Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Summary: The devil is always seeking to separate God’s chosen from the flock. He does this by distracting us from the Word and from prayer. Our safety is found only in God.
Robert Service was a poet. He made a name for himself by weaving his love for Alaska into his poems along with tongue-in-cheek humor and wonderful storytelling. One of my favorite Robert Service poems is “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” It begins like this:
There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.
The poem tells the story of two men on the Dawson trail in the middle of winter. One dies from the cold and makes the other swear that he will cremate his last remains. The rest of the poem is about the grizzly task of transporting the body then finding a suitable place to cremate it. The fun, surprise ending happens when the fire starts to roar. (You can read the entire poem here if you like.)
Death is the ultimate threat that the devil has waiting for us. We all know it is there, and we hear it roar. More often than not, we choose to ignore it. Yet, the devil has other tricks we need to watch for.
When I was a little kid, I remember hearing Bible stories about Jesus casting out demons. Even then, as a little boy, I wondered, “Where did all the demons go?” The answer, I’ve learned, is that they didn’t go anywhere. There are a couple of differences today.
Today we have fancy names for things that used to be called demon possession. Since we live in a “modern” age, we have become too sophisticated for Bible stories. So, instead of looking for spiritual answers to spiritual problems, we have come up with modern diagnoses. But the demons are still there.
The way Peter describes this situation is with today’s passage: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Paul describes it this way, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3)
The roaring lion cannot deceive us if we are alert to his roaring. To be alert, we must be in the Lord. To be in the Lord is to be in his Word. To be in his Word, we must be sober-minded. This is where we learn sound doctrine. We must always stay clear of the roaring lion’s lying.
Application: Be alert and sober minded. Remain in the Lord in his Word and in prayer.
Food for Thought: How many ways can the devil devour us? Is there any way that is beyond God’s reach?
How many ways can the devil devour us? Kind of an overwhelming question. Sometimes I feel like I do a good enough job myself…
Knowing that it isn’t overwhelmed by the ways God can deliver us. That’s what gets me through the tough times.
Happy Monday to you all.
Thanks, Rob!
I can relate to your comment about doing a good enough job ourselves! Well said! And yes, knowing God and knowing how much he loves us is a tremendous comfort.
Satan has had thousands of years of practice devouring people. I don’t know the total amount of ways he can hurt us, but I do know the threat is real and God is still greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4: 4). Jesus came to destroy the Devil’s work (1 John 3: 8).
As we see in the book of Job, especially the first couple of chapters, Satan is on a leash. He can’t go beyond what God will allow and he is never beyond God’s forgiveness, help or healing power. The answer lies in seeking God and His power – which is so much greater than any harm the enemy can muster.
Thank you, Rich!
Great comment! It is comforting to know that there are limits to Satan’s power.
How many ways can the devil devour us? Is there any way that is beyond God’s reach?
Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13, record Jesus being tempted by Satan, and His example, living in Gods Word 100% is our path to victory over any sin.
1.) Satan first tempted Jesus to take care of His own needs, to provide for Himself rather than wait on God’s timing. To take what He wanted when He wanted it – rather than waiting for His Father to provide.
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, God’s Word, seeking spiritual feeding has priority over physical food
Satan will tempt us to, 1.) doubt we are children of God, 2.) to doubt our Father’s promise to “supply all our needs,” 3.) to act and take something we want before God is willing to give it to us and in doing so, to become our own “God.” Live in God by living in His word, and having peace. Remember God’s word.
2.) Satan next encourages Jesus to control, manipulate, test God by putting Himself at risk to achieve what He wants, forcing God to protect Him. Jesus’ answer to Satan, Thou shalt not put your Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. Deuteronomy 6:16.
How many times do we test the Lord by saying, Lord, if you do this for me, then I’ll know that you love me. Putting God to the test is often the result of our own impatience, wanting now what God will give us later. We demand God hurry up or we may place conditions on God, things that He must do for us in so we will acknowledge He is present with us, and worship Him more. The Bible tells us that God is sovereign, God is in charge – and we are not. We cannot manipulate or control God. God controls us.
3.) In his Third temptation, Satan offers Jesus is all he could possibly give Him if He will only abandon God and worship him. Jesus replied Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
Worshiping the Lord our God, and serving Him only is as difficult in our day as it was at the time of Christ, but Satan’s cleverness and subtlety change with each generation and era. Now, Satan rarely tempts Christians to worship actual idols made of stone or metal as the Israelites did in the wilderness with the golden calf.
An idol is anything in this life that takes our central interest away from God. What we spend our lives doing can be our god. Money can be a god. A fast car can be our god. Fame and success can be a god. Self-defense is a god, because God has promised to take care of us. When we decide we will be responsible for our own safety, we no longer leave it to God and we become our own god.
Deuteronomy 8:1-6, Deuteronomy 6:16, Isaiah 5:18-19, Deuteronomy 6:13
Satan can come at us from any direction, but I think most will fall within these three categories. Th escape, we keep our Eyes on Jesus and seek safety in Gods Word just as He did.
Ron,
Thank you for this excellent study on the temptation of Jesus. You have provided a kind of handbook for those of us who want to know what to look out for.
👍🏻