September 8: TURNING POINT

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9

In this opener, there are no less than five identifiers for the archenemy of God. With imagery borrowed from ancient mythology, he is portrayed as a great red (v.3) dragon (Greek: drakon). This corresponds to some Old Testament portrayals in Hebrew; in particular sea monsters called Leviathan and Rahab. As metaphors in Biblical literature, they are used to depict evil enemy powers that oppressed Israel. Pharaoh of the Exodus is called Leviathan (Psalm 74:14) and Rahab (Psalm 89:10; Isaiah 30:7; 51:9-10). The doom of Leviathan is sure (Isaiah 27:1), but until that day, he is king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34). These portrayals are meant to show to God’s people the oppressive and manipulative nature of sin, in order to dissuade their participation in the idolatry and all of its accoutrements that engulfed the surrounding nations. In recognition that Israel was herself becoming engulfed, Jeremiah and Ezekiel also wrote of the destructive, devouring monster (Jeremiah 51:34; Ezekiel 29:3; 32:2).

That serpent of old (mentioned again in 20:2) is a direct reference to the tragic fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3); he is called the Devil, meaning slanderer; and he is called Satan, meaning adversary. We must understand that his slander was originally directed against God. Character assassination of God was the basis of the Devil’s slanderous campaign among his fellow angels. Another word for adversary is rival. Lucifer actually sees himself as one who rivals God; he wants to take His place and receive the worship that is due to Him alone.

This leads to the fifth description: he who deceives the whole world. All of us have been deceived regarding the character of God. The slanderer has worked through other deceived people to propagate his dangerous, soul-destroying ideas. The most effective way to become undeceived is to get to know Him for yourself.

There is a time distinction between being cast out and being cast to the earth. Before our world was created, [Jesus] saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18). Apparently, he roamed freely among other locations in the universe as he sought a place to set up his base of operations. But none of the unfallen worlds allowed him to reside. After his success in tempting our first parents to sin, he claimed the earth for himself (see Job 1:6-7). Three times before His crucifixion, Jesus called him the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). After accusing God before the angels of heaven, Satan began accusing people before God (see Job 1:9-10, Zechariah 3:1-2). As we will see, Jesus’s death on the cross was the turning point that actually confined the deceiver to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. The entire watching universe saw, in a single scene, the love of God and the cruelty of Satan.

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14