God’s word – the holy Bible reveals there is a powerful,
invisible spirit being - called Satan or the Devil, is in this world and
is the cause or power that has been deceiving an unsuspecting humanity.
Angels existed Before the Creation of the Earth
The Bible reveals that the angels – including the one who became
Satan, existed prior to the creation of the earth; Job 38:7 speaks of
this time saying: “When the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy.” The context of Job 38 shows God is supreme
creator who created the earth and the angels; and if you notice, the
scripture says, “… the morning stars sang together …” These morning
stars are cherubims – who are of higher rank than the other angels that
are called “sons of Gods.” Lucifer, whose name mean shining star of the
dawn, is called “son of the morning” (Isaiah 14:12) and is also called
the “… anointed cherub …” (Ezekiel 28:14). There are two other angels
that are of such high rank; they are mentioned as Michael and Gabriel.
In speaking of these cherubims, Psalm 99: 1 says God “… sitteth between
the cherubims …” This means, the cherubims or these mighty morning
stars, are at the very seat of power – symbolized by the fact that they
were near the very throne of God; and this was the very reason why God
told Moses to place two cherubs at each end of the throne of God when he
(Moses) was given the pattern of the Ark of the covenant (see Exodus
25: 18 -20). Also remember that after Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible
revealed cherubims were given the responsibility to keep man away from
the tree of life (Gen 3:24).
Lucifer Rebelled Against the Government of God
The Bible reveals God created Lucifer with stunning beauty and wisdom
– giving him great authority and power; in speaking of this, God says,
“Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God …” (Ezekiel 28:14). Lucifer
covered the throne of God – meaning he was at the very seat of God’s
government and had top flight position in that government - and along
with another cherub (possibly Michael – the archangel) – who also
covered the throne of God. In thinking about this, a person could
consider that Lucifer was of great might and power that far excelled
that of all the other ordinary angels, and may be regarded or viewed as
the highest created being God had decided to create by fiat or
instantaneous creation; and though we do not want to limit God, I
suppose one could entertain the thought that Lucifer could be as close
to being the very pinnacle means of God creative power to bring such a
being into existence by such instantaneous creation; and notice that the
Bible goes on to say: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,
thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness …” (Ezekiel
28:17). Lucifer thought so much about himself; how powerful, beautiful
and wise he was that it all went to his head; he became absorbed with
himself that his great wisdom was corrupted by the thoughts that he
could rival God or better govern the universe than God – which
ultimately led or caused him to turn against God’s government in
rebellion.
Most people may not be aware that this Lucifer was given a throne to
sit on and to carry out the administration of God’s government over the
earth – long before man had been created.
When God created the earth, the angels rejoiced because it was to the
abode or home of possibly a third of the angels. Revelation 12:3,4
speaks of Satan as great red dragon whose tail drew “the third part of
the stars of heaven, and did cast them to earth …” Angels are spoken of
as stars in the Bible; Satan had been given the rulership over the earth
to administer God’s rule over the earth and the indication is that he
ruled with at least a third of God’s angels under his command; this
could have been millions of years before man was created. But somewhere
during that time, Lucifer became discontented – as he wanted more power
and control over the universe and over the rest of God’s holy angels in
heaven, and so he began to work on the minds of the third of the angels
under his control; he probably began to first work on the minds of those
angels closest to him – sowing the seed of discord and discontent – by
possibly complaining about the unfairness of God’s government – finding
fault with God or that way of God’s governing was not right or fair;
and is this not what dictators often do in this word of man? Do they not
often try to overthrow governments by finding fault with it? This is
exactly what Lucifer did.
God's government or way of life is based on love, cooperation,
getting along with others – in which all peacefully and happily work
together with joy and purpose, but Lucifer thought the very opposite of
the way of God’s government; he reasoned that life was better or more
stimulating if he could get rid of God’s way of life or the way of God’s
government – by replacing it with selfishness, greed and vanity – which
is the way of hostile competition, strife and taking away from others;
and this way of Satan is quite evident in the world in which we live; it
is this same spirit of Satan that has inspired mankind to be engaged in
hostile competition and hostile Take-Overs and with men wanting to live
the way of selfishness and greed – putting the self above the needs of
others and taking all we can get for ourselves without any regard to the
needs of others.
It could have taken Lucifer a very long time – possibly thousands of
years to convince the other angels to follow him in his rebellion
against God; how he must have plotted, lied – deceiving the rest of the
angels under his command to turn in rebellion against God and to take
his (Lucifer’s) side; And having succeeded in this endeavor, Lucifer had
come to the point where he was now in command of a great and fierce
army of rebel angels who were now willing to follow him in his attempt
to try and overthrow his maker. This army would have been fierce and
destructive because their character had changed from God’s way of peace
and love to one of hatred and hostility – in which their sole purpose
was now bent on dethroning God – as their minds had been corrupted by
Lucifer. In speaking of this attempt, Isaiah 14:13 says: “For thou
(Lucifer) hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars (the other angels in heaven) of God: I
will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the
north.”
Here, it is made plain that Lucifer had a throne on earth in which he
had to leave the earth with his rebel angels to ascend upward to heaven
to try and dethrone God. But this hostile attempt to take over God’s
throne was to end in failure – as Lucifer and his army was cast back
down to the earth to which they are to this very day.
Lucifer Warfare Caused the Destruction of the Earth
Before continuing, I felt it should be important to point out that
this war of Lucifer had actually caused the destruction of the earth
that God had initially created at the beginning – as revealed in Genesis
1:1.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In the
Hebrew, the word heaven is plural – indicating God may have created the
universe or the heavens and the earth at the very same time; and it was
at this time that the angels – including Lucifer rejoiced to see the
earth created. Now, God does not create things in bad or broken state
because God is a God of beauty and purpose, and so, God would have
created the earth in a state of beauty – making it a place of joy for
the angels to live on. When God created the Garden of Eden, he made it a
beautiful place for the man and the woman to live. But God also placed
the man in the garden to “dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15).The
word “DRESS” means to work, till, or labor, and the word “KEEP” means
to preserve or to save – thus, indicating the human pair had work to do
in preserving and tending to the garden; and so, the point here is that
when the angels were placed on the earth, they too would have had some
part in preserving or even working together to further bring out the
glory of God’s creative work on the earth - by putting some degree of
finishing touches to it and simply working on the earth – preserving and
ever beautifying it to show forth the creative majesty of God. No
doubt, these angels had a great purpose on earth as they administered
the rule or government of God over the earth.
One can imagine that the earth must have been so beautiful that it
must have had thick luxuriant foliage which provided food for possibly
millions of creatures that were to eventually die out before man was
created – for this could possibly be millions of years before Adam and
Eve were created. But this earth and its beauty must have been
spectacular – with all living in peace and harmony – with not one
creature preying upon another or seeking to devour another – because as
long as Lucifer obeyed God, the earth would have continued to be a place
of serenity, peace and great happiness to all - until Lucifer’s
rebellion brought worldwide cataclysmic destruction and death to all
animal life on earth. Ezekiel 28:15, states Lucifer was perfect in his
way until iniquity was found in him; the earth would have been in peace
and harmony – as long as Lucifer obeyed God. But things became
disjointed when Lucifer decided to wage warfare against God, and Genesis
1:2 expresses the shocking result of that warfare and how it impacted
the earth; it says: “And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the deep …” Did you notice anything strange in this
verse? Did you notice that the beautiful earth God had created in
Genesis 1:1 was now without form? It says, “without form and void.”
Without form and void comes from a Hebrew word which refers to a state
of utter destruction, state of waste and desolation.
God is a God of order and did not create the earth in state of waste
or desolation; He created the earth to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18). It
was Lucifer’s war against God that caused the destruction of the earth
and also impacting the universe; and this could be the very reason why
the Moon has so many craters; the Moon is bleak and pocket by many
craters. Those who study the moon, have even been known to says these
craters were formed by impacts. Do you suppose these impacts were a
result of Satan’s war against God? Certainly, God did not create his
universe to be so bleak and in a state of desolation and waste – even as
we see on Mars.
With Lucifer being cast down – failing to unseat God from the throne,
God then decided He would place man upon the earth, but before doing
that, God had to reshape the earth – making it habitable for man; He had
to undo the damage done to earth by Lucifer and his rebel army of
angels; and so God had to renew face of the earth; Psalm 104:30
confirms this – saying: “… and thou renewest the face of the earth.”
Renew means to rebuild, renew or repair. For God to rebuild the earth
meant that something of epic proportion had to have happened to the
earth to have caused God to rebuild the earth. I would also like to
mention that when God created the human pair of Adam and Eve, He told
them to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth …” (Gen.
1:28). The word “replenish” means to fill up again or to restore
something – meaning that man was to grow in number – reproducing his
kind (humankind) into the millions - so as to replace the sinning angels
who turned in rebellion against God; man was to fill up the earth again
– replacing the angels who populated the earth but are still living on
it as rebellious invisible spirits.
Some may say but if God is all knowing why did He not stop Satan from
rebelling – so as to stop all this evil and destruction? Of course, God
could have chosen to know what Satan was doing and planning all along,
but if God had suddenly intervened to stop Satan from thinking and
planning to overthrow God, then Satan and the angels would have
complained that God was a tyrant who would not allow them to demonstrate
the freedom of thought; and so, God allowed Satan and his rebel angels
to choose their selfish path to see for themselves, and also to testify
to those other holy angels that remained faithful to God, that Satan’s
way would produce nothing but unhappiness and sorrow. Furthermore, God
gave them the freedom to decide for themselves, and they could have made
the choice to not rebel. It is the same with Adam and Eve; God could
have stopped the human pair from sinning, but since God gave them
freedom of choice, He allowed or permitted the selfish ways of man to be
tried and tested – so as to prevent God’s creatures from arguing or
complaining that they had been denied to go their way or to exercise
their own free will in doing what they wanted to do. God allowed man to
go his own way so man could come to learn the harsh lessons of living
the wrong way; and this is why when Jesus comes to reign on earth, He is
now going to rule with a rod of iron over the nations (Revelation
2:27). Christ is going to rule with strength because God’s time has now
come, and humanity is no longer going to be allowed to go their own
sinful ways any longer.
How Satan Deceives Humanity
In the defeat of Satan and his rebel angels to take over the throne
of God, Jesus said: “I Beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke
10:18). Satan failed and was cast back to earth with all those who took
part in this attempted coup. II Peter 2: 4 also speak of this saying:
“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell (Hell here comes from the Greek word Tartaroo – which refers to
being in a state of restraint or deprived of the freedom these angels
had when they obeyed God), and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgement.” These angels or demons are here on earth
- restrained by the power of God until the time of their judgement.
With Satan and his rebel angels cast back to earth, the Bible reveals
that Satan is the “god of this world” (II Cor. 4:4); he is the god of
this world because in rebelling against the government of God, Satan is
still allowed to continue in his original position in which God had
placed him as ruler over the earth; this position, now perverted by his
rebellion, will remain until Jesus Christ comes to remove him; and this
is why Jesus told Pilate – “My kingdom is not of this world …” (John
18:36). God’s kingdom is not of this world because this world is Satan’s
world and not God’s world; if this world was God’s world or that which
is ruled by God, then God would not be ruling in such an evil filled
world - as such is contrary to his nature; and in addition, if this was
God’s world, then Satan could never have been referred to as “the god of
this world.” God and Satan do not share the rulership of this world
together; God will be supreme world ruler when Satan is removed; it is
only then that this world will become God’s world. You can read
Revelation 11:15 and see that when Christ comes, He is then announced as
the new world ruler – taking over the kingdoms of the world – meaning
God will not begin to rule over all kingdoms on earth until Satan has
been removed.
People do not tend to think of Satan as a world ruler sitting on
throne, but he is in fact the ruler of this world and will remain world
ruler until the second coming of Christ to remover and bound him for a
thousand years.
The invisible Satan is the great mind and power behind the evils in
the world; and he uses that mind to deceive humanity. For example, Satan
has deceived humanity into thinking that it is man (Adam and Eve) who
was the first sinner – when, in fact, it is Satan who is the first
sinner. Jesus reminded us that it is Satan who is a murderer from the
beginning and is the Father of lies (John 8:44).
Satan not only deceives people – by influencing them to believe God’s
right way of life is wrong but that their wrong way is right; Proverbs
14:12 says, “… there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death …” People will act in ways which they
think is right, but often times man’s right way is in conflict with
God’s righteousness, and people do not even realize they are believing
in and doing the wrong things; they think their self- righteous ways are
right when in fact, it is wrong. Perhaps Proverbs 16:2 sums it up best
when it says: “All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes …” Satan
uses a self-righteous attitude to deceive humanity; to blind humanity to
the wrongness of their own ways.
Satan is a great and powerful spirit being and is described as being
dragon like in appearance (Revelation 12:3). We do not see Satan with
our naked eyes because he is invisible to us – prompting some to believe
Satan is myth or that he is not real. But the Bible reveals Satan does
sit on the throne of the earth deceiving humanity – inciting the human
mind to do evil or those things that are the very opposite of the holy
and righteous ways of God. For example, the Bible refers to Satan as “…
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Have you ever stopped to
think and wonder why Satan is described as such - the prince of the
power of the air? Let me explain: Have you ever tuned in to a radio
station and hear music playing on that radio? Well, that means you have
tuned into a radio frequency that causes you to hear the sound of that
music; and with that music playing, your mind may get caught up in the
song and soon you not only find yourself dancing to the beat of the
music but will sing along - saying the words of the song that has so
stirred you up. Similarly, Satan, being the prince of the power of the
air (the airwaves), also broadcast in similar fashion, but his broadcast
comes to your mind invisibly through the means of negative, moods and
attitudes that can also incite or bring about a sudden strong urge or
desire on the human mind to act or do that which is wrong. You know that
a radio transmit sound through electromagnetic waves, well, Satan
actually fills the air waves of this earth with his negative and
destructive attitude, and if you allow his negative attitude of hate,
resentment, bitterness, envy, jealousy, lust, greed to come into your
mind and fester, then like the music on the radio that will stir you to
dance and sing, even so will Satan’s broadcast get to your mind -
because it means you would have tuned into his broadcast or frequency.
This means Satan continually fills the airwaves of the earth with
negative broadcasts - causing all the evils we see in the world –
inciting wars and destruction. But people are unsuspecting – not
realizing that this fit of rage, anger, lust, or hate that so easily
come upon people is being generated in the human mind by Satan – whose
ultimate goal is to deceive the individual to act upon those negative
mood or attitude that he broadcasts all over this earth. How many times
have you not heard someone convicted of a crime or some other acts of
evil say they never meant to do what they did other than to give in to
the rage or anger that incited their minds to resort to such action; who
do you suppose is behind the rage and anger that can be so easily
stirred up in the human heart? It is Satan, the prince of the power of
the air - broadcasting his negative attitude in the minds of people; he
has filled the entire earth with his broadcast. Satan is like a non-
stop broadcaster broadcasting his sinful attitude in unseen negative
mood and impulses - which will show its result after the person has
given in or acted upon to those wrong impulses.
Satan is very cunning, and humanity is unaware of this Satan and how
he works, and it is no wonder, the Bible say he “… deceiveth the whole
world …” (Revelation 12:9). This whole world of humanity is deceived
because they simply do not grasp the magnitude of the power of the one
who is deceiving them; they do not realize how he works on their mind;
it is no wonder the Bible speaks of evil as “… the mystery of iniquity…”
(II Thess. 2:7); it is mystery because people do not know what Satan is
doing to them; they are not aware of his cunning or his devices (II
Cor. 2:11).
The only way of overcoming Satan is for the Christian to stay close
to God – relying upon the power of God to be able to withstand Satan and
his evil angels. James 4:7 gives this admonition: “Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” God is
the only sure source of strength in resisting and overcoming Satan – as
we cannot overcome Satan on our strength or power, but by placing
reliance on God – who is far greater than Satan. Thankfully, when Christ
comes, Satan is going to be taken off the throne of this earth and be
bound for one thousand years. Think of it: humanity is going to be free
of Satan for all this time; Satan will not be around to deceive
humanity, and people will then come to understand more fully just how
Satan had been deceiving them; they will come to see how different the
world is going to be when there is no Satan around to broadcast his
harmful mood and impulses into their minds. May God speed up that day.