The Accuser

Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

I was listening the other day to John MacArthur. As a Road Adjuster I get to be in my car a number of times a week and one of the great blessings of this is being able to listen to awesome, sound teaching. In one of the sermons John made mention of Satan standing before God day and night accusing the brethren and this got me pondering.

Now, one of the other aspects of my job and, well life really, is that there are always complainers and people who seem to always enjoy pointing out the faults in others in a lame attempt to make themselves appear better. If I am truthful, I must confess this is something that I have done as well.

It probably isn't wise to do this, but I began to think of God as someone like me. Not that I think I am God, but rather how I would feel if, night and day someone stood before me accusing my children. It gets old for me REAL QUICK when I encounter the same person all the time “talking smack” about other people. “Is that ALL you know how to do? SHUT UP already!!!” There have also been moments when a person has said something about my family. This is a whole other level. When this has happened it has brought me to heights of...emotion, that is not a good place for me to be in. The person making these comments about my family was left with the distinct impression that harm would come to them if they continued in their foolishness. Thankfully, this is a very rare occurrence. Now, back to God.

This happens to God daily. DAILY!!! And, not just daily, but nightly. NIGHTLY!!! Day and night His children are being accused by one who is in no position whatsoever to take the “moral high ground”. What would I do to the person who did this to my family day and night, without rest, constantly? It staggers me to think on it. I think of how I would respond and contrast this with how the Lord responds in Zechariah.

Zechariah 3 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

The Lord is the one who has chosen. The Lord is the one who removes the filthy garments from the one He has chosen and then clothes that one with pure vestments. The Lord has made the filthy sinner whom He has chosen clean, and Satan stands before God accusing the one whom God has chosen made clean. All that He says to Satan is, “The Lord rebuke you.”, and then He solemnly assures the one whom he has chosen.

What is the lesson to be learned in this?