Shut Up

"He never shuts up but talks incessantly."

JOHN’S REVELATION will be best seen when it is fulfilled. The Spirit says that no one has interpreted it correctly, though some are close. Much of it is symbolic of future events, which we cannot see as yet, and so speculation leads to wrong conclusions. The same can be seen of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah. Though they could quote them and, in some part, expected their fulfillment, when Jesus was staring them in the face, encircled by incredible miracles, they were angry and wanted Him dead (Matthew 21:15). They lived to the letter the promise of His death, not aware of it. Even prophesied it (John 11:49-50). The disciples, too, were told by Jesus of His coming death and Resurrection. He tried to prepare them for it, yet not until He’d risen from the dead, did they realize His words (John 12:16).

I am not a fan of interpretation of John’s Revelation, for those reasons, but it contains some wisdom that we must take hold of. Chapter 12 is best read, minus any interpretation of the symbols. It is, in short, the devil’s bloated opinion of himself. He chases the woman, he tries to devour the child and ends up losing both and a battle against heaven’s angels. He is the one symbol that is revealed, though what it means by the picture of him is, again, not complete except in that he feels much bigger than he actually is. This leads me to verse 12 where an important characteristic of him is told.

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10)

Here, he is not the puffed-up dragon but the accuser of our brethren, and he accuses them DAY AND NIGHT. Who the brethren are is not important to this right now, just that he never shuts up but talks incessantly. This matters because it is shown us throughout the Word. In Genesis, he’s talking end-to-end to Eve, and turns her gaze to worship of the tree (Genesis 3:2). In Job 1, he’s accusing Job before God of not being faithful to him. Make note he was called to be there (Job 1:6). God saw him and knew his evil heart and spoke safety over Job. In the gospels, we have fallen angels, called devils or unclean spirits, who, in every case, have to be silenced. In Acts, we have the woman, a soothsayer, who followed the apostle Paul, crying out so loudly and so much, he couldn’t take it anymore and so casts the devil out of her.

“And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.” (Mark 1:23-26)

“And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.” (Luke 4:41)

“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.” (Mark 9:25-26)

“For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.” (Acts 8:7)

“And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” (Acts 16:16-18)

We must know the devil and devils (plural) talk too much. We must know it is always false accusation. This is the meaning of the word “devil” itself. Jesus tells us this in John 8:44. “The devil is a liar,” He says. “There is no truth in Him.” In John 14:6, Jesus tells us He, Himself, is Truth. Jesus never sinned, not even in thought (1 Peter 2:22), and in the Scriptures we learn He is gentle, humble, and full of mercy. We learn in Isaiah 53 that when accused falsely by those trying to condemn Him, He said nothing. Here is the stark contrast between God the Son and His fallen creation. Notice, I put it that way on purpose because there is no competition. Satan sinned and was cast out of the Light (Luke 10:18). Jesus is God. If we read the story of His temptation in the wilderness, we see this clearly. Satan did not recognize Jesus as God who he’d spoken with in Job. He wasn’t even sure if Jesus was God but says “if” (Luke 4:3). He then lies to Jesus three times, even going so far as to quote a verse about angels.

Get this: A fallen angel quoted a verse about godly angels to the God who’d created all things. Colossians 1:16.

God has dealt with the devil and has instructed us to watch the words of our mouth (Psalm 19:14). Because what devils do to destroy people is what our words do. We destroy people. We make accusations because of their lifestyle, their upbringing, their culture, their appearance, their lack of spiritual maturity. We talk incessantly to defend ourselves and condemn others. We showcase our offenses behind pulpits and social media.

Jesus doesn’t. He is love.

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

“And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.” (Mark 15:3-5)

Illustration by Round Icons on Unsplash


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com