Satan's bloodlust frenzy at Calvary

There are literally two kinds of darkness when Jesus Christ is dying on the Cross. While Luke 23:44 says, “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour,” verse 45 adds, “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”

“The problem there is that little word ‘and,’ ” explains Jordan. “It doesn’t say ‘for’ the sun was darkened. This is not a particle of further explanation as to how darkness came over the earth. There’s this darkness and ALSO there’s a physical darkness with the sun blotted out.

“There’s three hours of darkness. Genesis 15 tells us Abraham was put asleep and experienced the ‘horror of great darkness.’ He experienced the horror of what it’s like to be under the control of Satan. With His people in Egypt, one of the plagues was darkness. Do you remember it was described as a darkness that could be felt? You see, there’s something more than a physical darkness going on.

*****

“Before the darkness, Christ says, ‘Where’s my adversary? Let him stand near. Who is he to contend with me? C’mon, let’s duke it out!’

“It’s as though Satan, as a lion, has leaped upon and grabbed Christ and is tearing Him and seeking to destroy Him and rip Him to shreds.

“He cries, ‘Oh God, don’t let him drag me down to the pit and have it shut its mouth on me and lock me in!’ There’s a hand-to-hand combat going on in those moments there.

“When He says in Isaiah 50:8, ‘He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me?’ you remember that passage in Revelation where it says, ‘The accuser of the brethren is cast down’?

“One of things in Satan’s policy of evil is to point to Israel and say, ‘See?! He’s not qualified to be the righteous nation,’ and he accuses the brethren. He constantly can point an accusing finger at Israel.

“In that hour on the Cross, when Christ says, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ why did God forsake Him? Because He was made sin. He’s suffering in His soul the spiritual effects of being made sin and Satan leaps upon Him in that condition and says, ‘See, you’re mine! Go on and give up and follow me!’

“You understand what we’re talking about? The only thing that kept Jesus Christ from surrendering to the logic and the fury of the Adversary was faith in the Father’s Word. Do you see why faith is always the issue?

*****

“Go back to Isaiah 49 and notice this issue about ‘who will contend with me?’ and ‘Let the accuser come near.’ Beginning in verse 22, and this whole section is about the restoration of Israel, it says, [22] Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

“The Abrahamic Covenant’s going to be fulfilled: ‘Them that bless Israel I’ll bless.’ They’re going to come and bless Israel and acknowledge Israel as God’s ministers and priests and so forth and the kingdom’s going to be brought in, and He says, ‘I’m going to accomplish all that.’

“Now, there’s an objection raised in verse 24. ‘Shall the prey be taken from the mighty?’ There’s that strongman. There’s that ‘mighty one’ in Jeremiah 31:11. He’s stronger than they are, mightier than they are.

*****

“It says, ‘Shall the prey . . .’ The lion has leaped on them and taken them and holds them in his mouth. Can you get him away? Not only was Israel held in the clutches of the Adversary and couldn’t get away, they were legally held. Satan was not an interloper. He had them legally as his captive.

“You see, the reason they had been thrown out of the land and put into the hands of the Gentile nations that Satan ran was because they signed a contract with God where He said, ‘If you violate my covenant, here’s what I do with you.’

“That’s why I John 3 says, ‘Sin is the transgression of the law.’ That’s the issue here. Satan says, ‘See, I hold them and you have no right to let them go. I have them and you’re covenant law with them says they’re in my possession, because that’s what they contracted with you.'

“That’s what Israel contracted with Jehovah to have happen to them if they didn’t keep the covenant, so Satan says, ‘Lord, it's your law, your Word; you said it!’ And so he has Him sort of between a rock and hard place.

****

“Isaiah 49 says, [24] Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
[25] But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
[26] And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

“That’s saying, ‘I’m the one who’s going to deliver you from the prey, and from the captivity. I’m going to be your Redeemer and avenger. I’m not just going to deliver you away; I’m going to go out and DESTROY, avenging my cause against the one who held you.’

“Then you have Isaiah 50 where it talks about the contest. You see, in Isaiah 50:8, when He says, ‘Who will contend with me?’ it’s a reference back to Isaiah 49:24-26. It’s Christ, God the Son, saying to Satan, ‘Hey, you want to argue?! C’mon, let’s get it on! Give it your best shot!’

“Now, you and I know that He deceived Satan in that battle. He’s obviously provoking, poking, trying to stir up Satan.

“You look at John 8:44: [44] Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

“What kind of lust did Satan have? What kind of frenzied passion did he have? He was a ‘murderer from the beginning.’ He’s the FATHER, the originator of the Lie! And from the beginning of the origin of that Lie, he’s been a murderer. He’s a killer!

“Literally what the Lord Jesus Christ did, and you got to understand the sequence of this, is came and provoked Satan into a bloodlust frenzy at Calvary, where Satan was completely out of his gourd.”