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Chapter 39: The Mystery Of Iniquity
In order to understand a little bit more about the spiritual battle that is raging on Earth between God and the forces of evil, one has to have some knowledge about the being who is responsible for all forms of false religion. This mysterious being is known in the bible as Satan, Lucifer, and the devil. God, through the prophet Ezekiel, has revealed to us something about Satan while speaking about the king of Tyre, whom Satan apparently possessed. Ezekiel 28:12-17 "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: `This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the Earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.'" Satan was also known as the morning star, translated in the King James bible as "Lucifer," meaning "the light bearer." Isaiah tells us about the fall of Satan. The following prophecy pertains to both Satan and the Antichrist, whom Satan will possess during the last three and one half years of the seven year tribulation period. Isaiah 14:12-17 "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the Earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, `I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: `Is this the man who shook the Earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?' Notice that all of the sins of Satan begin with "I will." The sins of Satan and the sins of mankind originate with the same concept, "I will," rather than "thy will be done," meaning God's will. Satan, according to the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha was the first and most powerful angel created by God. Michael was the second and Gabriel was the third. Each of these three had legions of other angels, that were created after them, under their command. The Creation Of Adam And The Fall Of Satan
(According to excerpts from the apocryphal gospel of Bartholomew) Now after the resurrection and seven days before the Lord ascended to the father, he took the disciples and brought them to the top of the Mount of Olives. He said to the disciples, ask me what you wish, so I can teach you and show you, for I will soon ascend to the father. Bartholomew said to him, Lord, show us the adversary of men. And the other disciples also said, Lord, we wish to see him. And the Lord commanded Michael to bring him up, and Satan came up, held by six hundred and sixty angels. And the Lord said: in my name ask him what you wish. And Bartholomew asked him: Tell me who you are, and what is your name. He replied: If you wish to know my name, I was first called Satanel, which means 'angel of God,' but when I rejected the image of God, I was called Satan, which means 'angel of hell.' And again Bartholomew asked him "how did you come into this condition. And Satan replied: I was the first angel created, for when God made the heavens, he took a handful of fire and formed me first, Michael second, the captain of the hosts above, Gabriel third, and myriad's of other angels to populate each of the seven heavens. And Satan said, I will tell you how I was cast down here and how God made man. I wandered to and fro in the world, and God said to Michael: Bring me Earth from the four ends of the world, and water out of the four rivers of Paradise. And when Michael had brought them, he formed Adam in the east, and gave form to the shapeless Earth, and stretched sinews and veins, and united everything into a harmonious whole. And when I came from the ends of the world, Michael said to me: "Worship the image of God which he has made in his own likeness." But I said, 'I am fire of fire. I was the first angel to be formed, and shall I worship clay and matter?' And Michael said to me: 'Worship, lest God be angry with you.' I answered, 'God will not be angry with me, but I will set up my throne over against his throne, and I shall be as he is.' Then God was angry with me and cast me down, after he had commanded the windows of heaven to be opened. When I was thrown down, Michael asked those angels under me whether they would worship Adam. They replied, like as we have seen the first angel do, we will not worship that which is less than ourselves, and they were cast down also. According to this apocryphal book, it was pride that led to Satan and his angels fall. Because Satan was the first angel created, and because of his beauty, and because his body was created from fire, he felt that he should not bow down to anyone, even if it meant disobeying the command of God. The bible says that pride comes before a fall, and this statement may have originated thousands of years ago, when Satan fell. Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Satan failed his test and lost his high position in heaven. God may have prevented Satan from worshipping Adam, if Satan had agreed to do so, like he stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac at the very last moment. Satan and his angels fell because of their pride. The angels bodies were created from fire, unlike man's body which was created from the dust of the Earth. It is not the element from which the body of a being is formed that is important, it is the spirit of God that is placed in that body that gives it life and value. It appears that the angels bodies have fire and air as their base elements, while a human's body consists of Earth and water. When a man dies, his body returns to the dust from which he was created, until the first or second resurrection, and then the judgment. The spirit of a man returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. After the last judgment, Satan, and the angels who fell with him will return to their primary element of creation, fire, when they are cast into the lake of fire. Psalms 104:4 & Hebrews 1:7 He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants. In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire." Matthew 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Revelation 20:14-15 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Notice in the verse from Matthew, that the lake of fire was not created for humans, it was created for the devil and his angels. Satan and his angels will return to the fire from which they were created, along with all of those humans who have chosen to reject God. Satan's Opportunity To Repent
(Paraphrased from the apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas) One day as the disciples were with Jesus they asked him about the day of judgment, and about Satan, and why he could not also be forgiven. Jesus replied, "verily I say unto you, I had compassion on Satan knowing how he fell, and I had compassion on mankind whom he tempts to sin. Therefore I called Satan, who came, saying: What must I do for thee, Jesus. I answered: you shall do good for yourself, for I desire not your services. Satan replied: if you do not desire my services, neither do I desire yours, because I am more noble than you, for you are clay, while I am spirit. Let us leave this I said, and tell me if it would not be good that you should return to your former beauty, and your first state. You must know that Michael the archangel will strike you with the sword of God on the day of judgment, and cast you into the lake of fire. Satan replied: We shall see on that day who can do more, certainly I have on my side many mighty angels and most potent idolaters who can trouble God, and he will know how great a mistake he made to banish me for a vile piece of clay. Then I said, "Satan, you are infirm in your mind and you know not what you are saying. Then Satan, in a derisive manner, wagged his head, saying: "come now, let us make this peace between me and God: What do you say must be done Jesus, since you are of a sound mind? I answered: "Two words need only be spoken." Satan replied: "What words?" I answered: "These: I have sinned; have mercy on me." Then Satan said: "I will willingly make peace with God, if God will say those words to me." While this apocryphal story is not in the bible, it does show one thing in a true light, the attitude of Satan and his followers concerning God. You will often find this type of attitude among atheists and those who believe that there is a God but they hate him, and among others who hate even the thought that their may be a God. This attitude is nothing more than a misguided sense of self importance, and a feeling that the universe should revolve around the desires of mankind, rather than accepting the fact that the universe revolves around the will of God who created it for his own pleasure. Revelation 4:11 KJV Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Even though the universe and all that is in it was created by God for his own pleasure and he can do with it whatever he desires, he promises that for those who have faith and are following his path for their lives, all things are working for their future good. Romans 8:28 KJV And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. |