Originally Posted by Blisterize
Angels with Dirty Faces (Ezekiel 28)
This title sounds facetious, but this is one of the most solemn messages that is available today
History
The city of Tyre has a peninsula going out to it that was built by Alexander the Great out of the ruins of ancient Tyre, which Nebuchadnazzer had destroyed
Tyre was one of the great sea powers of the ancient world
This was Satans Headquarters at one time; his capitol was there at ancient Tyre
Tyre was one of the most prominent and prosperous cities in the pagan world at that time
They penetrated further with the Phoenician fleet than any other fleet in ancient times
An extremely flourishing and influential city; imported commerce from all over the world; Mammon had been the god of ancient Tyre; business was glorified; sex was a religion and worshipped; Jezebel came from there, her father was a High Priest in the temple of Baal; materialism was the way of life
It was this city against which Ezekiel took up a Lamentation; against the prince and king of Tyre
In this wonderful history we are given the knowledge, the wisdom of the true creation of the highest being God ever created, Lucifer, Son of the Morning (Day Star)
The Angel Lucifer
One must bare in mind that Satan is an angel, the most mighty of all the angelic host
He may be limited in earthly territory today, according to scripture, but his demonic power and dominion are NOT limited so far on this earth
More is said concerning him in scripture than of any of the other angels
But in spite of this fact, the world today has a gross misconception of Satan, his purpose and his mission
Whitaker Chambers (Whitaker Chambers came out of communism, interestingly enough) was editor of Life Magazine a long time ago. He wrote an article on the devil that went something like this: ??When the Age of Reason Began, [Satan] went underground, his strategy is to make men think he doesn??t even exist, and although theologians are now discovering him anew, he never had it so good! Throughout most of Christian history, the devil was real and personal, and never far from the minds of men. Today, he has retreated into the realm of a myth, and a joke to most people. Recently, however, philosophers have seen him roaming the earth and have identified him as the same old Prince of Evil?? and he goes on to name some prominent philosophers of the day that apparently agree and then to describe a party at which the devil was worshipped?
So we live in a day in which this angel, the devil, has accomplished an unbelievable trick, he has unbelievers believing he doesn??t even exist!
Satan wants to be the opposite of what men think he is; he wants to be like God, not necessarily opposed to God and certainly not different from Him
So it is no wonder that Satan is the greatest promoter of religion imaginable
Figuratively Speaking
Ezekiel tells us the origin of Satan
This is a common figure in scripture; David is given as an adumbration of the Lord Jesus Christ
Satan is set before us by Ezekiel as figure of speech and as the king of Tyre
But before the king of Tyre is the prince of Tyre
(Ezekiel, verses 1-10) is a picture of anti-Christ
(Ezekiel, verse 1 and 2): this is humanism carried to the nth degree; the sin of man ultimately leads to the man of sin
Paul sets Satan before us in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 as one who demands worship of man and is worshipped by man
(Revelation 13) puts his image in the temple and he is worshipped, in fact, he??s the only one worshipped in that day
(Ezekiel verse 3), ?wiser than Daniel?. This man, this king of Tyre, is no fool
(Ezekiel verse 4): he controlled the money market of the world
(Ezekiel verse 5): They were so smart and were such shrewd businessmen, it had made them PROUD. That??s the picture that??s given to us, Pride
(Ezekiel verse 6): ?hath set your heart as the heart of God?
These first ten verses are a picture of the anti-Christ given to us in the Old Testament and develop in the New Testament in which all opposition to God gathers around to worship
Ezekiel now moves on here from the prince to the king of Tyre
Satans?? Creation
(Ezekiel verse 12): Lamentation denotes great sorrow in Old Testament. It was the beating of breasts, the wailing and shedding of tears. A lamentation denotes terrible grief
So we are to take up a lamentation to Satan and there are two things that are said about him, two things that are certainly unlike any mental picture, or any other picture for that matter, that we have about him today
Most of what men believe today about Satan comes from Milton, who was so wrapped up in mythology that its hard to distinguish when he??s quoting scripture or Greek mythology; Dante, Gerde - that doleful German - and is so perverted, mischaracterized and convoluted that it is obvious they never even made an attempt at any research of Satan because none of that is found anywhere in the Word of God
(Ezekiel verse 12): ?sealest up the sum, full of wisdom... is the first thing that is said about him
(Ezekiel verse 12): No creature has more wisdom and therefore, no creature can match Satan. No man can outsmart the devil. Some say, ??The devil made me do it?. Maybe, but probably not because he really has no time for us today. I don??t think Satan spends much time on anyone that does not regularly study the Word of God, because the Bible is the only way God speaks to man today. God does not speak to man today in dreams or in visions; only through the Bible. So if Satan can keep us so busy in our carnal lives that we don??t really have time for study, or time to listen to God, then Satans?? mission is accomplished. We will take sin from there and literally wreck our lives all by ourselves. The old saying goes, ??we only have ourselves to blame?. After Satan is done fooling us into doing something evil we find that he??s gone, you see! (I personally feel that he??s not gone at that point, he has indwelled the unbeliever, and therefore the unbeliever can??t find him, as they have, at that time, become the embodiment of him! And that embodiment would be overwhelming and all consuming if Christ did not intervene. So the unbeliever will say he does not exist. Now that is only a personal feeling that I cannot verify in scripture, but it sure rings true!)
(Ezekiel verse 12): Satan is perfect/complete in beauty. He is the most beautiful thing that God ever made!
This is so contrary to the worlds?? vision of him today. Man presents Satan as ugly, but he is the most beautiful creature ever made! He is an angel of light?complete in beauty
(Ezekiel verse 13): this is not the vegetative Eden of Adam, but rather, the Precious Stone Garden of God. Apparently, God has his own Garden of Eden made out of these precious stones
Satan is MADE out of precious stone, every precious stone was his covering, notice his splendor, a thing of beauty
(Exodus 28:15) These stones appear in the breastplates of the high priests and in the New Jerusalem in (Revelation 21), which becomes the new habitation of the church
Satan had these same stones because he was in the presence of God
Only three places in the bible are these stones mentioned ?? and one is in connection with Satan and his creation
Dante, Gerde and Milton are out the window with that
Beautiful People
(2 Corinthians 11:13): Paul says Satans?? ministers appear as ministers of righteousness, that is, angels of light. They are also ??beautiful? people.
Satan: able to deceive because he is so attractive
Satan always puts on a good show to appeal to man
(Ezekiel verse 13): ??pipes, tabrets??Satan was a pipe organ, a living musical instrument
Some say when the devil was cast out of heaven he fell into the choir loft! Music is his forte; that is who he is, that is what he does! He is the greatest musician of all. Listen to some of todays music and its easy to identify that he??s the writer of most of it
Satan is CREATED and he was the greatest creature that God had ever created
Now that word was repeated purposely
(Ezekiel verse 15): ?thou was created?. Satan was created; he is not God. He is the god of this age, but he is a creation. He will never be greater than God
(Drop back to Verse 14): ?anointed cherub that covereth?. This means, ??belonging to one of the higher orders of creation? Literally, a protector of the throne of God itself. That creature probably had unprecedented access to Gods?? government and dominion, more than any other creature has ever had
(Ezekiel verse 14): holy mountain of God = Gods?? government; and he ?walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire?
(Ezekiel verse 15): it says he was complete. None of us can say we are complete. We all have some inadequacy, need or frustration
(verse 15): Here is the most amazing statement of all: Satan was complete until iniquity was found in him
What Went Wrong
So then the question here is: What did he do wrong; what happened?
(Ezekiel verse 16): Sin is labeled
Apparently he lost this high position at the very beginning. Judgement has been pronounced, but only to a limited degree. From the stones of fire, he has been removed today. Satan has been removed from the mountain of God, that is, the government of God today. This story apparently covers millions of years. God, as believers believe, is working out some great purpose today and so, from the stones of fire to the lake of fire, this is a most intriguing career of this individual which should be pursued at a later time
(Ezekiel verse 18): Sin originated in heaven. Sin did not begin on this earth
There are continuous statements of fire connected with this creature and his judgement
We live in a universe today that is a consuming fire; a raging furnace. The subject really is remarkable. The sun releases enough hydrogen to explode the earth multiple times, each second! Further, our little sun is nothing compared to some of the great galaxies that are being discovered today. And beyond that are more galaxies that are built like little atoms that revolve around a center and they??re all filled with fire! It is quite interesting to examine the connection with this creature, and that his judgement is such
Satans?? Sin Specifically
Turn to a passage that labels his sin very definitely
(Isaiah 14:12): When iniquity was found in him, he was deposed; put out of heaven. Lucifer: The DayStar! Light shining in the light! The Shining One! Lucifer is in the garden in Ezekiel 28 and in the Garden of Eden when the serpent came to man in Genesis. Son of the Morning: designation of the angels
Sin: anything that is contrary to the will of God is sin
Satan did not try to get rid of God, rather, to set up a separate kingdom without God
(Isaiah 14:13): Satan says he is going to take that which he would like to have, that he will ??take? heaven. He says he wants a position that is higher than what God gave him. Further, he says that he wants a position in which he won??t be subject to authority. He says he will put his throne up higher than any creation of God (and at that time man is not yet created; he is a much later creation). At this time he intended to put his throne above all of Gods?? created intelligences. It is likely that Satan had power and charge over these at the time, and he says he doesn??t intend to report to headquarters, he intended to run the show his way and his way only! He must have felt very capable of doing it and we have every reason to believe he thought that he could
Notice that Satan has put out three ??I Will??s? so far here
??I Will? number three: I will sit also upon the congregation in the sides of the north
(Isaiah 14:14): ??I Will? number four: ?ascend above the heights of the clouds?. This means the clouds of Glory. Satan certainly is ambitious, is he not?
(Isaiah 14:14): And he says finally: ??I Will be like the most High?. That certainly is a great revelation from Satan
Satan is not on skid row; he??s not in prison. He??s interested in culture and refinement. He is interested in religion. He??s not interested in the deep immorality of today because that crowd already belongs to him! And my opinion is that his place of employment is in the church! He is where the Word of God is taught today because that??s the only place he can be defeated. He wants to be like God. This is the thing that is his sin and he felt that he could achieve it. And that? is the definition of pride
(1Timothy 3:6): With pride you will fall into the condemnation of the devil. Pride is the one sin that is mentioned more than any other is; and yet, it is the one sin that does not pass as sin today
Pride is referred to as the Lord of Humankind
Ruskin says: ??I have been more and more convinced, the more I think of it, that, in general, pride is the bottom of all mistakes. All other passions do occasional good; but whenever pride puts in its word, everything goes terribly wrong, and what might genuinely be desirable to do quietly and innocently, it becomes morally dangerous to do proudly?. It colors everything in our life. That is man today
It is most interesting to follow this sin of Satan as the human race comes on the scene. You find that the temptation of Adam and Eve were along this line: ??Satan said to them, you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil?. Same area in which he fell. And when he says to Christ, ??If thou will fall down and worship me??he reveals and betrays his desire!
(2 Thessalonians 2) is where Paul says ??the sin of man is the masterpiece of Satan?
Lucifers?? Dirty Laundry
(Zechariah 3:1-4): What a picture of false religion. The High Priest clothed with a dirty garment. The garment of religion; a Satan-made religion. That garment is taken away and God says He will provide a clean garment. What is that garment?
Satan is labeled by the Lord as a murderer and liar from the very beginning, (see John 8:44)
Satan is put out of heaven when he sets his will against Gods will
(Revelation 12): It??s believed he took one third of the angels when he left heaven. They had a free will, choice and they probably thought he would be successful. This conflict between light and darkness, this spiritual warfare, continues today and will continue until Gods?? purpose is accomplished, and one should not purport to know what or when that might be because we do not know, except that it will be to His Glory and Honor
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4): Satan today is the god of this age. He goes up and down seeking whom he may devour. There is but one way to escape Satan, and that is through the gospel. The Bible is the only place Satan is concerned with blurring things, or distorting or harming it, is at that particular place where you comprehend it. He??s done a very good job, by the way, at cutting off the one place of escape man has today
Imagine a prison. It has a great wall. There is only one entrance and one exit. Where would you put the guard? Well, give Satan credit for being as smart as you. He is not concerned with your success. He doesn??t care about your religion. He??ll help you be religious. He wants you to think that by your goodness you??re a little god, and that everything will be okay. That somehow or another, your going to work this thing out on your own. And that it is a terrible thing to say that men are lost today. I would say he is doing a most successful job of blinding man at the one place he can obtain deliverance ?? through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That??s the only way; to come to and accept the Savior that died for you
Satan says to you through the world: ??your okay, your smart, your clever, you??re a good citizen, you really don??t need this stuff, your alright, you don??t need Him
The Bible says you must come to Christ, and Satan is concerned with one thing?hiding that single truth from YOU!
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