The Satan Stomp

I began teaching Sunday School at the tender age of 11, but to put this in perspective, I taught the 3 to 5-year-olds. It was more like glorified babysitting! I quickly learned that if you had crayons and songs, you could even get the Bible into their little hearts.

One of our favorite songs was “We Will Roll the Gospel Chariot Along.” The children loved acting out as we sang. We would roll our fisted hands over each other in circles. As some of the verses went like this:

“If a brother's in the way, we will stop and pick him up.” At this point, they would stoop down and pick up the imaginary brother, etc.

“If a sister’s in the way, we will stop and pick her up.”

“If the preacher’s in the way, we will stop and pick him up.”

Well, you get the idea. But the kids could hardly wait to get to the climatic final verse, and they would giggle with delight as they sped up their rolling fists and shouted:

“If the devil's in the way — we will roll right over him!”

I think the adult version of this toddler’s song is Romans 16:20: “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”

The English text suggests that God will bruise Satan under our feet very soon. However, the Greek term for shortly does not mean “soon”, but rather it is a military term that means “repeatedly” and refers to the pounding, crushing, stomping of the Roman soldiers’ feet while in marching formation. They were to lift their legs high and stomp in unison so that the loudness of their pounding feet would let everyone know they were coming through town. (Similar to the German armies depicted in WWII movies.)

The sound of their stomping feet was a signal for everyone to get out of their way, and if someone was foolish enough to stand in their way, they would keep marching and stomp right over them! This is how we are to treat our adversary, Satan, and we can do so, because we are in partnership with “the God of peace”, by whom we shall bruise Satan’s head. The Greek term for bruise means “to utterly crush underfoot” as in the smashing of grapes into wine. It was also used to refer to the act of snapping, breaking, and crushing bones beyond recognition.

The very first prophecy in Scripture is Genesis 3:15 in which God said that “the heel of the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent, Satan.” Apostle Paul told us in Galatians 3:16 that “the seed is Christ.” In Ephesians 1:19-23, Paul declared that the exceeding greatness of God's power was demonstrated when He raised Christ from the dead, because He not only raised Him from the tomb, but “far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, and every name that is named in this age and that which is to come.” Moreover, “He has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body.” If we are His body, and all things are under His feet, then all things are under our feet!

Keep Your Feet Shod

Because we have on the whole armor of God, our feet are armed for battle: “Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).The shoes of the Roman soldier were vicious weapons, and they were not just loosely-worn or step-in shoes. The term shod denotes something that was tightly bound to the foot, and the use of the term preparation further reveals the necessity of readiness. The Roman soldier was fully prepared to face the enemy with confidence that he would not be moved.

 Their shoes were made of leather and metal pieces which extended to the knees in order to protect the shins and calves. These “greaves” enabled the soldier to keep on marching no matter what obstacle he encountered. The bottoms were equipped with sharp nails which served to hold him in place in the fight and made him immoveable as he confronted the enemy. Then there were the two sharply pointed, protruding spikes that extended out from the front of the shoes. These weapons could take a foe down with one kick and could even kill once they were down. In regard to our adversary, Satan, we must keep stomping on him. He's a supernatural foe, but “the weapons of our warfare are mighty through God” — divinely powerful! (2Cor. 10:4).

We are told in Psalm 91:13, “You shall tread upon the lion and the adder (venomous snake); the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet.” We are told in Revelation 12:9 & 11 who the great dragon is: “…that old serpent: the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.

 Every time we resist Satan with the Word of God, we stomp right over him! Every time we declare our faith in God's power to deliver us, we stomp right over him! Every time we remind Satan that he has no authority over us because of the blood, we stomp right over him! Every time we rehearse past victories, confident that God will do it again, we stomp right over him!

This is how you do the Satan Stomp!