Satan (Part 14) – The Epic War: Joash, the Birth of Christ

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A.    The entire royal bloodline of the Messiah is murdered, with the exception of one little boy.

1. There was a king of Judah named Ahaziah who was wicked (2Ki 8:25-27).
2. He had a wicked mother named Athaliah (2Ki 8:26).

• Jehu king of Israel had Ahaziah killed (2Ki 9:27).

1. When Athaliah saw that Ahaziah was dead, she killed all of the royal seed, with the exception of a baby named Joash, one of the sons of Ahaziah, whom his aunt stole away and hid from his wicked grandmother (2Ki 11:1-2).
   1. Who do you suppose inspired Athaliah to murder all but one of the possible heirs of the throne of Judah, through whom the Messiah was prophesied to come?
   2. Remember that Satan is a murderer (Joh 8:44).
2. Joash was hid in the temple for six years and kept safe from queen Athaliah before Jehoiada the priest had him crowned king and had Athaliah killed (2Ki 11:3-16).
3. Jehoiada had the people make a covenant with God and king Joash that they would be the LORD’s people (2Ki 11:17).

• The people of Judah then broke down the house of Baal and his images and slew the priest of Baal (2Ki 11:18).
• Joash was a good king who reigned for forty years (2Ki 12:1-2) and led the effort to repair the house of the LORD (2Ki 12:4-16).

1. Joash was succeeded by a few more good kings which reigned over Judah for the next 97 years after Joash’s death (2Ki 14:1-3; 2Ki 15:1-3; 2Ki 15:32-34).
2. As a result of Satan’s attack on the bloodline of the kings of Judah through Athaliah, Judah had good kings reigning over them for 137 years (Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham).
3. Satan was within one baby boy of preventing the Messiah from being heir to David’s throne.

• His plan backfired, and he lost yet another battle.

B.     Christ is born and the battle intensifies.

1. Despite all of the assaults of Satan against the nation of Israel in general and the royal lineage of Judah in particular, the Messiah was born as prophesied.
2. Since Satan knows the scripture (Mat 4:6), it is reasonable to conclude that he knew the approximate date of Christ’s birth based on Daniel’s prophecy (Dan 9:24-27).

• Satan was therefore waiting to devour Him as soon as He was born (Rev 12:1-5).

iv.    Satan unleashed the powers of darkness at the time of the coming of Christ.

1. This was Satan’s hour and the power of darkness (Luk 22:53).
2. It was prophesied that there would be sorcerers in Israel that God would judge at the time of the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:5 c/w Mal 3:1-4).
3. The nation of Israel was filled with devil possession at the time of Christ’s coming (Mat 8:16; Mar 1:23; Mar 3:11; Mar 5:2, 8-9; Mar 7:25; Act 5:16; Act 8:7).
4. The devils knew who their enemy was: the Lord Jesus Christ (Mar 1:23-24).
5. The wicked Jewish leaders had made a covenant with death and hell (Isa 28:14-18).
6. Israel in Jesus’ day was a house filled with devils (Mat 12:43-45).
   • The Pharisees were pretending to cast out devils by the power of God (Mat 12:27; Act 19:13-15).
   • Simon was a Jewish sorcerer that bewitched the people of Samaria (Act 8:9-11).
   • Elymas was a Jewish sorcerer who resisted the preaching of the gospel (Act 13:6-11).
   • Paul encountered a damsel possessed with a spirit of divination (Act 16:16-18).
7. The unbelieving Jews had bewitched the Galatians into believing false doctrine (Gal 3:1).
   • Bewitch – 1. trans. To affect (generally injuriously) by witchcraft or magic.
   • This type of bewitching is most likely literal, not figurative (Act 8:9-11).
   • Paul warned the Galatians about the sin of witchcraft (Gal 5:20).
8. The Ephesians were steeped in occultism prior to their conversion (Act 19:19).
9. Paul warned of men the likes of Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses with counterfeit miracles (2Ti 3:8).
10. Satan’s unleashing of the power of darkness commensurate with the coming of Christ explains why there were so many people possessed with devils in the first century.
11. Despite all of Satan’s efforts, Christ was born (Luk 2:1-14).