“You’ve got to be kidding…” Satan began to speak, then shut up to listen.

There was utter silence in heaven, not because the angels were not overjoyed with the singing, they clearly were, but because everyone there wanted him to hear….nothing. There was no music, no singing from the seraphim, absolute silence but he didn’t know why.

Satan looked up at the seraphim still flying around the throne, their voices quiet, their multiple eyes glistening. Glistening? The seraphim never shed a tear. Never. What was going on?

Satan looked at Yeshua but all he got back was a questioning look like he was supposed to now understand. Gabriel was enjoying the drama but still didn’t understand the point of this debate.

Satan approached the throne again but slower this time. “I don’t understand,” he said, his whole body tense and unyielding.

“I can see that,” Yeshua said. “I’m not sure you ever will.”

“But he was off tune, his voice was shrill at times, the words were simplistic and the music was, well, mediocre at best, at least in comparison…”

Yeshua interrupted him. “But the seraphim fell silent and they do not lie.”

“You’re telling me that his music changed the world?”

“I’m telling you that his music was used by me to change many human hearts in the audience.”

“It’s always about you,” Satan said, his teeth grinding.

“The seraphim worship the most valuable thing in the universe. They worship the Father. They also worship me. The only thing that can make them quiet for a moment is the true worship emanating from the hearts of the redeemed. They are part of me and I am part of them. The seraphim are quiet so we can all hear their worship.”

“So music that pleases you, and gets your approval, is used by your windy friend to change human hearts. That’s your game? It doesn’t seem fair.” Satan was looking down but his mind was working furiously, looking for a way to still win this competition. “Simon would eat his lunch,” he said under his breath.

“Your type of music is entertaining and even powerful because it motivates people to change their circumstances, feel better about themselves and even love someone more. All good so far as it goes.”

“But we agreed that it had to change the human heart,” Satan said. “I know.”

“I told you that at the very beginning, didn’t I? Don’t you remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Satan said roughly. “You also said that I was destined to rule the world.”

“Not quite,” Yeshua said. “I said you were destined to change the world.”

“And I did.”

“Yes, you did.”

“And you don’t like it.”

“It’s not the kind of change I hoped for,” Yeshua said. “You were the keeper of the throne of God, the archangel above all others, the one who would lead the choirs of heaven to sing of the glory and character of God.”

“And then he created these…….humans!”

“And you didn’t like it.”

“Not at first, but then I realized it was my opportunity.”

Yeshua remained silent.

“I could see that He loved those scrawny creatures and I realized that the only way I could survive outside of heaven was to make them my allies. He couldn’t destroy me without destroying them at the same time. It was genius.”

“And it worked,” Yeshua said. “You were left alone because the Father loved them.” Gabriel could see that Yeshua was leading Satan to a conclusion that Satan didn’t want to accept.

“I became the keeper of death and hell,” Satan said. “I had my independance, my empire, and nobody could take it away from me.”

“Except for me.”

Satan looked at him, his eyes narrowing. “Yes, you did and I still don’t know how you did it.”

“Are you asking me for an explanation?”

“I don’t really care,” Satan said, his eyes haughty. “But I can see that you are dying to tell me anyway.”

“You survived your rebellion for a time because God loved these humans. You thought you had God tied around your little finger. You decieved these allies of yours and then accused them before the throne of God. You were always appealing to His justice, not realizing that it was only the love of God for his children that saved you time and time again whenever you entered into His presence.”

“And then you had to get involved.” Satan said, pointing his finger at Yeshua. “You became one of them. You are still one of them. What in the world for?” Satan shook his head slowly from side to side as if to shake off a great weight.

“Well,” Yeshua said, “God is good because he is perfect in justice and perfect in love. His justice should have destroyed you, and them, but his love found a better way.”

“You?”

“Yes, me,” Yeshua said. “But not just me. It was what I did.”

“You were the perfect son. So what?”

“I was the perfect human son who loved his Father completely and to the end.”

“Again, so what?”

“You tried to drag me to hell.”

“So?”

“I went willingly, didn’t I?” Yeshua said. “And I took the keys of death and hell away from you.”

“Get to the point.”

“You thought you had me under your power. You enjoyed seeing me in pain and dying on that cross but what you didn’t realize is that in the process I became the perfect human substitute. Them for me. It wasn’t you that was the problem but God’s wrath. God’s perfect justice executed on me. Perfect love does not just dismiss God’s justice but, rather, fulfills it, endures it, accepts it.”

“You never kept your side of the bargain. You cheated me. You died on the cross and then you raided my domain as if you had the right. It wasn’t fair.”

Yeshua looked at him steadily. “Lucifer, there was no bargain with you. It had nothing to do with you.”

Gabriel could see that Satan didn’t like that one little bit but he kept his mouth shut. For now.

“It was an agreement between my Father and me, no one else. The Father accepted my sacrifice as sufficient payment for the sins of the world. Perfect love fulfilling perfect justice.”

“You didn’t even last for three days and that’s supposed to be enough?”

“My Father thought so. He could not deny His sense of perfect justice after all. It wasn’t arbitrary.”

“Well, I don’t think so. Not at all. Not even close.”

Yeshua just looked at him.

Finally, Satan lowered his eyes and turned his face away. “Yes, I know. It has nothing to do with me.” Then, just as quickly he turned back to look at Yeshua and said, “It still doesn’t explain the seraphim. And get to the point.”

Yeshua took a deep breath. Gabriel was surprised at his patience.

“The point is that the seraphim are just and they cannot lie. They worship what is most valuable in all of existence. They fall quiet when the human heart is reconciled with the Father and the heart cry is genuine and real. It isn’t about the instruments or even the words but about the heart.”

“You said the music had to change hearts.”

“Only changed hearts can make music that changes hearts,” Yeshua said, “and only with the anointing of the Holy Spirit.”

“The heart that is already changed?” Gabriel could see Satan struggling with the concept.

“Yes, the heart that is already changed that cries out to God in prayer or music or just a whisper in the night. That is worship in spirit and in truth.”

“And then you use that kind of music to change the human hearts in the audience?”

“More than 8 million views on YouTube.”

“So what? My musicians get a lot more than that.”

“But without changing hearts…”

Silence.

“And you have a whole army of these people,” Satan said, “and that´s how you plan to fight this war between us? Their insepid music? Their weak-kneed testimony? Their half-hearted repentance?” Satan was breathing heavily, winded as if from a great effort. Then he realized the truth and blurted it out. “Well, none of this counts. It was a setup from the start. I could never have won in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

“Then why bother.”

“Do you remember my son, Job?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, that wasn’t about you, either.”

Silence.

Finally, Lucifer straightened his back and lifted his head and looked Yeshua straight in the eyes. “Can I go now?”

“You were always free to go.”

Satan turned his back and strode past the attending angel and then flew off into the clouds. Gabriel was surprised that he had even been allowed into the presence of the LORD in the first place.

But then, again, it wasn’t really about him, now was it?