Morning Devotional

December 15, 2003

"Saddam Hussein's Capture" 

by Don Emmitte

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Avoiding all political references may be a little difficult with this morning’s subject, however there are some interesting thoughts that prompt me to take the risk. I find an interesting parallel in Saddam Hussein’s capture and the present status of the devil. This is NOT to say that I believe Mr. Hussein to be the devil. Let me begin with a wonderful story. An associate of boxers, American writer Wilson Mizner was himself a talented fighter. One night Mizner and boxer “Mysterious” Billy Smith visited a San Francisco bar, where Mizner started a fight with some longshoremen. At the end only one longshoreman was left standing. Although Mizner rained punches at him, he stayed obstinately upright. Suddenly, Smith noticed what was happening. “Leave him alone, Wilson!” he shouted. “I knocked him out five minutes ago.” On investigation it turned out that a punch from Smith had indeed knocked the longshoreman out cold, but had also wedged him vertically between two pieces of furniture. Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq has been over for some time now, but he was still standing. Indeed, his influence was still a source of conflict, danger, and destruction. He had to be captured and detained, not merely defeated for his power to end. So it is with the devil. Listen to John: 

Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon--that old serpent, the Devil, Satan--and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. (Revelation 20:1-3 NLT).

That day is coming, perhaps sooner than some would believe. Satan has been defeated, but he is free to go about the world and inflict pain and suffering in the world. He will be defeated finally and forever captive. However, until that time we must be aware of his work in the world. He has been blinding the minds of the unregenerate (2 Cor. 4:4); snatching away the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:19); lulling the unbeliever into a false sense of security (Luke 11:21); laying snares for the unwary (2 Timothy 2:25-26); masquerading as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13-14); deceiving those whose minds are not subject to the Word of truth (Rev. 12:9); and mixing truth with error (Matthew 13:25-8). He is still a formidable enemy.

I am grateful for the capture of Saddam Hussein. However the great victory is yet to come. Here’s how John saw it:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever." (Revelation 21:1-4 NLT).

That will be the day!