Many people today are weary and burdened with the pressures of life. They are, as God’s word says, “Fainting and scattered abroad, like sheep without a shepherd.”
This short essay will show you how Messiah has gained the victory over Satan.1
“Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength; by your favour our horn is exalted.” Psalm 89:15-17 (ESV)
A wonderful promise
Did you know that victory over Satan was foretold from the beginning of mankind? The first promise of a coming Redeemer — the Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world — was given by God in paradise:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
Under what circumstances was this promise given?
The arch-enemy of man, Satan, the serpent, had tempted our first parents. They transgressed God’s commandment: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat” (Genesis 2:17).
Now, in the day of their transgression, they stood before God conscious of their terrible guilt. Which of us does not know the conviction of sin? The Torah assures us: “Be sure your sin will find you out!” (Num. 32:23). God knows every hidden sin. Moses said: “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of thy presence” (Psalm 90:8).
Our first parents expected that the sentence of death would be carried out immediately. Had not God announced: “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die!” (Gen. 2:l7)?
Why did they not die in that day?
You may say: “They died spiritually!” For God says (Isaiah 59:2): “Your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden his face from you.” Yes, that’s true! By transgressing God’s commandment they chose the way of death (Deut. 30:15,19) and in that very moment they were – as far as their spiritual condition was concerned – ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:l). But why did they not die physically? This question finds an answer in Genesis 3:21: “The Lord God made Adam and his wife COATS OF SKIN and clothed them.” Why coats of skin and not of wool or cotton? Why had an animal to die that day?
You see, God in His great mercy provided for them a Kaporah, a sacrifice dying in their stead, that they might live. Here we see the beginning of all later sacrifices (Genesis 4:4; 8 :20; 12:7,8; 13 :4,18 ; 22:8,13; 26:25; 31:54; 33:20; 46:1; Job 1:5 etc.).
This is a wonderful foreshadowing of the redemptive work of the Messiah, who through his self-sacrifice would atone for our sins (Isaiah 53:5-8; Mk. 10:45; Jn. 1:29; 10:11; 1 Peter 1:18-20). Even the rabbis comment on the atoning ministry of the Messiah. We read in Luchoth Habberith 242a: “He (the Messiah) will give Himself and His life over unto death and His blood will atone for His people.” And here in the paradise, before God provided the atoning sacrifice, he gave them the wonderful promise, the Gospel message: One shall come and conquer Satan, the serpent: “The SEED OF THE WOMAN shall bruise the head of the serpent” (Gen. 3:15). What a message of life in the face of death! How they must have rejoiced: “I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalm 118:17). “Adam called his wife’s name Eve (=Life), because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).
Our first parents had a Messianic hope
They called their first-born son Cain, which means “Gain.” And Eve said: “I have gotten a man — even Jehovah (את־יהוה איש קניתי) (Gen. 4:1). This begotten son is clearly defined by Eve as being Jehovah Himself (cf. Isaiah 7:17).2 Some translated it by saying ‘with Jehovah.’ This we do not find anywhere in the Tenach (Old Testament), but we find the expression ‘with God’ (Im-Elohim, עם־אלהים) (1 Samuel 14:45). They expected that their first-born son would be the promised Redeemer, the Seed who would crush the head of the serpent. Most interesting is the rabbinical interpretation of this verse.
The Targum Jonathan says: “Adam knew his wife who desired the Angel, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have obtained the Man, the Angel of Jehovah.” But the original text does not say ‘the Angel of Jehovah’ (which is the name of the Messiah); it says plainly: “I have gotten a man, Jehovah.” — Midrash Rabbah says: “Eve had respect to that Seed which is coming from another place. And who is this? This is the Messiah, the King.”
Yes, even our first parents expected the coming of the Messiah, “Whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).
The Seed of the Woman
It is significant that Messiah is called ‘The Seed of the Woman.’ Usually the seed of man is spoken of: The seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But here it is ‘the Seed of the Woman.’ This should teach us an important truth: God makes it very clear that it is not given to man to procreate the Messiah. The sinful fallen Adamic nature is excluded. Later Isaiah prophesied: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). The Seed of the Woman is a virgin-birth! 3
The Names of the Messiah
How remarkable are the names of the Messiah which are given by God through the prophets of Israel. Isaiah said: “She (his mother) shall call his name IMMANUEL” (Isa. 7:14). “And his name shall be called (by the people): …MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER…” (Isa. 9:6). And again God said through Jeremiah: “His name shall be called: YAHWEH our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).
These names of the Messiah indicate a tremendous fact! Surely you will agree that the prophets would not lead us to blasphemy by calling a human being ‘GOD, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, YAHWEH.’ No! But they reveal to us a wonderful secret, namely:
- His divine natureThe great Bible interpreter Rashi comments on Isaiah 7:14, saying: “Behold the ‘Almah’ shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. — This means that our Creator shall be with us. And this is the sign: The one who will conceive is a girl (Naarah) who never in her life had intercourse with any man.”‘Our Creator with us,’ what a tremendous truth! Yes, Messiah is called in the Tenach ‘The Branch of Jehovah’ (יהוה צמח) (Isaiah 4:2). The Targum Jonathan paraphrased the ‘Branch of Jehovah’ the ‘Messiah of God.’ And Rabbi David Kimchi commentated: “The Branch of Jehovah is the Messiah ben David.”
Did you ever consider that Messiah is of divine nature? Or do you still have doubts concerning this fact? Think about it! How could he crush the head of the serpent unless he were God himself? How could he be our Redeemer if he himself needed redemption?
The Tenach challenges us with a vital question: “What is God’s name, and what is his son’s name? Tell me if you know!” And we are assured: “He is a shield to those that take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:4,5). Yes, God Himself witnessed concerning his Son: “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” And He calls upon us: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way…Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:7;12).
This prophecy is wonderfully fulfilled in the New Testament where the birth of Messiah is recorded (Matthew 1:18;22;23; Luke 1:26-35).
“Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16
- The goal of His coming Messiah came not only as the incarnate WORD OF GOD, Hebrew = (י״י מימרא) (John 1:1-3;14), as the personification of the Torah (Matt. 5:17), – but he came to conquer Satan, to bruise the head of the serpent and to destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8). The prince of this world had no hold on him (John 14:30). Jesus foretold his victory, the fact that he would overcome the enemy. He said:”Now is the judgement of this world: now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” John 12:31-33
- He conquered Satan through death. The prophetic word says: “The serpent shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15b). “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). From this it would seem that Satan obtained the victory; for if a poisonous snake bites a heel it means death. Yet, listen to what the historical record tells us: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). How wonderful! Messiah crushed the head of the serpent and triumphed over the powers of darkness. It is written:“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14,15
- The sting of death is sin. We all know that sin corrupts and destroys man like the bite of a dangerous snake or the sting of a poisonous scorpion. God’s Word says: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And “death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).You see, in this respect we are all in the same boat, without exception: “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccl. 7:20; comp. Psalm 53:3; Isaiah 64:6).
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
- Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin
Thus Messiah abolished all former sacrifices in his great self-sacrifice. The many individual sacrifices could never equal the value of the sacrificer nor could the collective offering on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) equal the value of all the people. They were a reminder of the promise given in Paradise that a mighty Deliverer should come and conquer Satan. They looked forward to the fulfilment in the atoning ministry of the Messiah. These offerings only had power through their prophetic significance: The Seed of the Woman should crush the head of the serpent and redeem us from the guilt and power of sin.
- The uplifted serpent
“I am a worm, and not a man; scorned by mankind and despised by the people. I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. You lay me in the dust of death. They have pierced my hands and feet.” Psalm 2:6;14;15;16
Isaiah also spoke of the Messiah dying in our stead:
“He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities: upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.” Isaiah 53:5;8
Everyone who saw the uplifted serpent was reminded that through the serpent sin and death had entered into this world. But this serpent of brass was a symbol of the promised ‘Seed of the Woman,’ who himself being wounded unto death, would bruise the head of the serpent and deliver all men from the terrible power of death. And this truth is confirmed by the Messiah himself who said:
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:14-16
- The fruit of His suffering
“When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.” Isaiah 53:10;11
And the Messiah Himself said shortly before He went to the cross:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone: but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24
- A victorious people
It is the same today! God’s Word declares:
“This is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4,5
The victory is already established! It is an historical fact. Messiah cried on the cross: “It is finished!” The redemptive work is accomplished ‘once and for all’ (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10, 14). We have only to acknowledge and to accept it by faith.
“Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Messiah. — Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 15:57
You see, the victory is God’s gift to those who believe. The victorious life and the power to overcome is IN THE MESSIAH and HE GIVES IT to his disciples. He says:
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19
Jesus Himself lived the victorious life
Let us look for a moment at the glorious example of the Messiah. In the paradise Adam failed in the hour of temptation. Jesus on the other hand, being tempted in the wilderness, conquered Satan with the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit (Matt. 4:1-11). We see here how important it is to know the Word of God and to use it correctly.
The Lord Jesus was at that time tempted in a threefold manner: First concerning His physical condition (vs. 2-4); then in the psychic realm (vs. 5-7) and lastly concerning His spiritual life (vs. 8-11).
To stress the point, we will look at just one of these three temptations:
Satan tempted the Lord Jesus with fame and honour before man. He suggested that the Messiah cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple to be wondered at and acknowledged by all the people. And Satan supported this proposal with the Word of God: “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11, 12).
But the Lord Jesus withstood him with God’s Word and experienced the wonderful promise of the following verse:
“You will tread on the lion and adder: the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” Psalm 91:13
This temptation at the beginning of Messiah’s public ministry was not the only one. We are told: “Satan departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). Later Jesus was tried through his relatives (Mark 3:21; 6:4); through his disciples (Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 9:54,55; John 13:2,21-30); through religious leaders (Matthew 22:15-21,34-40; John 8:3-11) and in the hour of darkness in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-41). But the climax of all was the trial on the cross when the spotless Son of God was mocked and the people said: “He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross and we will believe him” (Matthew 27:42).
And yet, Jesus overcame! It was his wondrous redeeming love for you and for me that kept him there on the cross. He was willing die in our stead, to take upon himself the judgement for our sins that we might be forgiven and reconciled unto God. And there in his death he conquered and triumphed over the powers of darkness. It is written:
“… Cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:14,15
- One with Him
It is just the same today! The moment you realize that Messiah was crucified not only for your sins but in your stead, then this realisation will cut through and circumcise your heart (Deut 30:6; Jer. 4:4; Exodus 12:48; Col. 2:11-13). Then you will understand the words of Paul: “I am crucified with Messiah: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Messiah lives in me!”
Only on this ground can we overcome Satan. If we allow secret sins in our life, we cannot have victory over the power of the enemy (Acts 19:13-17; Joshua 7:11-13).
- His life in His seed
“I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me. – In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Phil. 4:13; Rom. 8:37
The promise is for you!
This wonderful promise of victory over sin, given so early in the history of man, has been gloriously fulfilled IN THE MESSIAH who triumphed over Satan.
The promise is given to all men! And when God gives a promise he expects us to take possession of it. “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Let us take heed that we do not fall into the same mistake as the Israelites of old to whom a wonderful promise was given to enter into the land of fullness and blessing, but could not enter because of unbelief (Heb. 3:19; cf. Num. 13+14). “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11). What can we learn from this? Looking at the history of Israel as recorded in the Bible we see three stages:
1. THEIR LIFE IN EGYPT under foreign rule.
There they were, enslaved by Pharaoh and his taskmasters. This is a picture of the unredeemed man oppressed by Satan and demonic powers, in the bondage of sin. But thanks be to God, Israel was delivered through the Passover lamb, which is a type of the Messiah who died at the same time the Passover lambs were slaughtered and who delivered us from the power of the Evil One (Genesis 22:8; Isaiah 53:7 John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19).
2. THEIR LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS under self-rule.
They were redeemed, but not yet from their grumbling, disobedience and unbelief. Discontentment of heart, leanness of soul and a looking back to Egypt characterized their life in the wilderness (Num. 11:4-6; Ps.106:14, 15). They were brought out of slavery, but they had not yet entered into the land of fullness and blessing (Romans 7:18-24).
3. THEIR LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND under God’s rule.
God had promised that he would lead them into the land of fullness, and so he did! (Exodus 3:8; Deut. 8:7-10). This Promised Land is a wonderful picture of the blessing and abundance in the Messiah, Jesus (Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 1:4-7; 2 Peter 1:3, 4; Galatians 5:22-24). Jesus said:
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Those who have found the wonderful blessing and victory over sin through Messiah Jesus praise God for it:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Messiah, who has blessed us in Messiah with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:3
Take into possession!
You may ask: “How can I do this?” When Israel entered into the land of blessing they first performed an act of tremendous symbolic significance: They took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, and buried them in the midst of the Jordan; and they took twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan and erected a monument at Gilgal (Joshua 4:8,9).
This symbolised the end and burial of their old life and the beginning of a new one. They entered into a new position in the land of promise. Now the life of blessing began under the rulership of God.
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Messiah our Lord. Romans 6:11
—Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
So you see, they ventured out in faith to take possession of what God had promised:
“Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” Joshua 1:3
Let Him take possession of you!
God wanted Israel to take possession of the whole land, all of it. This is a wonderful illustration of what it means to enter into our inheritance: the life of fullness and blessing in the Messiah Jesus.
But how could they fulfil this task without the rulership of God? The Lord himself had to take full possession of their lives. The conquest began with a complete surrender to the rulership of God (Joshua 5:13-15).
These two important aspects of the victorious life are emphasised by the Messiah himself who said:
“Abide in me and I in you. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4,5
The Lord Jesus wants to abide in us and take full control of every part of our life.
But as you may know, there were seven nations who claimed the land for themselves and contended with Joshua, the leader of Israel. Yet Joshua had the victory and overpowered them, just as the Lord Jesus once cast seven demons out of Miryam Magdala (Luke 8:2). (The Hebrew name Joshua is the same as Jesus in the Greek translation.)
An interesting story is found in Joshua 10:16-18. There we see how five kings hid themselves in a cave. (This is a picture of secret sin, the stronghold of Satan in the life of man.)
But Joshua gave the command: “Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave. And they did so! … Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war…: ‘Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings. . . Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous: For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight’.” Joshua 10:22,23,24,25
The Lord Jesus who triumphed over Satan on the cross of Calvary longs for his victory to be experienced in your whole life, but you must allow him to take complete possession of your life. He does not force himself upon you. No! He respects your free will. You must invite him to come in, to take possession of and rule your life.
Then you will experience in your own life the victory of Messiah over Satan. He gives you the ‘Authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy’ (Luke 10:19). Thus shall the wonderful promise of paradise be fulfilled your life.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Romans 16:20
Footnotes:
1.* The Universal Jewish Encyclopaedia says: Satan is the name of the arch-evil spirit.
Revelation 12:9 says: “The great dragon. . . that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.”
2. The expression in the original text ‘At-Jehovah’ could be translated in two ways: (1) as a determining accusative saying ‘that is Jehovah,’ or (2) as a preposition which would mean ‘with Jehovah.’ As the latter reading makes no sense, we can only conclude that the correct rendering should be: “I have gotten a man, namely Jehovah.”
3. Regarding the Old Testament usage of the descriptive words almah and betulah see “Messiah born of a virgin” obtainable from Messianic Good News.