| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"No Reply" |
| Date: |
18 Jun 2007 07:42:19 PM |
| Object: |
03-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Sin of Satan |
03-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Sin of Satan
Isaiah 14:12-17 Lucifer, the wisest and most beautiful of all of God's
created beings, had been placed in a position of authority over all the
cherubs that surrounded the throne of God. It was the responsibility of
the creature to be in subjection to the Creator and that which was true
throughout the angelic realm was more than ever true of Lucifer, for
privilege brings responsibility. The very things that set Lucifer apart
from all the other angelic beings brought about his downfall. As we saw
in our previous study in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel, Lucifer's heart was
lifted up because of pride in his beauty, in his wisdom, in his
privileges and responsibilities. Were it not for divine revelation we
would forever be ignorant concerning the thought processes that produced
Lucifer's rebellion against God. In Isaiah 14:12-14, God has seen fit to
reveal to us, step by step, what went on in Satan's heart. Five times in
these verses we have the declaration coming from the heart of Satan, "I
will." We see at the outset that a conflict came about between the will
of God and the will of Lucifer. God did not create Lucifer as a fallen
satanic being, a rebel against God, the enemy of all good, the enemy of
God. When Lucifer was created, he was created to be in subjection to God.
But he was created with a capacity to choose. When God revealed His
purpose for Lucifer, it opened up the possibility that Lucifer might
rebel against the plan and purpose of God. Sin began when he pitted his
will against the will of God and said five times, "I will . I will . I
will . I will . I will .." Each time he set his will against the will of
God he was substituting his own purpose and program for the program of
God. These five statements are significant because they reveal to us
Satan's program. He has not changed his purpose, nor has he altered his
will; he is still determined to pursue these five desires.
In Isaiah 14:13 we read: "Thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most
High." Let us consider these five "I wills" of Satan. First of all, he
said, "I will ascend into heaven." In the Scriptures the word heaven is
used to refer to three different spheres. There is what we might refer to
as the first heaven, in which the birds fly. It refers to the atmosphere
that envelops this earth, that makes life possible upon this earth. The
second heaven is interstellar space. The stars are in this heaven. The
third heaven envelops all; is the abode of God Himself, the seat of God's
sovereign authority, that place from which God manifests His rule over
the interstellar heavens and the heavens that envelop this earth or the
atmosphere.
Lucifer dwelt in the second heaven, the heaven of the interstellar
spaces. He desired to ascend into the abode of God. Now his desire to
ascend was not the desire of a tourist to go to visit to see what the
throne of God was like, because Lucifer, who dwelt in the second heaven
along with all the other created angels, already had access to the third
heaven or access to the throne of God. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah and
verse 1, we read: "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain
he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain
he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is
the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." In Isaiah's
vision of the glory of God and His throne, the prophet saw the seraphim.
You will recall from our previous study in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel,
verse 14, the word written concerning Lucifer, "Thou art the anointed
cherub that covereth." In verse 13, "Thou has been in Eden the garden of
God." Again in verse 14, "thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou
hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." And by his
appointment Lucifer ministered before the very throne of God, in the
abode of God, or in the third heaven.
So when Isaiah said in chapter 14 and verse 13, "Thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven," Lucifer was not desiring to spend more
time as one of the cherubim ministering before the throne of God. He who
came there to minister by divine permission desired to abide there as God
abode there eternally. He who came to the presence of God wanted to make
himself equal with God. The creature desired to expel the Creator. The
one who came into being by the word of God wanted to move God off His
throne and occupy that throne as though it were rightfully his. So his
first will was to pit himself against the will of God by saying, "I will
ascend into heaven" to occupy the abode of God.
The second "I will" reads, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God." In Job, chapter 38 and verse 7, we have a clue as to the meaning of
the phrase, "the stars of God." Stars do not have life that respond to
the will of God. Stars are inanimate objects. They do reflect the glory
of God, as the Psalmist tells us, "The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth His handiwork." But the stars do not
voluntarily submit to the authority of God. What then was in Satan's mind
when he said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God"? In the
38th chapter of Job, Job is invited to consider the majesty and the power
of God as it is seen in creation. In the seventh verse the question is
asked, "Where were you when the morning stars sang together and all the
sons of God shouted for joy?" The morning stars are equated with the sons
of God. The "morning stars" called here the sons of God refer to the
created angelic hosts that burst into a paeon of praise when they beheld
the glory and power of God as they are demonstrated in God's creative
work. So from Job 38 we would conclude that when Lucifer said, "I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God," he was saying, "I will usurp
God's authority over the entire angelic creation."
We know from the Word of God that angels are created beings in subjection
to some authority above themselves, for a creature must be subject to
authority. Lucifer, in the will of God, was appointed overseer over all
the angelic beings. But Lucifer's authority was a delegated authority;
the right to rule was God's. Even though God appointed him as
administrator over all the angelic hosts yet he himself was subject to
God, and while he might administer the affairs of angels yet he must be
ruled by another. When Lucifer said, "I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God," he was saying, "I will become the sole administrator of
all the affairs of the angelic hosts without submitting myself to the
authority of the Creator." When the angels looked to Lucifer for their
orders, they recognized that he was receiving orders for them from
another as one in the chain of command. He said, "I will become the
absolute, the ultimate. I will originate all of the orders that are given
unto angels and I will eliminate God from the scene." He wanted to
receive the recognition that rightly belonged to God from the vast
created angelic hosts. He not only wanted to occupy heaven; he wanted to
administer the authority that belongs to God alone.
In his third "I will" he said, "I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north." In this statement Lucifer
expressed a desire to control all the affairs of the universe. Turn with
me to several passages that show us the Old Testament usage of this
phrase "the mount of the congregation" or "the sides of the north." In
Isaiah 2:2 we read, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall
flow unto it." Notice the terms "mountain and hills" used there. Mountain
and hill refer to authority or the right to rule. They have to do with
Messiah's authority as King on the earth. When He comes the second time,
He will establish a throne. He will rule as a king in His Kingdom, called
here a mountain, and all of the lesser nations that will be under His
authority are referred to as hills. In Psalm 48:2, speaking of Jerusalem,
the Psalmist says, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,
is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."
And the "sides of the north" here refers to the authority that belonged
to Jerusalem in David's kingdom. Jerusalem was the capital city, the seat
of authority; it was where the king ruled and administered the affairs of
his kingdom. In the light of Isaiah 2 a nd Psalm 48, we realize that when
Lucifer said, "I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north," he was saying, "I want to administrate the affairs
of this earth and the affairs of this entire created universe." So the
one who said, "I want to move in and occupy heaven," and "I want to bring
all the angels under my absolute authority," reached out in his desire
for power and said, "I also want to bring the entire created universe
under my sway and include it in my sphere of authority."
In the fourth place he said, "I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds." Turn back to Exodus 16. We read there that as the children of
Israel moved out of the land of Egypt and came into the wilderness they
were moving with God. In Exodus 16:10 it is written, "It came to pass, as
Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that
they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord
appeared in the clouds." And the appearance of the cloud was a visible
manifestation to Israel that God was present among them and that God was
preceding them into the wilderness to prepare the way. In Exodus chapter
40, verse 33 we read that when Moses finished the work of building the
tabernacle, then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And the visible evidence to the
nation Israel that God would appropriate and occupy the tabernacle was
that God revealed His presence by the appearance of a cloud in the
tabernacle. Again in 1 Kings 8:10, after Solomon had erected the
magnificent temple, the sign that God would occupy and possess that
temple was that God revealed His presence by a cloud. "And it came to
pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the Lord." In the New Testament in Matthew 24:30
where Christ promised His second advent to the earth, He tells us that He
will come in clouds with power and great glory. The cloud in both the Old
Testament and in the New was a visible sign to the nation that God was
personally present with them. The cloud was a cloud of beauty and glory.
When Lucifer said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds," he
was saying, "I will take to myself a greater glory than belongs to God
Himself." You will remember that Ezekiel described the beauty and the
glory that belonged to Lucifer in terms of the sun shining on polished
gems. But the glory that belonged to Lucifer was not inherently his; it
was a reflected glory. For God, who is the author of glory, God, who is
the all glorious One, revealed His glory through the work that came from
His hand. Lucifer's desire was to occupy the throne of God, rule over the
angelic realm, and rule over the entire universe so that he could add to
the glory that was his as a creature all the glory that belonged to God
as a Creator. How insane the thinking of this one that he could add glory
to the infinite glory of God. It suggests that there was a deficiency in
the glory of God and that Lucifer could complete that which was lacking.
By appropriating all of God's infinite glory and adding that to the
created glory that was his, Lucifer would be unique in the universe over
which he had imposed his rule.
Then finally he said, "I will be like the most High." Lucifer would have
had to have acknowledged the fact that he was a created being. As such he
possessed a created kind of life, for he was not created possessing
eternal life. He had a beginning. In what way then could a creature be
like the Creator? In what way could he be like the most High? He was the
wisest of God's beings but he was not omniscient; he did not know all
things. He was the most powerful of all of God's created beings, but he
was not omnipotent. He could go from one end of the created universe to
another, but he was not omnipresent. In what way could he be like the
most High? There was only one way. That was to be totally and completely
independent of any authority outside of himself. He could be like God
only in being responsible to no one but himself. The desire of Satan was
to move in and occupy the throne of God, exercise absolute independent
authority over the angelic creation, bring the earth and all the universe
under his authority, cover himself with the glory that belongs to God
alone, and then be responsible to no one but himself.
Now what generated such an insane, inconceivable lust for power and glory
as that? Again Ezekiel gives us the clue. You may see it in Ezekiel
28:17. "Thine heart was lifted up [to set your will against the will of
God] because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of
thy brightness [or thy glory]; Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the
multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore
will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,
and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them
that behold thee." What did he mean when he said, "I will bring forth a
fire from the midst of thee"? The word seraphim used in Isaiah chapter 6
means a burning one, a glowing one, a shining one. God said, "I made thee
by creation the most brilliant of all my shining ones." A fire burned
within Lucifer because of his glory, because of his beauty, because of
his authority. That which was given unto him became a consuming, burning
passion. This burning passion to sit on God's throne, rule over angels
and the earth, bring the earth into subjection unto himself, cover
himself with God's glory and then exert his independence, led to his
rebellion and eventual destruction.
When Christ offered Himself as a Saviour to the nation Israel, He began
His presentation by sending messages to the religious authorities of His
day. He called on them first of all to repent, to turn to God and receive
righteousness from God. The leaders began to question among themselves
what it would mean for them to repent and turn to God. Christ said to
them, "I am the light of the world. Come walk in my light." They realized
that if they acknowledged that Christ is the light of the world they
would also have to acknowledge that they were in darkness and all the
doctrine that they had taught was darkness. Christ said, " I am the life
of the world; come to me and receive life." They realized that if they
came and acknowledged that Jesus Christ is the life of the world they
would have to acknowledge that they who had professed to lead men in the
living way had led men in the way of death. And the leaders in Israel
rejected Christ and the offer of salvation that He presented to them. Why
did they do it? Christ put His finger on the cause in John 8:44 when He
said to these leaders who were turning the people from Christ, "Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."
Now what was Christ saying but that they were reproducing the sin of
Lucifer? How so? Because of pride in their position, pride in their
authority, pride in their intellectual attainments, pride in their
professed knowledge of the Old Testament law, they would not acknowledge
that they were wrong. He charged them with having deceived men, and they
would rather reject Christ, the source of light and life, than to admit
that their teaching was wrong. It was pride that congealed the Pharisees
in their unbelief so that they were immovable. The pride of Lucifer is
being reproduced in unsaved men over and over and over again today. The
unsaved man says, "If I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I'll have
to admit that my righteousness is nothing. I'll have to admit that my
intellect is not enough to discover divine truth, that my way is out of
harmony with the way of God, that I am not sufficient to work out my own
salvation." It is a humiliating thing for an educated, self-sufficient,
independent individual to come to God and say, "I have sinned." It is the
pride of your father the devil that keeps you from Jesus Christ.
Not only is Satan's sin reproduced by the unsaved, but it may be
reproduced by the child of God as well. That is why the Apostle Paul
writes in 1 Timothy 3:6 concerning those who are to be set aside as
elders in the congregation. In giving the qualifications, he says that
the elder should not be a novice, that is a new convert, a new believer.
Why? "Lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of
the devil." The new believer may be severely tempted by Satan to think
that he has been appointed to a position of responsibility because of
what he is, because of the capacities that he has, because of the
intellect that he has, because of the knowledge that he has, because of
the example that he has set. He will reproduce the sin of Lucifer and he
will declare himself independent of God. There is no child of God who is
exempt from this temptation to reproduce the sin of pride, to renounce
dependence upon God and submission to God, and, like Lucifer, to be
independent of any authority outside of himself.
In Proverbs 16:18, the wisest man who ever lived, an astute student of
human nature, wrote these words, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with
the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Pride goeth before
destruction. In Romans 12, Paul gives us a catalog of virtues that will
characterize the Christian who is controlled by the Spirit of God. The
Apostle begins by saying in the third verse, "This I say, through the
grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly [that is
in the true nature of things], according as God hath dealt to every man
the measure of faith." Even when the Apostle outlines what is expected of
members of the body of Christ, he has to begin by dealing with pride
because we are so sorely tempted to reproduce that which burned within
Lucifer, to declare ourselves independent of God.
It was said of Moses in Numbers 12:3 that he was the meekest man on the
earth. Moses had more to be proud of than any man of his generation in
Israel. He had been educated in Pharaoh's court. There is no question
that his education was superior to that of any Israelite of his day.
Moses could have been proud. He had a position exceeding any given to
another Israelite because he was the official son and heir of Pharaoh's
daughter. He had more wealth at his disposal; he had more power and
influence and authority. And yet Moses was called the meekest man, not
because he didn't have anything of which he could be proud but because of
a divine work in his heart that prevented the temptation of Satan coming
to fruition. Don't think that Moses wasn't tempted to be proud because of
his education, his wealth, his influence, his power or his position. But
he resisted the temptation. Moses was not used of God because of his
education and his training and his ability. He was used of God because he
did not succumb to the temptation of pride. He saw things in their true
light. That is what sobriety is-seeing things in their true light. He
recognized that it was not what he was, but what had been conferred upon
him. In seeing things in the true light, he said, "I am nothing." There
was a man that God could use.
If you are a person whom God uses day by day, it will not be because of
how much you will know or what you have attained or how much you have.
You will be used by the Spirit of God as you resist "the condemnation of
the devil" or the sin of pride. You will recognize that all that you have
comes from God and you will cast yourself in complete dependence upon
Him. Then, and only then, are you a person whom God can use. I do not
believe that there is any temptation that faces us more frequently or
confronts us more persistently or entices us more subtly than the
temptation to pride, because Satan is seeking to reproduce himself.
Therefore let no man "think of himself more highly than he ought to
think" lest we think like our adversary, the Devil.
Pentecost, J. D. (1997). Your adversary, the Devil. Originally published:
Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 1969. (20). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
05-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Conquest of the Earth
09-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Lawless One
06-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Deceiver
08-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Imitator
16-Your Adversary, the Devil - How Satan Operates
14-Your Adversary, the Devil - How Satan Tempts
21-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Destiny
14-Your Adversary, the Devil - How Satan Tempts
| 07-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Perverter
04-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Hierarchy of Satan
17-Your Adversary, the Devil - Christ's Conquest of Satan
18-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Believer's Authority Over Satan
15-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan's Steps in Temptation
10-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Rebel
12-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Doctrine of Satan
|
|
|
