Originally written in 2012. An open letter to the church.

 I originally wrote this in 2012. I still weep when I read it.

To those who have an ear to hear, it is an encouragement and a call to war.

Hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, not only to those who misguided the sheep but to the sheep as well.

I am writing as I have been compelled to write. The Spirit of the Lord tells me that we are of the Laodicean church, and as such, we are on the last stand and have failed to hold our ground.

Illustration 

1: Sheep (Photo credit: James Good)

 I am writing as I have been compelled to write. The Spirit of the Lord tells me that we are of the Laodicean church, and as such we are on the last stand and have failed to hold our ground.

The prophets¹ have put forth the call to repent, but you have ignored that call, and instead, induced fear in my people.

Most will not receive this, but some will.

You have taken away their hope.

"To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: The amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the source of God's creation, says: I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I'm rich. I'm wealthy. I don't need anything.' Yet, you do not realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you: Buy gold purified in fire from me so that you may be rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them so that you may keep your shameful, naked body from showing. Buy ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act. Look, I'm standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and we'll eat together. I will allow everyone who wins the victory to sit with me on my throne, as I have won the victory and have sat down with my Father on his throne. Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22 GW)

The call for repentance has gone forth, and you have ignored it. 

The cry for hearts to turn to me has gone forth, and you have rejected it. I 

have sent my prophets, and you have mocked them.

I have sent my warnings upon this nation; do not put your hope in the idea that there will be more warnings. 

I do not recommend you ignore these warnings.

The time of my return, for those who are awaiting me, is now within minutes in my time frame. 

Will you ignore that too?

Pastors

I sent you as shepherds to lead and guide the flock, but you have failed. You have not only failed, but you have robbed my sheep and left them as fodder for the wolves. They wander around with no hope and direction. And even though I have told you that you are not in the darkness that this day should creep upon you, that is exactly what is happening to them.

Read Matthew 25.

Do not ignore this warning! Although everyone in this parable was invited to the same wedding, half were not ready. The oil is not the Holy Spirit, for you cannot buy a gift; therefore, the oil is passion and desire, and none of you have that.

The shepherds are foolish. They don't look to the LORD for help. That is why they won't succeed, and all their flocks will be scattered. (Jeremiah 10:21 GW)

You think you are a success if you have fame and fortune, but I tell you that the first shall be last, and there will be a payment to be made for the damage you have done to my flock.

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My portion underfoot; they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. (Jeremiah 12:10 LITV)

You love to call this time that is coming the Great Tribulation, and it is, but it is also a time of wrath. If you have played the fool with MY people, then you will be included in that wrath.

You can stand there glowering, in an attempt to rebuke me. I anticipated that, for that is what Pharisees do, but what in your foolish mind makes you think that you will escape the wrath of God?

“Woe to shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture says Jehovah. Because of this, so says Jehovah the God of Israel against the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and have not visited them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, says Jehovah.” (Jeremiah 23:1-2 LITV)

“Shepherds, you should be leading the sheep. Start crying, you great leaders! Roll around on the ground in pain, you leaders of the sheep. It is now time for your slaughter. You will be scattered everywhere, like pieces flying from a broken jar.” (Jeremiah 25:34 ERV)

There will be no place for the shepherds to hide. They will not escape. (Jeremiah 25:35 ERV)

We were designed for hope; it is the reason we are here.

You shepherds that chose not to attend the flock have robbed them of hope. You have chosen to preach what people want to hear, and not what I have spoken to you.

“.., the eye of the Lord is on those in whose hearts is the fear of him, on those whose hope is in his mercy;“ (Psalms 33:18b BBE)

Be strong and brave, all of you who are waiting for the LORD'S help. (Psalms 31:24 ERV)

Hope is the primary motivation that drives my people toward the end. Hope is the backbone of faith, based in faith, and the reason that we look toward a promised end and rescue from destruction.

As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37 AMP)

You have not been bold enough to understand this statement, so I will declare it to you. Evil thoughts and violence filled the heart of every man, except one, NOAH. I placed him in the Ark, and I closed the door; then destruction came. In other words, tribulation came from people, and it was all around him, just as it is today.

You have eliminated the talks of hope because you do not believe my words.

Did you think that I would not notice such acts of treason?

In eliminating hope, you have proven your lack of faith and shown your distrust of my word, my life, and my resurrection.

You have robbed my people of hope by your unbelief.

Do you not understand that HOPE was then and is now an integral aspect of our beliefs?

I promised that hope would come, and then guaranteed that promise with my body as the payment when it should have been your body on that cross.

Do you not understand that the riches of heaven are only yours because of the fulfillment of hope?

Paul challenged the Sanhedrin based on a solid understanding of this hope.

But Paul, when he perceived that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, cried out to the council (Sanhedrin), Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; it is with regard to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am indicted and being judged. (Acts 23:6 AMP)

While you have refused to instill hope in people, Paul was willing to be chained because he grasped the hope grounded in Jesus.

This is the reason therefore why I have begged to see you and to talk with you, since it is because of the Hope of Israel (the Messiah) that I am bound with this chain. (Acts 28:20 AMP)

Abraham – One of the main reasons we are here, had hope.

There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, "You will have many descendants."
(Romans 4:18 ERV)

Your deficient decision for Jesus Christ, demonstrating your lack of faith, has caused my Church to not know who I am.

Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory. (Romans 5:2 ERV)

Several translations put it this way: “this grace in which we stand,”, Without hope none of them will stand.

And what is it that they might have the need to stand in?

• Faith in adversity;

• Faith in my name;

• Faith in the application of my Word and Name in bringing life to others.

No, you have not taught them that.

They cower and cringe in fear, and if not cowering, they think that they are gods. Where would they get that idea? Because instead of preaching hope and faith, you preach a message of lust and idolatry.

You created a monster that will be your destruction. You only have one option, and that is to repent.

Time is short, and my patience with you has grown thin. The last days are upon us, and you need to clear your hearts and minds now. You need to restore the broken and lost to health. Ignore this, and I will not ignore your wrongs.

The Assyrians are upon you already, and you do not even know it. They will show you no mercy, and they will dash your children upon stones before your feet.

Repent in humility and weeping, and I will restore you. Turn from me, and I will throw you to the winds.

If you are so minded, share this with the pastor of your choice. Share this with the sheep of your choice.

I do not wish to see you miss out on the in-gathering of the church to himself, but lacking zealous passion, you may. You will deeply regret that, as it will be hell for those still here.

Open your Bibles and read the second chapter of Joel. Peter stood on the day of Pentecost and declared that Joel's prophecy was fulfilled in their hearing. God opened the door that day to the amazing.

Should you choose to turn to him, he will turn to you.

Open your mouth and determine, as watchmen upon the wall, that this destruction is not happening on your watch.

Declare, in the Name of Jesus Christ, the risen one, that there will be peace and safety everywhere your foot stands.

Declare sanity over this nation while you are upon it.

Grow a backbone and act like the man and woman of God you were designed to be.

Sons of Adam, and Daughters of Eve, I am calling you out. You know who you are. You have heard the calling in your ears for some time now.

What is holding you back? 

Fear; fear is of the devil and does nothing more than incapacitate you.

Do something.

• Shout,

• scream,

• cry out,

• repent over a broken nation.

• Still the enemy and the avenger.

Have the guts to do something, for you do not have the time or the luxury to be silent.

Hold your tongues, and I will hold you responsible. Their blood will be upon your head. (Find it in scripture.)

Cease to be lethargic and uncaring. Awaken to righteousness.

Do something.

• Be a fire that will not go out.

• Cause a few people to regret the fact that you walked into the room, and make a few glad that you did.

Men and women of God should be the last thing on earth that the unbelieving would ever want to mess with and the first person that they call.

Walk this earth as the prophets walked. BE BOLD, and show the world what the power of God is all about.

DEAR GOD, IT'S TIME.

¹Jonathon Cahn, The Harbinger, Subtitled “The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America’s Future,” The Harbinger is published by FrontLine, an imprint of Charisma House. - This is only one of the voices, but if you will take the time to verify and compare, you will see that the Spirit is telling all those that will listen to say the same thing.

It has been a little over 7 years since I wrote this. I still weep when I read it. To those who have an ear to hear, it is an encouragement and a call to war.

Hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying, not only to those who misguided the sheep but to the sheep as well.

I am writing as I have been compelled to write. The Spirit of the Lord tells me that we are of the Laodicean church, and as such, we are on the last stand and have failed to hold our ground.

The last time I dove into the Gospel of John, we were looking at John 1:42, where we saw Andrew bringing Simon/Peter to Jesus.

The last time I dove into the Gospel of John, we were looking at John 1:42, where we saw Andrew bringing Simon/Peter to Jesus.

Let's pick up where I left off several months ago. I initially added a couple of colorful maps.  I think they would have broken any monotony and given you a visual reference to the subject, Jesus and His surroundings, but that turned into an editing nightmare, so I abandoned the maps. 

Virtually every Bible entitles this next section:

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

“The next day, Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”” (John 1:43 BSB)

The context puts Jesus in proximity to John the baptizer, and this is a portion of what we know about John.

Matthew 3:13 NASB “Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.”

After some discussion, John relents and baptizes Jesus. This is when the spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and God acknowledged His Son.

Mark 1:12-13 NASB “Immediately the Spirit *impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. (13) And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.” 

Clearly, Jesus, at this point, is by Himself, off in the wilderness; therefore, this gathering of disciples and all the amazing things associated with drawing them in did not happen right away.

John 1:35-36 BSB  The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples.  (36)  When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

This would have happened after the wilderness because Jesus had gone South toward the Negev, and He was alone.

John 1:37 BSB  And when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

This next statement doesn't sound like something Jesus would say.

John 1:38 BSB  “Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked. They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”

 

The NASB conveys that He said, “What do you seek?” It is the Greek word zēteō and means to seek. The word seek is an open-ended question and leans more toward what the Strong's tells us. He just as easily could have said to them, What are you looking for.

What disciples was Jesus talking to?

Verse 35 tells us that there were two disciples with him when Jesus showed up. I am convinced, although I do not think it matters, that the two who were with John when Jesus first showed up were Andrew and Philip. Possible evidence for this assertion is as follows:

John 1:40-41 BSB  “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s testimony and followed Jesus.  (41)  He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).”

And Philip.

John 1:44-45 BSB  “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.  (45)  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Bethsaida, in case you are wondering, is at the Northeast end of the Sea of Galilee.  

 

“Nathanael is the one who said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.” John 1:46 BSB 

Andrew, when he found Peter, said,  “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ). John 1:41 BSB

 

It's odd, Andrew expressed that “we” have found the Messiah. Take that with a grain of salt, for they all, including the baptizer, struggled to grasp who this Jesus was.

Interesting how the “Apostle” John wrote this next verse.

John 1:42 NASB He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Cephas/Peter, is the Greek word Kēphas and means the Rock.  

 

If you have not seen the series “The Chosen,” you should because it portrays the characters in their fleshly frailties. The series took its time fastening the title, the rock, on Peter because they put him through several intense struggles of faith. I frequently tell the men (who don't read their Bibles) that we are not given this information in the scriptures. But we all have human frailties, and something like this may have happened, just as it happens to each of us.

Proof?

1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB (13) “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

I already pointed out how Jesus got baptized by John, although this may have been the second day, that is not clear to us; and now the two disciples are overambitious to get Jesus to tell them where He is staying.

Almost as if Jesus had paid for a room at the Motel 6 and had slipped out for a coffee and doughnut, the English translators, often under pressure from the state church, said things that give you, the reader, the wrong impression.

Allow me to demonstrate.

John 1:37-38 NASB “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. (38) And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?"

We know that the Spirit led Him off into the wilderness for 40 days. So there was not much in the way of the next day. Let's assume that He has come back from the wilderness, and it is still a great distance to the Galilee region, where home might have been.

John 1:43 NASB “The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, "Follow Me."”

This is the reason why I included an occasional map, so you can get the idea of how far it is from a possible location of John's baptizing(s) to, at least, the homes of several of the disciples. There is a tremendous amount of logic in Jesus asking Philip to follow Him into the wilderness, so what we see in verse 43 had to take place when Jesus came back from the wilderness.

Luke 3:1-3 BSB  “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,  (2)  during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  (3)  He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,”

So there is a practicality for the Baptizer to stay in close proximity to the Jordan River. Having established that Philip is one of the two, John's gospel gives us a bit more background.

John 1:44 NASB “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.”

 

Where did we find Jesus, John the baptizer, Andrew, and Philip?

With John the baptizer going to where usable water was available, our clues as to where he is baptizing come from multiple clues. I did a word search in e-Sword and got this information.

• In John 1:28. we are told “these things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

  Most of the maps show the Jordan River running east to west the closer to Galilee, and turning southward toward the Dead Sea as it moves downward. Since we see John the baptizer near Jerusalem, we make assumptions about him choosing a location closer to the Pharisees and Herod, so he could confront them, while the truth is, it was all about water.

• It is in John 3:23 that we see John also “baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—“.

  The gospel of John is the only place we find a reference to Aenon.

  This place/name is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament, nor is it found in any other historical sources; therefore, its location is uncertain. It might be important to note that the Jordan River is frequently lacking enough water to baptize anyone.

Bethsaida was toward the Northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Galilee proper was a region that encompassed Nazareth in the South and Capernaum in the North.

John 1:45 NASB Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph".

 

Nathanael responded with a classic, Jewish, snarky response.

John 1:46 NLT  “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.  

 

Most of us have no idea that Jewish culture is dripping with sarcasm. I would not have known that if I had not been watching a man, who has since died, named Zola Levitt. He kind of reminded me of Tevya, the actor who dominated the movie, The Fiddler on the Roof. Zola, when he had his program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, would give you background information about the Jews.

I want to add that I, like so many others, could see and understand all the reasons that people were, and some still are, believing that Jesus should have come back to gather His bride already. One prominent example could be drawn from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 15:52 NASB (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Many, including me, easily see this as the last trump of Rosh Hashanah, which has come and gone. I have taken the attitude that Jesus can and will return at any moment. I strongly suggest, if you are a follower of the Messiah, that you do the same. Our brothers and sisters in Christ, who live in Nigeria, for one, are being slaughtered daily, while their cries for justice are being ignored, primarily because they are not Jewish and they are Christians.

And God saw the light. Genesis 1:1-4.

[caption id="attachment_5280" align="alignright" width="300"] Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Photo property of Google travel contributor Ivan Friedman[/caption]

 In my previous post, I had hoped to establish that all things were created perfectly from the moment Jesus first spoke all things into existence. I believe that the primary creation happened in verse one.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NKJV

But writing and thinking through the events of the first few verses of Genesis, I am reminded that Jesus, in time, will voluntarily set aside His divinity, which includes His knowledge, insight, and power, so that He could become a human being, untainted by sin, and thereby bring redemption and salvation to all who would receive this great salvation.

The sacrifice or price that would be paid to become a human was to quite literally be born a blank slate, and it may well mean that Jesus had to be told about the scriptural narrative that describes actions that He performed in creation by Joseph and, in time, the Holy Spirit. Put yourself in Jesus's shoes for a moment and then try to imagine what you are supposed to do with information like this.

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

I feel strongly about this perspective. If such a revelation caused you to go into a tailspin, as it did me at first, my suggestion is that you relax and reestablish yourself in the words of Jesus that we find in Genesis and the Hebrew that makes those words work; and remember that Jesus is God.

The idea that Jesus lost His knowledge of who created all things was never a question that we see the Apostle John fretting over. John's opening statement about Jesus demonstrates that he has become convinced, without question, that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:1-3 NKJV

I pointed out in the previous post that Jesus told us that He beheld Satan's fall in a rather dramatic way.

“And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 NKJV

The problem with that is that we have few details that define what Satan's fall looked like aside from that. Just because we do not see those details does not mean it did not happen.

So, let's assume that the lights entirely went out.

Did God/Jesus merely quake in fear that Satan's fall included a horrendous destruction?

No, the recovery process began with a peculiar act.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

There is a peculiar usage of the word hovering. It is the Hebrew râchaph. One of the defining words means to brood. The Word Study Dictionary refers to this hovering as an eagle hovering over its eggs. Honestly, it works the same for chickens or foul. All of this is part of the process of growth, which is an aspect of brooding. The Strong's concordance adds that it is, by implication, to be relaxed.

Does a hen seem stressed as it broods over the chicks?

Only if a threat arises and then she will fight. If the mother hen flutters or moves, it is only to maintain a satisfactory temperature necessary for the embryo to progress in their growth.

So I can assume that God, in His brooding, was actively in the process of restoring and rebuilding the creation. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were actively involved in the recreation of the creation.

“Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3 NKJV

When God said, Let there be light, who was speaking?

It's a rhetorical question, and I am not demanding an answer, but the simple answer is that Jesus spoke those words into existence. Watch what happens next.

“And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.”
Genesis 1:4 DRB

When I read narratives like this, I picture God standing there watching as Jesus precisely spoke creation into existence a second time (as though Jesus/God was troubled by the severity of the damage;) only moments pass when I realize how foolish such a thought process is, as God is not impacted by time and space as we know it. I remind myself that God knew that Satan would, in turn, destroy, deceive, and attempt to capture the hearts of God's creation, and all of this was a part of God's eventual plan of redemption that ends with the eternal removal of Satan once and for all.

Light is the Hebrew word 'ôr. It means illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, …) Strong's concordance/dictionary.

To assume that this is only the sun is erroneous as it also applies to stars, which are suns, just like ours; the difference is that other suns tend to be much larger than ours, and they are scattered across the universe at incomprehensible distances away from the earth; and then there are the reflective bodies, such as moons and planets. Seeing as there is no reference to heat, as we will soon see, then, while I cannot exclude the sun, it clearly speaks to the variety of things that emit or reflect light.

Question, can you typically see the effects of a flashlight on a bright day?

No, so it is obvious that the lights had gone out and the light that Jesus is now speaking into existence, once again, was not a blinding light. This tells me that the illumination was like some nights when the sky was clear.

When we were teens dad took the family to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Besides the spectacular

formations, it is known for the nightly flights of bats that emerge from the cave (there are thousands of them.) 

On the tour, the Park Ranger takes us to a deep place in the cavern, warns the audience not to move, and then turns out the lights for about a minute. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face, as there is NO illumination at all. It is a darkness that feels like it permeates you. Moments later, they turn the lights back on, and you are instantly reminded of how spectacular the ancient formations and reflective lighting truly are.

Divided is the Hebrew word badal. It is a primary root and means to be divided or separated: It also means to come over, dismiss, make a separation, make a distinction, partition, separate, or set apart.

In Genesis chapter 1, verse 4, we see this: “and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek. The Strong's # is H2822. It is from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - (darkness), night, obscurity.

When I think about the effects that Satan had on the earth, these words stand out.

• misery,

• destruction,

• death,

• ignorance,

• sorrow,

• wickedness,

• obscurity.

The Strong's # associated with chôshek - is H2821- châshak, enunciation khaw-shak'. It is a primitive root meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: - be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide.

Now ask yourself, when did Jesus begin to address Satan's actions?

So Jesus did not only address the lights going out, but He immediately began attacking the damage that Satan brought about.

If you want a definition of who Satan is and what he does, you got it.

Jumping forward in time to the Garden. Eve, having bought into the deception, hands the fruit, with her teeth marks on it, to her “husband.” We have no indication that he was deceived, so Adam sets aside what God had told him and chooses to die with his “wife.”

It doesn't matter what you call it; the treasonous act was to hand over the dominion – rule and control over the earth. Sounds bad, and lacking a relationship with Christ is a hopeless situation. But God had a plan all along.

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 BSB

We get bruised all the time. Some foolishly believe that this bruising is God's wrath (tribulation;) it is NOT. It is just life, so get over it. Note, however, that God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will crush your head. You don't typically get over a crushing; you die. Our hope is, to some degree, based on the reality that through Jesus, Satan's head will be crushed – or at least put away forever.