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   Daniel Moore

   January 17, 2021 at 7:07 pm

   I have been a longtime subscriber to “Israel My Glory” magazine and eagerly look forward to reading each issue. You are a great blessing too me. In the Mar/Apr 2019 issue you published an article entitled – The Other-Worldly War” which raised a question that I have long pondered. You made the case that Satan attempted to prevent the crucifixion of Jesus. It is implied that Satan understood in advance that a crucifixion and bodily resurrection of Jesus would result in Satan’s undoing. You cited a number of Scriptures that appear to support this notion. You seem to suggest that, consequently, Satan made efforts to prevent Christ’s crucifixion and subsequently, to prevent Christ’s resurrection in hopes of preserving his own kingdom’s bid to perpetuate his rule earth. My problem with this thought, began to arise when I tried to reconcile 1 Cor 2:6-8 with this idea. “. . . none of the rulers of this age understood this (wisdom), for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.” We can all agree that Satan is extremely wise, and intelligent. However, he is not omniscient. The 1 Cor passage makes it seem like God’s infinite wisdom supersedes all other wisdoms, to the point that God makes fools of all those who oppose Him. As the consummate “Ruler of this Age”, Lucifer walked right into the trap that was laid for him. In Luke 22:3 we are told that – “Satan entered into Judas.” If Satan’s influence over Judas was consummated at the last supper, and if Satan was trying to prevent the crucifixion, one would presume that Judas would have avoided leading the authorities to the garden to arrest Christ. Rather, we see this Satan possessed man acting to get Christ crucified. Jesus implied that His arresters were acting under the influence of “the power of darkness”. (Luk 22:53). This appears to be an obvious reference to the overlord of the kingdom of darkness. We learn from 1 Peter 1:12 that the Old Testament saints sought diligently to understand the nature of the predictions of a suffering Messiah but were unable to fully grasp the picture. Likewise the angels of heaven, searched diligently, (παρακύπτω) to understand in prospect, but were unsuccessful. Since Satan himself is an angel of heaven, he too, could not anticipate the particulars of God’s masterful plan. The Prince of Darkness was likely smart enough to detect that Divine wisdom was at work on a plan, but blinded by His pride, assumed that he could outsmart the Lord of Glory. You have rightly pointed out that Satan has worked to oppose Christ at various times and manners. I only suggest that Satan did not foresee that a crucifixion would be followed by a resurrection. Satan did not foresee that God would use the worst crime in human history to effectuate the greatest redemption in history. Apparently, Satan eagerly pushed people to murder the Son of God numerous times throughout His life. Divine providence finally allowed Satan to succeed at the cross. Perhaps the great embarrassment of the principalities described in Col 2:15 is when the Lords of Darkness realized that they had been tricked by the superior wisdom of the Almighty. They made public fools of themselves because they were the ones who instigated the masses to “crucify him.” Thus they discovered (too late) that they themselves, by their nefarious, evil intentions, ended up playing the role that God planned for them to play. They made utter fools of themselves. I submit that neither Satan nor his minions saw in prospect the results of the crucifixion. Only in retrospect did they finally realize how God had played them for the fools they are.

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