Day 268 - Zechariah 1-8

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 268 - Zechariah 1-8 (How to Defeat Satan)
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"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.  And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"  (Zechariah 3:1-2)

I have witnessed too many Christians who tried to rebuked Satan apart from the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They think that they have been given authority on their own to rebuke the devil and his demons. There is, however, no biblical basis for such a belief.

In our text above, we read God Himself using His own name, the LORD, to rebuke Satan.  If God Himself decided to use His name instead of directly rebuking Satan (not that He never did so since Jesus said, "Get thee behind me, Satan!), how dare we think that we could rebuke the devil on our own authority?  When Christ empowered His disciples to cast out demons, He specifically instructed them to do so in His name. 

Instead of rebuking the devil, Christians are called to resist him.  James 4:7 says to "submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Zechariah 3:2 tells us that it is the Lord who rebukes Satan. Even Michael, one of the most powerful of the angels, did not dare to accuse Satan, but rather said, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 1:9). 

It is true that he Bible says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12) and that Satan prowls around like a lion in search of prey, looking for victims to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  We must not forget, however, that "the battle is the Lord's and not ours." 

It is not necessary for us as Christians to rebuke Satan because God has given us His full armor to stand against evil (see Ephesians 6:10-18).  Our most effective weapons against the devil are our faith, wisdom, and knowledge about God and His Word. Christ, when tempted by Satan, answered him with Scripture (see Matthew 4:1-11). 

Born-again Christians are no longer enslaved to Satan or to sin (Romans 6:6-7), but this does not mean we are immune to the temptations that he puts before us.  To overcome the devil, we must maintain a clear conscience, have control over our thoughts, and live right with God.  Anyone who is not under the control of the sovereign God is under the control of the devil (Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4). 

Do you know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior?  Are you certain that the Holy Spirit is in you and that you have been delivered from sin's power and wages?  If not, you stand no chance against the devil and you need to ask God to forgive you of your sins and give you His Holy Spirit to deliver you from Satan and give you eternal life.  I pray you do so today if you have not done so yet.