Zophar the Naamathite assumed Job would accept that “the triumphing of the wicked [ones] is short” (Job 20:5). The word “triumphing” is literally a ringing cry, the joyous shout that one might hear at the end of a good harvest, when all the crops have been gathered in; or the shout of a triumphant army after a remarkable victory. But such triumphing is short. If nothing else interferes with the rejoicing of an unconverted sinner – and that is unlikely – death will bring the triumphing to an end and the sinner will go down to a lost eternity, where there can be no rejoicing. Besides, this is a world of trouble, a world of disappointment and sadness, and these may interrupt the most ecstatic rejoicing and bring it to an abrupt end. The only way to avoid eternal disappointment is to heed the call of Scripture: “Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding” (Prov 9:6). And the way of understanding, the only wise way, is to follow Christ Jesus, trusting in Him as the One who came into the world to save sinners.
If it is true, and it is, that the triumphing of wicked ones is short, it is also true that the triumphing of the wicked one is short. He appeared in the Garden of Eden to tempt both Eve and Adam. How successful his temptations were! The entire human race at that time was snatched, so to speak, out of God’s hand and brought into the kingdom of the devil. But God broke into his triumphing with the warning that the seed of the woman “shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Gen 3:15). As Matthew Henry comments, “no sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed”: the Son of God was to come in the fullness of time, to suffer and die, and this was to put an end to the devil’s hopes of gaining the final victory. Yet the devil, fallen as he is, is constitutionally unable to believe he has no hope of success. So, in spite of God’s threatening, he has been consistently doing his utmost to prevent God’s purposes being fulfilled.
He tempted Cain to refuse God’s revealed way of salvation and bring instead an offering that he assumed would be acceptable, although he had no divine authority for that assumption. The offering on which sinners are to rely must involve the shedding of blood. So Abel brought a lamb to be sac-
rified, which pointed forward to Jesus Christ, who offered Himself as a sacrifice that would really take away sin. And over the generations since then, what malicious, unwearied effort Satan has expended in distracting sinners from God’s way of salvation and tempting them to rely on their own powers! No doubt Satan triumphed when he successfully tempted Cain to kill his godly, believing brother, but God raised up others – including Enoch and Noah – who, like Abel, were to be celebrated in Hebrews 11 as men of faith.
Satan might seem to have triumphed when he tempted the majority of mankind with such success that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and . . . every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). But his triumphing was short, for God in judgement brought about the Flood, which resulted in that ungodly generation being swept away from the earth, leaving only Noah and his family, who were saved in the ark that Noah built in believing obedience to God’s command. However widespread Satan’s kingdom may become, and however powerful Satan and his followers may seem to be, God will always, sooner or later, show Himself to be infinitely stronger. And however weak God’s Church may become, He will ensure that it will never be swept out of existence.
In the fullness of time, the Seed of the woman appeared in this world. Whoever may have failed to recognise Jesus of Nazareth as the One foretold in the Garden of Eden, Satan knew perfectly well who He was. And in spite of the promise made in the Garden of Eden and all the subsequent prophecies recorded in Old Testament Scripture, Satan was determined to do all in his power to oppose the Saviour in carrying out the work the Father had given Him to do. Jesus had scarcely been born in Bethlehem when Satan tempted Herod to have all the children there slain. To speak in this way is not to treat Herod as a sort of robot; Satan was indeed using Herod as his instrument, but Herod was acting according to his own corrupt will. The interaction between Satan and the person he tempts is beyond our understanding, but while Satan was guilty in, for instance, tempting Eve, she also was clearly guilty in succumbing to the evil one’s temptations.
Again, at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the devil tried to tempt Him to sin, but failed completely. Matthew Henry (on Gen 3:15) sums up Satan’s activity at the end of Jesus’ public ministry: “It was the devil that put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ, of Peter to deny Him, of the chief priests to prosecute Him, of the false witnesses to accuse Him, and Pilate to condemn Him, aiming in all this, by destroying the Saviour, to ruin the salvation [He was working out]; but, on the contrary, it was by death that Christ destroyed ‘him that had the power of death’ (Heb 2:14)”.
Thus whatever triumphing possessed Satan during, and immediately after,
the events leading up to Christ’s death, this was the bruising of Satan’s head (see Gen 3:15). This was to result, quoting Henry again, in “a total overthrow to his kingdom and interest. Christ baffled Satan’s temptations, rescued souls out of his hands, cast him out of the bodies of people, dispossessed the strong man armed and divided his spoil. By His death He gave a final and incurable blow to the devil’s kingdom.” Satan’s triumphing was cut short very quickly by Christ’s resurrection from the dead on the third day.
Soon after Christ’s ascension to heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out and 3000 souls were delivered from Satan’s kingdom in one day. Further conversions followed in large numbers, first in Jerusalem and then much more widely. Satan’s unbelieving opposition followed the Apostles wherever they went; his temptations lay behind their arrest in Jerusalem, the slaying of James, the riot in Ephesus, and Paul’s imprisonments, finally in Rome. Paul’s words apply to such situations: “The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel” (Phil 1:12). Even in Rome “some believed”. The triumphing of the wicked one is always short.
Ever since the time of the Apostles, Christ has been gathering sinners into His kingdom from Satan’s dominions; in many ages there have been very few conversions, but the Lord has never left Himself without witnesses on earth. Today Satan may seem to be victorious: many throughout the world subscribe to false religions; many more are nominally Christians but believe heretical doctrines; and multitudes of others reject religion and take up with secularism, while morality is turned upside down. Satan no doubt believes he has cause to triumph. Not so. His triumphing will be cut short, for God’s promise is: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9). Satan is yet to be severely restrained and the gospel greatly blessed everywhere. He will then see no reason to triumph, and a final end will come to his triumphing when Christ will come the second time, raise all human beings from their graves and send all who continue unbelieving “into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). By then all whom the Father gave to Christ – all for whom Christ died – will have come to Him by faith and submitted to His authority.
There is no need for us to be overly downcast about the spiritual prospects for the world, even in an age when Satan seems to have so much power. In the light of Scripture teaching, we ought to have a positive outlook on the future. “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory” (Ps 98:1). This is what will be clearly seen when the world and all that is in it will finally be consumed. It is Christ and His people, not Satan and his minions, who will finally triumph. Christ will indeed have all the glory.