I will be leading us in Communion at the end of today’s post. If possible, pause your recording and/or reading and get some juice/wine and bread ready so you can join me. Communion is more than remembering and honoring; it is a declaration of, the release of, and celebration of victory!
Today I am sharing a post with you from our new book. Last week, Ceci was reading it and felt that this particular devotion would complement the study we are currently doing regarding the pulling down of Baal in America. It is entitled, God Will Turn the Tables. He will indeed turn the tables on the enemy and thwart his evil plans.
God Will Turn the Tables
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (or craftiness) of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:11-13 NKJV
Theologians refer to a principle they call the “law of first mention,” believing that the first time a major subject is mentioned in the Bible, significant facts are introduced concerning it that will remain consistent and relevant throughout the Scriptures. The first mention of the serpent, satan, is in Genesis 3:1
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’”
It is easy to see this law at work here, as the verse speaks of satan’s subtlety or craftiness. God is informing us of one of the most important things we must remember about satan: he is far more dangerous to us as the crafty serpent than the roaring lion.
“Crafty” is the Hebrew word arum, taken from aram, which means “to be bare or smooth.”(1) We actually use the same concept in our English language–someone who is crafty or wily is often referred to as “slick” or as a “smooth operator.” Such is the case with satan. He is very cunning, and we must be wary of his attacks and deceptions. He is always seeking to steal, kill, destroy (see John 10:10), and he does so with great skill.
Adam was not wary enough of the crafty serpent in the garden. He heard and saw him, but was unaware of his plans. Because of this, satan was successful in invading and violating his garden.
This same word, crafty, is used in Joshua 9:4, to describe a plan the Gibeonite people implemented to deceive Israel: “They also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended.” The Gibeonites were one of the Canaanite tribes Joshua and Israel were told to dispossess. This nation, however, deceived the Israelites into believing they were from far away and had made the journey to form a covenant with them. Joshua and the people neglected to pray about this, which makes us vulnerable to satan’s subtlety, and were therefore deceived into entering a binding, covenantal agreement with these people.
The Israelites were not without warning. In Exodus 34:12, they were told, “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst.” The Israelites failed in their responsibility to watch, and just as the verse warned, the trap was laid.
We can conclude from the Israelites’ suspicion of the Gibeonites that God was obviously trying to alert them. Joshua 9:7 says, “The men of Israel said to the Hivites [Gibeonites], ‘Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?’” Rather than heeding this caution, however, they acted on what they saw. We must remember things are not always as they appear. The following story illustrates this:
A traveler between flights at an airport went to a lounge and bought a small package of cookies, sat down, and began reading a newspaper. Gradually, she became aware of a rustling noise. From behind her paper, she was flabbergasted to see a neatly dressed man helping himself to her cookies! Not wanting to make a scene, yet wanting to let him know that they were hers, she leaned over and took a cookie herself.
A minute or two passed, and then came more rustling. He was helping himself to another cookie! Finally, they came to the end of the package.
There was one cookie left. She was so angry she didn’t dare allow herself to say anything. Then, adding insult to injury, the man broke the remaining cookie in two, pushed half across to her, ate the other half, and left.
Still fuming sometime later when her flight was announced, the woman opened her handbag to get her ticket. To her shock and embarrassment, there she found her pack of unopened cookies! (2)
How disheartening it can be to discover the error of wrong assumptions!
Though Israel “ate the wrong cookies” and was subsequently taken advantage of, God used the craftiness of the Gibeonites to demonstrate His ability to turn the tables on the crafty serpent. He told Joshua to make the Gibeonites “hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord” (Joshua 9:27). The “altar of the Lord” was where the blood of atonement was shed and, as such, pictured Christ’s Cross. Using the “crafty” Gibeonites to prepare the sacrifices pictured God one day using satan, the “crafty” one, to make preparations for Christ’s crucifixion. Satan thought he had won. One can only imagine his excitement as he “hewed the wood”–prepared the Cross– for the sacrifice of Christ. How wise, how crafty he must have felt as he orchestrated the making of the Crown of Thorns, watched the spikes being driven, and the spear being thrust into Christ. His plan was working…or so it seemed. His elation must have turned to terror, however, when he learned he had actually aided in his own destruction. God had completely turned the tables on the crafty one!
The outcome of the Gibeonite ordeal, and certainly of the Cross, is an incredible assurance that God can reverse the subtle attacks of our adversary, the devil, and use them to bring about good (Romans 8:28). Through His amazing wisdom, which always supersedes satan’s craftiness, even our mistakes can become the instruments of God’s redemptive purposes. The Cross is God’s ultimate proof that He can turn our negative circumstances around and transform them into something good.
God intends to do this for America. The crafty serpent has deceived many into aligning with Baal. Some believe we don’t need God, others have been convinced that there are many gods and/or many paths to God. Still others have been deceived into outright rebellion. God, however, is going to save millions of these misled Americans. There is coming a strong revelation of Jesus and His plan of salvation. The presence of the Lord will be heavy in our land, opening the eyes of many. Do not doubt this. He is coming with a tidal wave of love and mercy to the lost and hurting.
Pray with me:
Father, communion pictures the ultimate turning of the tables on satan, the crafty one. You make foolish his wisdom. You undo his actions and reverse his gains. We place our faith in the work of Christ that ended satan’s authority over us. As we take the bread, we align fully with Calvary and stand in a place of intercession for America. End the fruit of Baal in our land. (Take the bread)
We ask for the blood of Jesus to cleanse our land from Baal worship. Cleanse us from immorality, idolatry, shedding innocent blood, and from rejecting You. Everlasting God, we appeal to You: deliver and heal our land. We seal this now by partaking of the cup of covenant now. (Take the cup).
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
_______________________
“Strong’s Hebrew: 6191 (arom) - to be shrewd or crafty, to be (or make) bare, smoothness, to be cunning.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6191.htm. Accessed 22 February 2021. Also see Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. 7th edition, Abingdon Press, 1980.
“The Cookie Thief-Short Story.” All Time Short Stories, https://alltimeshortstories.com/the-cookie-thief/. Accessed 22 February 2021.