Satan's Snares
1. Spirit of Rebellion.
2. Spirit of Pride.
3. Spirit of Covetousness
It's time to start seriously planning for the Fall Holy Days, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is probably the most joyously anticipated time of the year for God's people. However, this past year at the Feast of Tabernacles, many of our former close friends and relatives were noticeably missing. What causes a seemingly solid, deeply converted Christian to turn from God's way of life? And - perhaps more importantly, could it happen to us? Will we be one of those not present at God's Feast this year?
We receive constant warnings throughout the year to be well grounded in the truth - not to allow anyone to take our crown. But, no matter how converted we are, it is all to easy to become preoccupied with the cares of this world. Then, we are easy prey for Satan's snares. We can never forget that we are in a battle - a real war with Satan and the evil spirit rulers of this world. Satan is relentless in his efforts to tempt us and attack us at our weakest point.
Because we do live in a materialistic world, we have to take great care not to serve "two masters." Jesus Christ states dogmatically: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6: 24). The first four of the Ten Commandments are listed in Exodus 20:1- ll. These four commandments deal with our relationship with God and tie in directly with the subject of this article. Having something above God in your life is probably the most grievous of sins.
Do we recognize it when we try to serve another master" - other than God? It could take many forms: vanity, career, friends, family, material possessions. But they usually all fall into one of three broad areas - each one of which is a snare that Satan uses to overcome God's people! And, before we press on, just what is a "snare" anyway? It's simply a hidden trap - one that you aren't aware is there until it's too late. To avoid snares, we must be ever wary, not ignorant of Satan's slick devices.
The more deeply we are committed to following God's truth with out compromise and according to the Bible, not the imaginations of men, the less likely we are to fall to Satan's snares. Sometimes it's just a matter of setting our priorities right. In this article, we are going to look at those three snares that Satan uses to trap and destroy God's people.
The first snare is the Spirit of Rebellion.
God says the spirit of rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft over in I Sam.15 :23. But, who, of all God's creation epitomizes the spirit of rebellion? Well, it's Satan of course. Satan is rebellious toward authority and wants us to be like him and follow his example. Satan turned against the authority of God and His Law and he wants us to do the same. Satan will pullout all the stops to place stumbling blocks and problems before us, in order to make us rebel against authority - whether at home, at work or in the Church. He broadcasts emotions and doubts into our mind, hoping that something will stick and take root. After all, he is the "... prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2).
God warns us not to have a carnal mind (one set on worldly things), because such a mind is enmity ( hostile, or against) God and not subject (or submissive) to Him (Romans 8:7). We can't allow our minds to be preoccupied with physical things day after day and neglect the spiritual. Satan wants us to be selfish and carnal and he is always there to give us a little "push" if we need it.
When the subject of rebellion against authority comes up, we can't help but think of Korah. We're all familiar with the story, so we won't go into any great detail about it other than to point out that Korah and those supporting him felt that Moses had taken too much authority to himself and began to criticize him for it. What they failed to see, was that it was God who gave Moses that authority as part of His government and Korah was actually rebelling against God. If we aren't careful, we too can allow Satan to stir up similar rebellious thoughts in us - toward God.
How can we overcome this snare of Satan's? In the book Martin Luther called "the epistle of straw," James tells us: "Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." How do we submit to God? "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:7-8). In other words, we draw closer to God by submitting ourselves more and more to Him. We must hunger and thirst for His righteous way of life. By putting God first in our life, we won't be serving two masters - which is actually idolatry, because we have another "god" before the true God!
The second snare Satan uses is Pride.
We all have some degree of pride and vanity and Satan knows it. Pride is one of our biggest pitfalls. It makes us unable to recognize our faults and sins. Pride can make us unwilling to repent or admit we are wrong - whether to God, or to one another. Satan is full of pride - so much so, that he maintains his own ways, instead of God's and refuses to recognize his own sin. Lucifer, [Hillel in the original Hebrew], who became Satan, was at the very throne of God, yet his pride and vanity led to sin and eventually, rebellion against God (Ezekiel 28: 14-17). We are not to be that way.
What does God say about the "proud? "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). What James is saying here, is that pride makes you a friend of Satan, but puts a wall of separation between you and God! Vanity and pride can actually cause us to turn our back on God.
God has warnings throughout the Old and New Testament about pride. There are dozens in the Psalms and Proverbs alone. Just a few examples might be: "You rebuke the proud - the cursed, who stray from Your commandments" (Ps 119:21). "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD" "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud" (Prov 16:5, 18-19). "Haughty looks and a proud heart - these mark a wicked man " (Prov 21 :4 NIV).
If you think about it, pride always goes hand in hand with the first snare - rebellion. It is a pattern established by Satan and those who follow his ways will yield the same fruit! Pride tends to cause us to judge and criticize. Our pride tells us that we know better, or could do a better job than so-in-so over there. Too many of us tend to think too highly of ourselves. We lack genuine humility. Jesus told His disciples that they must become as "little children" if the expected to enter the Kingdom of God.
Again, what does James say? "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up" (James 4:10). We are also not to judge and criticize others: "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law" (vs.11). God is great - and we are not. We have to realize just how small and unimportant we are sometimes. We must always be willing to humbly admit our faults and be willing to correct them, or in other words, repent.
The third major snare of Satan is covetousness.
By now, you should begin to see how rebellion, pride and covetousness all tie together and form the "Modus Operandi" of Satan. Satan covets God's throne - something he can't have and he want us to covet and go after something that isn't ours, or something we are not entitled to. Covetousness just naturally appeals to our human nature: we want to get rather than give, to keep rather than share.
If you notice, all three of these "snares" involve breaking one of God's 10 Commandments. This third snare is also given a prominent place in God's spiritual Law of love - it's the 10th Commandment. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's" (Exodus 20:17). In the context of this commandment, we could just as easily substitute the word "lust" for "covet." The two words are interchangeable and "lust" is a word more readily understood by people today.
This is Satan's world, not God's - and as such, it is geared toward lust: material wealth, power, sex and greed of all kinds. Satan uses many tools in this (his!) society to encourage us to covet or lust as well, and thus be part of his world and his mind set.
God tells us to pray daily for our needs. We are to trust God and not set our hearts on material things. The Bible shows a balanced approach. We shouldn't lust for riches, but we also shouldn't desire to be poor. "Two things I ask of you, 0 Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV).
This is wise advice, because Satan also knows the covetous nature of man's heart. He knows that if we have everything we want, we will eventually turn away from God, claiming we don't need Him anymore. And if we have too little, Satan may cause us to judge and condemn and even resort to stealing - thus obviously breaking another of God' s commandments, the 8th."
Remember Christ's warning: we can't serve two masters. If we lust for wealth, or anything else, we will be serving two masters! Paul wrote, "Keep your life free from love of money (covetousness), and be content with what you have; for He has said, 'I will never fail you nor forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).
Just as God told Joshua to "be courageous" and to trust HIm as he went forward into the Promised Land, so we too, can take courage in the promise that God will never forsake us. We must have the faith to trust God to fight our battles. We must resist Satan with all our being and then we can disarm Satan's snares.
Those who leave God's Church let themselves fall victim to the three major snares of Satan. As God's people, we must be on guard against the snares of Satan. To aid us in being watchful, remember these points: Never rebel against God's government and authority, or Law. Never be too proud to repent and admit you are wrong. Never covet power, material possessions and personal glory, and thus turn away from God. Instead, submit to God, humble yourself before our great King, Jesus Christ and seek God's kingdom and His righteousness - before all things in this life and you will disarm the deadly snares of Satan: rebellion, pride and lust!
See you at the Feast!
Pete Fleming
“AND GOD SPAKE ALL THESE WORDS, SAYING,
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex 20:1-11