Soft Words
Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?
Job 41:3–4
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Soft Words
“You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” This old saying is called to mind here. God questions Job as to whether or not the leviathan would speak softly to him and persuade him to be kind if, in fact, Job managed to capture this beast. The idea is comical. This creature would not plead for mercy nor would he show any. Yet the most crafty and deadly beast of all, Satan, does in fact come with soft words. He tells us what we want to hear. He dresses sin up in gold and diamonds and entices us towards it. He twists God’s perfect Word to cause confusion and doubt in our minds. The devil is not honest, he does not reveal the truth of sin, and he does not show the horror of turning from God. And like flies to honey, we readily swarm towards sin and are destroyed. But God does not allow Satan the last word. He comes to us in faith through the Holy Spirit and gives us not just soft Words but powerful Words. In God’s Word forgiveness is brought to us. We are set free from the snares of the devil, sin, and death. Hanging and dying from the cross Jesus utters these soft but profound Words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And our slavery to sin, death, and the devil was destroyed!
Job 41:3–4
+
Soft Words
“You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” This old saying is called to mind here. God questions Job as to whether or not the leviathan would speak softly to him and persuade him to be kind if, in fact, Job managed to capture this beast. The idea is comical. This creature would not plead for mercy nor would he show any. Yet the most crafty and deadly beast of all, Satan, does in fact come with soft words. He tells us what we want to hear. He dresses sin up in gold and diamonds and entices us towards it. He twists God’s perfect Word to cause confusion and doubt in our minds. The devil is not honest, he does not reveal the truth of sin, and he does not show the horror of turning from God. And like flies to honey, we readily swarm towards sin and are destroyed. But God does not allow Satan the last word. He comes to us in faith through the Holy Spirit and gives us not just soft Words but powerful Words. In God’s Word forgiveness is brought to us. We are set free from the snares of the devil, sin, and death. Hanging and dying from the cross Jesus utters these soft but profound Words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And our slavery to sin, death, and the devil was destroyed!
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