Scripture reading:
- Exodus 6:2-9:35
- Luke 11:14-22
This world is not our own. That is what scripture teaches anyway. When Adam and Eve made the choice to sin in the garden, they signed over, if you will, the authority God gave them to Satan.
Moses walked into the dominion of Pharaoh, the strongman’s home, demanding the people of God and their possessions like a thief. First, however, the Lord wanted to prove power over the so-called gods of Egypt.
Each plague was worse than the one that came before and the priests attempted to replicate them but soon found that these were not clever slights of hand but the “finger of God”.
Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.
-Exodus 8:18-19
When Jesus cast out a demon from a man possessed, He remarked that it was also done by the “finger of God”. He told the Pharisees, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20)
He then told them of the strongman:
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.
Luke 11:21-22
It can be easy to forget that this world is still under the control of Satan until Jesus takes it back. The reason Jesus does not take it back just yet is that it would remove the option to choose Him.
That is why the Lord moves gently in this world and only uses His finger if you will. We should also recognize that the Lord uses us in reaching others, even though we are not Moses or Jesus.
The Lord calls on us to break into the home of the strongman and take back His people from captivity. Like Moses, God calls on us to demand that Satan free the people of God.
Like Daniel and the Apostles, I believe this starts with prayer. As people of God, we should be praying over the church, even the very seats were people will sit.
We should pray over the streets and homes of our community for the souls of men, women, and children.
We need to have compassion for the people around us and cry out to heaven for them, that God might set them free.
Satan is strong, this is true. Stronger than me and stronger than you. But he is no match for the finger of God and never will be. Will you pray today for those around you? Will you pray for your church?