Friday, July 17, 2015

Devotion: The Difference Between God And Satan


Recently we discussed the wicked one we all call Satan.  It was more of an introduction about this entity that appears to have more speculation about him than actual facts or so it may seem.  However, as we have stated before, things are not always what they appear to be, when it comes to the things of God.  We know that the scriptures do not reveal much detail about this entity, especially in the Old Testament, mainly because there was not much man could do about him.  We were sort of at his mercy.  It was not until Jesus hit the scene that we really start to hear more about this entity.  We know from scripture that Lucifer was originally created as one of God’s highest angels, an anointed cherub.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God; thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:  the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:  therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  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.  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more” (Ezekiel 28:11-19).

According to the above passage of scripture, we have what appears to be a description of Lucifer, later known as Satan.  It starts out with a message for the king of Tyrus but it becomes obvious that the intent was to apply to Satan, therefore we must carefully discern between the two.  The king of Tyre was the name of the false god Melkart (meaning king of the city).  Melkart was the evil spiritual being that had energized this human ruler, who was a priest.  It is clear that God is addressing the evil spirit, the real power behind the wicked society and government of Tyre and not the human ruler himself.  This is evident from some of the descriptions that they are not directed towards any human being.  Here, Satan is referred to as the anointed cherub, a term used strictly in the Old Testament to describe powerful angelic creatures.  The fact that he is anointed and one who covers or protects implies that he is perhaps one of the highest angelic beings ever created by God.  He was considered to be the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and the perfection of beauty, with his coverings bejeweled with every precious stone, all set in the finest of gold.  He was found to have been in Eden, the garden of God and was appointed as an anointed guardian cherub.  He served near the presence of God and was perfect in all that he did until iniquity was found in him, until internal turmoil caused him to sin.  Internally, his heart was filled with pride, corrupting his wisdom for magnificence and he began to deal in immoral trade.

From this, we have learned several important foundational facts about him, the one known as Satan, which could help to correct many popular misconceptions.  We see that he is a created being who is locked in eternal opposition to God and all that God represents, however he is not equal to or on the same level as God.  Unlike God, he has a beginning and he is finite.  He is a creature that was created perfect in beauty, wisdom and morality, who had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  We also know that he is not an all-powerful being that was created evil.  Originally, Satan was created as “Lucifer, son of the morning, or Day Star” (Isaiah 14:12), one of God’s highest angels.  He was created perfect in beauty, wisdom, and morality.  He had unique access to the presence of God and led many angels in their worship of God.  He was and still remains a finite creature who is not all-powerful.  He was not created evil, yet he fell much like man.  So how did he become evil?  We will have to save that discussion for another time.

As always, we pray that today’s inspirational message will bless you, inform you, and that you will be the better for having read it.  If blessed by this message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

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