d destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah" (2
Chronicles xxii:10). Satan had made the awful suggestion to her and
when the seed royal was destroyed he thought he had triumphed at last.
"But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the King, took Joash the son of
Ahaziah, and stole him from the King's sons that were slain, and put
him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of
King Jehoram, the wife of Jehorada the priest, hid him from Attaliah so
that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God
six years" (2 Chron. xxvii:11-12). Satan was defeated.

Through Haman he made still another attempt to have all the Jews, men,
women, and children, killed. God watched over His people again and
Satan's plan was frustrated. And how much else might be added!
Throughout Old Testament history he had his chosen instruments, like
Nimrod, the kings of Babylon, the Pharaohs, the Assyrian, the Persian
Kings, Alexander and others through whom he attempted world dominion.
He instigated the cruel and terrible wars. Israel, the people of God,
were led by him into idolatry and apostasy. In all this and much
besides his aim was the defiance of God and to keep God from carrying
out his plan of redemption though the promised seed.

The Promised Seed and Satan's Opposition

The promised seed came. The Son of God took on the creature's garb and
became man, the son of David and son of Abraham, according to the
flesh. All Satan had done for 4,000 years had been in vain. God had
kept His promise. King Herod was the seed of the serpent and when the
child was born, Satan moved him to seek the young child to destroy him.
Herod, inspired by the murderer from the beginning, "exceeding wroth,
sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all
the coasts thereof from two years old and under" (Matt. ii:16). But
God had watched, and the young child was on the way to Egypt when
Satan's suggestion was carried out by the Roman soldiers.

And how many more times he must have made the same attempt! When Satan
had taken him on the pinnacle of the temple and suggested "cast thyself
down," he tried it once more. The people of Nazareth were the
serpent's seed and under his control when they rushed him out of the
city and attempted to cast him headlong down a precipice. The storms
on the lake were Satan's work to take His life. Little did he know
that the ship in which the Son of God slep