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To: kosta50

“Without going into too much detail, Eze 28 is about the king of Tyre, not Satan, and Isa 14 is about the king and deity of Babylon. It was Jerome (6th century) who invented the term “Lucifer” for Helel (Babylonian deity, the Morning Star).”

The passage, Ezekiel 28:11-19, deals at length with Satan and his relation to that age. In this passage, Satan is given the title “The King of Tyrus.” Like the Messianic Psalms (cf. Ps. 45 which moves from a description of an earthly king to a description of a divine Messiah) wherein the psalmist apparently is referring to himself, though statements are made and conditions described that could be connected only with the Messiah, the Son of God so here that which is addressed to “The King of Tyrus” is, by its character, seen to be a direct reference to the person of Satan. Tyre at the time of the prophecy was under a prolonged siege by Nebuchadnezzar and its people were abandoning the island, the city on land having been totally destroyed. No similar person to whom this description could apply is revealed in the Scriptures. In the previous as well as the following chapters of Ezekiel the final judgment of Jehovah is pronounced upon the enemies of His chosen people. Satan is numbered among these enemies in 1 Chronicles 21:1; hence he naturally appears in this list.

In verse 15 it is stated that he was created perfect, and in verse 13 that perfection is set forth in detail by the suggestive symbols of precious gems. He among all created beings was also “full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” filling up the sum of perfection. In verse 14 he is called the “anointed cherub that covereth.” While Satan doubtless exercised some authority in the earth over the primal creation, the evident meaning of this verse is that Satan was created as a guard or protector to the throne of the Most High. Like the golden cherubim, covering the visible mercy seat in the Holy of Holies of the earthly tabernacle, he was created a guard and covering cherub to the heavenly center of glory. It is expressly stated that he was located by the Most High upon the holy mountain of God, the mountain of God being a symbol of the center of God’s power, government, and eternal throne (Pss. 48:1; 68:15; Isa. 2:2). He is said also to have been in “Eden the garden of God,” which is evidently another Eden than that in which Satan appeared as a serpent, The Eden of Genesis was one of verdure and cosmic beauty, while this is an Eden of “stones of fire.” No king of Tyrus was ever in either of the Edens mentioned in the Bible. The title belongs most evidently to Satan. The whole passage suggests a position of great authority for which he was created and anointed; a position from which he fell, drawing with him a host of beings over whom he had governing influence and power.

He was created perfect, or was a perfect fulfillment of the Creator’s intention. Satan was a free moral agent, capable of choosing evil but not obliged to do so. That he chose evil must ever be to his own condemnation, for the Creator had surrounded him with sufficient motives for choosing the good. Christ said of him, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth.” It thus is revealed that Satan began in the truth, but afterward turned to a state in which Christ could go on to say of him, “There is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). The crime of Satan is revealed partly in verse 16 “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:” and this followed by a description of his final judgment as it is predicted the Book of Revelation.

His crime is clearly set forth in Isaiah 14:12-20. It should be noted that at the time of this prophecy Babylon was a vassal of Assyria with an Assyrian governor. It posed no threat to Judah/Israel. Assyria was attacking Syria/Israel/Judah at the time of the prophecy. The prophet’s vision of Satan, here recorded, is from the time of his final judgment, and the prophet is looking backward over Satan’s entire career. Much that is still future is therefore referred to as though it were past. Two aspects of Satan’s present activity are considered: He is seen first to be seeking to establish authority for himself, and then he is seen to be the promoter of confusion and terror in the earth. He said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,” and it also is said of him: “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?”

The crime of Satan is concisely stated in the fourteenth verse as purposing in his heart to become like the Most High. He became conceited about his beauty; he who was created and placed as the “Covering Cherub,” with the high honor of guarding the throne of God, corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness. He struck at the throne which he was set to protect. There could be but one Most High, and the purpose of Satan to become like Him could, naturally, be nothing less than an attempt to dethrone the Almighty.

Satan was the first being to manifest a will opposed to the will of God.
“I will ascend into heaven.”
“I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”
“I will sit also upon the mount.”
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.”
“I will be like the most High.”

The secret purpose in his heart reveals his method to be not a violent attack upon the throne, to steal the hearts of the unfaithful in the kingdom, and, through subtlety, to gain a kingdom for himself. He would thus become an object of worship and attract attention from other beings to himself. To accomplish this, a hindering attitude had to be assumed toward the purpose and projects of the Most High. No adequate appreciation can be formed of Satan’s present projects and devices, and the motive that prompts them, without a clear understanding of his age-abiding attitude toward the person of God.

Here are just some of the passages concerning Satan’s fall from. It is important to distinguish Satan’s yet future physical banishment out of heaven from his moral fall. He undoubtedly fell morally at the moment of his sin, but his position throughout the ages, or until the return of the King, is in heaven. From this high position he has access both to God and to the earth.

1. Ezekiel 28:16: “Thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God.”
This prediction of judgment, with others which follow in the context and with which this casting out is associated, are predictions of the yet future judgments which are to fall upon Satan when he is banished to the pit and to the lake of fire. This passage does not teach that Satan was cast out of heaven at the time of his sin and as an immediate judgment for his sin.

2. Isaiah 14:12: “How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning!”
This Scripture, as has been stated, is also a description of that final judgment which is to be at the end of Satan’s career.

3. Job 1:6: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.”
The passage discloses his position in heaven and also reveals the fact that, in the days of Job, Satan was free to come and go in the earth.

4. Luke 22:31, 32: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you [obtained thee by asking], that he may sift you as wheat.”
From this Scripture Satan still had unchallenged access to the presence of God in the day when this was spoken.

5. Ephesians 6:11, 12: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [strategies] of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the
principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”.
According to the Scriptures, throughout this age the believer must be prepared to war against a “spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The contributing evidence of this passage is to the effect that Satan is not yet cast out of heaven.

There is another revelation concerning Satan’s present position in which it is declared that he now has access to the earth. “Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom withstand stedfast in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8, 9). To this may also be added the revelation disclosed in the letter to the church at Pergamos: “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat [throne) is” (Rev. 2:13).
From these passages the position of Satan in heaven and his freedom to go to and fro in the earth has not changed since the days of Job.

6. Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
This is the first passage in the Word of God which declares Satan to be actually banished from heaven. The passage also teaches that Satan remains in heaven until the time herein described. According to the context it is that yet future time immediately preceding the setting up in the earth of the kingdom of God and the power of His Christ.

7. Luke 10:18: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
This was a prophetic utterance on the part of Christ, rather than a statement of history. The seventy had just returned with joy saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” There is no question concerning the sufficiency of the power of God over Satan. It is only a question as to when that power will be exercised. The experience of power over devils by the seventy was only a suggestion to the mind of Christ of the mighty power which would yet be displayed in banishing Satan and his hosts from the heavenly sphere.


4,104 posted on 12/01/2010 8:04:33 PM PST by blue-duncan
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To: blue-duncan
So much for no detail. Read commentaries of serous authors who disagree with you on this. Perhaps start a new thread. Then a more in-depth discussion could take place.

In the previous as well as the following chapters of Ezekiel the final judgment of Jehovah is pronounced upon the enemies of His chosen people. Satan is numbered among these enemies in 1 Chronicles 21:1; hence he naturally appears in this list.

The OT angel kn own as ha-satan is a loyal servant of God. 1 Chronicles 21:1 simply states that the satan (which is really a title and not a name Christians invented), the accuser, the divine prosecutor general if you will, stood up against Israel because God did (2 Sam 24:1).

The idea of a divine Messiah never existed in Judaism, and even the very idea of a messiah does not come until after the post-exilic period, not during the major prophets.

4,148 posted on 12/01/2010 10:06:39 PM PST by kosta50 (God is tired of repenting -- Jeremiah 15:6, KJV)
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