Thursday, March 5, 2009

Satan's Jealousy - the Cause of His Attack

Last time, we looked at one of the reasons Satan attacks the family so much. It is because the family is the basic building block of society. If the family can be destroyed, all of society will crumble with it. Today, we will look at another reason for Satan's attack. It is his intense jealousy. Satan, before his fall, held an elevated position in creation as the top angel in heaven guarding God's glory. At the fall, because of his rebellion, Satan lost that spot and forfeited his relationship with God. When he saw the creation of man as the pinnacle of God's creation holding a special spot in God's heart, he was jealous. He wanted to destroy, not only our intimate relationship with God, but our marriages, our most intimate human relationship.

Since Satan was there when God created mankind, Satan knew what God said about that part of creation. The first thing Satan probably heard was this: Genesis 11:26-28,


"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the seas, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.'" NKJV.


Satan saw God's desire was to create man in His own image, both the the man and the woman, each complementing the other to form the complete image of God. They were to bear the very image of God in their persons. All Satan ever did was reflect the glory of God, and so he burned with jealousy.

Plus, he had heard that man was to have dominion. That was exactly what Satan had wanted, remember? That was the reason for his fall. In Isaiah 14:13, we read of Satan, pre-fall as Lucifer, saying, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." The stars of God are the other angels. Satan wanted to be the ruler - king of creation. Now he has heard that man is to be given dominion over this earth, a position Satan coveted greatly. His jealousy burned hot.

What else did Satan see and hear? He heard God planning in Genesis 2:18, "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'" Satan heard God say that the marriage relationship was a good thing for man. It was a benefit to have a helpmeet. The woman would be man's complement, his completer, his crown of glory, his companion and partner. Marriage was a good thing for man. So Satan determined to break up this most intimate of human relationships. Or at least he would attempt to get couples to be so distant within their relationships they might as well be alone.

Then Satan watched as God carried out the remedy to the "not good" thing that man was alone. In Genesis 2:21-22, Satan saw God work: "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man." God lovingly crafted Eve specifically to be Adam's complement, his completer and helpmeet. Eve was exactly what Adam needed. And Adam's response showed this. In Genesis 2:23, Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man." Adam was ecstatic - he was overjoyed. "This is perfect," he thought, "This is so wonderful." And Satan burned with jealousy.

Then Satan heard God's commentary on their relationship in Genesis 2:24-25, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked , the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." That was marriage as it was intended. The two became one flesh. This is on a much deeper level than simply the joining of their bodies, or sharing the same address, table, or bed. In marriage, there is a oneness in our names, in the children we produce together, and the history we build together. We rejoice together in good times and we sorrow together in the bad. We go through life together as family. We knit our hearts together as one. that was God's intention. And Satan burned with jealousy.

And they were both naked. That means so much more than that they didn't have any clothes on. There was nothing held back between them. There was a total transparency. They had no secret, no hidden agendas, no masks. There was no duplicity in the marriage, no deceit - just beautiful oneness, completely without embarrassment. Satan, having lost his own relationship with God because of his ambition, deceit and duplicity, hated the peace and contentment that existed between this first couple. He determined to destroy it. And he had a plan. That plan was accomplished at the fall. It will be the topic of my next post.

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