his is part two, a continuation of the article entitled “There Will Stand Up A King Fierce in Countenance.”
When
Jesus walked the earth he revealed that Satan the Devil is the real
ruler of the world. In fact, Satan himself boasted of that very fact
when tempting Christ to worship him. The account of the matter is
recorded in the fourth chapter of Luke:
“So
he brought him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited
earth in an instant of time; and the Devil said to him: ‘I will give you
all this authority and the glory of them, because it has been delivered
to me, and to whomever I wish I give it. You, therefore, if you do an
act of worship before me, it will all be yours.’ In reply Jesus said to
him: “It is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is
to him alone you must render sacred service.’””
Although,
as the Devil said, all the kingdoms of the world have been delivered to
him (temporarily), God has never abdicated his own throne.
That
is evident from the occasions when Jehovah has intervened in human
affairs; for example, when Cyrus overthrew Babylon and allowed the
captive Jews to go free, which God had foretold two hundred-years in
advance – before the Jews even went into captivity! Or when a thousand
years before that Jehovah crushed Pharaoh and his army of crack
charioteers under the surging waters of the Red Sea, achieving the same
result of liberating a captive people.
Ultimately, because he is
Almighty and Wise, God always accomplishes his purpose. There is nothing
any human or demon can do to prevent it. God even foretells long in
advance the things that will take place.