And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Truth to Learn
Through Christ we will have victory over false teachers.
Behind the Words
The word “crush” is translated from suntribō, which is composed of sun, meaning “together” and tribō, meaning “to rub or to crush.” Thus, suntribō literally means “to crush together.” It is a picture of rubbing grains of wheat between the hands to separate the kernel from the chaff. Figuratively, it means to break the strength or power of someone.
Meaning Explained
Several verses back Paul said, “take note of those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.” Today, it seems that there are such false teachers everywhere we turn. In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, he documents a parable that Jesus told regarding the good seed that was sown and the tares that were sown among the good seed. Jesus explained to his disciples that the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom of God and that the tares represent the children of the Devil. While they are growing together it is almost impossible to distinguish between the good seed and the tares. But when they are ready for harvesting, the fruit of the good seed is easily distinguished from the fruit of the tares. These tares are false believers.
These false believers often become false teachers, and in today’s verse we are told that God will crush Satan, the leader of these false teachers. Some believe that this is a fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 when God condemned Satan for tricking Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Others, however, see this as a figurative picture of the church placing their feet on the neck of Satan the way that Joshua had the leaders of Israel do to the five kings of Canaan as Joshua killed them:
So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the commanders of the men of war who went with him, “Come here, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they came and put their feet on their necks. (Joshuah 10:24)
Either way, it is clear that Paul is telling us that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the God of peace, will eventually triumph over Satan, and we will forever be rid of him and the false teachers whom he empowers today.
Paul then finishes this teaching about false teachers with a brief benediction. It appears that Paul intended to end the letter here but then added a post script, after which he added this brief benediction again.
Application
While we are here in this world serving God and spreading the gospel message, we will encounter false teachers. Someday, however, our Lord will return and deliver a crushing blow to Satan and proclaim victory over all His enemies, and we will share in that victory, but God will receive all the praise!
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2019 Will Krause. All rights reserved