10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. John 10:10 AMP
Part 1 of this series looked at Satan’s plan and purpose for stealing, which I believe is his most commonly used AND effective tactic against the body of Christ. We saw him attempt to steal Jesus’ ability to establish and rule his kingdom with his tactics in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Here I’d like to take a look at Satan’s level 2 tactic when stealing doesn’t work, or when he deems you a high threat target.
Kill
For those whom Satan is unable to steal from, or who pose a greater threat to his grand scheme and struggle against God, he attempts to kill. This may be either spiritual, if the individuals eventually gives out or turns back on God (Adam&Eve, Esau, Samson, Saul, Judas, etc), or physically for those who remain steadfast in the spirit (Jesus (by grand design), Stephen, Paul, disciples, Zechariah). When the devil seeks to kill, it is reserved for those who are perceived to be of greater value to God’s plan, or those who possess a spiritual gift or strength that threatens Satan’s rule (Elijah, Jesus, Paul, Jeremiah, Daniel). It is much more difficult for Satan to kill because he doesn’t have the authority to do so, if you look back at Job chap 1&2, he had to obtain permission from God just test Job, when you fast forward to Jesus, Satan had to use the will or jealousy of Judas and other high-ranking Jews of the time to betray and offer up Jesus for death. Satan has no power other than what man gives him when we give our power or authority over to him (I digress). I believe that Satan prefers to bring about our spiritual death rather than our physical death because spiritual death gives him the satisfaction of witnessing/causing a spiritual separation of (wo)man and God (i.e. Adam&Eve being removed from the Garden of Eden). Satan prefers to kill our relationship with God, because direct, intimate, and personal relationship is what God originally intended to share with man in the beginning. In the garden of Eden, God walked, talked, and personally visited with Adam&Eve….until they allowed Satan to kill their relationship with God through STEALING their trust and confidence in God. Satan realized that he could not kill Adam&Eve (or us) physically, so he went for the next best thing, to kill their relationship or direct access with God which when misunderstood or managed wrong will cause our downfall. If you understand the fall of Adam & Eve, after they ate the fruit, God STILL visited them in the garden and called out them, but THEY hid from his voice/presence. Fast forward to Judas, Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would betray him, yet he kept him in his company where Judas had every opportunity to resist the sin of jealousy, envy, greed, murder; yet he allowed Satan to steal the joy, peace, holiness, etc that he could only received through relationship with Jesus which ultimately brought about his physical death. Satan NEVER jumps straight to level 2 (kill) with us, but he works up to that when either we have effectively resisted the level 1 tactics, or succumbed to level 1 tactics and refused to return to the one who is able to repair the relationship and set us back right.
Reflection Time
What has Satan killed in your life? Where did you lay the body (whatever it was that Satan killed or stole from you)? What do you need God to resurrect or speak life back into that has died, and what do you need him to help keep dead? Take the time to look back at some of the individuals I mentioned to see if you suffered the same type of spiritual death as them, and vice versa, look at some of the successful ones who overcame the spiritual and/or physical death threat.
