09 The Anatomy of Evil

Questions

Question 1: How do you know when to apply the day-for-a-year principle and when to take a Bible time literally?

There are two fundamental questions here: 1) does the Bible actually support a symbolic interpretation for a day in prophecy that would equal a literal year in real life? and 2) if so, how do we know when to apply that principle and when the Bible is just talking about a literal day?

The first questions is something that Bible authors knew as early as Isaiah and Jeremiah who both predate Daniel, and Christian and Jewish scholars have written about since the 1st century—the time of the apostles. It’s only been in the last 150 or so years when the Christian church seems to have forgotten about this Biblical interpretation.

The question is, is a day for a year in the Bible, or is it just a made up thing? The answer, is in Ezekiel 4:6

Ezekiel 4:6 NKJV

6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.

Right there. That’s in the Bible. A day for each year. One day of time is a symbol for a year of time.

So, how do we know when to apply the day-for-a-year principle, and when to interpret it as literal days or years?

There are lots of examples of delimiting periods of time in the Bible—time when something will start and end. For example, Joseph predicted seven literal years of plenty followed by seven literal years of famine, and that time period is substantiated in the Bible as literal, and not symbolic.

God told Abraham that his descendents would be held in oppression for 400 years, and we can trace that historical record through the rest of the Bible. It was literally 400 years. Before the flood God said that he was going to give mankind 120 years, and then 120 years later there was a world-wide flood according to the timeline given in Genesis 4, 5 and 6. When Elijah promised there wouldn’t be rain until he said, the Bible says there were 3 1/2 years of drought — those were 3 1/2 literal years. And of course, there’s the prophecy that Jesus would be in the grave for 3 days and nights, and that’s what we find in history.

So, clearly, there are examples when a time period in the Bible is literal and not at all symbolic. But then there’s this other type of literature in the Bible that is distinctly different.

In prophecy we find the 70 week (490 day) prophecy in Daniel 9, or the 2,300 day prophecy in Daniel 8, or the 10 day prophecy in Revelation 2, or the 1260 day prophecy in Daniel 7:25 and repeated in Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 11:2, 12:4, and 13:5. And then there’s the five month prophecy in Revelation 9:5. There are a few others too, but these are the highlights.

The big difference between these instances of time frames is what type of literature they appear in. Historical literature like the books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Esther, Job, Kings and Chronicles all use time quite literally.

Then there are the major prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel where time is generally literal, unless you are told otherwise, such as in Ezekiel 4:6 when God said, “I have laid on you a day for each year.”

We know that this is a day for a year because the Bible explicitly tells us so.

Then, in Daniel, where we find the 1260 days, 2300 days, and 70 weeks/490 days, as well as a few others, we can be fairly certain that the day-year principle is at work because of the context that they are being presented in, and because Daniel himself seems to believe them to be symbolic of years.

The context they are written in includes some very long stretches of history. The 2,300 days is mentioned in the context of a prophecy that began in the 500’s BC during the reign of Belteshazar and doesn’t end until the time of the end—according to Gabriel. If the time period were literal then the cleansing of the sanctuary would have no more significance than any other yearly day of atonement ceremony because it would have been completed long before Jesus had fulfilled the earthly sanctuary services in his death and resurrection. But Daniel 8:14 points us to a heavenly sanctuary and the heavenly day of atonement—a prophecy that couldn’t be fulfilled until at least 483 years after this prophecy begins in 457 BC, according to Daniel 9. So, the apocalyptic nature of the passage leads us to interpret the time period in a symbolic way.

And this appears to be Daniel’s thinking on the time period as well. Why else would he be worried in Daniel 8:27 where he fainted and was sick because no one could understand the 2,300 day portion of the prophecy? And then in Daniel 9 he comes back to the subject with quite of bit of worry, and a heart full of repentance for his people. In Daniel 9:16-19 Daniel pleads with God to turn away his anger and have mercy on Jerusalem. Why would he be pleading for mercy? It seems like Daniel was worried that God’s prediction through the prophecy Jeremiah of 70 years of captivity and then Israel would go back to the promised land had now turned into 2,300 years. Daniel wouldn’t have been worried if he thought the 2,300 days was literal. 6 1/3 years, that’s no biggie, but 2,300 years, that’s a lot longer punishment than God had initially indicated to Jeremiah.

So, how do you know when to apply the day for a year principle?

What kind of literature are you looking at?  is it historical or poetic or a story? — it’s probably literal. Is it apocalyptic prophecy? — then there’s a pretty good chance the time period should be symbolic.

What does the immediate context tell you? If it says, “this is symbolic”, then you should interpret it as symbolic. If it implies long periods of time in the rest of the prophecy then its probably a good idea to interpret the time period as symbolic of long periods of time too.

Upcoming topics

Tonight, our subject is the “The Anatomy of Evil,” and we’re going to examine one of the toughest questions ever asked of the Christian religion - or any other monotheistic religion, for that matter:

If God is good, and God is love, then where do things like pain and suffering come from? Tonight, we’re going to let God explain how that works.

Then on Wednesday night, the Ultimate Mind Game. We’re going to pull back the curtain of the universe and look at some of the things that are going on right now - in YOUR life - that spill over from the great conflict described in the central part of the book of Revelation.

If you’ve ever wondered why some habits are so hard to give up - if you’ve ever found yourself going back to the same behavior again and again - if you sometimes find temptation overwhelming - then you don’t want to miss this night.

We’re off on Thursday but then on Friday night, “The Coming of the Lawless One.” We’re going to look at the “mystery of lawlessness” that’s mentioned in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, and we’ll really start digging into some of the most important themes in Bible prophecy.

This is one of those subjects you’re going to need as we keep moving forward, because it’s an indispensable foundation for some of the concepts found in the book of Revelation.

In fact, you’re going to need it when we get to Saturday night, when we’ll look at “Revelation’s Sign of God” - a special symbol of the relationship God has with His people, especially in the last days.

We’re going to look carefully at Revelation 14 and we’ll probably cover some territory you’ve never seen before.

And then on Sunday night, we’ll go looking for that verse that most people ASSUME is found in the Bible - and we’re going to see if they’re right.

Our subject will be “Revelation’s Forgotten History,” and we’re going to look at some historical events that have absolutely shaped the way the modern world thinks, and then we’ll go back and see if the Bible actually supports those ideas.

It’s going to be a great night.

We’re off next Monday. Then on next Tuesday night, our topic will be “A River Runs Through It” - and what we’re going to do is go back to the book of Genesis, and I’ll show you something in that book that links to something in the book of Revelation - and then I’ll show you a thread that runs all the way from Genesis to Revelation - and I’ll show you how that can make a huge difference in your life, right now.

Then on next Wednesday night, we’re going to look at Babylon Rising. This is a night I know that some of you have been waiting for, because we’re going to examine incredible passages like Daniel chapter 7 and Revelation chapter 13 - and by that time, we will have all the background we need to really unpack what those chapters are saying.

In fact, we’re going to apply what we’ve learned so thoroughly, that by the time we’re finished, you’ll be able to tell ME what those chapters are talking about.

We’re off next Thursday. Then on Friday night, what REALLY happens one second after you draw your last breath and close your eyes for the last time? What should you expect ONE SECOND after you die?

I think you’re going to be surprised at how much detail the Bible actually provides.

But tonight, our subject is “The Anatomy of Evil.”

Prayer

Let’s pray: “Father, tonight as we turn to the pages of the Bible, I want to ask that You would give us the gift of understanding. So many people have so many different opinions when it comes to religion, but the only voice we really want to hear tonight is Yours. Please bless my words so that I can faithfully represent Your will - and cleanse my heart so that by the time I’m finished speaking, there’s a smile on Your face, because I’ve have done what You’ve asked me to do. I pray these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

The last time we met, we studied one of the most talked-about subjects in the Bible: the Second Coming. And we discovered that the Bible paints a very simple picture if you just allow it to speak for itself.

Tonight, we’re going to look at another topic that gets a LOT of attention, but the attention tends to come from all the wrong places.

Most of the time, it’s the atheists and the skeptics who bring this up, and they call it “the problem of evil.”

So what is the problem of evil?

Well, it kind of runs like this: “If God is good, the way the Bible says, and if God is all-powerful, the way the Bible says - and God is also LOVE - then why do we have things like pain and suffering and evil?”

And of course, what the critics are suggesting is that maybe God ISN’T good, or maybe He doesn’t even exist.

This is probably the number one question the skeptics ask in order to discredit what the Bible says - so tonight, I want to look at it . . . .

. . . but what we’re going to do is READ THE WHOLE STORY, because honestly, that’s what the skeptics fail to do. A lot of them just cherry pick - they pull out the passages that sound really bad out of context, and they don’t ever talk about the rest of the content you find in the Bible. A lot like political commentators who rip our tidbits of a speech and paint a horrible picture of a politician who they disagree with.

So let’s look at the BIG PICTURE - and I want to start with an amazing prophecy found in Revelation chapter 12.

And what we’re about to read usually comes as a surprise to a lot of people, so pay attention carefully:

Read verse through “war in heaven.”

Revelation 12:7, 8

And there was war in heaven: ....

There was war where??? In HEAVEN.

Surprised? The Bible teaches that pain and suffering didn’t actually start on this planet. The first war was fought in the kingdom of heaven.

And that means that God actually KNOWS something about pain and suffering. It’s not as if God is living off in a remote corner of the universe, completely protected from pain and suffering - it’s not like God doesn’t understand pain - because He’s LIVED it.

According to the Bible, the problem actually started in God’s own home.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

There’s a war in heaven, and by the end of the story, someone called “the dragon” gets kicked out.

So who, exactly, is the dragon?

Is it the devil? How do you know that? You know it by reading the whole story - and in this case, you don’t have to go very far:

Revelation 12:9

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.

There’s no question about it: in Bible prophecy, the dragon represents Satan.

And that ought to serve as a warning to the human race: NOT ALL ANGELS ARE GOOD. According to the Bible, some of them are fallen, and they make it their business to deceive the whole world.

Now, that should make you stop and take inventory when you meet people who claim to have had an “angel experience.” If someone says they saw an angel, or they heard from an angel, it MIGHT be a heavenly angel, but then again, it might not.

So even if an angel appears in your home and tells you something, you STILL have to check what they say against the Bible - because that angel MIGHT be a deceiver.

And don’t worry - if it IS a heavenly angel, he’s not going to mind if you check your Bible first.

This is a very important concept: according to the book of Revelation, some angels have been cast out, and they make it their business to deceive.

Just because something LOOKS good - and SOUNDS good - and seems miraculous - that still doesn’t mean it comes from God.

And I can’t emphasize that enough - especially when the Bible is so clear that deception is a key feature in the last days. The only safe place to stand is the Word of God.

In fact, Paul even tells us in 2nd Corinthians 11:14, that Satan knows how to masquerade as an angel of light - and ever since he was kicked out of heaven, he has been employed, full-time, trying to keep people from seeing the truth about God.

But of course, the big question is this: WHY did God kick these angels out?

Was it because He suddenly found them boring? Was it because He was trying to renovate the place, and the old angels didn’t go with the new look?

Of course not. Ezekiel 28 tells us what happened. Listen to this carefully - God is speaking to Lucifer:

Ezekiel 28:13-15

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turqoise,

and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created… till iniquity was found in you.

Now this is really important: the Bible says that God FOUND iniquity in Lucifer. He didn’t create it - He didn’t put it there - the Bible says He FOUND it.

And that’s different.

In the very beginning, God’s creation was perfect. It was good - it was sinless. There was perfect peace and happiness, and God was NOT the author of pain and suffering.

That wasn’t His creation.

But still, somehow Lucifer manages to sin - and you’ve got to wonder: how in the world is that possible?

You would THINK it couldn’t happen - but it does - and the reason it happens is because God created living beings with the freedom to choose.

You and I were born with the ability to turn our backs on God.

So then you’ve got to ask: why would God do THAT?

It doesn’t make sense, until you really think about it.

Follow me carefully. The Bible teaches (in First John 4:8) that God is love - but if if you don’t have a choice, then you can’t HAVE love, because love is voluntary.

Husbands, think about this: when you come home from a long trip, and your wife is at home, waiting for you - that’s good news, right? It means she still loves you, and she wants to be with you!

And wives, when you come home, and your husband is there, that’s kind of satisfying, right? Because he LOVES you. He wants to be there!

But what if the only reason your spouse was still at home at the end of the day is because you chained them to the wall? How satisfying would that be?

You would KNOW they’d run away the second you freed them!

REAL love involves a choice.

So God created you and me with the ability to choose. And of course, that was a little bit risky, wasn’t it?

So why would He take the risk?

It’s not that hard to figure out:

Ask a child if they’d rather have a wind-up, battery-operated puppy . . . or the real thing, and you KNOW which one they’re going to choose.

Even though a REAL puppy comes with risks: it’s going to chew on the furniture, and bark in the middle of the night, and occasionally have an accident on the living room rug.

A real puppy can be VERY risky - but still, that’s the one a child wants, because it CAN LOVE YOU BACK.

Kids want a REAL puppy because a real puppy can give you a real relationship.

It’s the same way with a baby. Every time you bring another child into the world, you’re taking a HUGE risk.

That baby is GOING to make mistakes - I promise you. It’s going to make a mess in its diaper, it’s going to write on the wall with crayon, and one day, it’s going to leave home and start a life without you.

You KNOW what the risks are, and still you want a real baby. You don’t want a robot. Why?

Because a real baby means a real relationship. It gives you the possibility of real love. And, its a reproduction of yourself — an image of your own relationship desires and needs.

And a God of love is a God of relationships. So He created us in His image — with the freedom to choose.

He wants a real, two-way relationship with you. He wants real love.

So it’s a risk He was willing to take . . . and one day, one of the angels suddenly walks away.

Here’s how the Bible tells the story:

Isaiah 14:12-14

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!

For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

FIVE TIMES, Lucifer said “I.”

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will be like the Most High.

I will sit on the mount of the congregation.

Five times. It’s obvious that Lucifer’s focus was HIMSELF. At some point, he quit trusting God, and he turned his attention on himself. He stopped LOVING God, and fell in love with Himself.

You know, the Bible describes him as VERY beautiful. I know that we like to think of the devil as a red man with horns and a pitchfork, but the Bible says he was magnificent.

But then he fell in love with himself, and you know, there is nothing quite so ugly as pride.

I don’t care how beautiful you are - if your heart is full of pride, that’s ANYTHING but attractive. Young men, when you meet a beautiful girl and find out she’s kind of full of herself, she doesn’t seem all that beautiful anymore - am I right?

And young ladies, when you see a guy who’s tall, dark and handsome - and then you find out he’s egotistical and he thinks that he’s God’s special gift to women - how handsome does THAT seem?

Pride is very ugly - and once it takes root in your heart, it doesn’t really matter how physically beautiful you are.

The Bible says that Lucifer developed a problem with pride, and he used his God-given power of choice to turn against God and start building an empire for himself.

He began to sow doubts about God with the other angels - little whispers that raised questions about God’s character.

“Maybe God doesn’t really know what He’s doing. Maybe this whole system is just a little bit unfair - I mean look at all those RULES that God has.”

And it’s true: God has rules. The Ark of the Covenant, if you remember, was a symbol of God’s throne in heaven . . . and inside the ark was a copy of the Ten Commandments - God’s code of moral conduct.

The government of God is a MORAL government - His throne is based on moral principles.

God has rules.

And WHY does God have rules?

Well, why does ANYBODY have rules? Why do we have a bright yellow line down the middle of roads? Why do we have to drive on the right-hand side of the road?

It’s because civilized people need clear boundaries and understanding in order to live together peacefully. Try and drive in a place that DOESN’T have rules - and you quickly discover that you’re taking your life in your hands.

Of course God has rules. That’s how you provide peace and security for beings who have the right to choose. You show them where the boundaries are. You put up a guardrail, and you say, “if you do THIS, if you cross THIS line, it’s going to cause all kinds of pain and suffering.”

That’s what a God of love does. And the Bible says that Lucifer chose to disregard everything and strike out on his own.

Let’s keep reading in Revelation 12:

Revelation 12:3, 4

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth…

Now what does it mean when it says that a third of the stars were pulled out by the dragon? Well, in the Bible, “stars” are often used to represent angels.

In Job 38:7, it says that the morning “stars” sang together when they saw God create the universe.

And in Revelation 1:20, the Bible says that the seven stars in Jesus’ hand are the seven “angels” of the churches.

When the Bible says that a third of the stars were thrown to the earth, it’s telling us that one-third of heaven’s angels followed Lucifer out the door.

One-third of heavenly angels fell.

Now let that sink in. The Bible says that there are still 10,000 times 10,000 angels in the presence of God - that’s one hundred MILLION of them at a minimum - but that’s only two-thirds of the angels who USED to be there.

That means that MILLIONS of angels suddenly turned against God.

There was HUGE heartbreak in the kingdom of heaven.

God suddenly lost one-third of His heavenly family.

Try to imagine the pain. If you’ve ever lost a family member, I want you to understand that God understands how you feel - He lost millions of them.

And of course, the question is: why didn’t God just DO something about it? Why not just eliminate those fallen angels - stamp them out before they could spread the rebellion?

Let’s think about this carefully.

What would YOU do if:

you want to let everybody keep their freedom of choice. You want REAL love, and you want it to be voluntary.

you don’t want anybody to serve you just because they have no choice, and

now you have a rebellion, but you want to fix it so that you don’t take away freedom of choice, and you still stop it from ever happening again.

How would you fix that? What would you do?

Sometimes, the only way people will learn to not touch a hot stove is to let them touch it once. Unfortunately, sometimes, the only way people will believe you when you say that something will hurt is if you let them experience it. 

So God has allowed the universe to touch the hot stove. He warned us, but we didn’t listen - so now, because He’s a God of freedom, He’s letting us experience just enough so that, as a species, we’ll never do it again.

Just think about what would happen if God just wiped Lucifer out the moment he sinned. The other angels had been listening to his lies - so how are THEY going to respond?

What are THEY going to think if Lucifer is suddenly missing?

“Maybe Lucifer had a point! After all, it kind of looks like God was scared of what he had to say!”

Think about this carefully. What if your brother or sister started saying bad things about your dad, and then one day, they’re suddenly missing?

He killed them.

What are you going to think? You’re going to think that your brother or sister had a point!

And God is obviously smarter than we are, so He didn’t just kill Lucifer. Instead, He has given fallen angels just enough leash to prove to the whole universe that they don’t know what they’re doing.

He’s given them the freedom to try running things THEIR way, and in the end, the whole universe will see that the path of rebellion is the path of pain and suffering and death.

And when it’s all finished - when history draws to a close - there’s no way that God’s people will EVER choose rebellion again.

And that was the beginning of a great conflict - a controversy that’s been raging for a long, long time.

The war began in heaven, and the fallen angels were removed. They weren’t allowed to stay, because sin cannot dwell in the presence of a holy God.

So they came HERE - to this planet - and they looked at US - the apple of God’s eye, and they get this thought:

“These people are made in the image of God. If we can get THEM to walk away - if we can get THEM to join the rebellion, imagine how embarrassing THAT will be for the government of God.

“We’re going to prove that NOBODY would actually choose God if they were given a reasonable alternative.”

So the Bible talks about an incident in the Garden of Eden, where God had set up the human race for perfect happiness. They were free to enjoy the garden, free to do as they pleased - there was just one little rule:

Genesis 2:16, 17

And the Lord ?god commanded the man, saying, “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Now, I want you to think about this carefully, because at first glance, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

“You can eat from every tree except THAT one!”

“Why not THAT one, Lord? Is it poisonous? No? Then why not?”

There was really only ONE reason they couldn’t eat from the tree: it was a matter of choice. If you’re going to choose God freely, you’ve got to have an alternative - so God gives them one.

This is all about a relationship - it’s all about LOYALTY to God. It’s about CHOOSING God, or NOT choosing Him.

Adam and Eve HAD to have a choice, or their loyalty didn’t really mean much.

They HAD to have a choice, or the devil could accuse God of holding them hostage. “You’re not even SHOWING them the alternative! Of COURSE these people obey You - You haven’t given them a choice!”

So the devil takes on the form of a serpent and he approaches Eve with a proposition:

Genesis 3:1

And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, “you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Pay very careful attention to what the devil is doing, because it’s a real eye-opener. He didn’t CONTRADICT God outright - he just questioned God’s integrity.

He raised a question about God’s credibility.

He cast doubt on the Word of God. “Did God REALLY say that?”

And you know, he’s still doing the same thing today. He never challenges God outright - he just raises questions about God’s Word.

Genesis 3:2-3

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’

What’s going to happen if Eve eats the fruit? She’s going to die.

Why? The wages of sin is death.

Verse 4:

Genesis 3:4

Then the serpent said to the woman, “you will not surely die.”

Do you see it? Again, it’s not an outright contradiction. He doesn’t say, “it’s not true, you’ll never die,” because he’s a lot more subtle than that.

“You’re not REALLY going to die!”

He’s just raising questions about the plain statement of God. Is that REALLY how it’s going to work? Is there something God isn’t telling you?

Geneis 3:6

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree

desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate...

“Listen, Eve: maybe God isn’t giving you the whole story. Maybe God is holding out. Maybe you don’t have to be so literal. Maybe you can afford to become a little more enlightened, and really think about this.”

Here’s what I want you to notice: the devil’s question isn’t REALLY about the tree; it’s about the character of God. In fact, EVERY question the devil raises is about God - or His character - or His Word.

Even though he’s already been removed from heaven, he’s still trying to dismantle the perfect government of God.

And sadly, Eve fell for it. And as she bit into the fruit, the whole human race stepped onto very dangerous ground: we took our first steps in disobedience, and we separated ourselves from God.

And that brings us to the saddest story in the Bible. The book of Genesis says that God came to the garden in the cool of the evening, only to discover that His whole family was hiding.

Adam and Eve were afraid of God. They were experiencing FEAR for the first time in their lives. When they heard the sound of God approaching, their hearts started racing for the first time - their throats grew tight - for the first time, they felt sick to their stomachs - and it must have seemed to them like they were already dying.

And God finds them, with tears in His eyes. “Adam, where are you? What have you done?”

Genesis 3:11

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?

It pierces the heart of God, because He knows what this means. He is going to lose His family, and we are going to die.

Now pay attention very carefully to what happens next, because it says something very important about the way that you and I relate to God:

Genesis 3:12

Then the man said, “the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

He’s only been a sinner for a few minutes, and he’s already blaming someone else. He’s blaming his wife. “Lord, this is HER fault!”

But if you look carefully, you’ll see that he’s also blaming God.

“That woman YOU gave me? This is her fault.”

You know, it’s amazing how little has changed in all these years - because you and I are still doing the same thing. Any time we’re caught violating the will of God, we look for some reason it isn’t our fault.

We blame our parents, we blame our spouse, we blame our coworkers - we blame everybody except ourselves.

But what God wants is for you and me to admit our sins so that He can deal with them. He can’t help you if you won’t admit what the problem is.

But we won’t do it, will we? We’ll almost always blame somebody else.

Eve did it, too:

Genesis 3:13

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Now let me ask you: is that true? Did the devil lead her to do it? Sure he did.

It IS the truth, but it’s not the whole story. She STILL had a choice. She had a clear warning from God, and SHE chose to listen to someone else and ignore the warning.

You and I might be tempted to sin, but that doesn’t mean we HAVE to do it. You always have a choice.

In the judgment, you’re not going to be able to say, “the devil made me do it!” That’s not a valid excuse, because God has been very clear about what sin is.

So Adam and Eve had to be removed from the garden.

Why? Because if they kept eating from the tree of life, they would keep on living forever - and then the pain and suffering would never stop.

Just imagine the wickedness we could dream of if we had forever to do it.

So Adam and Eve had to go. They weren’t allowed to live forever. But I want you to notice something REALLY important: God didn’t punish them without offering hope.

He gave them the very first prophecy of the Bible.

Genesis 3:15

And 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 heal.

Now, what does a “woman” represent in Bible prophecy? Jeremiah 6:2 tells us that a “woman” represents a “church,” or God’s people.

God is saying, “Satan, you’ve managed to bring the war to planet earth, and now My people are involved. But one day, My people - the woman - will have a baby - a child who will ultimately destroy you.”

It’s a story you find in the 12th chapter of Revelation:

Read through text, emphasize “woman”, click and keep reading.

Revelation 12:1-2

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,

and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

This is a picture of God’s people waiting for Jesus to come the FIRST time. The woman is God’s church, and she’s pregnant - she’s waiting for Messiah to come from one of her own descendants.

And on the day that Jesus arrives, God’s people had been waiting a LONG time. The whole Old Testament is the story of God’s people - the woman - waiting for Jesus to come.

And as God’s people wait, two distinct sides emerge from the human race.

On the one hand, you’ve got those who are faithful to God and waiting for Messiah to come . . .

. . . but on the other hand, if you can believe it, there are people who choose to follow Lucifer. They actually side with the dragon.

And you can see these two sides show up very early in the story.

In the book of Genesis, you’ve got the story of Cain and Abel - two brothers.

And one of them does exactly what God asks: he offers a LAMB as a sacrifice, because he knows that lamb points forward to the Lamb of God. It’s an act of faith - which is why the book of Hebrews says that Abel offered a better sacrifice BY FAITH.

But Cain decided to do things his own way. He created a designer religion.

“I know that God asked for a lamb, but does it really matter WHAT I offer? I’ll just offer these fruits and vegetables, because after all, that’s what I do for a living. I mean, it IS the thought that counts, and God isn’t all that fussy, is He?”

Well, no - He’s not at all fussy when it comes to the people He’s willing to forgive - but HE IS fussy when it comes to the symbols He chooses to represent the plan of salvation.

When it comes to faith and salvation, He NEVER fools around.

God’s symbols ALWAYS MEAN SOMETHING very specific - and that lamb pointed forward to Jesus.

So you have these two sides that emerge.

One side casts their loyalty with the Lamb of God, and they wait for Him to come.

And the other side casts their loyalty with the dragon.

And when the dragon sees those faithful people, waiting for Messiah to come, it makes him furious. He knows: if people follow Abel’s example - if they choose to live by faith - Messiah will come, and the prophecy will be fulfilled.

So he makes Cain jealous, and Cain suddenly kills Abel.

It’s the devil’s favorite tactic: if he can’t win you over with deception, he’ll always resort to force.

After the Garden of Eden, there are two parties in the human race, and they exist side by side for years.

And in the days of Noah, the world had become a very wicked place. Rebellion spread, and only a handful of people - one family, in fact - was still on the Lamb’s side.

The majority of the population was absolutely wrong, and it was starting to look like the devil might win. He might actually wipe out the faithful woman and stop Messiah from coming.

But then God looks through the earth, and He finds a faithful remnant of the woman - because He always finds someone - there’s always a remnant of God’s people.

God found Noah - and Noah preaches for 120 years - and he builds an ark - and the woman survives because Noah is faithful.

The devil fails, and Messiah is still coming.

Time moves along:

… and we come to the story of the tower of Babel, a monument to human rebellion built on the plains of Shinar.

“God’s not going to get us with a flood again!” they said, “We’ll build something TALL,” and what they really built was an altar to themselves.

They were proud, and boastful and self-sufficient.

And the devil must have laughed. “Look at all these people! Made in the image of God? More like MY image. They’re so proud, they can’t possibly be God’s people - and Messiah will never come.”

Except that when God makes a promise, He always keeps it. The Bible says He confused the languages, and the project comes to a grinding halt.

But the devil doesn’t stop. In fact, he builds a city in that very same spot - another monument to self-sufficiency - the city of Babylon.

“Babel” means confusion, and Babylon was the CITY of confusion. A city of full of people drunk on deception.

And the city grows - and it grows - and it prospers - and it becomes the mother of all false religion - the kinds of false religion that have infected the world ever since:

It was Babylon that gave us astrology - and the worship of planets - and the worship of the sun.

The Bible says that God put the sun, moon and stars in the sky as a sign - as a kind of cosmic calendar - but in Babylon, they worshipped the sun, moon and stars instead of the God who made them.

It was all about self-sufficiency - it was about building your own religion so that you could have all the trappings of spirituality without any accountability to God.

It was the spirit of Cain, who decided he would build his own path to heaven.

It was built on the shortcut of idol worship - all the trappings of religion without a personal relationship with God.

And Babylon’s influence grew, and grew, and grew . . . and again, it looked like the devil was winning . . . but then suddenly, God found somebody - and He says:

“Abraham, I want you to come out of Babylon!

“I want you to come out of that wicked place, because I’m going to build a whole new nation from your descendants - and I’m going to place them in the crossroads of the world, so that people will see the Temple, and the sacrifices, and they’ll ask ‘what does that Lamb represent!’”

“And the world will HEAR about My Son, before He’s even born.

“And then He WILL be born, among your descendants - believe Me, Abraham, I know you don’t have any children now, but you WILL have descendants - too many to count!”

So Abraham obeys God, and he leaves the region of Chaldea - and the Bible says he didn’t even really know where he was going!

He had no job security - he had no title deed to a house - he didn’t even know where he was going.

All he knew was that God was calling him. All he had was the Word of God and the courage to do what God asks.

If only the world had more people like Abraham!

He becomes the father of a nation - a remnant people who would build the Temple - God’s hands-on object lesson of the plan of salvation.

A picture of the path back to God’s throne, paved with the blood of God’s only Son. A massive display of the TRUTH about God’s loving character.

And of course, the devil knows what will happen if the children of Abraham prosper - it’s going to mean the Seed of the Woman will come and destroy him.

So he begins to work overtime, and he distracts God’s people to the point where they’re actually worshipping a Canaanite god by the name of Baal.

An Israelite king marries a pagan queen - and he leads the whole nation into the worship of idols. He mixed paganism with the religion of God’s remnant, chosen people.

And before you know it, God’s people are worshipping idols, and pledging allegiance to false gods, and doing unspeakable things in the name of religion.

So God sends in a prophet to call them back - because there is NO WAY He’s going to allow the devil to keep the Seed of the woman from coming.

And you probably know the story: Elijah calls the people back at a showdown on Mount Carmel. “If Baal is god, then go ahead and worship him - but if the LORD is God, then make up your minds. Come back and follow Him!”

It’s the same as God’s last-day message to the whole planet, found in Revelation 14: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, and springs of water.”

In Elijah’s day, God sent fire from heaven, and the worship of Baal suddenly came to a grinding halt.

But the devil tries it again - he gets an “F” for truthfulness, but an “A” for effort.

Even after Elijah, he starts pushing Israel towards the worship of Babylonian gods - to the point where they actually put their children in the red-hot arms of a metal idol named Molech to burn them alive.

And I know: it’s hard to imagine how God’s people could get so far off-track - but it doesn’t happen all at once - it happens one small compromise at a time.

God’s people started to live like Babylonians, so God actually sent them back. Abraham came from Chaldea, and now his descendants were going back to Chaldea.

Now listen to me carefully: this is the sin that caused the desolation of the Temple - or to use the language of the Bible, the “abomination that causes desolation.”

Because of Israel’s sin, Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the Temple.

Let me show you why - God explained it to the prophet Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 8:14-16

So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Tammuz was a Babylonian fertility god - tied to the worship of the sun - and every year, in the winter, when the days were getting shorter, the Babylonians had a ritual where they would “weep for Tammuz,” and then they would celebrate his return when the days got longer.

And now the children of Israel were doing it, too - in the Temple - in the very place where they were supposed to be telling the story of God’s Son.

Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” So He brought me into the inner court

of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men

with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

You know - I’m sure if you were to go back and talk to the Israelites who did this - who brought pagan worship into the Temple - they would tell you they weren’t doing anything wrong.

They were just bringing a little bit of Babylon into the Temple, because after all, how can you hope to relate to Babylonians if you don’t accept what THEY have to say?

I guarantee, it didn’t just suddenly start one day, because that’s not how deception works. It always starts a little bit at a time - and you’re always going to fall for it if you’re not standing on the Word of God.

The descendants of Abraham were supposed to come OUT of Babylon, but now they worshiped LIKE Babylon. So God says, “if that’s what you want, I’m not going to force you. By all means, you can go back there.”

And the king of Babylon comes and destroys the Temple - he makes it desolate - and the devil must have been laughing.

Abraham was defeated.

But then the KING OF BABYLON suddenly has a dream - and by Daniel chapter 4, HE becomes a preacher for God.

Because if God says the Seed of the woman is coming, the Seed of the woman is COMING!

Then - as you already know - Cyrus the Persian conquers Babylon - and the children of Israel go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.

They have 490 more years. “There are seventy weeks for YOUR people and YOUR city, Daniel.”

And this time, the devil knows he’s not going to get them to worship Tammuz, or the sun, or the Babylonian gods.

They’ll never do that again.

So instead, he steers them into the opposite ditch. Instead of forsaking the worship of God, they become so rigid that they bury the religion of God under mountains of tradition.

They create so many man-made regulations that the people actually grow to HATE their religion.

And again, the devil laughs - but he laughs for the last time, because now the Seed of the woman finally comes.

Revelation 12:5

She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and His throne.

Jesus is born - just like God promised.

He is born as one of us - He lives like one of us - He dies FOR us - He rises from the dead - and He goes back to heaven. It’s all in this one verse.

And the cross of Christ utterly exposed the devil for who he is. Every angel in heaven could finally see what the devil is really like - given a chance, Satan actually killed the Son of God. He had you and me crucify Him.

And now it’s obvious what the devil is: he’s a liar and a murderer.

Listen to the words of Jesus:

John 12:31, 32

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

The cross was the devil’s undoing.

He proved himself a liar and a murderer - and at the same time, Jesus showed the world what GOD is really like. God is LOVE.

The devil may have bruised the heel of Jesus, but at that very same moment, the devil’s head was crushed - he was crushed by the love of God.

The devil is finished - because in heaven, his credibility is shot. There is no excuse for what he did, and now the unfallen angels KNOW the truth for sure, and they have no more use for Lucifer.

The book of Revelation says he’s finished:

Revelation 12:10-11

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God,

and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”

In HEAVEN’S opinion, the devil is finished. He has no audience in the courts of heaven - because they KNOW he’s a liar.

Case solved.

Satan utterly fails to stop Jesus, and now Jesus is completely out of his reach. He was raised from the dead - He went back to heaven - and now the devil can’t touch Him.

So he turns his attention to the church:

Revelation 12:13

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.

Satan can’t have Jesus, so he goes for the next best thing - he goes after the thing that Jesus loves most: the church that He gave His life to save.

And historically, you already know what happened.

He got the whole Roman Empire to turn against the Christian church. Just like he did with Cain and Abel, he uses death and persecution to wipe out the people of God.

But it didn’t work. In fact, the harder he persecuted the church, the faster it grew.

So the devil tried something else.

All of a sudden, the Roman emperor supposedly converts to Christianity, and the persecution stops. And I say “supposedly” because there is almost no historical evidence that Constantine ever really converted - but the persecution stops.

That’s the GOOD news.

But the bad news? It suddenly became very popular to BE a Christian - and all kinds of people joined the church just for the social benefits.

So now there was a mix inside the church of Bible-believing Christians and people who were just trying to climb the social ladder, but had no intention of giving up their pagan beliefs.

And as a result, the Christian church became watered down, and it began to lose its passion and its distinct message.

And honestly, the devil got us to do some really horrible things. We took the Word of God and kept it in a foreign language so it was hidden from the common people.

We made FORTUNES on religion.

We tortured people and burned people at the stake - because honestly, we mixed Roman-style politics with the church of Jesus Christ.

And it was just one more way for the devil to embarrass the government of God - in fact, the world still laughs at our behavior all through the Dark Ages, and skeptics point to our torture chambers as proof that God can’t possibly be real—they say religion is just a huge con to control you and take your money.

But let me tell you - in spite of our behavior all through the Dark Ages, the devil is still losing.

Right now, Christianity is still spreading, and NOTHING will keep Jesus from coming back for His church.

The devil loses.

But unfortunately, he’s so mad with ambition and pride, that he still doesn’t get it. He’s still trying to steer the church off course.

He lies about God - and he even gets us to blame God when bad things happen. When life gets hard, you and I are tempted to shake our fists at heaven.

But let me tell you: God’s not doing it. God is not the author of sin, and pain and suffering.

So why doesn’t God just stop it? Why not just wipe out evil, right now?

Well, I suppose He could - but where would you like Him to stop? Would you want God to wipe out evil, but then stop when He gets to you?

Do you see the problem? The Bible says that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish - so He doesn’t wipe out sinners, because sinners are human beings - people He loves.

People He died for.

So He waits. Patiently.

There’s an interesting story in the Bible that completely exposes what’s going on when good people suffer. It’s found in the oldest book of the Bible - the book of Job.

The Bible says there was a special meeting in heaven - long before the cross - and the devil showed up for the meeting.

Job 1:7-9

And the Lord said to Satan, “from where do you come?’ So satan answered the Lord and said, “from going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

Now look at that carefully. Do you realize what the devil is actually saying? He’s not saying, “I was out for a walk.”

The foot is an ancient symbol of ownership. The devil is saying, “Those people you thought were going to follow You? Yeah, I was walking around on their planet, because I own it now.”

The devil thinks he owns this place - which is why he offered to GIVE it to Jesus if Jesus would only worship him when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

But God says, “Not so fast, Satan.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

“Not so fast, Satan - you don’t own EVERYTHING.” Have you noticed my servant Job?

So satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?”

But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to Your face!”

“Of COURSE Job worships You! Why wouldn’t he? He’s got everything going for him!

“But know this: he’s not doing it because he LOVES You - he’s in it for the benefits. Take away his possessions, and he’ll curse You to Your face.”

Now pay attention carefully:

Job 1:12

And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”

All that he has is in WHOSE power? Satan’s.

God is NOT the author of pain - Satan is. So the devil runs away to do his worst.

The Bible says that messengers started to arrive, saying:

“Job, the Sabeans just came and killed all your servants!”

“Sir, lightning just hit the property, and it killed all your animals - and the REST of your servants!”

“Master Job: your children were at a party when the roof caved in and killed them all.”

And Lucifer rubs his hands together, because NOW Job will do it. NOW Job will walk out on God.

But it completely backfires - because Job STILL trusts God:

Job 1:21

…The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

It failed. The devil was wrong - so he takes it up to the next level:

Job 2:4-6

So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

But stretch out your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

“Okay, God: he still says he loves you - but take away his HEALTH, and THEN it’s over. That’s when he’s going to turn against You!”

And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold he is in your hand, but spare his life.”

Let me ask you: what are you facing right now? What’s going wrong in your life?

God’s not doing it.

And all of heaven is watching, right now, to see if your loyalty to God depends on gifts and favors, or if it’s the real thing.

Do you love God just because of what He might give you, or do you love God BECAUSE He’s God?

Listen: there’s no question the devil is going to try. I can tell you from personal experience - the devil WILL come after you sometimes.

That’s what the prophecy says:

Revelation 12:12

… the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.

Right now, the devil is panicking - he’s throwing a cosmic temper tantrum . . .

. . . because he’s already lost.

He was finished at the cross - where a member of the human race - God in human flesh - took back the planet.

He lost. The cross defeats him.

Right now, he’s just pretending it never happened - but believe me, it’s already over. The cross was real, and the tomb of Jesus is empty.

And there is NOTHING he can do about THAT.

The only place he can still mount a resistance is in your heart.

But even that, if you understand what’s going on, is futile. It’s not going to work.

Not with you.

You KNOW that Jesus died for you, and you KNOW that Jesus is coming again.

And tonight, you know that the promise of God is real.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” it says in Revelation 21, “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Look: I don’t really know what you’re facing - but I do know this: God’s going to handle it.

Right now, He’s letting us live through this experience just once - and there is NO WAY you and I are going to choose the path of rebellion again.

This is our cure. This life is the remedy, and it’s just about over.

You and I will still have the freedom to choose in the kingdom of heaven, but after this existence, nobody’s going to choose this place again.

There was a man whose son had horribly malformed feet - so bad, that the boy couldn’t walk.

And specialist after specialist said there was nothing they could do. “He’s always going to be in a wheelchair.”

But the father wasn’t convinced, so late at night, after work, he went to the university library and studied feet. He read every book on anatomy and physiology they had.

And eventually, he knew what to do. He made two wooden boxes with threaded dowels in them - and at night, he put those boxes on his son’s feet, and began to turn the screws.

“Daddy! Don’t! It hurts!”

“I know it does, son, but if you’re going to be okay, we HAVE to do this!”

So every night, he turned the screws, and every night, his son begged him to stop.

And then came the day when the boxes came off - and he took his son and set him on his feet - and the boy didn’t walk . . . HE RAN.

I know this world is painful - but God has personally promised to wipe away your tears. We HAVE to do this, but it’s almost over, and the day you set foot in the kingdom, you’re not going to walk - you’re going to RUN into the arms of Jesus.

Listen: I know that a lot of you - most of you - are dealing with something - so tonight, I want to invite you to meet me here at the front, and we’re going to have special prayer together.

Step off the platform and invite people to come and pray with you.

Prayer: “Father in heaven, there is no question that this life hurts. We can see what fallen angels have done, and tonight, we want to take our pain and leave it with You. We choose to believe that You’re going to make things right. We choose to believe there is no problem WE have that is bigger than You.

So open our eyes - teach us to see what’s really going on - and teach us to keep trusting You until the day You come to wipe away our tears. Tonight, we believe - in the name of Jesus, Amen.”

Thanks for coming, folks - see you at our next meeting, “The Ultimate Mind Game”!