Forgotten Fire, Part 2

Author - Arlie Francis

The current crisis in Israel has broadened the scope of this blog. This post is the second in a three-part series entitled "Forgotten Fire."

Saturday morning, October 7, 2023, at 8:30 AM, the fire of demonic-activated rage broke through containment fences surrounding the Gaza Strip. Satan's soldiers raced across southern Israel, ravaging God's Chosen People. Women and children cowered in their homes as the animals known as Hamas clawed their way through barricaded doors. By their hair, innocents were dragged from their "safe rooms" into the open, where family, friends, and neighbors were being collected. They were publicly brutalized in the most unspeakable ways and murdered. Smartphones of the captured victims recorded their last minutes, minutes that seemed like days. The images and videos were then posted on their personal social media platforms to be watched by loved ones.  

In Part 1 of "Forgotten Fires," we discussed how the devastating fire that destroyed Lahaina was not the only fire on Maui. Miles away, high above the charred remains of Maui's historic capital, fires driven by Hurricane Dora devastated and destroyed property far away from the media epicenter of the fires on Maui. Just under the surface in Olinda, a community in the upcountry, another fire burned. The roots of charred trees smoldered underground, breaking out on the surface as recently as a week ago, almost two months after the cataclysmic event.

The world moved on from Maui within a few weeks as another global crisis replaced what happened. Floods in Libya, Egypt, and China. Earthquakes in Syria, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Refugees in Central and South America. Drought in Sudan. Famine in Ethiopia. And then there is Washington, D.C. What's going on? There is a much larger conflagration underway. Are all of these connected?

The forgotten fire of the unseen war between God and Satan is breaking out of the spiritual realm into our physical reality. Most people never see it. Many who do look away. Don't! Satan and one-third of heaven's hosts rebelled against their Creator. Cast from God's presence… confusion, emptiness, and darkness covered our world before God said, "Let there be light." The forgotten fire of cosmic conflict rages just below the surface of our current circumstances.

But, the "Spirit of God hovers over the surface of the deep." Darkness cannot win. As hopeless as it may seem today, Satan has already been defeated, and he knows it.

Following the events in Genesis 1-3, Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden of Eden to the East. They publicly wore the evidence of God's redemptive plan. Their clothing reminded them every day that sometime in the future, God would destroy Satan and all who rebel against Him through the "seed of the woman."

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. - Genesis 3:15

Adam and Eve decided to believe God. Their choice resulted in their salvation forever. Their faith in the "Seed" to come restored their broken relationship with God, a relationship that could never be broken again. From that point in human history, Satan has attempted to destroy the vehicle by which the "seed of the woman" would enter the world. That vehicle is Israel, the Jewish people.

Through the descendants of Adam and Eve, the "seed of the woman" runs through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all the way to Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. On Calvary, where He died, Jesus was nailed to the cross through His heels two thousand years ago. But that is not the end of the story. Three days later, Jesus arose from the dead, re-entered the world, and proved that Satan's power had been defeated forever. The empty tomb proves that Jesus has the power over death and the authority to give eternal life.

The only weapon Satan has over mankind is death. In the Garden of Eden, Satan was told, "Your time is running out." His power was defeated at the cross. But Satan still has authority over the earth, but not for long.

That, my friends, is why Satan continues his war with God in the place where Jesus one day will return to rule over the world from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. In the next posting of this title, "Forgotten Fire," we will paint the 40,000-foot view of what is happening in Israel.

Stay tuned.