Let Him Have It

Many, many years ago, I sometimes read a satirical periodical called Mad Magazine. One of the cartoons inside was “Spy vs. Spy”. The gist of the cartoon was that one of the spies would appear to be friendly to the other. When the other was unsuspecting, the first would “let him have it,” so to speak.

 

Who is going to get it?

Today’s reading is Ezra 4:1-5. The Jews had returned from their exile in Assyria and were rebuilding their temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans, enemies of the Jews, were not happy with this event. They attempted to join the Jews to help rebuild the temple, but were rebuffed by the Jews.

 

The Jews knew the Samaritans worshipped false gods and were against the building of the temple. The Jews knew that their return and the building of the temple threatened the political power of the Samaritans. The Jews knew that the Samaritans wanted to be part of the team, so that they could, “let them have it” when the Jews were not expecting it.

 

Satan does not want our efforts for Jesus to succeed. Sometimes he will try to be part of our team and when we are not looking, try to destroy us and our efforts.

 

As in the “Spy vs. Spy” cartoons, Satan is armed with a bomb, just waiting to, “let us have it.”

 

We need to be aware of who our enemy is, know his intentions and be prepared for his attacks. Like the Jews did with the Samaritans, we should not accept Satan’s help and we should be prepared to tell him why.

 

Yes, Satan is armed with a bomb. Yet we are like the other Spy. Our defense is Jesus Christ. Of course, at times Satan can make our lives miserable. But he really cannot hurt us. He cannot take away our hope of Heaven and everlasting life.

 

When Satan comes calling, all we need to do is rely on Jesus. Jesus will, “let him have it.”