“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.”
I Thess. 2:17-20, ESV
Last week, we looked at how Heaven’s Proud Reward and Crown is Relational. And this week, we’ll look at how Heaven’s Proud Reward and Crown is Hated By Satan. (18b).
The late scholar F.F. Bruce reminds us that, in the New Testament, Satan “is the adversary par excellence; his main activity is putting obstacles in the path of the people of God, to prevent the will of God from being accomplished in and through them.”
And, thinking specifically about the passage above, how did Satan hinder them? Acts 17:1-9 gives us the background to Paul’s letter. In view of 17:9, there could have been legal barriers—action taken by the governing powers to stop the message from God. Or it may have been that Satanic activity was behind the lawless rioting, as in our day, in 17:5 that forced the government’s hand. The truth is this: the Thessalonians knew, and Timothy no doubt communicated it to them, but Paul’s letter itself leaves us no clue.
For our purposes, the key verse we need to think about in relation to Satan’s work and hindrances in our own lives is 2 Cor. 2:11. Here are two good translations:
- “So that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are very familiar with his evil schemes.” (NLT)
- “And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (NRSV)
And this leads us to the question “What exactly is Satan’s strategy?” because, whatever it is, we definitely need to be familiar with it. The best thing I’ve read to date on this question is from a chapter on Satan’s strategy in John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart. He gives this great three-point outline and I want to add a bit of content to each of his points for our purposes:
- He hates and attacks quality relationships. We don’t have time to unpack Satan’s #1 M.O.; however, think about how he’s doing this in our country right now, or how he does this with our friendships or marriages.
- He throws gasoline on our sinful passions. On this, Eldredge says: “Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not blaming everything on the devil. In almost every situation there are human issues involved. Every man has his struggle; every marriage has its rough spots; every ministry has personal conflicts. But those issues are like a campfire that the enemy throws gasoline all over and turns into a bonfire. The flames leap up into a raging inferno and we are suddenly overwhelmed by what we are feeling. Simple misunderstandings become grounds for divorce. All the while we believe that it is us, we are blowing it, we’re to blame, and the Enemy is laughing because we’ve swallowed the lie ‘I’m not here, it’s just you.’ We’ve got to be a lot more cunning than that.”[1]
- He seeks to destroy hope in us by despair. William Gurnall, English author and Anglican clergyman from the 1600’s, said this: “It is the image of God in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.” When we work to polish the image of God in others, it “enrages hell.” We want our friends, neighbors, co-workers, biological and church families, and all those we’re called to serve to live with dignity as sons and daughters created in the image of God. In this sense, we’re working to build and restore in them a biblical self-esteem. Satan, however, continuously attacks their identity and ours. We need to both know his voice and help others recognize it. Even regarding our sin, the voice of God and the voice of Satan (“the accuser”) are distinctly different: Conviction from God brings humility and a contrite heart. “Satan’s aim,” however, as John Calvin well said, “is to drive the saint to madness by despair.”
Next week, we’ll see lastly how heaven’s proud reward and crown requires a missional focus.
[1] John Eldredge, Wild at Heart (Nashville: Nelson) 2001, p. 163.