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The Accuser

Gilyana (Revelation) 12:10 
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, “Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our Elohim, and the authority of His Mashiach; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our Elohim day and night.”

This study is not by any means a comprehensive study on Satan.  Rather this study is for the purpose of opening our eyes to one of the specific weapons or tactics Satan uses against us in order that we as followers of Mashiach may stand firm against this weapon and be victorious in Mashiach Yeshua.

The Hebrew word שטן – “satan” means adversary or accuser.  “Satan” is pronounced as “sah-tahn.” There has arisen a misunderstanding of the Hebrew in which some are choosing to render the pronunciation of the name of the accuser of the brethren as “Shatan” rather than as “Satan.”  However, “Shatan” is a different Hebrew word which means “urine”.  We should not confuse these two words, for rebuking “urine” (Shatan) does nothing to get the enemy to depart from us.

Please note that according to the verse above Satan constantly accuses those who follow Mashiach Yeshua before YHWH, day and night.  He does this by tempting us to do things that are not in accordance with the will of YHWH, and then he turns around and points his finger at us accusing us of wrongdoing before our heavenly Father.  This is his standard modus operandi. 

Satan also attempts to get YHWH to relax some of His protection over us so that he may come and bring ruin into our lives in some fashion.  This is what he did in the life of Iyov (Job).  Now as bad as it is when Satan brings accusations against us before our heavenly Father, this is multiplied when Satan can get men to enter into his scheme so that we accuse one another.  This we also see in the life of Iyov when Iyov’s three friends came to him and became his accusers as well.  So we see that while Satan accuses us before the face of our heavenly Father, Satan employs men to accuse us to our face.

However, this is not the way of our heavenly Father.  Please carefully note the following passages of Scripture.

Micah 7:19 
He will again have compassion upon us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
And You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 38:17 
Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness;
But You have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption;
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

Once YHWH has forgiven us of our sins through the Blood of Mashiach, then those sins are gone.  But this is not the way of Satan.  He brings up those past sins, failings, shortcomings, and wrongdoings again and again.  It is one of Satan’s ways to bring defeat and discouragement into the life of him who follows Yeshua as His Mashiach.  Furthermore, Satan will use men to do this.  Please note this passage of Scripture.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:27 
who needs not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people; for this He did once for all, when He offered up Himself.

YHWH does not do things part way.  When He forgives us we are truly forgiven.  But often we do not find this same forgiveness from others or even from ourselves.  But who do we think we are?  Do we know better than YHWH?  Are we a better judge than He is?  Are we a higher judge than He is?  YHWH forbid that we should act in such a way as that!

Romans 14:4 
Who are you that judges the servant of another?  To his own master he stands or falls.  Yea, he shall be made to stand; for YHWH has power to make him stand.

If one is the servant of YHWH, then what right do we have to judge for the purpose of condemning another, particularly when those past sins have already been dealt with and forgiven by YHWH?  Is it not time to stop looking behind ourselves or into the past of another and look forward to what YHWH is doing and is about to do?

Philippians 3:13-15
13 Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold; but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before,
14 I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of Elohim in Mashiach Yeshua.
15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be like minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also shall Elohim reveal to you.

Anytime that Satan can get a person to look backward to focus upon a past sin, wrongdoing or shortcoming, whether that past sin is in one’s own life or in the life of another, then he can manipulate us into forgetting that we are forgiven and that our brothers and sisters in Mashiach are also forgiven.  At that point one is more likely to enter into an unwitting alliance with Satan to be his mouthpiece and become a fellow accuser with him.  When this happens, often a temporary break in fellowship transpires in the relationship between the one doing the accusing and the one who is being accused.  In order for true fellowship to be restored His truth must reign and be brought to the forefront in the mind of the one doing the accusing.

Matithyah (Matthew) 16:23 
But He turned, and said to Kepha, “Get behind Me, Satan; you are a stumbling-block to Me; for you mind not the things of Elohim, but the things of men.”  

When a person begins accusing another he becomes a stumbling block to the accused.  Such was the case with Kepha when he spoke to Mashiach Yeshua in such a way that his words were not reflecting the will of YHWH.

Yeshua had to say some rather shocking words to Kepha in order to shake him back to spiritual reality and hopefully get him to see that he had entered into an alliance with the enemy; albeit, unknowingly.

Likewise, when a person accuses another, that person has unknowingly entered into an alliance with the enemy.  This is why YHWH commanded us not to do this all alone, but only to do this if there are two or three witnesses available who can verify the facts of a situation.  If this cannot be done, then nothing should be said in the first place; that is, to anyone else except the person involved. 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 19:15 
“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.”

Satan does not care about Torah nor the keeping of it.  He is perfectly fine with bringing accusations against us all by himself, which amounts to only bringing only one witness.  Furthermore, if he can get anyone to do his dirty work for him, i.e., getting only one man to accuse another man without the proper witnesses, then he is delighted because it harms the man being accused as well as getting the man doing the accusing to break Torah as well.  In this way Satan devours more than one person at a time.  In addition to this it causes harm to those who hear of these accusations and to the body of Mashiach bringing division where there should be unity.

Kepha Aleph (1st Peter) 5:8 
Be sober, be watchful; your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.

Now as bad as it is that Satan goes about seeking whom he can to devour, please prayerfully consider this next passage in conjunction with this passage.

Galatians 5:15 
But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed by one another.

Please note that the work of the devil is to devour those whom he may.  If a person or persons are involved in biting and devouring one another, then is this not the work of the devil?  To be sure!  So, just because someone bites at you does not give you permission or the right to bite back!  Please note how Yeshua responded to those who mistreated Him.

Kepha Aleph (1st Peter) 2:21-23
21 For you were called for this purpose, since Mashiach also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps;
22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth;
23 who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judges righteously.

Yeshua did not need to defend Himself as He knew that His Father in heaven was His shield and strong tower.  His heavenly Father was the only defense that He needed.  But the question is: do we know this as well?  For many times we do not act like it when we think that we need to defend ourselves against others.  In fact, according to verse 23 above, if one does take up a defensive posture towards others, is this saying that he has not committed himself to the one true Judge?  Indeed it does!  Furthermore, to enter into biting back is entering into the work of Satan, which none of us really desire to do.

It really all boils down to: why are we doing what we are doing?  What is the purpose of making an accusation against another?  Now we often attempt to paint what we are doing in a noble light and with altruistic motives, but if what we are doing goes against any part of Scripture, then regardless of what we tell ourselves and others it is wrong. 

Ya’aqov (James) 1:19-20 
19 You know this, my beloved brethren.  But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
20 for the wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of Elohim.

When emotions run high, oftentimes one speaks when he should remain quiet.  We should carefully and diligently guard the words which come out of our mouths.  For once something is said it can never be taken back.  While we may feel sorry for those words later and do what we can to make those words right, those words cannot be unspoken!

This is also true of writing on the internet and in emails.  Just because one receives a message in this manner which is accusatory and inflammatory, does not mean that we need to respond right away, if at all.  We need to pray about it and seek the face and will of our heavenly Father to make sure that what we say is what He would want us to say.  For if one says what he personally wants to say or feels like saying in the passion of the moment rather than the words of our heavenly Father, then surely there will be sin present.  One must learn to restrain his words and choose the words he speaks carefully and wisely.

Mishle (Proverbs) 10:19 
When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable;
But he that restrains his lips does wisely.

When accusations rise up in the mind of a person and then those accusations are given a voice, much of the time that voice is the voice of lashon hara or outright slander.  This is particularly so when one has not gone to the individual he is speaking about in person to see if things could be rectified in a righteous manner.  If the person doing the accusing is personally involved then often the accusations are done in such a manner as to not only lower the person being accused, but also of elevating himself.

Now this is not to say that one cannot seek righteous counsel concerning a matter in which one is involved.  However, one needs to be careful that in the seeking of righteous counsel he then follows the counsel that YHWH has given through the one who is counseling.

What is often done under the guise of seeking righteous counsel is that one will go about from one person to another airing his accusations against another, but he does not follow or heed any of the counsel given.  He is simply looking for sympathy and support in any wrong or perceived wrong that may have been done to him.  Brothers and sisters, we need to diligently guard against doing this or listening to this spirit of division within the body of Mashiach!

Any time that one brings up the past of himself or of another it should be done in the greatest of fear.  We need to realize that when things are covered by the Blood of Mashiach, that is exactly where they need to stay.  If a person has no fear in bringing these things up, what does that say about that person? 

Yes, we can rightly bring up the past as a means to instruct others, but only if YHWH is getting the glory and honor.  There have been many times when I have heard someone bring up something out of his past, but only to revel in that past.  This is not good and it does not glorify or honor our heavenly Father.

The real trouble in this lies in bringing up the past of another person.  This we see politicians do all the time in accusing one another so that they can garner support and votes for themselves.  Are we no better than this?  It is a shameful tactic to use against another person.  This is something that is certainly not pleasing to our heavenly Father!  It brings shame upon the one doing it as well upon His good and glorious name!

If the past of another person is brought up it should be done in private with the purpose of restoration.  If this is not the purpose, then most likely silence should be maintained. 

It is the work of Satan to tear the body of Mashiach apart and keep it fractured.  It is the work of Mashiach Yeshua to build His body up.  Who are you working for?

Mashiach is the one who decides who is a part of His body and who is not a part of His body.  We do not have that right or authority.

Qorintyah Bet (2nd Corinthians) 5:18-19
18 But all things are of Elohim, who reconciled us to himself through Mashiach, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 to wit, that Elohim was in Mashiach reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Bringing accusations against another without witnesses is the work of Satan.  It is working against the ministry of reconciliation which Mashiach Yeshua has given to us.  The whole purpose of establishing all things with two or three witnesses is to be able to get the person to repent of his wrongdoing.  If he will not repent, then that is another matter altogether.  But if the person is willing to repent and move away from his sin, then those in the body of Mashiach should by all means move with him.  That movement may need to be with care and caution, watching over one another so that others do not fall as well.

Galatians 6:1-2 
1 Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself, lest you also be tempted.
2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the Torah of Mashiach.

Let us walk in the greatest fear of YHWH our Elohim that is possible, understanding that if it were not for His grace we would all be lost.  Let us speak words of encouragement to one another in the Spirit of Mashiach rather than falling victim to the wiles of the devil and succumbing to becoming a fellow accuser with him who shall be cast into the lake of fire.

Ephesians 5:18-19
18 And be not drunken with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit;
19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to YHWH.

ABBA YHWH, thank You for all of Your words of encouragement to us in these days of trial and we may in turn encourage those around us; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach.  Amein.

Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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