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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
Tke Conflict of tke Ages Between th e Serpent and th e Seed of th e Woman By P a sto r F rederic W. F a rr Calvary B ap tist Church, Los Angeles, California, in “China’s M illions”
“T h e d r a g o n s t o o d b e f o r e t h e w o m a n . . . t o d e v o u r h e r c h ild .” — R e v e l a t i o n 1 3 :4 .
At a la ter tim e God revealed to David th a t th e Seed of th e woman and .the royal line of Ju d a h ’s kings should come th rough him. Then the enemy made repeated and persistent effort for its extinction. F irs t of all Jehoram slew all his b reth ren (2 Chron. 2 1 :4 ). Then the A rabians came and slew all his sons save the youngest (2 Chron. 2 2 :1 ). Then A ihaliah destroyed all the seed royal of th e house of Jud ah (2 Chron. 22 :10 ). A t least th is was her intention and the godly in Israel probably believed it true. W hat m ust th e ir feelings have been? One little baby was saved from the massacre (2 Chron. 22:11) unknown to all save his rescuer. The promise of God hung on the life of a single infant. Divine providence watched over him and eventually b rough t hjm to the throne. The slogan of his coronation is found in 2 Chron.’ 23:3, “As th e Lord h ath said.” In one of th e la ter books of the Old Testam ent a plot is described for the destruction of th e whole nation in a single day. (E sth er 3 :1 3 ). It narrow ly escaped being successful. Every preparation had been made. The decree had gone fo rth and the day was fixed. The conspiracy failed through a chain of causation starting- w ith an attack of insomnia on the p art of th e king. Who awakened him in th e m iddle of th e night? W hat a trifle it was (E sth er 6 :1 )! All ended in the hanging of “ the Jew s’ enemy” upon his own gibbet. In The New Testam ent In the New Testament th e long promised Seed appears. It-is possible th a t Satan was taken by surprise. Prophecy is designedly obscure, th a t evil men may not understand it and defeat the purpose of God. Having ascertained through Herod where Christ should be born and w hat time the sta r appeared, he supposed if he slew all the male chil dren in Bethlehem under two years of age, he would surely destroy the woman’s Seed. Everything seemed to favor th e plot. Imagine the resu lt if God had not again in ter fered! None bu t God knew of th is attem p t on the life of th e new-born King. The enemy was again defeated and the promise preserved. When th e Saviour began his m inistry a t N azareth, Satan tried to have him cast down headlong over th e precipice be hind th e town, bu t th e Lord passed unharm ed th rough the m idst of His attack ers and went His way unharm ed (Luke 4 :3 0 ). On two different occasions the Devil tried to drown the Saviour in the lake of Galilee. The first storm (Matt. 8: 23-27) was caused by an earthquake (seismos). The Mas te r rebuked first the fears of His disciples and then the storm . The second storm was caused by a sudden squall (Luke 8:22-25). They were in an open boat which was filled w ith w ater and were in g reat jeopardy. He rebuked th e storm first and then the disciples’ fears. In Gethsemane the attem p t of Satan to take th e Saviour’s life very nearly succeeded. When the life-blood oozes through the pores of the skin, th e end is very near. God sent an angel down to streng then and uphold Him until He could get to the cross. At length the crisis came and the bruising of the heel was perm itted upon th e cross. N either th e tim e nor th e oc casion was in the enemy’s hands. Satan probably though t (Continued on Page 123)
IHIS a ttitu d e on the p art of Satan shows p ersisten t I opposition to the purpose of God in human re- j demption. * The first th ree chapters of Genesis are th e seed plot of Scripture. The g reat doctrines of salvation may be found there in germ. Genesis 3:15 is called the protevan- gelium, th e first preaching of the Gospel. This passage declares th a t th e serpent should bruise th e heel of th e wo m an’s Seed, affecting Him in the least v ital p art. The Seed of the woman should crush the serpen t’s head, affecting him in th e most vital p art and accomplish his destruction. The sacred history records th e successive steps and stages of th is age-long conflict. In The Old Testam ent The first stage is seen in Genesis 6:11, 12. Satan sought to fru stra te the plan of God by ruining all mankind, but God intervened to save th e one fam ily th a t kept its purity. By faith Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house and the attem p t of S atan came to nought. Another attem p t of Satan is seen in the history of Abra ham. Among the in teresting experiences of the p a tri arch ’s life, the two denials of Sarah are singled out and recorded because they were efforts of Satam to get rid of th e “Seed of th e woman” (Genesis 12 and 20). Divine in terposition was again necessary. God plagued Pharaoh and spoke to Abimelech in a dream . Satan was defeated. W hat would have become of the promised Seed had Ab rah am ’s wife become an inm ate of a royal harem? In Genesis 16, th ere came a tem ptation th rough Sarah to make Ishmael the seed, bu t (Gen. 17:19) God refused. In Genesis 41, a m ighty fam ine was created to destroy the en tire family. Divine foreknowledge anticipated the emer gency and provided for it, The selling of Joseph into Egypt seemed like th e successi of one of S atan ’s designs. Joseph explained its meaning a t a later tim e (Gen. 45:5 and 50: 20). It was to save much people alive. Another divine interference was necessary. "God-sent a man before them, even Joseph” (Psa. 105 :17 ). The book of Exodus chronicles th e D ragon's attem p t to get rid of the nation. P h araoh ’s policy was political bu t S ata n ’s design was to destroy all th e male children. Thus autom atically th e Seed of the woman would be cut" off. “ If it be a son, ye shall kill him ” (Ex. 1 :1 6 ). God acted upon the h earts of th e parents of Moses in such wise th a t they were not afraid of the king’s commandment and as a con sequence th e ir baby was saved. When P haraoh ’s daughter saw th e child in th e little cradle of rushes, a te ar glistened on its cheek. Her h ea rt was touched. T hat little tear brought about th e defeat of the enemy and th e preservation of the chosen nation. “Despise not th e day of small things” (1 Cor. 1 :28 ). At the Red Sea, S atan ’s opportunity seemed a t last to have come. They were “ entangled in th e land” (Ex. 14 :3 ). The sea was before them , iron w ar chariots behind them. They were helpless. Then came th e divine word, “The Lord shall fight for you.” Exodus 15:9 is what Satan inspired the Egyptians to say; verse 10 is the testimony of th e re deemed people; “Thou didst blow w ith Thy wind, th e sea covered them .”
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