“The Devil and Daniel
Webster” is a short story by Stephen Vincent Benet. In it, Jabez Stone, a New England farmer, has
such “bad luck” that he sells his soul to the devil to become prosperous.
Eventually, the devil comes to collect Jabez’s debt. But the eminent lawyer Daniel Webster is
called in to defend him. Through a skillful series of arguments, Webster wins
the case against the devil, and Jabez is saved from perdition. Although
fictional this story reminds us of one told in Zechariah chapter three. Here
the high priest, Joshua, stands before the angel of the Lord in filthy garments
and is being accused by the Devil. However a lawyer called “Lord” steps forth
and declares, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan… Is not this man a
burning stick snatched from the fire?" Then He turns to Joshua
and says, "See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I
will clothe you with rich robes." In essence heaven’s attorney, appointed
by the presiding Judge was declaring total vindication of all charges. The bad
news for us is that we stand accused by the same culprit. He serves as an aggressive
prosecutor pleading for our demise. But the good news is this we have the same
representation as Joshua, the high priest. 1 John 2:1 gives the proof. “If anyone
sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Webster defines advocate as “one that pleads the cause of another; specifically: one who pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.” This means, we always
have a representative that is ready and willing to stand with us in the face
accusation. And as you well know, as long as we are alive, and the devil is
allowed to exist charges will constantly be filed against us. Knowing this, we should
be thankful because regardless of the charge God has provided for us a
compelling Lawyer.
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