Don't Dance with the Devil
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works
(Psalm 141:4 NKJV)
The final step in King Saul’s downfall came when he sought the help of the witch of Endor.
Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said. So, Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.” (1 Samuel 28:7-8 NIV).
The moral decay of his leadership has led him into an abyss from which there would be no escape and ultimately lead to his suicide on the battlefield. So, Saul took his own sword and fell on it (1 Samuel 31:4 NIV). His story is a sobering warning to avoid the snares of Satan.
A song, by gospel singer, Phil Driscoll, has the lyrics “don’t dance with the devil, he’ll make a fool out of you.” And never a truer word has been spoken. Messing with the devil is a bad idea. He is a highly intelligent, evil being that has had eons to hone his malevolent craft and he is has only one goal in mind, destroy all those made in God’s image.
One of my favorite Shakespearian plays is Macbeth. It is a moody and dark, with witches and false prophecies, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
It opens on a misty Scottish moor. Macbeth, the thane of Glamis is riding home after battle, accompanied by his fellow noble and best friend, Banquo, the thane of Lochabar (Thane is the Scottish term for an earl). Suddenly his path is blocked by three horrible apparitions. An unholy trinity of ghastly hags greet him, and those greetings will lead Macbeth off the path deep into the toils of Satan.
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis. All hail, Macbeth! Thane of Cawdor. All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter.”
Like so many encounters with Satan, there is a grain of truth in these greetings. Macbeth is, indeed, the Thane of Glamis, but he is not the Thane of Cawdor, and he is certainly not in the line of succession to become king.
This encounter stirs Macbeth’s interest, but he pushes the thoughts aside. It isn’t possible for him to be Thane of Cawdor – the thane is alive and well. However, a short time later he receives the news that the Thane of Cawdor has committed treason and been executed. The king has now conferred the title on Macbeth as a reward for his bravery in battle. Macbeth’s imagination is now at a fever pitch; the first prophecy has come true, so why not the next? And Satan has him!
Banquo wisely gives him a warning, “oftentimes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles to betray us in deepest consequence.”
After telling his wife of the prophecy and then learning the king is coming to stay at Macbeth’s castle, the two conspire to assassinate the king. After murdering an innocent man and usurping the throne, it is all downhill from there. Lady Macbeth, not able to cope with her guilt, wanders the castle halls at night, gripped in feverish nightmares, convinced her hands are stained with blood. Finally, unable to cope with the horror any longer, she takes her own life. The famous line “out, out damned spot,” comes from her frantic efforts to wash the imaginary blood from her hands.
Macbeth’s life is now crashing down around him. Like King Saul, he heads off to seek the counsel of the witches in a desperate attempt to find peace and a sense of safety. The hags are quite happy to comply and give him false hope. They assure him he will never be bested until Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane castle.
Dunsinane is Macbeth’s castle and Birnam wood is the forest that surrounds it. “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Macbeth feels safe. How can a wood possibly pick itself up and walk? Further confirmation is given in the next prophecy, “laugh to scorn the power of man for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Every human being is born of a woman, so Macbeth now believes he is invincible.
However, the power of man was not what Macbeth should have been fearing. Instead, he should have been fearing Satan, whose power Macbeth has now placed himself under.
Of course, he has been led horribly astray and there is a nasty twist coming in the story. At the end of the play, when the army of MacDuff marches against Macbeth, the soldiers strip the trees of their branches and use them as camouflage to approach the castle unseen. Birnam wood is indeed “coming to Dunsinane castle.”
And in the final duel between the two protagonists, Macbeth tells MacDuff that the fight is pointless because Macbeth cannot be harmed by any man born of a woman. At this point the Machiavellian plan of Satan comes into full view. Macduff was born by Caesarian section and therefore, technically was not born of a woman. “I was from my mother’s womb untimely ripped.”
This story demonstrates how Satan can take a little kernel of truth, twist it, and then lead you step by step deeper into darkness.
The “fun” reading with the fortune teller, the “once-off” tarot card reading, the one “experiment” in drug taking can be the first step in a ruinous downfall. Don’t dance with the devil – he will, without a doubt, make a fool out of you.
And if you have stepped off the path, do not despair, ask God for forgiveness, He will bring you safely out of “the pit of death” and put your feet “on a steady stone.” He gave you power over the authority of the enemy, once cleansed of your sin, take your stand and tell Satan and his demons to depart from you, they have no place in your life. You are child of God, bought and paid for by precious the blood of Christ.
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19 NKJV).
