19 June | Youth
«Fear the Lord, my child, as well as the king, and do not associate with rebels.» Proverbs 24:21, NET
In an old meat slaughterhouse in New York, there was a famous animal called “Judas, the goat.” Its job was to escort sheep from the train station to the slaughterhouse. The goat was beautiful, attractive, disguised with lamb's fur, and served as a leader so that the sheep could easily follow it. It is estimated that during its lifetime the goat “deceived” around four and a half million innocent sheep, leading them to their deaths.
Just like this goat, Satan has disguised himself as an “angel of light” and led billions of people to destruction (2 Cor 11:14). He works using lies, disunity, criticism and deception, through agents who oppose the teachings of the Word of God. His rebellion began in Heaven, by spreading fallacies among the angels and provoking war (Rev 12:4, 7). The same strategy is used today to destroy families and churches, undermining people's faith.
Throughout the Scriptures, it is clear that several individuals were used by Satan to hinder the progress of God's work. Sanballat, for example, was a powerful opponent of the reconstruction of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, promoting mockery of the people of Israel. The apostle Paul warned the church of Ephesus about the harmful work of the rebels. He said that from among God’s people “men [would] rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29, 30).
In our days, Satan has been unleashing his hatred against the Lord's church, identified as the people “who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17). By means of controversies and attacks that come from inside and outside the church, the enemy discredits and relativizes biblical truth.
The apostle Peter advises: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). And Paul adds: “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Eph 4:14). Flee from rebels and hold fast to the eternal Word of God.