“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” (Matt. 4:3)
“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.” (Luke 22:3)
The Lord Jesus Christ plainly told the disciples that He would be killed and rise again the third day, yet what we fully understand today was hidden from them, save for only one instance that comes to mind.
“Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16)
After His resurrection He expounded on the Scriptures of these truths to the two He walked with on the road to Emmaus, when He revealed Himself to those in that room they believed, but it was not until they were filled with the Holy Spirit that they understood.
Here is what I have been contemplating for some time now, did Satan understand as well? He knew intimately all the Scriptures up to that time, the hundreds of places in the Old Testament that specifically mentioned the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,” (Psalm 40:7)
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10)
“They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” (Psalm 22:18)
He knew every verse that references the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Savior. If his desire, and it is, is to hinder as much as he can the will of the Almighty, knowing these truths, why would he try to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, would not his plan be to keep Him alive?
There is a verse that must be considered here and in context, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32)
There’s that word “if” again.
Satan knew who the Lord was, there was no doubt in his mind, he witnessed the virgin birth, he saw the miracles, he was in heaven and with his own eyes saw the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he knew the prophecies concerning our Savior, but did he understand them, or were they hidden from him as well?
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” (Rev. 13:18)
No one alive understands this verse completely today, but to those who will be saved by the grace of God during the days of Tribulation, that verse will be crystal clear.
“But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” (Gen. 2:6)
When the rain started for the very first time, all those inside and those locked out of the ark Noah built understood fully.
Either all those truths of the Old Testament concerning our Lord’s birth, life, death and resurrection were hidden from Satan, in his ability to discern them, or he did understand the truths of them and attempted to keep the Lord from going to the cross.
But the verses speak otherwise, save for the words of Peter when our Lord said to him, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matt. 16:23)
“The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked:” (Prov. 21:12a)
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2nd Cor. 2:11)
I cannot say, the Most High has not blessed me with the full knowledge of these contemplations, just a small glimpse of them. I may have missed it, or because of my poor memory I may have misplaced it, so to speak, but there is nothing in the Old Testament that I can recall that states this truth, that all who have been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ would be blessed with the Holy Spirit residing in them from that moment, throughout their entire life.
This I do not think Satan knew.
We are to study to show ourselves approved, to rightly divide the Word of God, all His truths are only understood by us because of the wisdom He blesses us with, they are Spiritually discerned.
This particular glass is still very dark to me, I offer it only for your contemplation.
