The Family- satan's first target & God's first institution
There are two lines in the bible that always gets me.
Genesis 2:25
"....the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."
Genesis 3:1
"Now the serpent.."
I know that this may seem odd but please let me explain.
What I mean when I say gets me, is that it seems to always cause me to stop and again realize something. And that is what i've just read is reminding me of the ever present reality of the attack on our families today.
The first time that the serpent, the devil, satan shows up in our view is immediately following Gods institution of the family. Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent".
I firmly believe that this is not by chance, or accident. Instead, the serpent is intentional about destroying the family. This is because he understands that godly families working together gives hell a headache. More like a migraine.
We may remember how the scenario played out in Genesis 3, he craftily worked his way into the family unit by deception and completely undermined it.
This one act from satan and allowance to let him in from Adan & Eve has been felt for thousands of years, even now. A lesson to note. Whenever we allow the devil inside of our homes the effects are often felt residually .
Today, no doubt his tricks have not changed. He seeks & smells out families to attempt the same. Maybe even worse, he attempts to dismantle individuals so that they never experience the beauty and blessing of even creating one. Today our world is overwhelmingly filled with single parent households, & children who've never known their father or mother. Homes where there is abuse of all kinds. There is also an increasing legal attack of the biblical godly fabric of the home.
The family was designed by God to be a place where there could be godly and joyous communion. Where help could be solicited, a safe place, a wholesome place.
"Delay's & Disappointments"
In the Hebrew, ashamed can easily be interpreted as "disappointed or delayed."
Whenever satan saw that the man and his wife were not ashamed he showed up. Satan is attracted to fulfillment so that he can empty it, peace so that he can destroy it, and timeliness so that he can delay it.
His goals are to not have your godly biblical hopes and wishes fulfilled in your marriage. He gets joy to see every child disappointed because their father or mother is not present. He desires to postpone God's promise of security in our homes.
However, in Genesis 3 there was a promise of redemption, that Christ would come and triumph over this antagonist and indeed He came! And whenever we allow Him to redeem us He too redeems our families and restores us them back completely! How beautiful to experience this joy!
Even with this, we must bear in mind that as Adam and Eve should have been on guard for the serpent against their family, so must we. Because the enemy does not care if we are redeemed, church goers, church doers etc. He will still lie in wait for us in hopes of destroying us. So we must always remember- prayer, constant prayer in our homes has to be a must. Bible study & discussion must become common, church attendance has to be a non negotiable for everyone. Love, times of communion, hugs, kisses, vacations, repentance, forgivingness, reflections, laughs are all devil deterrents.
Pastor Byron Hypolite.