Recently, a resident of Berlin, Germany, noticed that one of his new and expensive running shoes had disappeared from his porch, and so he decided to investigate the theft. He learned that he was not the only victim, and a tip helped him to catch the thief, a red fox with two blue flip-flops in its mouth. The man followed the fox into a thicket, and crawled around in the thicket for about an hour. There he finally discovered the fox’s stash of more than 100 shoes, most of them just gnawed on a little bit.
“Words from Above” in the Bible never call the devil a fox, but it is true that he “outfoxed” Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He deceived them into eating fruit from a forbidden tree in the middle of the garden, which God had told them not to eat or to touch. He promised them that the fruit would make them as wise as God, and give them a knowledge of good and evil. He also lied by telling them that they would not die by eating the fruit.
There is a song that children often sing in Sunday School entitled “The Devil Is A Sly Old Fox”. I have had no success in tracking down the author of the song or any other history about it, but the thought of the song is that if the devil could be caught, he would be thrown into a box. The song also suggests that the box would be locked and the key thrown away, because of all the tricks he has played on people. Unfortunately, we cannot find him by crawling around in a thicket, but the Bible does tell us that he “roams about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The Bible also tells us in Revelation 20 that one day the devil will be thrown into a bottomless pit. It says that an angel will come down out of heaven, holding the key to the pit and a large chain to tie up the devil for 1000 years.
After the 1000 years, the devil will be released to deceive the nations and people of the world again. He will gather an army to go into battle with God and His angels, believing that he can be victorious. But the devil will be outfoxed when fire comes down from heaven to destroy him and his army. He will be thrown into the lake of fire, and will be tortured day and night forever. Anyone whose name is not found written in God’s Book of Life will also be thrown in the lake of fire.
Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville. Everyone is welcome to attend. For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.
