knew he couldn’t go directly through Adam to finish this job. Therefore, he went through the weakness of Adam, his helpmate. To break the marital connection between Adam and Yeshua, Satan needed to get Adam to listen to a voice other than God. Ultimately, Satan wanted Adam to listen to him, but knowing Adam’s design, he knew he had a better chance of accomplishing his mission if he went through a vessel Adam was commanded to be one with, Eve.The plan worked, and Adam chose to harken to his woman's voice instead of his Father's. Now the enemy was able to move into the position of father of lies (John 8:44). Adam and Eve, and all subsequent generations, would be subject to the father of lies and be bound to carry out the desires of the enemy (Romans 5:19). Because sin entered into Adam’s seed, every man and woman born of Adam would be born into the slavery of Satan and his mission to propagate divorce as the world’s most common sin. The enemy knew that man was created by the Father to carry out the desires of a father to preserve marriage for the purpose of His Son. By stealing the role of father, he was guaranteed to have children of disobedience and have the Father’s wrath come upon man (Col. 3:6). Satan is no longer alone in his rebellion. As Satan was divorced from the Trinity, he now is proud of his monopoly of divorces on earth. Satan may be the father of the sinful nature of your mortal body, but if you are a “born-again” Christian, he cannot father you as a daddy! Nor can he break up a believer’s marriage as long as they cling to Yeshua from within - with His doctrines of an eternal covenant marriage.The End Times Chronicles is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for subscribing to The End Times Chronicles. Your paid subscription helps us advance our non-profit’s mission. Dr. Stephen R. Phinney is dedicated to providing quality media and publications that advance the Life of Christ. Paid subscribers receive free eBooks, media content, and other free stuff.Hey, fellow writers/readers, would you be open to buying me a cup of coffee? Check out this fun way of supporting my writing: https://bmc.link/drphinney
|
Posts
