The Mask of Satan

by Thomas Abshier | Jul 27, 2025 | Apologetics/Theology/Christianity

The Mask of Satan
by Margo Diann Abshier, ND
7/27/2025

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CHAPTER 1: FIRST THINGS FIRST

In the beginning… what does that mean? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.(Genesis 1:1) Webster says it means; the point at which something begins, 2 the first part, 3 ORIGIN, SOURCE. Webster says begin means to do the first part of an action or to COMMENCE; to come into existence: ARISE. The Hebrew word for beginning that is used here is re’shiyth meaning THE FIRST in place, time, order or rank. The Apostle John refers to Jesus and the Father in the beginning in John 1:1-3 (KJV). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

So what does that tell us? Jesus and the Father were alone in the beginning. Jesus is called “the Word” and He made all things. In fact, there isn’t ANYTHING made that Jesus didn’t make.

John 1:4 (NKJV) In him (Jesus) was life; and the life was the light of men. :5 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness doesn’t comprehend it. Genesis 1:3 and God SAID “LIGHT BE and light was.” (Kohlenberger’s NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament reveals the words; “and He, Elohim, said; ‘let Him be light and He was light.'”)

Now we see who Jesus is. The Father spoke the first WORD ever spoken. “LIGHT” and there was Jesus. “BE” and Jesus began to exist and live. In Him (Jesus) was LIFE (existence, be-ing) and the life was the LIGHT of men. So, first we had the Father all alone “and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT of GOD moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2 KJV & NKJV) In John 4:23 & 24 (NAS) Jesus said “An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. GOD IS SPIRIT, and those who worship Him must worship in SPIRIT and truth.”

The Father is a SPIRIT and His SPIRIT hovered alone over the face of the deep in darkness until He created Jesus in Genesis 1:3 by saying the WORD “LIGHT BE.” And, then there was the Father and His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, JESUS. The WORD became flesh and Tabernacled, lived temporarily among us, tented in flesh. And, we actually got to see His glory, honor and majesty. Such glory as an ONLY BEGOTTEN SON RECEIVES FROM HIS FATHER, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 compilation of Amplified and other translations)

So, God the Father gave birth to Jesus first. Then Jesus created everything else that was made. Colossians l:12-16 further confirms this by saying “Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the KINGDOM OF LIGHT. For He has rescued us from the DOMINION of DARKNESS and brought us into the KINGDOM of the SON HE LOVES, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, THE FIRSTBORN OVER ALL CREATION. FOR BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or POWERS or RULERS or AUTHORITIES; ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM. And again, in Revelation 3:14, Jesus refers to himself as “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD.

Again, God’s word says that Jesus is God’s firstborn over ALL CREATION and that Jesus created ALL THINGS. First, there was the Father alone. Then He begot or birthed Jesus from Himself. Then Jesus created everything else for the Father. What a Dad!! Can you imagine how much fun they had together doing that? Sitting together, discussing their plans, figuring it all out, and then Abba, Daddy would turn to Jesus and say “Okay Son, speak the word and my spirit hovering over that word will create!” How do I know that happened? Revelation 13:8 refers to JESUS AS THE LAMB SLAIN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. Then it says, if any man has ears, let him hear. Genesis says that LIGHT was created on the first day, heaven was created on the second day and the earth was created on the third day. Somewhere in that space of time, Jesus and the Father figured out that their creation would need an ultimate Savior and Jesus would be that Redeemer.

A redeemer from what? As of Genesis 1:31, at the end of the sixth day “God saw everything He had made, and behold, it was very GOOD, suitable, pleasant, and He approved it completely.” At this point in time, at the end of the sixth day, there was no evil, because God said that EVERYTHING He had made was GOOD.

Religious traditions teach that God really made all kinds of things prior to “in the beginning”. We see these traditions documented in Paradise Lost by Milton and The Egyptian Book of the Dead. I believe this doctrine is incorrect because of the scriptures we just reviewed. Tradition teaches of a time prior to earth when an angel they call “Lucifer” led other angels into rebellion against God and that God threw this “Lucifer” out of heaven and he is the evil one who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day and God said at the end of the sixth day that EVERYTHING He made was GOOD. There was no evil on the sixth day, if we believe God’s word.

Many Christians get upset when this traditional religious teaching is challenged. But, please, follow with me through an exploration of what the scriptures say on the subject, and one by one we will see that Satan has been wearing a MASK, maybe since creation and it is time we really see this creature behind the MASK. Who is he? Where did he come from? What is his relationship to God and Jesus and the believers in the true LIGHT of the WORD.

Why do I think Satan is wearing a MASK? Let’s look at Second Corinthians 11:14 (NRSV) And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Or, in the NIV and Amplified; And no wonder, for Satan himself MASQUERADES as an angel of light. The Greek word used here is metaschematizo meaning to disguise, transfigure or transform one’s self. If Satan really is “Lucifer”, a fallen angel of light, then it wouldn’t be a disguise or masquerade at all. He wants us to believe he was once powerful and a worthy adversary of God’s and that he and God are still battling away over the creation. But, the Apostle Paul said he is just masquerading as an angel of light.

Do you remember, in Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him ALL THINGS WERE CREATED: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or RULERS OR AUTHORITIES; all things were created by Him and for Him.”? Let’s now turn to Ephesians 6:10-12: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES. For our STRUGGLE is NOT AGAINST enemies of BLOOD and FLESH, BUT AGAINST the RULERS, against the AUTHORITIES, against the COSMIC POWERS of this present dark world, against the SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS.

In Colossians Paul says that Jesus created the RULERS and AUTHORITIES (or in the KJV: PRINCIPALITIES and POWERS). In Ephesians we learn that the demonic world we struggle against are the RULERS and AUTHORITIES (PRINCIPALITIES and POWERS) that Colossians says Jesus created.

In that case, what did Jesus say about the devil? In John 8:44 (KJV) Jesus said, “Ye are of your father THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, (NIV) he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Now, if Satan was evil FROM THE BEGINNING, and he was created by and for Jesus, then I strongly suspect that Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He created him and He knew Satan’s purpose in the creation.

John discussed the devil again in I John 3:8, “He that commits sin is of the devil; FOR THE DEVIL SINNED FROM THE BEGINNING. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. If Satan was an angel of light who later fell, John would have said so, but he said “THE DEVIL SINNED FROM THE BEGINNING.”

From the beginning; that’s where we started. Genesis 1:31-2:2 “And God saw everything He had made, and behold it was VERY GOOD. And the evening and morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and earth were finished, completed, prepared, accomplished, and all the hosts of them, vast array or multitude of things created. And on the seventh day God completed, finished, prepared, accomplished His occupation, employment, business, work, which He had made. And, He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

Now, note here that on the sixth day everything was GOOD. After the sixth day all things in heaven and earth were completed. But, on the seventh day God finished, completed some other business, work, occupation. After that He rested. Whatever He did, He didn’t say it was good. I suspect that early on the seventh day is when the principalities, powers, rulers and authorities of darkness were created. Notice that God’s days begin in the evening, so early on the seventh day would be in the darkness of evening. I don’t think that darkness is inherently evil, since God existed in darkness before He created light. But, Jesus is the light and life, so those who are created to oppose Him would naturally gravitate to the darkness and death.

There is more proof that God created the evil realm in Isaiah 45:5-7 (KJV) I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and CREATE EVIL: I the LORD do all these things. And also in Isaiah 54:16 (KJV) Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. Isaiah 54:17 (NIV) no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.

There are some points I would like to make about these verses in Isaiah. If you are a Bible student you may have already noticed that the King James version is the only one that uses the wording “create evil”. Other versions say calamity, woe or disaster instead of evil. But, I would like to point out that the Hebrew word used here is ra, which is the identical word used in Genesis 2:9 to describe the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If it is properly translated evil in Genesis 2:9 then it is properly translated evil in Isaiah 45:7. Also, all the words LORD in Isaiah 45:5-7 are technically Jehovah or YHWH. Though I do not want to belabor the point here, it does appear that since Colossians 1:16 says Jesus created all things including the principalities and powers and Isaiah 45:7 says Jehovah formed light and created darkness, peace and evil, then it follows that Jehovah of the Old Covenant is Jesus or Joshua/Yeshuah (literally: “Jah saves”) of the New Covenant. Isaiah 54:16 is very similar to Colossians 2:9-10 (NIV) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority (KJV – principality and power). God formed this creature, the evil Satan, and he controls him. None of his weapons can prevail against us. We have nothing to fear from him if we remain obedient to our covenant with God. And, especially in the new covenant, IN CHRIST, we have his fullness and the authority Jesus gave us to use his name and his victory over Satan in order to overcome evil with good.

Our God is awesome, as he says in Isaiah 46:9-10 (NIV) Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. What is God’s pleasure, what pleases him? In II Peter 3:9 it says, (NRSV) “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. God our Savior, 1 Tim 2:4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Ephesians 1:9-10 (NIV) And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Col 1:17 He (Jesus) is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body… so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Col 1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, Col 1:20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. John 12:32 “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 1 John 2:2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 Tim 4:10 we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. Ephesians 4:13 Until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Rev 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Read through those scriptures several times. They also teach a doctrine contrary to religious tradition. I will elaborate on that more in Chapter 7. But, for now, the first question people usually ask is what is the purpose of God unleashing evil on his creation? God placed the tree in the Garden of Eden to give his precious children free will. You can’t choose to love God and follow him unless you have a reciprocal of him to choose from. God didn’t unleash evil on his creation, Adam did. God gave Adam authority over the creation and put him in charge of its protection. The woman was deceived and he was right there with her and didn’t say a word. After she ate, he ate, though he was not deceived. But, again, before Adam was created, Jesus had decided to be the Lamb slain to redeem the creation. And, even more than redemption, even to the point of Ephesians 2:4 But God… made us alive together with Christ… Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Romans 8:23… even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:24 For we were saved in this hope. God knew SOMEONE would eventually eat of that tree. But, when he subjected us to the choice that would bring the curse of death to his creation, he did so in the hope that we would overcome in every area including overcoming the final enemy death and sitting down with him and Jesus in their throne. HOW CAN WE OVERCOME IF WE DON’T HAVE AN ENEMY TO OVERCOME? This planet is our “Overcomers Through Faith in Jesus School.” He promised; Romans 8:28 all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. And; 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) Pray without ceasing. :18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And; 1 Corinthians 10:13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

God knows your level of maturity. He knows your grade in overcomer school and is faithful to see that you have the tools to overcome before your test comes. Study your text book diligently so he can teach you and so you can take your tests and overcome in all areas with your faith in his word. God is displeased by our failures simply because he wants us to get the victory and win. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him. We can win his bountiful rewards if we diligently seek him and believe the promises he gave us.

CHAPTER 2: DON’T HAVE JOB TO KICK AROUND ANY MORE

It is important to see how God and Satan work within God’s creation. The best place to see this is in the book of Job. Let’s study Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7 first.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a fence or hedge around him and his household and everything he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his possessions have increased and his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. “But now, stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, look and behold, everything he has is in your power and in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it. “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, a man who fears God and a man who turns away from and shuns evil? And still he maintains and persists in his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin and destroy him without any reason or cause.” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Mankind will give all they have to save their lives. “But stretch out Your hand now, and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, behold and look, he is in your hands and in your power; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.”

Now note some very important points about this discourse:

1. God and Satan are not battling over Job.
2. God is the one who brought up the subject of Job, not Satan.
3. God instructs Satan about what he may and may not do.
4. Satan is completely controlled by God.
5. Satan refers to his work as God stretching forth his hand.
6. Satan fulfills the role of Revelation 12:10, as the accuser of the brethren
7. “The Lord” in these passages who is speaking to Satan is YHWH or Jehovah. It is Jehovah who is controlling Satan.

Why did God allow these things to happen to Job? There are several answers. First, Job tells us one reason in Job 23:8-10 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! “Look, I go forward to the east, but He is not there, And backward to the west, but I cannot perceive Him; On the left hand in the north, where he is at work, but I do not see him: he hides himself on the right hand upon turning to the south, that I catch no glimpse of him: But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as finished gold.

We see an even more complete explanation of this analogy in I Peter 1:3-10 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has given us new birth and has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief IN ALL KINDS OF TRIALS. These have come so that YOUR FAITH–OF GREATER WORTH THAN GOLD, which perishes even though REFINED BY FIRE–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, FOR YOU ARE RECEIVING THE GOAL OF YOUR FAITH, THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS. Concerning this salvation, the prophets searched intently. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering these things. Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

As these scriptures reveal, trials are given to purify the faith and soul (the mind, emotions and intellect) of the believer. This faith is more precious than gold, but needs the same refining that gold needs to bring it forth in a pure state. Peter speaks to people who are already born again in their spirits, but are receiving the goal of their faith, an additional salvation of their souls (and bodies) that will be revealed at the return of Jesus Christ. These people, like Job, are walking by faith, not sight, for they do not yet “see” the Lord.

But, after his encounter with God, look at what Job says in Job 42:1-6. Then Job answered the LORD and said: “Now I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose or plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, BUT NOW MY EYE SEES YOU; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Before Job’s trials he couldn’t see God, he had only heard of Him. Now he saw Him and magnified Him for His exceeding greatness.

A second reason for God’s work in Job’s life is seen in Job 32:1 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. As it says in Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean with leprosy, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags that are stained with menstrual flow; we all shrivel up like a leaf, ending in disgrace, and our sins cause our spirit to be swept away in death, just like the wind carries away fallen leaves. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Our righteousness is in Christ Jesus only. Any righteousness we hope to gain by our works will fail us and eventually will prove to be an embarrassment. As Job said in Job 42:5&6 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

A third reason is seen in Job 3:25; For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. We see in Job 1:4-5, His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom. Job sacrificed to God from a place of fear that if he did not appease him, all the things would happen to him that eventually did. As it says in Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Job did not sacrifice with an expectation of reward, but out of a fear of punishment. In Job 42:2&3 Job saw the awesome wonderfulness and grandeur of God and his loving plans, and he repented. That means he changed his perspective of God and his relationship with God.

And, finally, Job discovered the keys to overcoming the situation he was in. God was very angry with Job’s friends. Since Job was acceptable to God, he was asked to forgive his friends and make sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins of speaking falsely about God. Job learned something that Jesus told us millennia later in Matthew 5:44; love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10) Job was forgiven when he forgave and sacrificed in faith. And we see in the end, Job 42:12, that the LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.

No, Satan can’t kick Job around anymore. Job learned from his trials, he overcame with his faith, and Satan can’t pull this trick on him anymore. Let him just try, and good old Job will kick him out with those promises of God. And even more importantly, Job now has seen God. He now knows God for himself. No one can tell Job that God doesn’t love him and that he isn’t in right standing with God. He knows better. Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, our god is an awesome God. It isn’t hard to praise God when you’ve seen Him and know Him. And, praise will silence the avenger and enemy. (Psalm 8:2 and Matthew 21:16) The best way to stuff a sock in Satan’s mouth when he tries to accuse you or your brethren who are new creations in Christ Jesus is to just praise God. (Revelation 12:9-10 and II Corinthians 5:17) Try it! You’ll like it!

By the way, if you have any other insights into the story of Job, please write and let me know what they are.

CHAPTER 3: LUCIFER, THE SHINING ONE

The scriptures most often used to prove that Satan is a fallen angel of light are found in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. But, let’s examine what they say and analyze who these scriptures are talking about. It is also good to note that Isaiah 14:4 is addressed specifically to the king of Babylon and Ezekiel 28:2 is addressed to the prince of Tyre. These were real people at a specific time and place, but they are types and shadows, or examples of a previous being who was in the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 28:13) and fell from a position of honor (Isaiah 14:11-12).

Isaiah 14:12 (KJV) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! The Amplified Bible has a footnote about this verse which says “n) “Light-bringer” or “Shining one” was originally translated Lucifer, but because of the association of that name with Satan it is not now used. Some students feel that the application of the name Lucifer to Satan, in spite of the long and confident teaching to that effect, is erroneous. Lucifer, the light bringer, is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word Phosphoros, which is used as a title of Christ in II Peter 1:19 and corresponds to the name “bright morning star” in Revelation 22:16, which Jesus called Himself. The application of the name has existed since the third century A.D., and is based on the supposition that Luke 10:18 is an explanation of Isaiah 14:12, which some authorities feel is not true.”

Notice that this footnote tells us that the word Lucifer is a Latin word. The Hebrew word used here is Helel or Heylel and is equivalent to the Greek word Phosphoros. There was an old World War One song that said, “While you’ve a Lucifer to light your fag” which was a reference to a match used to light a cigarette. Matches have phosphorous on their tips which explains why there is an association with phosphorous being a “light-bringer”. The Amplified Bible uses the words light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning. The New Revised Standard uses the words Day Star, son of Dawn! The New International Version says morning star, son of the dawn!

Since this name is equivalent to the names given to Jesus in the New Testament, it should pique our interest. Certainly, the brightness of God’s son, who was created as light that the darkness could not comprehend (John 1:5), cannot be compared to the evil prince of darkness. Who could it be then? Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over all the earth Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Romans 5:14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. Jesus is referred to as the LAST ADAM and we are told that Adam was a type or example of Jesus, who was to come. Romans 5 and I Corinthians 15 compare the first and last Adams in depth. We will examine these scriptures later in this book.

Now let’s go to Isaiah 14 and see if the one described here sounds more like Satan or Adam.

Isaiah 14:11 (compilation of NKJV, NIV and NRSV) All your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, to the grave, along with the sound of your harps and stringed instruments; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. This describes the death and decay of a human body. Satan is a spirit being; not a being in a body that is subject to death and decay.

Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O Daystar, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

The first thing we notice is that this person fell from an exalted, heavenly position. Adam had dominion over the earth and was immortal until he disobeyed God. After God created Adam and Eve it says in Genesis 1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” He was a partner with God and walked with him in the cool of each day. (Genesis 1:26, 2:16-17 and 3:8) Adam originally had the spiritual authority over the earth, but when he believed Satan’s word over God’s word, he in essence chose Satan as his new god. The God of creation gave Adam authority. Satan is a thief. He gives nothing, he only steals. He stole everything God gave Adam, life, health, prosperity, and his authority. According to Ephesians 6:12 Satan does indeed still reign in the heavenly spheres; For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, Satan has not yet fallen from the heavenly realm and it appears that he will retain his position there until Revelation 12:7-13 is fulfilled at the time of the fifth trumpet of the tribulation. When Satan tempted Jesus in Luke 4:5-6 it says, The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. Adam gave his heavenly position of authority to Satan, but Jesus redeemed us and regained this authority as he told us in Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Ephesians 2:6 tells us God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. After Jesus walked a perfect life on earth, became the Lamb of God, paid for the sin of man, and overcame the final enemy death, He received back the authority of Adam and has given it back to those who follow Him. Jesus told us in Matthew 16:19, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25)

This expression we see in this verse, “daystar, son of the dawn” is kind of like our idiom “a future so bright you need to wear shades” and reminds me of Matthew 17:1-2. Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. If this is how Adam and Eve looked before the fall, then no wonder Genesis 2:25 says they were unaware of their nakedness. They were clothed in the light of the glory of God just like the face of Moses when he came down from the mountain after being in the presence of God. (Exodus 34:28-35)

The words “cut down to the ground” indicate the death of a human again. How would Adam have “weakened the nations”? By bringing the curse on the earth. Genesis 3:17 And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ CURSED IS THE GROUND BECAUSE OF YOU; IN TOIL YOU SHALL EAT of it all the days of your life; Genesis 3:18 Both THORNS AND THISTLES IT SHALL BRING FORTH for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Isaiah 14:13 (NIV) 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. Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

If you remember the temptation of Eve in the garden, the serpent caused Eve to doubt God’s words by saying, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) Notice that he said that Adam and Eve would be like God, not himself. That has never even been an option for Satan. He was not created in God’s image. Adam and Eve were created in God’s image and therefore the temptation was valid. In fact, God had to drive Adam and Eve from the Garden to prevent them from eating from the tree of life as is seen in Genesis 3:22-24 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Genesis 11:6-9 tells us that God needed to confound the language in Babel to prevent men from doing everything they imagined. This creative ability is derived from the fact that God made man in His image.

As David said in Psalm 8:4-6 What are mortal men that you are mindful of them, and the sons of Adam that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God (Elohim), and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet. Or as Job said in Job 7:17 “What is man, that You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him, That You should visit him every morning, And test him every moment? In John 10: 33-36 Jesus quoted an interesting verse from Psalm 82:6-7. Let’s examine the context. We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken – what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Jesus was quoting the Psalm that says, I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” I believe that a more precise translation would say; I say “You are Elohims and all of you sons of the Supremely Most High. But you shall die like Adam, and fall like the first ruling prince.” The Most High God created us and our first father Adam, to be joint rulers or co-rulers with Him over His creation. We can be the Elohims (creator gods in union with the Most High God) we were created to be only under the Lordship of the Last Adam. Because we bear the death and sin nature of the first Adam, we can only regain our kingdom rights through the only Son of Man (Adam) who overcame sin and death. Otherwise, we end up being bratty, overbearing, Hell’s Angels; out of control and recklessly ruining God’s creation and ourselves in the process.

God is the only true God because He has the wisdom to handle the power. He longs to be close enough to us, for us to know His every thought and obey it, so we can bring His kingdom to this earth. There is a much more important and far-reaching purpose for God’s creation than just getting saved in order to go to heaven and praise Him for all eternity. As Ephesians 2:5-7 says, even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, IN ORDER THAT IN THE COMING AGES HE MIGHT SHOW THE INCOMPARABLE RICHES OF HIS GRACE, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. The heavenly realm that the first Adam fell from, has been restored to us by Jesus, when we made our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and gave Him Lordship over our lives. In Romans 8:16-17 we see that, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. And Jesus himself tells us the end of this heritage in Revelation 3:21, To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. As it says in Hebrews 6:11-12, We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure and secure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Isaiah 14:15 (NKJV & NIV) But you are brought down to the grave, to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit. Genesis 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” and Genesis 3:17-19 “Cursed is the ground because of you; By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Isaiah 14:16-17 (NIV) Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: (NKJV) “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world a wilderness and destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

First, we see this is a MAN, not a spirit being like Satan is. Then we see that the world became a wilderness because of this man. Thorns and thistles grew where there was once a perfect garden (Genesis 3:18). The whole world was shaken due to his transgression. The blessings of God turned to the curses of sin, sickness, death, poverty, lack, fear, war and a heavy burden of toil in order to just barely survive death for a short tormented existence. No one could escape death, and after death, death’s prisoners could not return home from their prison of death. Romans 8:19-23 says, For the creation waits with eager longing for the manifestation of the sons of God, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption (death and decay) into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, And we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. We also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body (from death into life). As we see in I Corinthians 15:51-57, Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (in death), but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 14:18-19 (NKJV) “All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house (tomb – NIV & NRSV); But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch. Like a corpse trodden underfoot.

We know that Adam lived 930 years as given in Genesis 5:5, but we have no indication that he was not buried. This may refer to the king of Babylon. It is again obvious that Satan would not have a carcass. But, archaeologists have found evidence that the great pyramid of Giza was built differently than the other Egyptian pyramids which were used for burial. Some Bible scholars believe that the history of the Bible was evidenced within this structure, in pyramid inches for each Bible year, demonstrating in stone, the date of Adam’s birth and fall, the year when God gave Moses the law, the age of, and place in time when the “Stone of Stumbling” would come and open up a whole new realm of existence, and the promised millennium demonstrated in the King’s chamber. Many of these dimensions resemble those of the Tabernacle of Moses, that God gave Israel in the wilderness. Since Adam was created in God’s image and, as Ezekiel 28:12-13&15 says “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; on the day you were created. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. It is speculated that Adam alone knew this information and that he built the pyramid at Giza for his tomb. No one was ever buried in the pyramid at Giza just as Isaiah predicted here in these verses. This is only a theory, but it is incredible that this pyramid reflects so perfectly, the events that we find in the word of God, when it was built millennia before many of these events occurred and this mystery did not begin to unfold until 1865. Eventually, these scholars were even able to predict the precise date of the first day of World War One, from the pyramid structures. Some people believe that Isaiah 19:19-20 and Jeremiah 32:20 are references in the Bible to the pyramid. In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. And: You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, that continue to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself a name. It is amazing that the pyramid actually sits in the middle of Egypt and on the border between the desert and fertile land. It has also been calculated to have been the geographical land mass center of the world prior to the breakup of the continents.

Isaiah 14:20-22 (NKJV) You will not be joined with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities.” “For I will rise up against them,” says the LORD of hosts, “And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, And offspring and posterity,” says the LORD.

Again, this person is not buried. It was Adam’s fault that the land was destroyed and I Corinthians 15:22 tells us, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. That means Adam is responsible for the deaths of everyone, and has therefore slain his people. And, of course, it does fit Babylon also.

YOU WERE IN EDEN, THE GARDEN OF GOD:

As mentioned before, Ezekiel is addressed to the king of Tyre and begins by referring to the wealth he has amassed, by his wisdom and his consequent belief that he is a god. Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.” But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.

Ezekiel 28:6-9 (NIV) says, “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas. Will you then say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.

So here we have a man again. He thinks he’s a god, but he’s going to die like a man. The word man that is used here is Adam. He is beautiful, wise and has shining splendor, just like we saw in Isaiah 14:12.

Now comes the interesting part. Ezekiel 28:11-12, (NIV) The word of the LORD came to me: “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.”

Again, Genesis 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Adam was made in the perfect image of God. And, note Eve’s reasoning for eating of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Genesis 3:4-6, “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. I believe Adam and Eve were already wise, or they wouldn’t have cared about getting more wisdom. They knew its importance, just as Solomon, the man God anointed with wisdom, knew it and spoke of it in Proverbs 4:7-9 Wisdom is the principal thing; Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.” In Genesis 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Eve admitted she was deceived, but, the word does not say Adam was deceived. In fact, Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Adam must have been very wise not to have been deceived; and quite the scientist to stand there and wait for his wife to die before his eyes. I suspect his desire to not be separated from her in this new death state she was in, prompted him to eat.

Ezekiel 28:13 (NIV) 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. (settings and mountings or sockets are confirmed by the NIV, NAS and Amplified Bibles)

Genesis 2:7-8 says, the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. Eden means pleasure or delight and is equated with paradise by Bible scholars. It was specifically designed for Adam and Adam was placed in it. It was Adam’s home, and even though Satan came in the Garden, within the body of the serpent, Adam had dominion over all the creatures of the earth, and had the authority to command that creature to go elsewhere. In John 10:10 Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Certainly, that was Satan’s mission in the Garden of Eden. You do not equate the name of a person’s home with the thief who came to rob it. The home belongs to the rightful owner. Eden was Adam’s home, not Satan’s. Therefore I believe this scripture refers to Adam.

All the stones listed here are stones found on the breastplate worn by the high priest when he ministered before God. As we see in Exodus 39:8-13, They fashioned the breastpiece–the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings. Notice, the stones are the same and the settings are the same. I believe this scripture refers to the anointed ministry God gave Adam over the earth, the double portion anointing that Jesus had, that of both king and priest. As Hebrews 9 tells us, Jesus is our high priest who has entered into the heavenly sanctuary, to perform, once and for all, the duties of high priest, that the earthly priests and temple were only symbols of.

Another place where we find these stones is in the book of Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 21:9 Then one of the angels said, “Come, I WILL SHOW YOU THE BRIDE, THE LAMB’S WIFE.” 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, AND SHOWED ME THE HOLY CITY, JERUSALEM, coming down out of heaven from God. 21:11 IT SHONE WITH THE GLORY OF GOD, and its BRILLIANCE was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 21:19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate (NRSV), the fourth emerald, 21:20 the fifth onyx (NRSV), the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. Hebrews 7:24-25 says, but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. We see in Ephesians 5:27 that the church is to become the spotless bride of Christ. I believe that the body of Christ and the bride are the same, and they are the ones that Jesus speaks about in Revelations 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne; and in Revelations 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will rule and reign as kings with him for a thousand years. Revelations 1:6 and 5:10 also refer to a group of people who are kings and priests before God. Since Jesus has a permanent priesthood and sits on his Father’s throne, it appears that his bride shall also share his double portion anointing as kings and priests before God. And, the city, the New Jerusalem, is that bride and is adorned with the precious stones that Adam had before the fall. As we see in I Corinthians 15:49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man (the first Adam), so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven (the last Adam, Jesus).

Ezekiel 28:14 is an unusual verse. It is like Isaiah 14:12, in that people so ascribed these verses to Satan that the translators almost automatically translate it as if it were. Because of that, I will give you five translations plus an individual word study.

NKJV: “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

NIV: 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.

NRSV: With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire.

Young’s Literal Translation: Thou art an anointed cherub who is covering, and I have set thee in the holy mount, God thou hast been, In the midst of stones of fire thou hast walked up and down.

Lamsa’a Aramaic: You were with the anointed cherub that shelters; and I have set you on the holy mountain of God; and you were safe in the midst of the stones of fire.

1. This scripture starts with the word att for “you”.

2. The word translated “anointed” is not the usual word messiah, it is mimshach which means expansion or outspreading. The last part of the word, mashach is messiah and is considered to be the root word of mimshach. The first part is very similar to mimshal which means dominion or rule, only the last letter being different. To me, this speaks again to the double portion anointing of king and priest. The literal meaning of expansion and outspreading reminds me of the admonition to subdue the whole earth in Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Subduing seemed to be a process Adam and Eve were to engage in, not something that was already accomplished, hence the outspreading, expansion of their influence on the creation.

3. “Cherub” or Kerub means one grasped or held fast. It most often is referring to heavenly beings, but, as we will find with the word angel later on in this study, the words must be studied in their true context to get the real meaning.

4. A derivation of cakak or sakak comes next, meaning to entwine as a screen, to join together, “to cover”, hedge in, to protect and defend. This same word is used to describe the cherubs on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, in that their wings were to entwine on top like a canopy over the mercy seat. To me, this describes the role of Adam and Eve working together, blended as one flesh, to subdue the earth in covenant with God and ministering before God in behalf of His creation.

I would translate this verse more like this: You, the one grasped and held fast, the outspreading and expanding, the entwining, covering, defense and protective hedge, given and set in place by the Holy Elohim; (I like the Amplified version for the rest of the verse) You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire (like the paved work of gleaming sapphire stone upon which the God of Israel walked on Mount Sinai)(Exodus 24:10). That reference is actually in the text of the Amplified Bible. It refers to the concept of blood covenant which is probably taught best in a tape series by Kenneth Copeland. But, I will give a few basics here.

In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, God promised Abram an heir, a son, and promised him offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram believed God about his son, but as to the possession of the land, he asked God, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” Genesis 15:9 So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” :10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. :12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord prophesied over Abram’s offspring and entered into a blood covenant with Abram. :17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. :18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates– :19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, :20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, :21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Blood covenants include several elements. The two parties make a contract with each other to meet each other’s needs and to provide certain services to each other. If families are making covenant, then the one member considered to be the best within the family is chosen to represent the family during the ceremony confirming the contract. At the ceremony, sacrificial animals are split in two and the representatives walk together, up and down through “the way of blood”, between the halves, as they pledge their sacred vows to each other. The representatives mingle their own blood through a cut in the flesh. Bread and Wine are eaten by all, representing the giving of their body and blood, if necessary, in order to fulfill the covenant contract. There is an exchange of weaponry and overcoats, which represent the stature and position of authority of the individuals just as we see in the military. Names of both parties are equally shared from the time of the covenant’s consummation, throughout many generations. All law can be traced back to blood covenants.

God used the blood covenant ceremony with Abraham to settle, once and for all, the question “how do I know what you say is true?” Anyone who enters into a blood covenant, swears by their own life to fulfill the terms of the covenant. Faith and trust can be built only on total commitment to the words of promise. Abraham received the covenant cut of circumcision. Jesus received covenant cuts all over his body, as a fulfillment of the letter of the law in our behalf. He is our sacrificial lamb without spot or wrinkle and he is our representative before the Father. Therefore, we see such scriptures as: Ephesians 6:11 &13 encouraging us to put on the full armor of God (exchanged weaponry and overcoats). And, Romans 8:17 calling us co-heirs or joint-heirs with Christ. And, Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” :14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

We also note in this account that indeed, as we find in Hebrews 12:29 our “God is a consuming fire.” Now let’s look at that reference we found in the Amplified Bible in Ezekiel 28:14 that gave us a cross reference to Exodus 24:10. We see in this account, that God desires to reestablish the covenant ceremony between himself and his people. The laws of their contract are read to all the people, and they also swear to abide under it and are sprinkled with the blood of the covenant (Exodus 24:3-8). Moses is the primary representative of the people but the seventy elders also come up on the “mountain of God” with Moses and eat the bread and drink the wine. Then God appeared to them on the mountain in Exodus 24:10-11 and the stones under his feet glowed clear blue from the intense heat of his presence.

In Ezekiel 28:14 where it says, thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire; incorporates both accounts of God making blood covenant with his people. First, Moses was in the mountain of God with the Elders when fiery stones appeared under God’s feet. The word for “walk” is halak which means to pace up and down alongside someone and converse with them. The word for “midst” is tavek and means to sever, bisect and between halves. These words remind us of God making covenant with Abraham.

I believe this analogy is a reference to the covenant God made with Adam and that was probably reaffirmed in the cool of the day when God came to the Garden to walk with Adam. This same word halak is used in Genesis 3:8 and so is the word tavek used to describe Adam and Eve hiding themselves in the midst of the Garden. God doesn’t covenant with creatures that are not made in his image. Humans understand the need for fellowship, communion and camaraderie with other humans. A dog or cat or monkey might be fun to be with, but they will never replace human contact. This is why God went to all this trouble in the first place; to have creatures in his image to fellowship with and be his family. Of all the creatures God made, Adam could not find a helpmeet (Genesis 2:20). God made Eve out of Adam and for Adam because Adam also needed someone equal to him, to be in covenant relationship with him. So, even if there was Biblical evidence for Satan being a fallen angel, there is no account of God “cutting covenant” with any creatures other than man and his only son Jesus.

This verse also reminds me of something the Last Adam said to us in Luke 13:34 (NKJV) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” What a cry from the heart of God! It is mirrored in Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. :2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” :3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. :4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. :5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, :6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. :7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. :8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. :9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, :10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; :11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. :12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. :13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. :14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. :15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. :16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” God placed Adam over his creation to nurture and protect it, even as He covenanted with Adam to nurture and protect him. Adam was anointed to overspread, overshadow and husband the earth, just as God desires with all his heart, to do for us.

Ezekiel 28:15 (NKJV) You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. Ezekiel 28:16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

1. In verse 15, the word for “perfect” is Tamiym, which has many corollaries in English, i.e. blameless, entire, whole, complete, full, sound, without spot or blemish, sincere, upright, truth and integrity.

2. The word “ways” is derek meaning the course of life or mode of action, a road or journey.

3. The word “day” is yowm and it refers to the heat of the day.

4. The word “create” is bara and is the word used in Genesis to describe the creation of Adam, both male and female.

5. The word for “iniquity” is the Hebrew word ‘evel from which we get our word evil.

6. The word “found” is matsa which means to appear or to come forth.

Adam was created in God’s image, and this scriptural imagery fits him and his life before the fall. He was created without flaw or lack and he lived in abundance. His life course followed God’s direction. He was a son of the day not the darkness, and he was a special creation of Elohim. He continued this way until the day evil appeared or came forth in him.

In verse 16;

1. the word for “violence” is chamac which means cruelty, damage, injustice and oppressor. It was cruel of Adam to stand by and watch Eve, to see if she would die from eating the forbidden fruit. It was unjust because he was the one given the admonition from God before Eve was created. All of creation was damaged from his act and he became the oppressor by dooming all of the creation to the pangs of death.

2. The phrase “and you sinned” contains the word chata meaning to miss, to forfeit, to lack, to bear the blame, to lead astray. Adam did that; he missed the mark, he forfeited his authority, he caused the world to transform from a place of abundant blessing to accursed lack, and he bears the blame for the reign of death on earth, as we see in Romans 5:17 and I Corinthians 15:22. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. And; For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

3. “So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.(NIV) Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.(NKJV)” The main word in the phrase “drove you in disgrace” or “cast you out as a profane thing” is chalal and means to profane, or break one’s word, to wedge open, to wound or dissolve. A metaphor seems to form around this word, indicating that to break a vow or promise, rends a hole or wound of great spiritual and material significance. Anyone who has experienced betrayal at the hands of a loved one, can witness to this being true. Adam wedged open and dissolved the sacred blood covenant bond, the relationship of love and trust between God and man. When Jesus died on the cross and said “It is finished”, the massive sanctuary curtain in the Temple which hid the Holy of Holies from the people was torn from the top down, indicating that Jesus reopened “the way” to intimacy with the Father. We are now encouraged to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

4. The word “expelled” or “destroyed” is abad and means to wander away, to lose oneself, to be undone, to perish, break or destroy. In English it seems like God threw Adam out of the garden (Genesis 3:23) and the mountain of God. In Hebrew, the whole burden seems to rest on Adam’s action. He wandered away from obedience to God and lost himself and the whole world in the process.(Mark 8:35-36) God did not punish Adam for his transgression. Adam’s faithless sin tore the spiritual connection between heaven and earth. And, the source of life, intimacy with God, could, ultimately, only be restored by an ever loving and faithful son. Death in the spiritual and material realms was a natural consequence of that breach. The sacred double anointing on Adam as king of the earth and intercessor and priest over the earth was lost. He was no longer king, he was thrown out of his capital throne room of the Garden of God, east of Eden. He was no longer priest, he was expelled from the very mountain of God, where he desired to place his throne above God’s throne (Isaiah 14:13-14). He could no longer walk on the fiery stones of covenant relationship with God and his spiritual authority was lost.

Ezekiel 28:17

NKJV: “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

NIV: 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.

NRSV: Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.

NWT: Your heart became haughty because of your beauty. You brought your wisdom to ruin on account of your beaming splendor. Onto the earth I will throw you, before kings I will set you, (for them) to look (or gaze) upon you.

Lamsa’s Aramaic: Since your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, now your wisdom and your beauty are corrupted; I will cast you to the ground before kings, that you may be a spectacle before them.

There is a unique flavor to this verse, which is why I included several translations. From my own word study, I might translate this verse: “You exalted your haughty heart and made it fly high and soar aloft, because of your ideal beauty; your skillful wisdom was perverted, corrupted and ruined because of your brightness and splendor. You have been cast down onto the firm earth and I made kings turn their faces toward you to perceive joyfully the spectacle of you.” This verse so well sums up the whole report in Isaiah 14:12-20, the bright shining splendor, cast down on the hard ground without a grave and being the gazing stock of all, who muse: “Is this the man…?” It’s hard for me to imagine anyone since Adam having such pure pride. Since Adam fell, we have all received a fallen nature. Adam and Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, were the only beings to experience this ideal beauty, brightness and splendor on this earth. Both have experienced existence as the exact image and likeness of Elohim. Adam got lost in it. Miraculously, our Lord Jesus maintained humility and meekness in the face of the fullness of the anointing of the Father. (John 3:34) How awesome! It is easy to see why Adam could mess up. All he knew was this grandeur and excellence of God. It was impossible for him to conceive or comprehend the ramifications of his sin until it was too late. In the same way, it is hard for us to conceive or comprehend what we have become in Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:2 (NKJV) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NRSV) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Ezekiel 28:18 (NIV) By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.

This reference to desecrated sanctuaries reminds me of Hebrews 9:19-24 (NIV) When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. :21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. :22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. :23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. :24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. (NKJV) 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. :12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Here we see that Jesus entered the Tabernacle of God in heaven and cleansed the heavenly instruments of ceremonial worship with his own blood. Now, why in the world would he have needed to cleanse the heavenly temple? How would the heavenly temple get defiled in the first place? I think Ezekiel gives us insight here. By implication, we can surmise that Adam probably had access to the heavenly temple, as part of his role as priest over God’s creation. His treason reached into the heavenly spheres and defiled the very sanctuary of God. It took the blood of an obedient son to cleanse the sanctuary, and that same son, when…(he)… had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:12)(NIV) Hebrews 7:24 And,… because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. :25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

The reference to ashes in Ezekiel 28:18 reminds me of Genesis 3:19 (NIV) By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” And the words of Abraham in Genesis 18:27 (NIV) Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. And Job in Job 30:19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

Ezekiel 28:19 (NIV) All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'”

Thus ends our story of The Shining One, the son of the dawn. His end is ashes and all who knew him are appalled. Satan is still a spirit being in the heavenly realm. Adam’s sin has appalled all mankind and he is reduced to dust and ashes.

CHAPTER 4: BRIGHT MORNING STARS, FIRST AND LAST ADAMS, ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END.

In Chapter 3 we looked at the first “Shining One,” “Morning Star,” “Son of the Dawn,” Adam. The footnote from Isaiah 14:12 in the Amplified Bible told us that the Hebrew word Helel or Heylel, often translated “Lucifer,” was actually equivalent to the name given to Jesus in Revelation 22:16. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” But, this also has implications for us; in Revelation 2:26-29 Jesus said to his church: TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES AND DOES MY WILL TO THE END, I will give authority over the nations– ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’ – just as I have received authority from my Father. I WILL ALSO GIVE HIM THE MORNING STAR. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. This “Morning Star” is a reward Christians are to seek, by overcoming the world and the things of the world. As we see in 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith. :5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And, 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world. Peter also explains that we seek a reward like he saw in Jesus on the mount of transfiguration; 2 Peter 1:17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” :18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. :19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

If Adam was a morning star, and Jesus is a morning star, and we are to have the morning star rise in us if we overcome, what does the morning star represent? I believe the morning star represents soul and body salvation, and the consequence of those salvations, immortality. Jesus had overcome in all areas of life when he was glorified on the mount of transfiguration. Nevertheless, he chose to hide that immortality (Ezekiel 44:9-19), and lay down his life anyway, for us. As it says in Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus…now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. And, in John 11:25 Jesus said to (Martha), “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet he shall live. :26 “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus also said, John 8:51 “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” :52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.‘ Matthew 16:27 (NKJV) “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. :28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Now is a good time to review all those scriptures on the first and last Adam. 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV) And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. :46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. :47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. :48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. :49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. :50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. :51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; :52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. :53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. :54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” :55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

1 Corinthians 15:20 (NKJV) But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. :21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. :22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. :23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. :24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. :25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. :26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Romans 5:12 (NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned; :14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. :17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, MUCH MORE those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Jesus Christ.

It becomes obvious from these scriptures, that overcoming death is the topic of the first and last Adam discourses. Jesus made some pretty outrageous statements about his disciples overcoming death. I ask you now, what he asked Martha. Do you believe him? Are you alive? Do you believe that if you continue to do His will, keep His word, and continue to believe in Him, that you will NEVER TASTE DEATH? It does sound like it may be possible that some of the people Jesus preached to may still be alive. Are you open to that possibility? Meditate on those words of Jesus. If ever there was a time to believe them, it is now. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Read through the following scriptures carefully and meditate on all the word pictures that we saw in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, that are again reflected in these verses. Let the Holy Spirit minister to you what God would have you receive in your life.

Matthew 13:40 (NRSV) Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. :41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, :42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. :43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

Daniel 12:1 (NIV) “At that time Michael (literally – “the one who is like God”), the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people–everyone whose name is found written in the book–will be delivered. :2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. :3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV) Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. :2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. :3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. :4 “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; :5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy;

Joel 2:1 (NKJV) Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: :2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. :3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.

Ephesians 5:13 (NRSV) but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, :14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, :17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, :18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, :19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: :13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NKJV) For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. :2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, :3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. :4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. :5 (NIV) Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Notice that in 2 Corinthians, Paul refers to death as being “unclothed” or “naked”. He refers to putting on a glorified body and being made immortal as “being clothed upon” or “further clothed”. In the scriptures to follow, the long discourse in 1 Thessalonians, we see death described as “being asleep” and we are admonished not to fall asleep in death as others do. We are told that we are children of the light and of the day and should therefore live in the hope of our body salvation and indeed obtain this final salvation.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NKJV) But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. :14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. :15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. :16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. :17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. :18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. :2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. :3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. :4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. :5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. :6 Therefore let us not sleep, (in death) as others do, but let us watch and be sober. :7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. :8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. :9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, :10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. :11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

Matthew 16:27 (NKJV) “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. :28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; :2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. :3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (Genesis 32:30)

CHAPTER 5: “I BEHELD SATAN AS LIGHTNING FALL FROM HEAVEN”

In Chapter 3, our footnote from the Amplified Bible from Isaiah 14:12, we saw this reference; “The application of the name (Lucifer) has existed since the third century A.D., and is based on the supposition that Luke 10:18 is an explanation of Isaiah 14:12, which some authorities feel is not true.” Looking at the context of Luke 10:18, we see that Jesus had just sent out his seventy disciples to do the same works they had seen him doing previously. We pick up the story with their joyful return, realizing that they were able to do the same works Jesus had done, without him being present. They were particularly impressed with the fact that demons obeyed them when they cast them out.

Luke 10:17 The seventy returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” :18 (NIV) He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. :19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. :20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:18 (NRSV) He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.

It seems really clear to me that, in this context, the comment Jesus made about seeing Satan falling from heaven was directly related to his seventy disciples, scouring the country-side in thirty-five groups of two, casting out demons and preaching the message that the kingdom of God was at hand. Can you imagine what would happen to New Jersey if seventy people like Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts, Katherine Kuhlman, R.W. Schambach, Kenneth Hagin, Ken and Gloria Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, etc. were all let loose on it to preach and heal at the same time? I’ll just bet that there was a real profound affect in the heavenlies. Jesus said he saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning. This is the only account we have of him saying that. Jesus had some pretty big meetings where the Bible records thousands of people were miraculously healed, delivered and fed. Yet, he never made this comment before. There is a special power in people of one mind carrying out the will of God on a large scale. It appears to me, that even Jesus was impressed with the results.

Does this statement from Jesus mean that Satan is a fallen angel who fell from heaven before Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden? I don’t think there is any evidence for that. Especially, in light of Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But, if we examine the teachings of Jesus with regard to the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, I think we get a profound insight into the battleground in the heavenly realms.

Luke 13:28 “There will be

weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. :29 “They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.

Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. :2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Luke 7:28 “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Matthew 8:11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. :12 “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: :7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ :8 “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Matthew 11:11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The point of this little study was to prove that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God were synonymous terms for Jesus. Now, lets look at what Jesus said in Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; :21 “nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

If the kingdom of God is within us, then the kingdom of heaven is also within us. When the disciples were casting demons out of the lives of people, they were casting Satan out of heaven, and drawing the people into the kingdom of heaven. The whole game down here is about people. This earth was created for people and the lives of people are the most important thing to God. Matthew 25:31 (NKJV) “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. :32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, :34″Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: :35 ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; :36 ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ :37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? :38 ‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? :39 ‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ :40 “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Another interesting scripture about heaven appears in 2 Corinthians 12:1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: :2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago; whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows; such a one was caught up to the third heaven. :3 And I know such a man; whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows; :4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. :5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.

Nicodemus must have been shaken by several things Jesus told him when he adventured out in the night to have a private meeting with him. Jesus said things like; John 3:3 (NIV) In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ” :4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” :5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. :6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. :7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15:49 (NIV) And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. Jesus then said to Nicodemus; John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” :9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. :10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? :11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. :12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

Remember Mark 6:46-51 and Matthew 14:22-32 and John 6:15-21? Jesus went up in the mountain to pray and the disciples tried to cross the lake in a storm. He saw them, over three miles away, straining in the storm. I don’t think it was a natural seeing, it must have been in the spirit realm. And so he went for a walk on the water. Mark said he would have passed them by, and John said as soon as he stepped in the boat, they instantly were at their desired destination. Wow, now was Jesus telling Nicodemus the truth? This guy knows how to fly! You just don’t know where he came from or where you’re going to end up when you go along for the ride. Ask Philip the evangelist. In Acts 8:26-40 an angel tells him God wants him to head down south to the Gaza road. Then he’s told to run along side a chariot and witness to the passenger. He leads the man to Jesus, baptizes him and poof, as Philip is finishing the baptism, he disappears and reappears in Azotus, where he begins his next crusade. The story is told so matter-of-factly, that Luke makes it sound like it’s no big deal.

Nicodemus could hardly bear what Jesus had told him already. But, the next thing Jesus said was even worse. John 3:13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. There he goes again. Sitting right in front of this important, hot-shot religious leader, who could probably make his life real cushie, and Jesus says “I’m in heaven even as we speak.” In John 1:51 Jesus said to Nathanael, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” I sometimes wonder if other people read the same Bible I do. I certainly don’t hear them talking about some of this stuff. And Jesus added to all this by saying; John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Did Jesus tell us to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”? Are we “born again”? Are we supposed to fly around like the wind? Are we supposed to be in heaven even as we sit on earth? Are the angels of God supposed to ascend and descend on us, bringing God’s kingdom to earth? I think so. I have experiences some miracles of God in my life, but not like Jesus and the apostles saw. It seems important to me that we should keep ourselves open to those manifestations of the kingdom of heaven that are mentioned in the Bible, in order for God to use us as he needs to in these last days. No, I haven’t been translated in the Spirit from one place to another yet, but I have been eagerly awaiting it to happen for the last twenty years. And, I understand a few Christians have experienced this. Someday….

Heaven. When we give our lives to Jesus, we become heavens ambassadors on earth (Proverbs 13:17). The kingdom of heaven is within us. When we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the gifts in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14, and the book of Acts, then we have literally opened ourselves to being fully immersed in the consuming fires of our God. Heaven is where God makes his home. We are the apple of his eye. (Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalms 17:8 and Zechariah 2:8) Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and have our being. Beloved, now we are the children of God. (1 John 3:1-2, John 1:12, Romans 8:16) Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If God is in heaven, and I’m the apple of his eye, and I live and move inside of him, it sounds like I’m in heaven too. It sounds like we are supposed to consider heaven to be our home and call upon, or requisition, all the riches he’s got stored for us in that fabulous place with pure gold streets. Do you have a storage room? That’s what the place called heaven is to be for you. Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; :20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. :21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You don’t get on you knees and beg God to come get your boots out of your storage room for you. You go get them yourself and thank God for providing them for you while you put them on. In the same way we are entreated to; Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Have you ever awakened, looked out the window and seen deep snow outside? Did you come boldly into your storage room to find boots to help in a time of snow? Think about it, meditate on that one long and hard. I think you’ll get the picture!

CHAPTER 6: DO ALL ANGELS HAVE WINGS?

The word translated angel from the Hebrew language is malak. According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English lexicon, malak literally means “messenger”, one sent with a message, a prophet, a priest, a herald, a messenger of peace, a messenger of God, an interpreter who declares what is right. In the King James Bible, malak is interpreted messenger 98 times, angel 111 times and ambassador 4 times.

The word translated angel in the Greek language is aggelos. According to Wigram, Green and Thayer it means a messenger, an envoy, one who is sent, and by implication in Revelation, pastor. In the King James Bible, aggelos is interpreted messenger 7 times, and angel 181 times.

The English word angel is the diminutive form of the Latin word Angelus which means messenger. Angelus is a derivative of the Greek word Aggelos. In English, when we see the word angel in the Bible, we visualize a heavenly, celestial being with wings. But, this word can only be accurately translated in its context. Whenever you see the word “angel” in the Bible from now on, finish the translation by inserting the word “messenger” in its place, reread the text, and see if you get a different meaning out of the passage.

In the Hebrew language especially, there was an implicit understanding that not all messengers of God were heavenly celestial beings. Routinely, prophets and priests were called messengers. The translators into English sometimes missed that, and a case in point is in the books of Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai, the prophet and messenger of God, tells of his experiences with Joshua the high priest in Haggai 1:12-13 and Haggai 2:10-15. Zechariah relates a similar account of the incidents in Zechariah 3:1-9, but he doesn’t name Haggai. Since Haggai isn’t specifically named in this account, the translators missed it and call Haggai the “angel” of the Lord. I’m sure Haggai was a sweet guy, but I bet he chuckles when he sees us reading about him and calling him an angel. I’ll include the scriptures below so you can compare them and see for yourself.

Haggai 1:12 (NKJV) Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD. :13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the LORD.”

Haggai 2:10 … the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, :11 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, :12 “If one carries holy flesh in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches…any food, will it become holy?” Then the priests answered and said, “No.” :13 And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.” :14 Then Haggai answered and said, ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer is unclean. :15 ‘And now, carefully consider from this day forward: from before a stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the LORD; :19 But from this day I will bless you.‘ ”

Zechariah 3:1 (NKJV) Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. :2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” :3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. :4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” :5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by. :6 Then the Angel of the LORD admonished Joshua, saying, :7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; … :8 ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions…For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH. :9 For behold, the stone That I have laid before Joshua: Upon the stone…’And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Messengers of God seem to come with an anointing. For example, prophets and priests are anointed messengers. The Hebrew word for king is melek, which is very similar to malak that means messenger. And, as we will study shortly, the anointing of king had a prophetic component to it. Incidently, the Hebrew word for prophet is Nabi, and the Greek word for prophet is Prophetes. The Hebrew word for fallen is Naphal, and there is an interesting word in the Greek, Ptoma, which means “fallen thing.” There is a doctrine among theologians about “fallen angels” that followed “Lucifer”, or Satan in rebellion against God and were thrown out of heaven. There are two scriptures used to prove this theory, so we will analyze what they say, and then see if there are indications in the scriptures of who these “angels” or messengers may be.

2 Peter 2:1 (NKJV) But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you,…:2 And many will follow their destructive ways,…:3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. :4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; :5 and did not spare the ancient world,..(from the flood).:6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,… :7 and delivered righteous Lot,…:9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, :10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, :11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. :12 But these,…speak evil of the things they do not understand, :15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; :16 but he was rebuked..(and)..a dumb donkey restrained the madness of the prophet.

Jude 1:3…I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. :4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed,… ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. :5 But I want to remind you,…that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. :6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; :7 as Sodom and Gomorrah,…having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. :8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. :9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” :10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know;…:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

First, please notice that the subject of these scriptures are false teachers, false prophets, or false messengers (angels) that existed in the early church and were leading Christians into defilement and immorality.

Secondly, we see that there were “angels” or messengers who sinned and did not abide in their proper domain in the past. Then we see that God did not spare them but cast them into hell, and reserved them in chains under darkness UNTIL THE JUDGEMENT DAY. He did the same with the ungodly before the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. It seems to me that the “angels” or messengers chained in hell until the Judgement Day cannot be Satan and his evil hosts, because he is still the prince of this world and he and his legions still exercise authority on heaven and earth. Where the Christians use the authority Jesus gave to them, to bind and loose things in heaven and earth, there Satan has no control. But, if it were Satan and his demons that were now chained and reserved in hell for the judgement, then there would be no evil on the earth and we would be living in the millennium now.

Next, we see that the false messengers Peter and Jude are warning us about, speak evil of dignitaries and authorities. They point out that the true messengers of God don’t even revile or accuse Satan, but respect God’s authority and control over him as supreme. They compare these men to Balaam of Beor who was a prophet or messenger (“angel”) of Baal (Numbers 22:41, 23:23, 24:1). He was hired by the enemies of Israel to curse Israel so that the enemies could defeat them. God would not allow Balaam to curse his people, and the Spirit of God came upon him to bless Israel abundantly (Numbers 24:2). According to Numbers 31:6, Balaam advised Israel’s enemies to entice them into Baal worship so the curse of God would come on them. The plan had limited success until Moses hung the offenders. You can read more about Balaam in Numbers 22:4 to 24:25. He was eventually slain by Israel. I do suspect that this Balaam is one of those “angels” or messengers who are in chains of darkness until the Judgement Day. Can we find others in the Bible? Let’s see.

1 Samuel 9:1 (KJV & NKJV) There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish :2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:27 (NKJV) Samuel said to Saul, stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.” 1 Sam 10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: “Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance? :2 “When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; :3-5 “Then you shall go on forward from there and come to…the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets…and they will be prophesying. :6 “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. :7 “And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you. :9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. :10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. :11 And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” :12…Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 15:26 (NKJV) But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

1 Samuel 31:8 (NKJV) So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons FALLEN on Mount Gilboa. :9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. :10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

Notice the story of Saul. He was the best of the best in Israel and God anointed him to be king. With the anointing came an additional gift of prophesy. The same thing happened to David and Solomon. Since Saul was a prophet, that meant he was a messenger from God. But, HE REJECTED THE WORD OF THE LORD, and God rejected him as king over Israel. Notice when he died, they BEHEADED him, hung up his body as a trophy, and put his armor in the temple of Ashtoreth, the wife goddess of Baal. The word they used to describe his death is NAPHAL, OR FALLEN. Here was an extremely GOOD MAN, who became a FALLEN MESSENGER (ANGEL) OF GOD, WHO REJECTED THE WORD OF THE LORD, AND WAS BEHEADED.

Matthew 11:2 (NKJV) And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples :3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?“ Luke 7:21 (NKJV) And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. :22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. :23 “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” :24 When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? :25 “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. :26 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. :27 “This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.‘ :28 “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11 (NKJV) “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. :12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. :13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. :14 “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Mark 6:24 So she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist!” :25 Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” :26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. :27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, :28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. :29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

Notice the story of John the Baptist. Jesus, the son of God, said that John the Baptist was not only the greatest prophet of all time, but also the greatest man ever born of a woman. Jesus called him a prophet, and more than a prophet. He called him “my messenger (angel)”. After announcing to the world that Jesus was the Messiah, John, who was probably waiting for Jesus to get him out of jail, sent his messengers (angels) to ask Jesus, “Are you him or do we wait for another?” Jesus answered, “Blessed are those who aren’t offended by me.” In essence, JOHN WAS REJECTING THE TRUE AND LIVING WORD OF GOD (John 1:1). John was BEHEADED in prison and his disciples entombed his corpse. The Greek word used here in Mark 6:29 for “corpse” is PTOMA, which means FALLEN THING. Here was the GREATEST MAN and GREATEST PROPHET ever born of a woman, whom Jesus called “MY MESSENGER (angel)”, who REJECTED THE WORD OF GOD, was BEHEADED, and was called a “FALLEN THING”. Pretty uncanny, isn’t it? Now, I would never judge whether Saul or John the Baptist are in heaven or hell. I only know that, scripturally, they are two human “fallen (angels) messengers”. Whether any of the celestial being type angel-messengers were ever disobedient and fell from God’s grace, I have no evidence.

I do know that Jesus said, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; (Matthew 25:41). So, hell was prepared for the devil and his messengers. I don’t know if his messengers are demon spirits, humans, or both. I would imagine they are both, since God has heavenly celestial being messengers and human messengers, you would expect the counterfeit to look the same.

Jesus did warn us about false prophets, teachers, or messengers in Matthew 7:15 (NIV) “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. :16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? :17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. :18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. :19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. :20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

What are good and bad fruits? We are told specifically in Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; :20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions :21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. :22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, :23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. :24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. :25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit or keep in step with the Spirit. :26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

I like a scripture in Proverbs that expresses this well; Proverbs 13:17. (NRSV) A bad messenger brings trouble, but a faithful envoy, healing. After doing a word study on this verse, I would say it like this: A morally wrong, ungodly and wicked messenger (angel-malak) FALLS (naphal) into evil (ra), but a trustworthy, faithful and true ambassador is curative like a medicine, bringing healing, deliverance and wholesomeness with a yielding spirit. The word for ambassador is tsiyr (like the Russian word Czar) and literally means hinge, something that is pressed in turning, and is constrained by a principal, a herald, an errand-doer, an ambassador or messenger. This reminds me of John 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father trusted Jesus to speak only the words he told Jesus to speak, and therefore trusted to give him the unlimited power of the fullness of the Spirit of God. Let these words guide us to an understanding of how to do the same in Jesus’s name.

CHAPTER 7: GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN

Now we come to the ULTIMATE QUESTION and the ULTIMATE MYSTERY of God. So many people, who are unbelievers and do not know the love of God, say things like “how could a loving God send people to hell for eternity?” Especially, if you believe God created the devil for the purpose of giving people free choice. Then, if God made the evil one, how can he damn his deceived children to hell forever? I think these words are words of rebellion; the rebellious child who refuses to give his parent credit for being sensible and loving. A child who wants to blame his sins on his creator. Isaiah 45:9 (NIV) “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? Even in the face of eternal damnation they scorn and sneer at God, rather than reverencing Him for the incomparable wisdom and love it took to create everything. And then to send His only son to die for sinful man; my, my, such a BEING deserves our awe and respect beyond measure. But, to the children of the light he grants grace and truth. Here in this chapter lies the incomparable treasure of the heart of our God. If you have asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you already have experiential knowledge of the grandeur of his grace and love toward you. But, if you have lost loved ones to hell, let your heart be assured by this chapter. GOD’S LOVE NEVER FAILS!

How often we hear this scripture being quoted among Christians; 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Or, 1 Timothy 2:3 (NIV) This is good, and pleases God our Savior, :4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. But, have you ever heard those scriptures quoted in conjunction with these? Daniel 4:35 (NIV & NRSV) All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What are you doing?” Or have you read Isaiah 46:9 (NIV) Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. :10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

What was declared from the beginning? Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus Christ as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” 1 John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 2 Corinthians 5:19 (NIV) God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. John 3:17 (NIV) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 1 Timothy 4:10 (KJV) therefore… we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. Even Jesus, our Lord, stated the will and mind of God when he said, John 12:32 (KJV & NKJV) “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” :33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. Jesus was “lifted up” from the earth on the cross. If the word of God is true, then he will also draw all men to himself.

You may well ask; is God’s will being done in a world where men say “Jesus is anathema (accursed, religiously banned)” (1 Corinthians 12:3); in a world “where the secret of lawlessness does already work” (1 Thessalonians 2:7)? Paul tells us that God has a secret of His own to counteract this secret of lawlessness. Ephesians 1:9 HAVING MADE KNOWN TO US THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL, ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN HIMSELF, :10 that in the DISPENSATION OF THE FULLNESS OF THE TIMES He might GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; in Him. The key here is ” in the dispensation of the fullness of times” for contrary to traditional “teachings of men”, the ages of God do not end at the Judgement, but continue until Romans 11:36 is fulfilled “FOR OF HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Acts 3:21 says Jesus Christ, “whom heaven must receive UNTIL THE TIMES OF RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS, which God has SPOKEN BY the mouth of all HIS holy PROPHETS SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.” This restitution of all things, this gathering together in one, all things in Christ is an answer to Jesus’s prayer in John 17:20-21 where He asked that ALL may be ONE even as He and the Father are ONE. And, as he told us to pray in Matthew 6:10, your kingdom come, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

God’s will and God’s pleasure are greater than the religious “traditions of man” would have us believe. As Micah says in Micah 7:18, (NKJV) Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. Or, (NRSV) He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency. Yes, God is angry with the wickedness of men and even now is unleashing His wrath upon them. But, as Isaiah 57:15-16 says, (NIV) For this is what the high and lofty One says– he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. (NKJV) For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made. This scripture proves that God does not want to destroy those spirits and souls He has made. God’s nature is that of creator, not destroyer. For this reason he created a being to do the work of destruction and evil, and fashioned him for that purpose from the beginning. Let’s review some of those scriptures from Chapter One.

NIV John 8:44 You belong to your father, THE DEVIL, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. NKJV 1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, FOR THE DEVIL HAS SINNED FROM THE BEGINNING. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Isaiah 54:16 (NKJV) “Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I HAVE CREATED THE SPOILER TO DESTROY. Isaiah 45:6 I AM THE LORD, and there is none else. :7 I form the light, and create darkness: I MAKE PEACE AND CREATE EVIL: I the LORD do all these things. Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; FOR YOU CREATED ALL THINGS, AND BY YOUR WILL THEY EXIST AND WERE CREATED.” (NKJV) Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. :16 FOR BY HIM (JESUS) ALL THINGS WERE CREATED that are IN HEAVEN AND that are on EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THRONES OR DOMINIONS OR PRINCIPALITIES OR POWERS. ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. (Ephesians 6:11 (NKJV) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes and wiles of the DEVIL. :12 For WE DO NOT WRESTLE against FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES, AGAINST POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS AGE, AGAINST SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES.) ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. Colossians 1:17 AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. :18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MAY HAVE THE PREEMINENCE. :19 For it PLEASED THE FATHER that IN HIM ALL the FULLNESS SHOULD DWELL, :20 and BY HIM TO RECONCILE ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

As we saw earlier in this book, God had a purpose in exposing his beautiful creation and children to evil. At the end of Chapter One we saw how God subjected us to this fallen state IN THE HOPE THAT WE WOULD OVERCOME in all areas of life (Romans 8:20). And we are led to believe that Enoch did in fact please God in His walk with Him, insomuch that he was translated (Hebrews 11:5) and hence overcame the final enemy death. But, there are many areas to overcome, including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We also saw in the beginning of Chapter Four, some of the prizes promised in the book of Revelation “to him who overcomes.” Take the time to read all the promises to the Overcomers in Revelation Chapters Two and Three. How can we have a victory if there is no enemy to overcome? God provided an enemy and our champion to overcome our enemy. The rest is up to us. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling; :13 FOR IT IS GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU both to will and to do FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE.

As we saw in Chapter Two, Job had not yet overcome in some areas, even though God said that he was perfect and upright. Job 32:1 tells us that Job was righteous in his own eyes, which sounds a lot like pride of life. I think we are all too familiar with that one. We may lick it in one area of life, and boing!, up it pops somewhere else. But, Job had one enormous thing in his favor; he had a vision that kept him from perishing, the hope that purifies. Job 23:10 “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job, along with James and Peter millennia later could, at least in part; ” count it all joy when you fall into various trials, :3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. :4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect, mature, entire and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4 NKJV) 1 Peter 1:6 (NKJV) In this you greatly rejoice,…though now you have been grieved by various trials, :7 that the trying of the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, :8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, :9 receiving the end of your faith; the salvation of your souls.

Jesus is the pattern son who spoke the words that teach us how to walk the road to full salvation. He admonished us to be hearers and DOERS of his words, because hearing without doing will fail. Ephesians 4:11-13 explains how the five fold ministries are given by God to support us “TILL WE ALL COME to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto A (ONE) PERFECT MAN, TO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST;”

In Chapter One we established that Jesus is light, and we see him expressing that plainly in John 8:12 when he said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Did you notice what John said about that light in John 1:9? He said, “That was the true Light, WHICH LIGHTETH EVERY MAN THAT COMETH INTO THE WORLD.” (KJV) Has Jesus “enlightened” every man that comes into the world? How can this be so? Well, Paul said almost the same thing to the men of Athens in Acts 17:22-32 when he spoke to them of their unknown god of whom Paul preached; “…God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, SINCE HE GIVES TO ALL LIFE, BREATH, AND ALL THINGS. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, “so that they should seek the Lord, IN THE HOPE that they might grope for Him and find Him, THOUGH HE IS NOT FAR FROM EACH ONE OF US; “FOR IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘FOR WE ARE ALSO HIS OFFSPRING.'” In Romans 1:18, Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, :19 BECAUSE WHAT MAY BE KNOWN OF GOD IS MANIFEST in them, for God has shown it to them. :20 For SINCE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD HIS invisible ATTRIBUTES ARE CLEARLY SEEN, BEING UNDERSTOOD BY THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE, even His eternal power and Godhead, SO THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE.” And in Titus 2:11; “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” In 1 Corinthians 11:3 he tells us, “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ…” Even Jesus said to Pilate in John 19:11, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.”

Does this seem confusing? If God is really all that sovereign, why doesn’t He lead all people to a saving knowledge of himself now? 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, :6 who gave Himself A RANSOM FOR ALL, TO BE TESTIFIED IN DUE TIME. 1 Corinthians 15:22 (NKJV) For as in Adam all die, EVEN SO IN CHRIST ALL SHALL BE MADE ALIVE. :23 But each one IN HIS OWN ORDER: (KJV-But every man in his own order:) So, God has an order for calling all men to himself, and in due time, this will be testified. Did you ever notice in John 14:6, that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Compare that to what he said in John 6:44 and 65 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;” and “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” Do you see this; no one comes to the Father but by Jesus, and no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him. If this be true, isn’t it only fair that; “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18) Isn’t it only fair that, “JESUS, who was made a little lower than Elohim, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, SO THAT by the grace of God HE MIGHT TASTE DEATH FOR EVERYONE.” (Hebrews 2:9 (NIV) and Psalm 8:5 original Hebrew and NRSV)

If these things be true, where did theocracy get the doctrine of eternal punishment? A lot of the problem is in the translation of the words everlasting, eternal, etc. In the Hebrew, the word most often translated eternal is olam. Olam, technically means “a vast age”, or “to the age”, or “age lasting”, or “long duration”, or “antiquity”. It implies time or space beyond the vanishing point and therefore can refer to the vastness of the universe. Definitely, it’s a long time, but not infinite in duration. In the Greek, the word aion or aionios is most often translated eternal, but it also means “age” or “age lasting”. Technically, aion means “time out of mind” or a period of indefinite (not infinite) duration. W.E. Vine emphasizes that “aion” does not ascribe a length to the duration as much as it describes time in relation to a period which is marked by its spiritual and moral characteristics. Similarly, aionios describes an undefined duration of time. Dr. Robert Young, who wrote the Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, is one scholar who believed strongly that these words meant precisely “age-lasting”. Because of the long held doctrinal beliefs that hell is eternal, many modern scholars actually define these words as meaning “eternal” in their lexicons. But, as we study this chapter, ask yourself, “if I translate these words ‘eternal’ is it consistent with what these scriptures are saying?”

Other words translated eternal are:

Hebrew words and their meanings:

ad – duration or continuity

ade ad – durations of duration

tamid – continually

alam – hidden time

qedem – what is before in time or place

tsemithuth – extinction

le-orek yamim – for length of days

le-elom – to the age

le-dor va-dor – to generation and generation

le-olam, va-ed – to the age and onward

netsach – constantly, pre-eminence

kol hay-yamim – all the days

Greek words and their meanings:

pantote – always, at all time

eis pantas – to all the ages

aidos – perpetual power, perpetual chains

aei – always

dienekes – continuously

pote – once, at any time

pro – before

Well, isn’t there a day of Judgement and the consequence of the Lake of Fire for the ungodly? Yes, there certainly is; and quite frankly, I wouldn’t want to spend two minutes there, let alone a vast age of any duration. But, have you ever studied the qualities of and purpose of fire in the scriptures? Let’s start with Hebrews 12:28-29 …let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,:29 for our “God is a consuming fire.” Deuteronomy 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Psalm 50:3 (NIV) Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. Psalm 97:3 (NIV) Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. In Matthew 3:11-12 and Luke 3:16-17, John the Baptist said of Jesus; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (NIV) Praise God, that is fantastic news for God’s good wheat, He’s going to burn up our CHAFF and only our FRUITS will remain. Do you remember the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV)

And, what does God use to burn the chaff? Acts 2:1-4 :1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. :2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. :3 Then there appeared to them DIVIDED TONGUES, AS OF FIRE, AND one SAT UPON EACH OF THEM. :4 AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BEGAN TO SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES, AS THE SPIRIT GAVE THEM UTTERANCE. 1 Corinthians 14:2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. :5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, 14:18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 14:21 In the law it is written: “WITH MEN OF OTHER TONGUES AND OTHER LIPS WILL I SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE; And YET, for all that, THEY WILL NOT HEAR ME,” says the Lord. Isaiah 28:9 (NKJV) “WHOM WILL HE TEACH KNOWLEDGE? AND WHOM WILL HE MAKE TO UNDERSTAND the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? (Hebrews 5:12- 6:2) :10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” :11 FOR WITH STAMMERING LIPS AND ANOTHER TONGUE HE WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, :12 To whom He said, “THIS IS THE REST with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “THIS IS THE REFRESHING”; YET THEY WOULD NOT HEAR.

As we see here, the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues unknown to the speaker, is a way of communicating with God about mysteries. God means this to be a refreshing and restful experience. He also says that these are the people he will teach knowledge and understanding. This gift of tongues also helps us pray properly and in accordance with the perfect will of God; Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (things human language cannot express adequately). :27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Another interesting thing about fire is that it will test all we do or say to see if our motivations were pure. 1 Corinthians 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. :14 If anyone’s work endures, he will receive a reward,…be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. :14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

In reference to the fires of hell, Jesus said in Mark 9:49 EVERYONE WILL BE SALTED WITH FIRE. EVERYONE? Why would Christians be salted with hell fire? Remember 1 Peter 1:6-7? In this you greatly rejoice, though now you have been grieved by various trials, That THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, THOUGH IT BE TRIED WITH FIRE, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And, as Job said, “When He has tried me I shall come forth as pure gold.” Like James told us “Count it all joy.” Proverbs 27:21 says AS THE REFINING pot FOR SILVER, AND the furnace for GOLD; SO IS A MAN TO HIS PRAISE. That is why Paul told us, to “pray continually; GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, FOR THIS IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18) and, Ephesians 5:18-20 And do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, GIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Malachi 3:1-3 clinches it; :1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. AND THE LORD, WHOM YOU SEEK, WILL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts. :2 “But WHO CAN ENDURE THE DAY OF HIS COMING? And who can stand when He appears? FOR HE IS LIKE A REFINER’S FIRE AND LIKE LAUNDERER’S SOAP. :3 HE WILL SIT AS A REFINER AND A PURIFIER OF SILVER; HE WILL PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI, AND PURGE THEM AS GOLD AND SILVER, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. Zechariah 13:9 I WILL BRING the third part THROUGH THE FIRE, I WILL REFINE THEM AS SILVER IS REFINED, AND TEST THEM AS GOLD IS TESTED. THEY WILL CALL ON MY NAME, AND I WILL ANSWER THEM. I WILL SAY, ‘THIS IS MY PEOPLE’; AND EACH ONE WILL SAY, ‘THE LORD IS MY GOD.’ ” Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in Daniel 3 and the promise in Isaiah 43:2-3, that the flame won’t kindle upon us, as well as Psalm 91. Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. :32 And it shall come to pass THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. Peter repeated this verse in Acts 2:20-21 and so did Paul in Romans 10:13. In James 1:12 we find the promise; “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO ENDURES temptation and perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, HE WILL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE THAT GOD has PROMISED TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

You may well ask, does the chastening, purging, purifying fires of God have anything in common with the fires of hell? I believe they do. But, let’s look at the last three chapters of Revelation to confirm this. Revelation 20:14-15 says; Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Now lets compare some scriptures that appear to be identical in Chapters 21 & 22 of Revelation. In Revelation 22, the subject is the New Heaven and Earth and the New Jerusalem that is situated on it.

Revelation 21:

:6 And He said to me, “It is done! I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END.

I will GIVE of THE FOUNTAIN OF THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY TO HIM WHO THIRSTS.

:7 “He who OVERCOMES shall INHERIT ALL THINGS, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

:8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, MURDERERS, SEXUALLY IMMORAL, SORCERERS, IDOLATERS, AND ALL LIARS shall have their part in the LAKE which burns with FIRE and brimstone, which is the SECOND DEATH.”

Revelation 22:

:13 “I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END, the First and the Last.”

:17 …And LET HIM WHO THIRSTS COME. Whoever desires, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.

:14 BLESSED are those who DO His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, AND MAY ENTER THROUGH THE GATES INTO THE CITY.

:15 But OUTSIDE (THE CITY) are dogs and SORCERERS and SEXUALLY IMMORAL and MURDERERS and IDOLATERS, AND WHOEVER LOVES AND PRACTICES A LIE.

Did you notice that the people who are in the lake of fire are the same people who are on the new heaven and new earth, only they are outside the city the New Jerusalem? Those who have worked out their own salvation with fear and trembling, who have been completely purged by the fires of the Holy Spirit; are permitted to enter the city, the New Jerusalem. They have already obtained the water of life (Revelation 22:1) and are no longer athirst. The water of life in Revelation 21:6 and 22:17 is therefore offered to those who were not found in the book of life. In fact, Revelation 22:2 says that the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, which are outside the city. Life, health and immortality reign within the walls of the city. Outside the city, death and hell and the lake of fire, which is the second death; these death realms still exist. But, Praise God, Revelation 21:25 says that the gates of the city are always left open; while the Spirit and the Bride say “Come.” (Revelation 22:17)

What shall be the end result of God’s plan for all mankind? Hebrews 1:2 tells us that He has appointed His son heir of ALL THINGS. “For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him.” (Hebrews 2:8-NKJV) 1 Corinthians 15:27 (NKJV) For “He has put ALL THINGS under His feet.” Colossians 1:18 (NKJV) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MAY HAVE THE PREEMINENCE. :19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. Philippians 2:10 (NKJV) that AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, :11 AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father. These words are echoed in Romans 14:11 and Isaiah 45:23-25. 1 Corinthians 15:27 (NRSV)…But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. :28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL. Then we shall see; “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15-NKJV) Then God shall say, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5-NKJV) And, then shall the words of Ephesians 1:23 be fulfilled, that…”His body,(of which he is the head), THE FULLNESS OF HIM WHO FILLS ALL IN ALL.” At that time our God will be all things to all the creation and we shall see “every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13-NKJV)

Some may ask, if this be true, why evangelize? 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Mark 16:15 And Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 12:29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. :30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. :31 “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Ezekiel 33:2 (NKJV) “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, :3 ‘when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, :4 ‘then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. :5 ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. :6 ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

I think the answer to that question is, that if you love God and your neighbor, you will preach the gospel and warn people of the destruction that awaits them. If they don’t repent and ask Jesus into their heart and make Him the Lord of their lives, their blood will be on their own heads. If you don’t obey the commandment of the great commission, you may be held accountable for the souls of those that you didn’t warn. But, please remember that “God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19-NKJV) Romans 8:15 (NKJV) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 1 John 4:7&18 (NKJV) Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And, there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.

I have been asked, “don’t you believe in hell?” Of course, I believe in hell! I just don’t believe that people who are condemned to hell will be condemned there for all eternity. They will receive their due punishment. As Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be IN DANGER OF HELL FIRE. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. “ASSUREDLY, I say to you, YOU WILL BY NO MEANS GET OUT OF THERE TILL YOU HAVE PAID THE LAST PENNY. (Matthew 5:21-26 NKJV)

It’s like this; I believe God heals today. Does that mean I don’t believe in sickness? Of course I believe in sickness! I simply believe that Jesus is bigger than sickness. I believe that by Jesus’s stripes I was healed. Therefore, I am healed. I believe in healing by Jesus’s stripes more than I believe in sickness.

Jesus said, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. He who believes in Me, though he may die, yet he shall live. “And WHOEVER LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) That scripture kept me alive when I had cancer. I took it at face value. I believed what it said! When Jesus asks me “do you believe this?” My answer is “YES”! Does that mean I don’t believe in death? Of course I believe in death! I simply believe that Jesus is bigger than death. And, He proved it by raising Lazarus from the dead! In my life, I have chosen to believe and have more faith in the Resurrection and the Life than death. Some people believe they are going to die. I believe Jesus.

And, finally Jesus says, “DO NOT BE AFRAID; I am the First and the Last. “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I HAVE THE KEYS OF HADES AND OF DEATH.” (Revelation 1:17-18, NKJV) Jesus overcame death and hell and now He is even the possessor of their KEYS. I believe in hell and death. I simply believe Jesus is bigger than death and hell. He’s got the keys, don’t be afraid! I have more faith in the possessor of the KEYS to hell and death than I do in the power of hell and death.

Now, Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO MYSELF.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. ( John 12:32-33 ) When Jesus made that statement He referred to death by the cross. Did Jesus die on the cross? Yes, of course, He submitted Himself to death on the cross. Did He rise from the dead? Of course, He rose from the dead! Does He now possess the KEYS of death and hell? Of course, He does! Will He now DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO HIMSELF? Of course, He will!

Ephesians 4:8 says Jesus even led captivity captive. This is a direct quote from Psalms 68:18 YOU HAVE ASCENDED ON HIGH, YOU HAVE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE; YOU HAVE GIVEN GIFTS TO MEN, EVEN THE REBELLIOUS, That the LORD God might dwell there. :19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah :20 Our God is the God of salvation; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death. Adam did not allow his captives to return home, he subjected them to death without escape. Jesus, the pattern Son, the Resurrection and the Life, will not be defeated. He has led captivity captive and He will set all the captives free. He will do all His pleasure.

Now, tell me how God could have pleasure in the eternal torture of even one lost soul? He cared so much for that “one” that He did not even spare His own Son to die for that “one”. Is He going to leave that rebellious “one” in hell forever when His Son paid such a high price to save that “one”? Especially, when that Son now possess the keys to death and hell which can free that “one” God so dearly loves. Yes, I believe in hell. But, Jesus is bigger than hell. He’s got the KEYS and He’s going to use them. He promised He would DRAW ALL PEOPLE TO HIMSELF. For as we saw in Revelation 21:25 the gates of the city are always left open; while the Spirit and the Bride say “Come.” (Revelation 22:17)

Isn’t it wonderful that we have a God who won’t give up on us, EVER? Isn’t it wonderful that God’s LOVE NEVER FAILS? If you have trouble with that, seek the Lord about it. He gave YOU unmerited grace and favor. Why would you want Him to withhold it from anyone else that He has created? Trust Him. No one gets away with anything. The last penny will be paid. Justice will prevail. Now, rest in His grace, continue obediently and humbly in your covenant with Him, and don’t be afraid. He’s in control of everything, even those people you love, who are in hell now.

In case anyone reading this book is foolish enough to take his chances with going to hell, thinking it won’t be so bad and it won’t be eternal, I would suggest that you read the book TO HELL AND BACK by Maurice Rawlings, MD. Those who have experienced this place called hell know that the torment is beyond any torment any human could experience on earth. The hopelessness and heaviness hangs thickly in the hot dry air. And it is highly likely that “hell time” feels longer than “earth time” not only because of the pain and torture, but also because the Son of God could pay for all the sin and sickness of the whole of the past, present and future history of earth in a period of 4 earth days. That is, from the time Jesus was arrested, through His torture, crucifixion, and death, until He rose again from the dead, that time encompassed about 4 earth days. If He could pay for all the sins of every man ever born or to be born on the earth in that short period of time, then “hell time” is probably concentrated time and even a short time there would seem “eternal.” I beg you, by the mercies of God, if you have never entered into a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, please do so now. Pray these words; “Lord Jesus, I have come to believe that you are the only Son of the One and Only True and Living God. I know I have sinned against you and others. I repent of my sins, I ask you to forgive me, and from this day forward I receive you as my only hope of salvation and the only Lord of my life. Satan, I rebuke you, I rebuke your works and I turn away from serving you from this day forward. Jesus is now my Master and my Lord, and I will obey Him and His Word to the best of my ability all the rest of the days of my life, so help me God. I eagerly await the second coming of my Lord to this earth. I pray my whole spirit, soul and body shall be preserved blameless until that day of His glorious coming. Amen” If you have just given your life to Jesus, then tell someone about it as a sealing of this covenant in much the same way as people taking marriage vows do so before witnesses. It is important to confess Jesus before others for Jesus said, Matthew 10:32 “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 10:33 “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

CHAPTER 8: SO WHAT?

Many people say things like, “I don’t think it makes much difference if Satan was a fallen angel or God made him like he is.” Truth is sacred. John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you ABIDE IN MY WORD, you are My disciples indeed. :32 “And YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.” If you are missing a truth, you are being held captive in some area of your life, since only knowledge of the truth will ever set you free. It is dangerous to lightly esteem truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 (NKJV & NIV) The coming of the lawless one in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, :10 and with all unrighteous deception and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are PERISHING BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, that they might be saved. THEY PERISH BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO LOVE THE TRUTH AND SO BE SAVED (BY IT). Lies not only produce bondage, they can cause a person to perish. And as we saw in Revelation 21 & 22, the lake of fire, the second death, is for those who lie and love lies. 2 Thessalonians 2: continues, :11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie :12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Did you notice why people don’t believe the truth? It is because they delight in wickedness. God’s people are expected to hunger and thirst after righteousness and truth, because our Lord Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. And, He promised us, Matthew 5:6 (NKJV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. He also said, John 3:19 (NKJV) “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. :20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. :21 “BUT HE WHO DOES THE TRUTH COMES TO THE LIGHT, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

But, what difference could it make if Satan was created evil or rebelled against God? Oh, it makes a big difference. If God created Satan for evil and has always controlled him, allowing him to accuse, but setting limits in his actions, so that God can use the incidents in the lives of people to mature them in their walk with Him; it gives us faith that all things will work together for our good if we seek our solutions from God and the promises in his Word. If Satan is a free agent running willy-nilly, as a lone gun, messing up God’s creation, as a continuation of some heavenly war of rebellion; then God is playing second fiddle to the whims of a loose cannon and God is relegated to the task of mopping up after him. NOT! Now think about it, would anyone in the world follow Satan, if they thought he wasn’t a worthy opponent of God? Nobody is stupid enough to want to be a loser. God has allowed this delusion to continue, so that people need to exercise faith in Him in order to find Him. Remember what Paul said in Acts 17:26 “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, :27 “SO THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IN THE HOPE THAT THEY MIGHT GROPE FOR HIM AND FIND HIM. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for HE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM. There is always a price to be paid for loving the truth and diligently seeking every aspect of God. Jesus warned us that this was so in Luke 14:26 (NKJV) “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. :27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. :28 “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not SIT DOWN FIRST AND COUNT THE COST, whether he has enough to finish it; :29 “lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, :30 “saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ :31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? :32 “Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. :33 “SO LIKEWISE, WHOEVER OF YOU DOES NOT FORSAKE ALL THAT HE HAS CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. I believe that this is fair and righteous, because the rewards God has planned for those who love him are inconceivable. 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” YES! 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NKJV)…For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

James 1:16 (NKJV) Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, AND COMES DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, WITH WHOM THERE IS NO VARIATION OR SHADOW OF TURNING. :18 He chose to give us birth THROUGH THE WORD OF TRUTH, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. A concept I have not yet pointed out is that God the Father, El Elyon, Supremely Most High God, has been kept pure from the evil one. The Father created Jesus only. Jesus made the rest of creation, including Satan, and defeated Satan for the Father and for us. What love those two have for each other! What love they have for us!

Let’s take some time to study what Jesus said about His Father. Mark 10:17 (NKJV) Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” :18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. John 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. :29 “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” John 10:17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. :18 “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:30 “I and My Father are one.” :31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. :32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” John 10:37 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; :38 “but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 14:8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” :9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. :11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. John 14:28 “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Rev 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Jesus said “my Father is greater than I.” He asked why the man called him good when only the Father is good. Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God, because he obeyed the Father and trusted Him totally. Jesus did no works of himself, but only under the direction of God the Father. Someone had to be pure good with no shadow of evil or variation touching Him at all. The Father is that one. Jesus took responsibility for the creation, control and defeat of evil. He did it by obeying the Father. Adam did not obey. Jesus did obey and… we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV) John 3:34 (NIV) For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit (to him) without limit. :35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.

Romans 12:1 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. :2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I believe, from this scripture, that we too can be perfectly submitted to the Father, and speak only His words. In that state, we too can receive His Spirit without limit. I believe this because Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14:12 – NKJV)

This whole system was set up to be very legal and correct. It’s the only way the Judgement Day could be a fair trial. Some of these things seem like technicalities that were unnecessary. Believe me, God is too efficient for anything to be left to chance. Everything has a purpose. When we study to show ourselves approved, we see the mind of God more clearly, and know him better. That’s all He wants, that’s all he asks; for us to “see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, day by day by day by day…” Isaiah 55:6 SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND, CALL UPON HIM WHILE HE IS NEAR. :7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him RETURN TO THE LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. :8 “FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NOR ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS,” says the LORD. :9 “FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS. :10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, :11 So shall MY WORD be that goes forth from My mouth; It SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH WHAT I PLEASE, AND IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING FOR WHICH I SENT IT. :12 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

An important concept that must not be missed, is that we are not to lowly esteem our adversary! 1 Peter 5:6 (NKJV) Therefore HUMBLE YOURSELVES UNDER the mighty hand of GOD, that He may exalt you in due time, :7 CASTING ALL YOUR CARES UPON HIM, for He cares for you. :8 BE SOBER, BE VIGILANT; BECAUSE YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL WALKS ABOUT LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR. :9 RESIST HIM, STEADFAST IN the FAITH, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. :10 But MAY the GOD of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, PERFECT, ESTABLISH, STRENGTHEN, AND SETTLE YOU. James 4:6 (NKJV)…”GOD resists the proud, But GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” :7 Therefore SUBMIT TO GOD. RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU. :8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. :10 HUMBLE YOURSELVES in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

God loves you and desires that all your adversities be perfecting experiences. But, if you aren’t humble and submitted under Him, you’re going to get in trouble, and more than likely, in BIG TROUBLE! Jesus was humble and meek. He answered Satan, “IT IS WRITTEN.” He submitted His words to the Father and spoke only what the Father told Him to. In the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus replied to Satan’s “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down” by saying, “It is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” Now, technically, Jesus was Satan’s Lord. As we saw in Chapter One, Jehovah created evil (Isaiah 45:5-7 KJV and Isaiah 54:16-17) and Jehovah controlled Satan in the book of Job. In Colossians 1:15-20, we saw that Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Covenant. But, he was not using His “Jehovah” status, His creator status; He emptied himself and became the Son of Man (Adam). If what he was saying to Satan was “you shouldn’t be tempting me, the Lord your God,” then Satan would have stopped the temptations immediately. Instead, Satan continued on with another temptation. But, Jesus was being the obedient pattern Son of the Father. He submitted himself to and worshipped His Father as His God, and was totally obedient to Him. Jesus refused to test His Father’s love, by jumping. He knew, without “proving” it, that even in this “Son of Man” state, He was still the most precious being in all creation and that the Father loved him beyond any human comprehension. That is a pattern of true faith. “No, Father, you don’t have to prove anything to me. I believe your word and your grace is sufficient to meet any situation, any need, in my life, and give me the victory in it.” Now, if Satan had pushed him off the high place, Jesus would have had every right to invoke the promise of the heavenly angels catching him. That would have been calling for supernatural help in a time of need. And, there were several times when mobs were threatening Jesus’s life, when He did receive that supernatural deliverance.

Do you remember in Chapter Six, when we studied 2 Peter 2:1-12 and Jude 1:3-10, that false prophets and false teachers were said to speak blasphemously of the principalities and powers? Jude 1:8 (NKJV & NIV) Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. :9 Yet MICHAEL (literally “the one who is like God”) THE ARCHANGEL (literally, “the chief messenger”), IN CONTENDING WITH THE DEVIL, when he disputed about the body of Moses, DARED NOT BRING AGAINST HIM A REVILING ACCUSATION, BUT SAID, “THE LORD REBUKE YOU!” :10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know or do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals–these are the very things that destroy them; and in these things they corrupt themselves. We need to respect the fact that our God is sovereign and completely controls Satan. If we are born again and Satan is giving us a hard time, it’s either because we are out of line and need to check in with God and find out what he wants us to change, fine tune, or learn on a deeper level; or, God is in the process of giving us the biggest victory of our lives and Satan is trying to steal God’s word and our faith out of our hearts to prevent it. I admit this is an over-simplification, and there are many variations on many themes, but I believe it is basically correct. Hebrews 6:10 (NKJV & NIV) For GOD IS NOT UNJUST to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. :11 And we desire that each one of you SHOW THE SAME DILIGENCE to the full assurance of hope UNTIL THE END, :12 that you do not become sluggish or lazy, but IMITATE THOSE WHO THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISES.

On two occasions, Paul gave us some interesting instructions regarding Satan. 1 Corinthians 5:3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. :4 IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, :5 DELIVER SUCH A ONE TO SATAN FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FLESH, THAT HIS SPIRIT MAY BE SAVED in the day of the Lord Jesus. And, 1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, :19 having FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE, WHICH SOME HAVING REJECTED, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, :20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, WHOM I DELIVERED TO SATAN that they may learn not to blaspheme. Wow, now those scriptures are certainly a stick of dynamite! The first man ran off with his father’s wife. All three of these people were believers. The good news is, that after Satan chewed on the guy’s flesh for a while, he repented and everyone was restored. Had he not repented, he probably would have died, so that he wouldn’t have continued to sin to the point of losing his spirit salvation. The second fellows, seemed to reject faith and a good conscience. Not a wise choice while Paul was looking. I totally reject any concepts of calling curses down on fellow believers. But, I have heard several stories about anointed pastors who have been led by the Holy Spirit to say something similar to what Paul said here, and, as a result, people died when they continued to reject the will of God. I’m sure this kind of action calls for great wisdom and spiritual discernment.

One of the consequences of believing God is completely sovereign and in control, is that all of the responsibility for our actions falls right back into our own laps. The devil didn’t “make us do it.” We made every choice in our lives. If choices are made out of obedience to God and while walking in the Spirit, then blessings and abundance follow. In Mark 10:30 Jesus promised there would be persecutions with that blessing, but faith believes more in the Rewarder than the persecutor, or accuser, or the world and its systems (Hebrews 11:6). If we are missing the mark with God, but sincerely His children, he chastens those he loves (Deuteronomy 8:5-6 and Hebrews 12:6-9). You only have to worry if He stops chastening you, because by then, you are no longer considered a true son, but an illegitimate bastard. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV) “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSING; THEREFORE CHOOSE LIFE, THAT both YOU and your descendants MAY LIVE; :20 “THAT YOU MAY LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, that you may OBEY HIS VOICE, and that you may CLING TO HIM, FOR HE IS YOUR LIFE AND THE LENGTH OF YOUR DAYS; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” Malachi 3:11 (NKJV) “AND I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER FOR YOUR SAKES, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; :12 “AND ALL NATIONS WILL CALL YOU BLESSED, For you will be A DELIGHTFUL LAND,” Says the LORD of hosts.

The ball is squarely and cleanly in our court. We choose the fruits of our lives and we are responsible for every idle word we speak into this world, and the results of those words. Matthew 12:34 (NKJV) Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKS. :35 “A GOOD MAN OUT OF THE GOOD TREASURE OF HIS HEART BRINGS FORTH GOOD THINGS, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. :36 “But I say to you that for EVERY IDLE WORD MEN MAY SPEAK, THEY WILL GIVE ACCOUNT OF it in the day of judgment. :37 “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Notice, that the words of Satan, the accuser will not condemn you or justify you. It is your own words, thoughts and intents of the heart, that will be judged.

CHAPTER 9: TWO TREES – YOUR CHOICE

If you have wondered how this doctrine came to be so important in my life, I will relate to you its background. One day my mother was reading Genesis Chapter 6. She was struck by the story of half-breeds being born on the pre-flood earth, who were very evil. There was a “sons of God” group who married a “daughters of men” group and produced the Nephilim children of Genesis 6:4. Traditional church teaching tells us that “sons of God” here and in the book of Job were fallen angels. But, my mother had already learned from the Bible, that word pictures given in the Bible have the same meaning from Genesis to Revelation. Sons of God in the New Testament are the good guys who follow Jesus. The whole creation groans while waiting for them to manifest and consequently, end the reign of death and terror on this planet. She kept saying within her heart “something isn’t right about this doctrine.” But, she had no idea what was wrong about it.

One day she was visiting Betty Ebaugh, our Bible teacher’s wife. Over tea, she questioned Betty about Genesis 6. Betty wasn’t sure either, but she felt that my mom should hear a tape by Bill Britton called “The Shining One – Lucifer.” The doctrine explained on that tape and in this book, did not originate with Bill Britton. He received an anonymous letter which he published as a 16 page booklet, and sent out to people on his mailing list. Later, he taught on the subject and made the tape available too. As we saw in the footnote in the Amplified Bible relating to Isaiah 14:12, the “Lucifer” is a “fallen angel” theory did not exist within the church until the third century A.D. There are many such doctrines which were brought into the “church” at that time period. When Constantine declared Christianity to be the state religion of the Roman Empire at about 380 A.D., many pagan rituals and doctrines were added, and are now believed to be scriptural because of years of association with Christianity. Such celebrations as Christmas with Christmas trees and presents as a symbolism of the season; and Easter with its bunnies and eggs; stem from this mixing of paganism with Christianity. We must carefully study the word of God to see what is true. There are even strongly held doctrines in the church today, such as the pre-tribulation rapture, which were not considered to be church doctrine until recently in church history. The wrath, the ungodly anger, hatred and slander that are unleashed on Christians who question certain doctrines based on what the scripture says, is unjustified. Certainly, Jesus told us to love one another, not to curse one another, or hate one another. Christianity has been torn and mutilated over doctrine during its entire history. We even see evidence in Galatians 2:11, that the Apostle Paul withstood the Apostle Peter to his face over the doctrinal dispute of the Gospel of Circumcision versus the Gospel of Uncircumcision. If you are a member of the Body of Christ, it is incumbent upon YOU to search the scriptures for yourself and see what they say. Don’t believe a doctrine just because someone you admire believes it. They may be wrong. Don’t judge a doctrine to be right or wrong until YOU have tested it in the light of the infallible Word of God.

So, my mother and I studied our Bibles in light of this tape on “The Shining One” and believed that what it said was true. Certainly, God could have revealed this truth to anyone who is a true student of the Word. But, once you’ve been “bewitched” by a false doctrine (Galatians 3:1) it can be hard to hear the Spirit of God telling you the truth. I certainly would have never questioned this “Lucifer” doctrine on my own. I simply accepted it as Gospel. The anonymous source of this truth made me wonder if some of those people were still alive, who stood before Jesus at the time of Matthew 16 when He said, :27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. :28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Are some of those precious saints still alive after 2000 years, giving us glimpses of truths that we might otherwise miss? Certainly, saints born before the third century would know the error of this “fallen angel” doctrine. I’m not adamant about this possibility. But, I believe Jesus told us the truth and that some of them may still be here. The only reason I mention this possibility, is to ask you to consider that some “unlikely sources” of truths, may be important and significant. Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. :2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels (messengers) unawares. Remember, Jesus told us in the third chapter of John, that those who are born of the Spirit fly around like the wind. God uses heavenly and earthly messengers to speak to us. Someone, who has a message for you from God, may meet you, anywhere, anytime. If you ignore them because their clothes are not fashionable, or they seem a little strange, or their words don’t match your favorite doctrine, you may miss a great blessing.

Jesus, Himself acted in this way on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. After He was risen, He took a walk with two of his disciples and expounded on the truth of the Word, explaining why he had to be crucified and rise from the dead. His disciples didn’t recognize Him at first, and even seemed a little irritated with His intrusion into their conversation. Jesus was so patient with them, as He ministered loving comfort and wisdom to them. Finally, at supper, they recognized Him as He broke bread with them, and then disappeared before their eyes. Once enlightened about a truth, we all have a tendency to say “of course, why didn’t I see that before, I certainly read it often enough.” But, God needs His servants to have eyes that can see and ears that can hear, so that on the day when the seventh trumpet is blown, the mystery of God will be completely understood. (Revelation 10:7) Don’t just shrug off some things that are said to you in passing. Stop and ask the Lord, “was that of you? Is there something that you are trying to tell me?” Test the spirits, as we are admonished in 1 John 4:1, to see if they are of God. Anything that comes from God, will agree with the scriptures we already have. But, as we saw with Balaam, God may even speak to us through a donkey.

After my mother and I learned that Satan and his demons weren’t fallen angels, we looked back at Genesis 6 to see what it seemed to be saying in light of this new revelation. As we have heard from archaeologists and anthropologists, there have been other creatures on this planet, who, though resembling man, did not have the creative abilities of modern man. Could it be that the “sons of God” (Elohim) in Genesis 6, referred to the children of Adam and Eve who were created in the image of Elohim? After all, Luke 3:38 says …Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of ADAM, WHICH WAS THE SON OF GOD. Luke says clearly that Adam was the Son of God. Since Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father, the firstborn over all creation, then technically Adam was the Son of Jesus, the creator of all things. Were there other creatures who weren’t in the same race as Adam and Eve, who their children could have married? Certainly, even if there were “angels” who thought human girls were good looking, they couldn’t have mated with them because in Matthew 22:29 Jesus said, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. :30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” Heavenly angels (whether fallen or not) and resurrected people don’t marry and are not given as sexual mates. Therefore, those “sons of God” (Elohim) in Genesis 6, had to be creatures of flesh on the earth.

Well, all the pieces fell into place in 1977, when Carl Sagan wrote the book Dragons of Eden. Now, I will grant you that Carl Sagan is an evolutionist and I am a creationist, but he is Jewish and you know how God just can’t seem to stop blessing his people, no matter where they are. Do you remember what I said about God speaking to us through unlikely sources?

Anyway, I’m one of those “faith” Christians who really believes that “by Jesus’s stripes” I was healed. But, this one day, I was really sick and I couldn’t “faith” myself out of bed and go to work. I must admit, I was a little ticked off at God. After all, His word is true, so how could it be possible, that I was glued to the bed and in pain? About noon I started to feel a little better and stumbled into the living room, still weak and shaky. I wrapped up in a blanket and my mom turned on the TV to her favorite talk show from Washington, D.C. There was Morey Povich and his guest, Carl Sagan, who was selling his new book. I was half listening, when simultaneously the Holy Spirit landed on me in full force, and Carl said something like; “Isn’t it amazing that the Bible tells us that pain in childbirth was associated with Eve eating from the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. On the earth we had small brained creatures, who like every other creature on earth, had no pain in childbirth, because their cranium size was smaller than their pelvic size. Suddenly. we see the appearance of large brained humans living among the small brained human-like creatures, in archeological evidence. As if from no-where we have this different kind of human appear who has a huge cranium and a small pelvis, and the Bible equates this with the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil AND pain in child birth.”

Suddenly, I was sitting bolt upright on the sofa, struggling with my blanket screaming ” Yes! Glory, Hallelujah, Mom did you hear that?” Tears of joy were streaming down my face. I was flush with the glow of revelation knowledge that every believer has felt when God has flooded their soul with a truth they had not seen before. Suddenly, so much of the Bible made sense. Things that had been obscure before, suddenly began to drop into line like dominos. Yes, that was it!

Oh, I was healed all right. God just had to keep me in bed until He could get me lined up to receive from Him. It was my destiny to see that TV show. If God had said “don’t go to work today, stay home and watch TV” I would have rebuked Him, because that surely sounds more like something Satan would say than God. I was so grateful for being sick and in pain that morning. It was worth it, to get that pearl of great price. All things do work together for good to them who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28) Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

There it was, as plain as Carl’s beautiful Jewish nose on his beautiful Jewish face! When God said, “on the day you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you will SURELY DIE,” He meant it. I had been taught that Adam and Eve didn’t die, they lived over 900 more years. That makes it sound like the devil told the truth and God lied. NOT! God did tell the truth. Adam and Eve DID DIE. I had been taught that man is triune, spirit, soul and body and only Adam’s spirit had died. Yes, man is triune, like Elohim in whose image he was created. But, Adam did die, in his spirit and in his soul and in his body.

The word spirit is a masculine gender word in both the Hebrew and Greek. The word for soul is feminine in both the Hebrew and Greek. Body is neuter as Paul confirms in Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE; for you are all one IN CHRIST JESUS. As we see in Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust (the body) returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Your spirit is the part of you that is like God and returns to him at death. Your soul is your mind, emotions and intellect. The spirit, soul and body are created to be one flesh. But, your soul, your five senses, your brain, your feelings, these are supposed to be submissive under your masculine (husband) spirit. You are not supposed to walk, live or act out of obedience to your brain and your five senses. You are supposed to walk in the spirit, be led by the spirit, and be obedient to Father God who speaks to you through your spirit.

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hearing is a function of the soul; it is one of the five senses. If a soul is alive it is full of faith. If a soul is dead it is full of fear, the reciprocal of faith. If a spirit is alive, it is in communion with God, and can be led by God in the way that is right. When you ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life and you are obedient to Him, your spirit becomes reborn, and you can feel the difference. You can feel God in your spirit. As Jesus said in John 14:23 “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. In 2 Corinthians 5:1, Paul tells us, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. :2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, :3 because when we are clothed, WE WILL NOT BE FOUND NAKED. :4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because WE DO NOT WISH TO BE UNCLOTHED but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, SO THAT WHAT IS MORTAL MAY BE SWALLOWED UP BY LIFE.” Paul tells us, that if we die we become naked, that is; our spirit is houseless. He also states that being unclothed is not desirable.

Now, in the light of these scriptures, let’s reread what happened to Adam and Eve after they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:7 (NKJV) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and THEY REALIZED THEY WERE NAKED; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. :8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, AND THEY HID FROM THE LORD GOD among the trees of the garden. :9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” :10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I WAS AFRAID BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; SO I HID.” Notice that they realized that they were naked. The body God had given them was a body of light like Jesus had on the mount of transfiguration. The light went out. They hid from God, their spirits no longer desired for and yearned to commune with God in the cool of the day. And their souls began to experience fear. I believe that God told them the truth. They surely did die; spirit, soul and body. And what did God do to clothe them? :21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. The Amplified Bible says God made them “long coats of skin” to clothe them. Is it possible that the animal skin clothing they were given to wear, were bodies of those human-like creatures that Adam was supposed to subdue and have dominion over? Was the animal skin clothing, a body of gracile Australopithecines who made tools, or maybe Homo habilis who built homes with their tools, or maybe Homo erectus who learned to use and control fire?

Is it possible that these animal skins fit fine, except that Adam and Eve needed a larger cranium and brain to house all the wisdom they had been given by God? Is it possible that this large brain that was required by “the sons of God” (Elohim), and the small animal pelvis of the animal skins, caused the pain in childbirth? Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel and Seth. After Seth they had other sons and daughters. But, God banished Cain after he had slain Abel and before Seth was born. When Cain left he feared that “whoever” would find him would kill him. Who were the people Cain feared? He was being sent away from his mom and dad, and if the three of them were the only people; who was left to fear? There is no record of Cain having a sister at that point. So, who was the woman he married and with whom he had his son Enoch? Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch. Cities have many people in them. We don’t call a place a city when it is the home of only one small family. Is it possible that Cain was the first “son of God” to marry a “daughter of men”? Is it possible that it was the children of these unholy unions that created the evil Nephilim generation that brought about the need for God to destroy the earth with the flood? If there were other human-like creatures on the earth with Adam’s family, this may explain the Ezekiel 28 scriptures about abundant commerce and wide-spread trade.

In Genesis 2:15-20, we see how God took Adam and placed him in the Garden and brought all the animals to him to be named. Verse 20 ends with “but for Adam there was not found a helper that was suitable, adapted or completing for him.” (Amplified) Isn’t that the strangest statement?! I sounds like God made Eve because no one else would do. Well, who were the choices? Could it be that, after God showed Adam the other lesser creatures who were created to be subordinate to Adam; that God then saw the need to mate Adam with another creature who was also created in Elohim’s image? I think this may be what the scriptures are saying.

Granted, I am raising more questions than I am answering. But, I want you to make your own decisions about whether this sounds more logical and scriptural than the “fallen angel” scenario. The bottom line is; Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? God created man to be in his image, to rule with Him as a king and priest, and to be led by His spirit indwelling man’s spirit. We do not need a KNOWLEDGE of good and evil, if we are being led by the spirit. Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 8:14 FOR AS MANY AS ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THESE ARE SONS OF GOD. 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again TO FEAR, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” :16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, :17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. :18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

So, let’s rethink KNOWLEDGE and its importance in our lives. We need to discern carnal knowledge from Godly wisdom. Proverbs 4:3 When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, :4 He also taught me, and said to me: “LET YOUR HEART RETAIN MY WORDS; KEEP MY COMMANDS, AND LIVE. :5 GET WISDOM! GET UNDERSTANDING! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. :6 Do not forsake her, and SHE WILL PRESERVE YOU; Love her, and she will keep you. :7 WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING; THEREFORE GET WISDOM. AND IN ALL YOUR GETTING, GET UNDERSTANDING. :8 Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. :9 She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.” :10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. :11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. :12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble. :13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life. Proverbs 3:13 (NKJV) Happy is the man who finds WISDOM, And the man who gains UNDERSTANDING; :14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. :15 She is more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. :16 Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor. :17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace. :18 SHE IS A TREE OF LIFE to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.

God gave us a brain so we could understand and know Him. As Peter described it in 2 Peter 1:2; Grace and peace be multiplied to you IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND of JESUS our Lord, :3 as His divine power HAS GIVEN to US ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US by glory and virtue, :4 by which have been given to us EXCEEDINGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, THAT THROUGH THESE YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. :5 But also for this very reason, GIVING ALL DILIGENCE, ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE, TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE, :6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, :7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. :8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. :9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

If you choose the knowledge you receive into your life based on the gold standard of the Word of God, then you can’t go wrong. Hebrews 5:13 says; For everyone who partakes only of milk is UNSKILLED IN THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, for he is a babe. :14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, THOSE WHO BY REASON OF USE HAVE THEIR SENSES EXERCISED TO DISCERN BOTH GOOD AND EVIL. 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, LET US GO ON TO PERFECTION, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, :2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. It appears that Hebrews is telling us that a skillful understanding of God’s Word, will EXERCISE your senses to discern both good and evil, and that eventually it will lead to perfection. In response to the cliche “practice makes perfect,” my husband’s high school band director used to say “bad practice and bad exercises don’t make perfect.” Choose your sources carefully. Is your source of knowledge saying things that are consistent with the Word of God? What about the educational institutions that are teaching your children? As my Bible teacher used to say, “eat the grapes and spit out the seeds.” Use what is edifying. If there are more seeds than edible grape flesh for food, find another vineyard.

You choose, God has given you two trees to choose to eat from. THE TREE OF LIFE, which is THE WISDOM OF GOD, OR THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Adam and Eve chose to satisfy their own flesh and decide for themselves what was good or evil. They didn’t accept God’s word on the subject of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They thought they knew better than God. They thought God was holding out on them. They were disobedient to God’s word. Jesus was obedient to God in every aspect of His existence. In John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. :37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. :38 “FOR I HAVE COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, NOT TO DO MY OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME. :39 “This is the will of THE FATHER who SENT ME, that…:40 everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” :45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. :47 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. :48 “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. :50 “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that ONE MAY EAT OF IT AND NOT DIE. :51 “I AM THE LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, HE WILL LIVE FOREVER; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” In Revelation 2:7, our BREAD OF LIFE promises us; “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the TREE OF LIFE, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (NKJV) Revelation 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the TREE OF LIFE, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the TREE OF LIFE, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Jesus Sacrifice – The Payment for Sin

by Thomas Abshier | Jul 22, 2025 | Apologetics/Theology/Christianity

Why Jesus Died for Our Sins: A Logical Explanation

The Problem of Sin and Ownership

God created a world where both good and evil exist. God’s nature is the standard by which good is defined. All other possibilities of action are evil. God created a world where men’s free will exists. Men can choose either one. It was necessary to create such a world where all actions are possible, thus allowing men to have free will. Free will was necessary because God created the world so that men had the choice to love Him or not. Man’s love of God and way of expressing/showing love is through obedience to God’s way. God’s nature is the standard by which man’s righteousness is judged. God, through the Son, created both good and evil. He allowed for the possibility of evil and its consequences, so that life would be interesting. Interest is a very important part of life. He couldn’t just create a world where everything was good; it would be just a nature walk, and there would be no contrast. He hid himself, creating a mystery that made one want to know and yet be unable to find out.  There is a consequence to action, whether it is punishment versus reward, or pleasure and pain associated with choices. There is a weaning of souls. The mystery, the consequence, the pain, and the struggle are important elements of drama.  The revelation is incomplete regarding what is true, why God created the universe, the purpose of life, and the way back to Him. The Bible, with its incomplete arguments and multiple contexts, makes it impossible to use as a manual of exact behavior; however, the generalities and principles in the Bible define a very clear swath of behaviors that are Godly and of His character. The indefiniteness of the specificity of behavior leaves open the possibility of debate, or free will, or uniqueness in judgment, for grace and tolerance for men of sincere intent about compliance with Godliness.

The Bible is the only authentic account we have of His nature, purpose, and plan. The Bible is a story of God’s chosen people wandering through various temptations and spiritual tests of character and commitment. We see the cost of bad/rebellious behavior in the actions of the kings who authorized/required/worshipped idols, and the destruction visited upon the land as a result of their idolatry/rebellion. He defined and created the world and populated it with both good and bad characters; everyone chose their roles willingly, and everyone reaps the rewards of their choices, nature, and behaviors. He created the possibility of drama. He created the possibility of a relationship.  He speaks to men’s hearts and urges men to goodness. He created Satan by divine fiat to be evil. The common Christian mythology is that Satan was a good angel who rebelled because he wanted power, or didn’t like the way God was doing it, or he was jealous of being a servant. The verses that justify this theology were stitched together out of context, and without specific reference to Satan. The story was popularized by Milton in Paradise Lost and iconized in art. This story has become an integral part of the story of the origin of evil and is accepted almost universally in Christendom. However, this story is not necessarily factual. It was not necessary, and may not be true, that God created a lord of evil by Lucifer’s rebellion. Even if Lucifer was a good angel who rebelled, God was still the origin of the possibility of angels rebelling. Either way, God created the Lord of Rebellion, the Lord of Evil. He certainly didn’t stop it. God being omnipotent, being the source of all, only that which He has authorized to happen in His world will actually happen. Thus, we have a world in which God’s will and way is the definition of good, and Satan being the Lord of Evil, there is a tension created. God, having a character that excludes some behaviors, creates the possibility of evil, the realm of the “Not God.” Creating evil as a player, as a force that seduces men by presenting itself as beautiful, creates the possibility of man loving another god besides the God of creation. By creating consequences, establishing a temptation-payoff and a cost for choosing evil over good, the setting for the drama, need, and efficacy of Christ’s redemption has been established.

While not spoken of directly, there is an implication that Satan loves blood, death, and pain. The implication is valid because Satan tempts men toward evil. Why would Satan tempt men unless he is motivated? There must be a payoff. Does he do it because of jealousy of men loving God instead of him? Does he vicariously experience the thrill of life energy being taken from men when they rebel against God and choose the momentary pleasures of evil?  Does Satan enjoy people choosing his ways over God’s way? Scripture indicates that men are lost, unable to be in the presence of God if they sin, that they cannot pay the debt permanently by the sacrifices of the blood of animals, that God gets no pleasure from the sacrifices, but desires obedience instead. The sacrifice of Jesus is presented as permanent, as one that is satisfying for all time. How? By being the lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, by integrating this sacrifice into the prototypical commandments of God from the law given to the Children of Israel.

Thus, the question is, why did God require sacrifice in the 613 laws of Deuteronomy? The reason is to establish the meaning of sacrifice as atonement for sin/violation of His way. The law was established by God. There is a need for a sacrifice because there is a contracted price given by God to Satan as the rightful owner of a man’s soul, as a contract established by men between themselves and Satan. The contract was between competent parties, with payment made for the benefits received, the pleasure of sin is the payoff, and the price paid is submission to Satan as lord and owner of my soul. It is this contract/legal agreement that establishes the need for payment of the debt owed by the sinner. The debt is eternal ownership by Satan. Blood sacrifice pays the debt, because that is the currency that Satan considers valuable. The snake was lifted up in the wilderness to allow healing and freedom. transaction that occurred when we sin. This conversation reveals a coherent framework for understanding why Jesus’s death was necessary for human redemption.

Examination of Satan’s origin and purpose, the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice, and the purpose of Life

On the Nature of Satan and Evil

1. Thomas believes Satan serves a narrative purpose in God’s plan – without a “bad guy,” there’s no meaningful story
2. Thomas proposes that Satan was created with a nature that derives pleasure from human sin, suffering, and death
3. They discuss whether Satan is a personal entity (as the Bible portrays) or an impersonal force/negative energy.
4. Thomas suggests Satan was either created “bad to the bone” from the beginning, or was a good angel gone bad
5. Thomas questions the common Christian narrative about Satan’s rebellion with one-third of angels, noting that this interpretation requires combining disconnected biblical passages

On Sin and Its Consequences

1. Thomas argues that when humans sin, they enter a contract with Satan, giving him ownership over them
2. Sin is portrayed as trading eternal well-being for momentary pleasure (“trading eternity for a bowl of soup”)
3. The Old Testament sacrificial system provided temporary relief from this ownership, but didn’t break the contract
4. Animal sacrifices are compared to “paying a bail bond” on spiritual captivity. They provide a time of temporary freedom without changing the fact of conviction, culpability, and mandatory sentence.

On Jesus’s Sacrifice

1. Jesus’s blood sacrifice was fundamentally different than the blood of bulls. He lived a sinless life as a man. Applying His blood as payment for the debt of blood owed to Satan conferred the same “out of jurisdiction” status to the sinner as to Jesus. His blood completely satisfied the debt because Satan spilled His blood unjustly, and the sinner who applies the blood to his debt is likewise removed from the status of the guilty.
2. Jesus’s death paid a debt that humans couldn’t pay themselves. The death of the sinner only fed Satan’s hunger for the blood that he was owed by contract. A man’s death and spilled blood did not buy freedom. The captivity remained. Captivity is an independent clause in the contract with Satan. The contract established with Satan cannot be paid; it can only be voided.
3. The sacrifice of Jesus makes logical sense when seen in the framework of a debt and contract system. God established the system as a way of freeing and rewarding those who give their lives, hearts, minds, and love to Him in obedience to His way. The primitive blood religions are idolatrous offerings to Satan, who gives them power for serving him. The blood of Jesus was shed by God Himself. He established the system of bondage for those who opposed His will and way, and He established the right and way to be free by accepting Him as Lord, and the giver of life.
4. Jesus’s perfect sacrifice breaks Satan’s claim of blood and death on those who accept His conditions of loyalty and implanting in me a new heart.

On God’s Motivation

1. God created this system to experience the joy of a relationship with beings who freely choose, worship, and love Him. He created the universe. He is totally and inherently alone.
2. The greatest joy comes from recovering something lost, which explains why God allows the possibility of sin.
3. God’s desire is for a full relationship with each and every person. He created the creation to establish a context, a stage upon which He could play out the drama of life. The challenge of survival, satisfaction, and free will gives the possibility of satisfaction on many levels. God allows the vagaries of chance to provide the variety of interest, the fullness of relationship, and the challenge of character development. Free will, the same as God has, man being of the nature of Him, opens the possibility of rejecting Him. When a man comes to accept God and love His way, He feels the joy of the returning prodigal.
4. The ability to freely choose God and His way, rather than being programmed to obey Him, makes the love and obedience meaningful.

On Religious Understanding

1. Thomas left Christianity initially because he couldn’t connect Jesus’s death with any causal mechanism in the universe. The story of Jesus seemed mythological rather than connected to reality.
2. He explored many other religions (Eastern, New Age, and Kabbalah) before returning to Christianity. It was the experience of understanding the oneness of God and the creation that provided the context for comprehending why the system of Christianity was necessary to fully manifest God as a real participant on this earth.
3. Thomas finds value in studying other religions as a way to ask new, unconsidered questions about the foundations of reality. There is truth in other religions, but the fulfillment of God’s intended way of being and revealing Himself is incomplete in the other world religions. Other religions may emphasize and worship various aspects of God’s nature, and they may emphasize other ways to please Him, but only Christianity (Judaism, which has acknowledged the promised Messiah and His new covenant) offers the promise of redemption from the bondage of sin by asking in the Father and Son to live in our hearts.
4. The coherent narrative included a problem (God’s aloneness and love nature, which demanded companionship). He solved the problem of His aloneness by creating peers who could choose to be companions. He established a context for relationship with man by creating a world of essentially infinite complexity. The experience of life is ever-new, with the problems of survival. His nature required man to discern His will and way perfectly. The cost of sin was required to be ultimate and total removal from His presence, because His nature and existence are dependent upon perfect purity in goodness. He cannot compromise without threatening His very being. Thus, God created Satan to quarantine man from His creation. But such a final solution, the permanent banishment of man, by turning him over for eternal possession by Satan, is necessary to preserve the purity of His Kingdom. However, enforcing His purity prevents God from satisfying His need for a relationship and reciprocated/freely given love. It was for this reason that He threaded the needle of requirements, giving Satan the ownership of every man who sins, but redeeming the captive by voiding the contract with blood that was pure. Thus, Satan serves a dual role: as a tempter, for his own purposes of satisfying his taste for blood and death, and as a jailer for restraining unregenerate man from damaging His Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is the location of true riches. Man’s spirit, being a peer to God – having been created in His image – can potentially access and do harm. Thus, Satan was created to quarantine the souls of men who violate the laws of God. Such was a necessary safeguard established to protect against the damage an unregenerate god-man could wreck on the structure of Heaven. But this violation of His way and the resultant captivity of man is universal. This leaves God unsatisfied in His primary purpose, which is to satisfy His inherent condition – His aloneness. It was for this reason that God established a method by which He could free men from the eternal captivity their character deserved and the structure of the spiritual worlds required. He thus established a method by which the legal basis of Satan’s possession could be satisfied and the soul freed from his captivity. Thus, the work of Jesus living a sinless life, His life being taken unjustly, and His blood being spilled without legal warrant. This resulted in His blood being available for use by all who confess and repent of their sin, commit to His Lordship, and acknowledge His power over death. In this gesture of faith and commitment, a new contract is established, and the new person is freed from captivity and is free to fully inhabit God’s kingdom, having committed to following God’s ways. The new man is now capable of satisfying God with his willingly obedient compliance with God’s ways. In this framework, the redemption of Christ, His sacrifice, and the requirements of right action and a changed heart provide a logically required set of conditions for condemnation by Satan, and commutation of sentence and freedom, which makes Christianity an intellectually satisfying paradigm for framing meaning and causal efficacy in God’s revelation of His will, way, and justification for His requirements.

On Theological Methodology

1. Thomas argues that his interpretation doesn’t contradict the Bible, but rather fills in narrative gaps and provides logical consistency to the empirical experience of life and the causal requirements that justify God’s structuring of the universe, as well as its behavioral and character requirements for redemption.
2. It is essential that a genuine spiritual technology provide a coherent story that explains, in a logical manner, why things are the way they are, and prescribes an effective method of optimizing the experience of life in this world and the next.
3. Every verse, command, parable, and historical story in the Bible must be interpreted in the context of the entire Bible, rather than proof-texting a concept by a single verse.
4. Because the Bible is a collection of historical fragments and prophetic pronouncements, it is inherently incomplete and without an explicit logical connection in terms of meaning or context. Thus, we must interpret, extrapolate, and interpolate from this minimal dataset a stance on almost every moral, ethical, theological, and behavioral question. To do so requires interpretation that extends beyond explicit biblical statements, but all such interpretations should be consistent with the entirety of the literal words and spirit of the biblical text.

On Christian Living

1. The transformation of character that occurs after accepting the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus as effective and declaring allegiance to His Lordship can be instantaneous or gradual, but it is usually incomplete, and the work of sanctification and testing through trials continues for a lifetime.
2. Sins of the past affect a person’s life, maybe for a lifetime. Still, we are forgiven, even though we may continue to live with the scars of past transgressions.
3. Temptation will usually persist after conversion, although some besetting temptations may be instantly removed. Often, old habits and character may remain, but we can resist any temptation with various strategies and thus develop new habits and character.
4. People who’ve experienced more sin may develop wisdom more easily, due to having experienced the harsh reality of life. But participating in sin is not necessary to attain wisdom. Reading the Bible, listening to the soft voice of the Holy Spirit and conscience, reading literature, watching movies and plays, listening to the stories of others, all dramatize/virtualize the experience of sin, from which we may acquire wisdom. Sin should be avoided with all diligence. There may be wisdom in its cost, but it will produce damage.

On Communication of the Gospel

1. The redemption narrative outlined above can be effectively presented to non-believers, providing a rational story that offers a reason to those who require a cause-and-effect rationale to justify their faith.
2. This narrative addresses intellectual objections to Christianity’s sacrificial system, which is a stumbling block for many, given that it has the markings of being just another primitive blood ritual religion.
3. This gospel, presented as a coherent story, makes it more acceptable to modern man, who expects all beliefs to be based on empirical facts and logically connected propositions.
4. This method of framing the gospel could be developed into educational materials and media that will make its adoption as a belief system easily consumable.

On the Relationship Between God, Physics, and Metaphysics

1. All of creation, every subatomic particle and all space, is composed of and is inside of God’s mind. God created the creation using a single method. He declared into existence innumerable Conscious Points from His mind. He created Conscious Points of six types and used them to build the appearance, character, and substance of the creation. The creation includes both the physical and spiritual worlds, along with their respective inhabitants.
2. According to John 1, these worlds and inhabitants were created by the Word, the Son of God, and He is the light of men. Man is special, created in the perfection of Him. All the components of the universe are composed of Conscious Points declared into existence from His mind. The Conscious Points follow a few rules of relationship to produce the physical laws we see at the subatomic, atomic, molecular, macroscopic, and astronomical levels. The creation is dependent on God’s existence, is a manifestation of God’s nature and intention, but is not identical with God.
3. God either arose from nothing or has existed from eternity past. Neither concept is comprehensible from the human perspective. Thus, God’s existence must remain an axiomatic assumption. God’s existence may be directly experienced, but His existence cannot be proven or disproven. In the Conscious Point Physics model, the physical universe is postulated to have no independent existence apart from God’s existence. Likewise, in the CPP model, there is no other God, and there is no cause other than God.
4. The CPP model postulates that God exists and is conscious of His own existence. God’s existence and consciousness of self are the fundamental axioms upon which the creation rests – they make the creation of “other” consciousnesses possible. God’s fundamental creative action is viewing Himself as other – in essence, being conscious of Himself from outside Himself, as an external observer. By choosing to maintain that point of view as permanent and then allowing that POV independent volition, a new entity/existence is formed. This was the method by which the Father created the Son. The Son retains the totality of the Father, and is thus the Father. But He was and is independent of and subservient to the Father. The Son was given the duty, the role of creating the Conscious Points, each created in the same manner as the Father created the Son, but without the totality of ability, perspective, and character of the Father. The Conscious Points have a narrow perspective, limited capability for action, and a character that defines their type. Each CP, while distinct, can collaborate with other CPs and form a Group Entity, which, in the case of the quantum, serves as the medium for the conservation of energy.  At larger scales (atomic, molecular, geographical, astronomical, individual, and societal), the Group Entity has a more or less defined structure, function, and recognition by others as an existing entity. The soul of an animal, the Group Entity of all CPs that constitute the physical body’s structure, interacts with the structure to produce the consciousness that is so obviously displayed in our pets and in nature. The human frame also has a soul and a mind, with its consciousness likewise emerging from the structures of the body and brain. However, the human frame was endowed, by divine fiat, with a Spirit Point, a CP that is the duplicate of the spirit of the Son, the spark of divinity that distinguishes man from beast, and makes him a peer, a suitable companion to satisfy the need of God to give and receive love.
5. The scientific community’s objection to considering the spiritual/metaphysical aspects as part of scientific inquiry is hypocritical. No scientific entity is defined with objective existence at its foundation. Science cannot say what mass, time, space, or energy “is”. The surface appearance of such objects and concepts being objective is an illusion. The fundamental essence underlying the appearance of every objective reality is, at its base, undefined, conceptual, an idea, and in essence, metaphysical. Thus, the metaphysical objects postulated by the CPP model may be the metaphysical entities Conventional Physics. The entities postulated in the CPP model cannot be observed, they can only be inferred, in the same way as the entities in Conventional Physics. Granted, the CPP model entities cannot be subjected to the scrutiny of direct obeservation, but just like Conventional Physics, the rules governing these postulated entities can be proven by inductive reasoning, because of their*** non-contradictory and produce results consistent with empirical  observation. This is a minimum standard which the CPP model must meet. These metaphysical entities which I postulate must be consistent with the rules of interaction must be consistent with the empirical observations of the physical world, their rules of interaction must be few and broadly applicable across the entire spectrum of physical phenomena. If the entities and postulates of their behavior are wrong, then at the very least, the CPP model is a very useful tool of pedagogy to visualize the physical interactions of tangible object for the purpose of giving substance, objects, and reality to the entire branch of physics which is represents behaviors of physical objects with mathematical relationship. If the CCP model is false, if there is no reality to the CPP entities, then at the very least it is close. The coincidence that the  that the entities and smal, as it gives substance, names, entities, and rules to the myriad of abstract mathematical relationships that currently describe and predict action, but provide no tangible grasp on the substance of reality. In this way, the bridge between the theological concepts of the Bible and the physical realities of experiment and sensory experience is grounded in reality and connects with the utterly and eternally intangible.
6. The establishment of all physics as a set of observations which can all be understood as a provide additional credibility to biblical narratives
7. The Conscious Point Physics model provides a conceptual bridge between materialistic and spiritual worldviews.

Thomas: How did the story of Satan being a good angel gone bad come about in Christian theology? Was it Milton, in Paradise Lost? The justification from Ezekiel and Isaiah, which discusses Lucifer, could have been referring to humanity as the light bearer, and it was through our sin that all of mankind suffered. We walked with God, we walked among the fiery stones before we fell from grace by disobeying God. There is no direct statement in the Bible about Lucifer being Satan, only a very disjointed connection of revelation (1/3 of the stars thrown down after the millennium, and that was supposedly the origin of all the demons). And it was clearly stated that Satan was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, which sounds like there was an intent as to the nature of Satan. God the Father did not create anything, and hence was untainted by evil or evil imagination; everything was created by the Son, so God’s imperfection is not implicated by the creation of the epitome/the lord of evil. Isaiah or Ezekiel says that He created evil, so there is no question as to God’s intent to allow evil in this world. What is the history of thought that brought this current dogma about Satan being the best/brightest angel before he fell into the group mind of Christianity?

Poe Assistant: The story of Satan as a once-good angel who fell from grace is a complex theological development. While John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) popularized and dramatized this narrative in Western culture, the idea predates Milton by centuries and emerges from a combination of interpretations of scripture, early Christian theology, and mythological influences. Here’s a historical overview of how this dogma developed:

1. Biblical Foundations and Ambiguities

The Bible itself does not present a single, cohesive narrative about Satan’s origins. Instead, the traditional story of Satan as a fallen angel is pieced together from various passages, often interpreted allegorically or metaphorically:

Isaiah 14:12-15 (“Lucifer, Son of the Morning”)

• Context: This passage describes the downfall of the “King of Babylon” in poetic language, using imagery of a once-bright star falling from heaven.
• Interpretation: Early Christian interpreters (e.g., St. Jerome) associated “Lucifer” (Latin for “light-bearer”) with Satan, though the text originally referred to a human king. Over time, “Lucifer” came to be understood as a proper name for Satan.

Ezekiel 28:12-17 (“The King of Tyre”)

• Context: This passage uses rich symbolism to describe the King of Tyre, portraying him as a being in Eden, “the anointed cherub,” who became corrupted by pride and greed.
• Interpretation: Early theologians applied this imagery to Satan, seeing it as an allegory for the fall of a celestial being. However, the text itself is likely addressing a human ruler.

Revelation 12:7-9 (“War in Heaven”)

• Context: This apocalyptic vision describes a war between Michael and his angels and a dragon (Satan) who is cast down from heaven with his followers.
• Interpretation: This passage became linked to earlier texts (Isaiah, Ezekiel) to form a narrative of Satan’s rebellion and fall.

John 8:44 (“A Murderer from the Beginning”)

• Jesus describes Satan as a liar and murderer “from the beginning,” suggesting that Satan’s evil nature was inherent.
• Key Tension: On one hand, Satan is portrayed as a “fallen” being, implying he was once good; on the other, some passages suggest Satan was evil from the start.

2. Early Christian and Jewish Thought

The idea of Satan as a fallen angel developed gradually in Jewish and early Christian thought, influenced by both scriptural interpretation and external traditions:

Second Temple Judaism (500 BCE–70 CE)

• Jewish texts from this period, such as the Book of Enoch, expand on the idea of rebellious angels:
  • 1 Enoch describes a group of angels (“Watchers”) who fall by mating with human women and producing giants (Nephilim). This story introduces the concept of angelic rebellion, though it is not directly linked to Satan.
  • The association of Satan with rebellious angels is tentative in Jewish thought during this time.
• Satan in Job and Zechariah: In earlier Jewish texts, Satan is more of a “prosecutor” or adversary in God’s court rather than an independent evil being.

Early Christian Theology

• Origen of Alexandria (185–254 CE): Origen was one of the first theologians to develop the idea that Satan was a good angel who fell due to pride. He connected passages from Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation to construct this narrative.
• Tertullian (160–225 CE): He also contributed to the idea of Satan as a fallen angel who rebelled against God.
• Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE): Augustine solidified the doctrine of Satan as a created being who fell due to his pride, emphasizing that God did not create evil but allowed free will, which made rebellion possible.

3. Medieval Theology and Mythology

The medieval period saw the codification and expansion of the Satan-as-fallen-angel narrative, influenced by both Christian tradition and popular mythology.

• Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha: Texts like the Life of Adam and Eve and 2 Enoch elaborate on Satan’s envy of humanity as a reason for his rebellion. These ideas are extra-biblical but became influential in Christian imagination.
• Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE): Aquinas formalized the theological understanding of angels, their free will, and the fall. He argued that Satan’s fall was due to his pride and desire to be equal to God.
• Medieval Art and Literature: Popular culture during this time reinforced the idea of Satan as a once-brilliant angel who fell from grace. Imagery of Satan as a dragon or serpent gained traction.

4. John Milton and the Role of Paradise Lost

John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1667) is perhaps the most influential work in shaping the modern Western understanding of Satan as a tragic, rebellious figure.

• Milton’s Narrative: Paradise Lost vividly portrays Satan as a once-glorious archangel who rebels against God out of pride, envy, and a desire for autonomy. Milton draws heavily on Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation but also infuses the story with dramatic, human-like motivations for Satan.
• Impact: Although Milton was working within existing theological traditions, his poetic and imaginative retelling immortalized the story of Satan’s fall in the cultural consciousness.

5. Challenges and Alternatives

• Lucifer as Humanity? Some scholars argue that the passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel refer to humanity (or specific kings) rather than Satan. For example:
  • Humanity, created “in God’s image” and with dominion over the earth, could be the “light-bearer” that fell from grace due to sin (Genesis 3).
  • The interpretation of “Lucifer” as Satan is not universally accepted and is often viewed as a later theological development.
• God’s Role in Creating Evil: Passages like Isaiah 45:7 (“I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil”) acknowledge God’s sovereignty over both good and evil. This raises theological questions about whether Satan’s rebellion was part of God’s plan.
• Satan’s Nature as Evil from the Beginning: Some traditions emphasize that Satan was never good, avoiding the tension of a “fall” and placing the origin of evil in Satan’s inherent nature rather than a moral lapse.

Conclusion

The narrative of Satan as a good angel who fell from grace developed over centuries through the interplay of biblical interpretation, Jewish apocalyptic literature, early Christian theology, and cultural imagination. While John Milton’s Paradise Lost brought this story to life in Western culture, its roots lie in much earlier traditions that attempt to reconcile biblical texts with philosophical and theological questions about the origins of evil, free will, and God’s sovereignty. However, the biblical evidence remains ambiguous, leaving room for alternative interpretations that challenge the traditional dogma.

When God created the universe, He established a spiritual law that gave Satan a legitimate claim over anyone who violated God’s perfect standard. This wasn’t arbitrary, but served a divine purpose in creating a meaningful drama of redemption. As Dr. Abshier explains:

“Satan gets anyone with a one-strike-and-out rule. It’s not three and out, it’s one and out. You do the deed, you do the time, which in this case is for eternity. He owns us because we took the pleasure. When we sin and violate God’s law, we are owned by Satan. We will pay with our lives, with our blood, with our bondage.”

This ownership isn’t merely theoretical—it has tangible consequences. Satan derives pleasure from human suffering, sin, and death. When we sin, we enter into a contract, trading our eternal well-being for momentary gratification:

“We contracted with Satan to be his slave, to be his blood donor, to be his pleasure giver by our pain, and our price was a bowl of soup. That was all we got, and we gave him everything.”

The Inadequacy of the Old Covenant

Under the Old Covenant, animal sacrifices provided temporary relief but not true freedom. These sacrifices functioned as payments that secured our temporary freedom from an ongoing spiritual captivity:

“The sacrifice of bulls and goats didn’t change the contract. Satan still owns us even though we got some temporary freedom. It was like paying for parole, a temporary respite from captivity. We were allowed to get out and be free for a while. But it wasn’t a true, enduring freedom. We paid for a period of freedom inside an enduring captivity. We were able to take leave for a little while, but we had to come back and pay again for another period of freedom.”

Recognizing the state of our contract and captivity clearly illuminates that we are caught inside a system of slavery to Satan because of our sin. Seeing our state clearly reveals humanity’s need for a permanent solution. The Bible cryptically reveals this system, the forces acting in life, the history, the pattern of bondage established by sin, and the freedom offered by Christ paying for the debt. However, the specificity of the contract, our required payment of blood and life for sin, the cost of our redemption, and the justification for the efficacy of Jesus’ sacrifice are unclear. It is for this reason that we must consider the broader context of the Bible, which enables us to understand why Jesus’ sacrifice was effective and why it surpassed the efficacy of animal sacrifices.

Why Jesus’s Sacrifice Was Different

Jesus’s sacrifice was fundamentally different from animal sacrifices for several crucial reasons:

1. He lived a sinless life: “Jesus lived a perfect life. The sacrifice of lambs was established as a precedent, as a meaningful and effective metaphor. Lambs were slain and their blood was effective for a while, but Jesus’ blood was a permanent payment because it was the blood of a man, it was sinless/perfect, and it paid the full price required by the contract. And as part of the requirement to be able to offer Jesus’ death as a substitute offering, we were required to pledge and live as obedient servants of God. We placed ourselves in the same place of freedom from culpability as Jesus. We, as the redeemed, have basically become Him in our commitment to righteousness and spurning of sin. He was the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, knowing that His sacrifice would be required. And it was for this purpose that He suffered, so that we could have the opportunity to be free from the penalty/pain/death/flood required by our sin. The blood and life that Satan took when he killed Jesus were Satan’s contracted right to take. Thus, we have the right, as bonded/committed/children of God, to ask God to miraculously dedicate that blood to paying the debt we rightfully owe to Satan.”
2. He voluntarily offered himself: Unlike animals, who had no choice, Jesus willingly gave himself as a sacrifice. This is an important distinction that requires further qualification. The voluntary aspect of this sacrifice is important only to the extent that Jesus was willing to allow us to apply the credit of His unjustified death to our account. The blood of bulls was not given voluntarily by the bulls, but this did not constitute an extreme distinction, because it was merely a partial payment of blood for an unlimited eternal debt of blood. The blood dedicated from the bull covered only a portion of the debt, and the debt remained outstanding after the payment. The purpose of Jesus’ life was to die. He established a new covenant, a better covenant with man, a covenant of eternal Sonship/adoption, fellowship, if we gave our hearts/minds/bodies to the service and dedication to Him. His willingness to die is intimately connected with His willingness to offer Himself as the payment that we can use to pay the debt we owe. The gift was free in the sense that we could not earn it through righteous works, as we can never be good enough to deserve the redemption He offers. The gift is free; no good works can justify our receipt of the benefit, still, we must give everything. We must pay for that free gift with the price of our total commitment to Him as our Lord.
3. His sacrifice had infinite value: Being both fully human and fully divine, Jesus’s sacrifice had sufficient worth to cover all human sin. This point is true, but it does not capture the actual axis of the economic exchange. Our value as souls is infinite to God. Our acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior cannot be compared to wealth, price, or cost and value to Him. Each of us is irreplaceably valuable to Him. He lives through us, He experiences pleasure in our living a life of Godly righteousness. To us, the value of being extracted/freed from the unGodly pain of possession cannot be quantified by a price. The ultimate measure of value in the universe is the experience of pleasure. The relief of pain accentuates the experience of pleasure. The inevitability of pain creates the polarity of its relief provided by His redemption. His sacrifice was not necessary, but the fact is that He desires our fellowship, our dedicated/given experience of life that He lives through us. The payment, the cost, the relief, and the benefit of fellowship/relationship with God are immeasurable in their value.
4. It was a once-for-all payment: Rather than temporary relief, Jesus’s sacrifice completely settled the debt: “We all want to pay off the debt, and we don’t want to keep paying on that debt for eternity.” That level of freedom from ongoing payment was not available in the old covenant. We could only make installments because there was no unit of cash or currency of sufficient value that could be applied to the debt to pay it in full. We don’t want to have to keep paying on the old debt we’ve contracted, when we discovered the actual terms and inequitable requirements for continued subjugation, forever.  We want to break free from the bondage of the mortgage, pay it off, and own our lives. When Jesus died, that unit of currency was available. We could appropriate it as a draft note, as a large bill of high denominational value, that we could use to pay the debt in full.”

The New Covenant’s Superiority

The New Covenant established through Jesus’s blood fundamentally changed humanity’s relationship with God:

1. From law to grace: We cannot pay the bill for our debt with good works, but we can transform our hearts so that we are dedicated to giving Him our best possible performance in this world. His grace covers our errors, forgives our transgressions, and expects that we will learn and do our best to do better next time.
2. From temporary covering to permanent forgiveness: Animal sacrifices needed constant repetition; Christ’s sacrifice is effective for all time. But that forgiveness is not a license to sin, to play in the fleshpots and drink the wine of lust and debauchery. The price for our permanent forgiveness is a permanently changed heart. Our best effort in performance is both a required and intended outcome of receiving His gift of Salvation, and a natural result of our transformation of heart that comes when we dedicate our hearts to Him and His way.
3. From limited access to direct relationship: We no longer need human intermediaries to approach God. The priest, the prophet, and the national sovereign leader are human, and all need to come before God to plead for mercy and bow down in worship. God desires a complete relationship with man.
4. From external law to internal desire: God’s law is written on believers’ hearts rather than on stone tablets. When we accept Him as Lord, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit, the voice, guidance, the inner knowing and feeling of His presence. When we commit to His Lordship, the animal nature, the desire to sin remains, but we have an alternative, a possibility of always choosing His way. When the law is only intellectual, our knowledge of its consequence is abstract, and we feel the draw of the flesh. When we have committed our hearts, minds, souls, and lives to Him and His way, there is another voice we can listen to that is felt and can overcome the temptations of the flesh simply by saying “No” to sin.

God’s Motivation: The Joy of Relationship

Why would God create a system requiring such a sacrifice? The answer lies in God’s desire for a genuine relationship:

“The motivation for God creating life and the universe was to experience the joy of relationship. God created everything, and in essence, “is” everything. God separated Himself from the Son and created a duplicate of Himself. He is both the same and separate. God is One, meaning that all is within God. And in this is the profound aloneness of God. This is the understanding of His motivation for creating life, and creating it in such a way that He experiences love as other, and love freely given. This is God’s challenge, His burden, His immovable stone that must be moved. It is this profound aloneness that God strives to overcome by His effort to create the world and populate it with souls with whose fellowship He can share His profound love. God can do anything, but He cannot be other than what He is. He is profoundly and necessarily alone. Thus, it is aloneness that drives/motivates God to desire our fellowship, our worship, our co-living life with Him as a partner. God can do, make, create anything, but the only thing of value is God wanting to fill His heart with our relationship. It was because of this primary motivation that He planned from the very beginning that Jesus/the Son/the Word would incarnate and live as a man, live perfectly, die unjustly, and dedicate His death, blood, and pain to our account, to satisfy the debt which had separated us from His fellowship. He planned this out from the beginning. He created wily opponents that were motivated to prevent such a takeover and the nullification of their rulership. For this reason, He spoke in riddles, in parables, in revelations hidden in symbolic mystery that could be divined by those who were attuned to His word/spirit and heart.”

Ultimately, since there is nothing but God in the creation, since God created every spiritual and physical entity from the substance of His being/mind/consciousness, Satan is part of God. Likewise, all of the evil acts, all of that which is appalling to God, are all internal to and substance of His substance. It is only by the separation of Himself from the evil (giving the Son the charge to create all that is created), and by allowing Him/the Son to be separate from His almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, that He can hold the universe, and be the basis/foundation/substance of the universe.

God established Satan as the personification and lord of everything opposed to His nature. He gave Satan the rulership of this world. He gave Satan the right to own men’s souls and kill them, and make them suffer, and to enjoy the experience of their suffering.  He subjected the creation and humans to the oppression of sin and the bondage of Satanic rule. By establishing the polarity, He gave humans the freedom to choose the ascetic purity and fruits of God, or Satan and his momentary pleasures. God created a meaningful drama, a hidden plot, a disguised villain, and a poison apple that appeared pleasant and inviting. We were placed inside a drama that has unfolded for millennia, training each generation in the distinction between godliness and sin, giving each person the choice to love God and His purity or the temporary pleasures of sin. In so doing, the heart of God is satisfied. We are the sheep of His pasture. In finding the pearl of great price, the eternal treasure that moth and rust cannot corrupt, we find lasting joy. By loving Him, we are placing our trust that this joy, the experience of life as He unfolds it for eternity, will be greater than the pleasure of sin. It was Jesus’s sacrifice that allowed us to change our destiny. It was through this mechanism, the payment of our debt by His death and substitutionary sacrifice, dedicated to our account, which made this return to a life in His Kingdom possible.

Conclusion: The Transaction of Redemption

Jesus’s death for our sins was necessary because:

1. Our sin gave Satan a legitimate claim over us. We accepted the pleasure of sin and paid for it by giving him our lives and an eternity of obligation to him. The cost of that moment of pleasure was giving him the extraction of our blood, death, and pain for his pleasure.
2. The death of Christ was without warrant, without justification; there was no claim against His soul that could justify Satan executing His death. Thus, His death was a price paid without a corresponding purchase. Jesus’ death is thus an open payment for a debt to all who seek to be free of the contract of blood and death owed to Satan. The cost of receiving this loan/this ‘get out of hell free’ card is a life of obedience to God’s laws. By our obedience to His way, by loving His law, we express our love for Him. He lives His life through us, and as a result, we are adopted as His children. Thus, it is through obedience to Him, accepting His death and resurrection as true (acknowledging the sacrificial system and His sacrifice in particular as effective), that we can appropriate His death as the sacrifice which pays the debt of our sin and terminates our obligation and contract with Satan.
3. The sinlessness of Jesus was required because His death had to be without any justification by any claim of just penalty. God established the pattern of sin producing death after the very first sin. If you eat of the tree, you will die. He established the crime (don’t eat of the fruit of that one tree). He established the penalty (you will die).  He established the executioner/enforcer, Satan, as the beneficiary of our sin. If Jesus had sinned, then His death would have been justified by the Law.  If He had sinned, His death would have gone to Satan as the debt holder as rightful payment for the contract. Jesus’ death had to be unjustified. His shed blood had to be done with the intent and purpose of creating a currency of payment for debt that could be transferred. As the owner of the credit for the debt, He was the holder of the debt. Being sinless, could offer a sacrifice Satan had no claim to
4. This sacrifice satisfied both divine justice and love. Satan’s original charter, his realm of authority, was given to him to own the souls of men and receive the pleasure of that rulership, and possibly the experience of pleasure in that torture. The cost of sin, the establishment of players/cast with protagonist and antagonist, was necessary to establish meaning, to give the game stakes, to put flesh/pleasure/treasure as the stakes of the game of life. In this, men are given free will, which establishes a meaning to God for the violation. In this life, men have the free will ability to choose God (obedience to His law, and loving His ways) or choose Satan (partake in the acts which displease God, and cause Him to look away and not be in fellowship with Him). The contract with Satan is a legally binding agreement between Satan, God, and man. Its contract promises blood and death as payment in return for man’s sinful pleasure. As such, the contract can be fulfilled by any payment that satisfies the terms of the contract. Jesus’ blood and death were unclaimed. He authorized us to use that blood to pay our debt. We are authorized to attribute that blood to our debt if we recognize His resurrection (the power He has over death because of His sinless righteousness).

This explanation offers a coherent framework that respects biblical teachings while addressing the logical question: What kind of universe do we inhabit? How can the death of a sinless person be attributed to the debt due for another’s sin?

As Dr. Abshier concludes: “The question is, how do we get out of this fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into? And it’s a real mess. And everybody’s gotten in the same mess… The purpose of the drama of Jesus’ life and sacrificial death was to free us from the bondage and cost of sin so we could establish a relationship with God. God has given us a way out of our miserable fate if we are willing to forsake sin, and take Jesus as our Lord, and obediently follow Him as the director of the way to righteous life.”

Death and the Grave

by Thomas Abshier | May 18, 2025 | Apologetics/Theology/Christianity

Death and the Grave: Understanding the Pale Horseman of Revelation
by Thomas Lee Abshier, ND
5/18/2025

Introduction

When the Lamb breaks the fourth seal in Revelation’s apocalyptic vision, a ghastly pale horse emerges carrying a rider named Death, with Hades following close behind. This final member of the Four Horsemen completes a terrifying quartet of divine judgments set to affect a quarter of the earth’s population. As Richard T. Ritenbaugh suggests in his analysis, this pale horseman represents pestilence—disease epidemics that sweep through human populations with devastating efficiency, especially in the aftermath of war and famine brought by the preceding horsemen.

This essay examines the biblical symbolism of the fourth horseman, explores the relationship between death and the grave, and considers the theological implications of pestilence as divine judgment. Through careful examination of biblical texts, historical patterns, and contemporary realities, we gain insight into how disease functions as both a natural consequence of human behavior and as an instrument of divine warning.

The Ghastly Pale Horse and Its Rider

A Color of Death

The fourth horse’s color is described with the Greek word chloros, which gives us English terms like “chlorine” and “chlorophyll.” While technically referring to a greenish-yellow hue seen in nature’s new growth, Ritenbaugh notes that ancient Greek writers applied this term more broadly—to fearful men’s pallid faces, the pale gold of honey, or the gray of olive bark. Most significantly, Thucydides used it to describe the skin color of plague victims.

This contextual understanding suggests that John saw not merely a pale horse but one with the sickly, greenish-gray pallor of a corpse. Modern translations capture this nuance with phrases like “sickly pale,” “deathly pale,” or “pale green like a corpse.” The horse’s very appearance, then, heralds its deadly mission—it bears the color of death itself.

Death as Pestilence

While the rider bears the straightforward name “Death” (thanatos in Greek), Ritenbaugh makes a compelling case that this term carries a more specific meaning in context: pestilence or disease. He points to the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), where translators frequently rendered the Hebrew word deber (pestilence) as thanatos. Examples include Moses warning Pharaoh about potential pestilence (Exodus 5:3) and God’s pronouncement of the fifth plague (Exodus 9:3).

Most definitively, Jesus Himself describes the sequence of end-time events using the term loimos (pestilence) in the same position where Revelation places the fourth horseman: “And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). This parallel confirms that the pale horse and its rider represent not merely death in general but specifically death by disease—epidemics that historically follow in the wake of war and famine.

Death and the Grave: Inseparable Companions

Understanding Hades

The text states that “Hades followed with him,” introducing a concept that requires careful biblical examination. While popular imagination often pictures Hades as a netherworld of departed spirits based on Greek mythology, Ritenbaugh argues that Scripture uses this term simply to denote the grave—the physical place where bodies rest after death.

The New Testament term “Hades” corresponds to the Hebrew “Sheol,” both referring to the state of being dead and the place of the dead. Ritenbaugh cuts through speculative interpretations to emphasize that biblically, Hades represents not some shadowy realm of conscious spirits but the grave itself—a place where, as Solomon writes, “the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

Biblical Evidence of Their Connection

Scripture consistently presents death and the grave as parallel or synonymous concepts:

• “For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalm 6:5)
• “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them…” (Psalm 49:14)
• “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?” (Psalm 89:48)
• “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death” (Hosea 13:14)

These passages reveal a simple truth: where death goes, the grave inevitably follows. Though one might distinguish between death (the cessation of life) and the grave (the repository of remains), Scripture treats them as essentially inseparable aspects of the same condition—being cut off from the living and from God.

Resurrection as the Answer

Hope emerges from this connection, as Scripture repeatedly affirms that God will redeem His people from both death and the grave through resurrection:

• “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave” (Psalm 49:15)
• “I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves” (Ezekiel 37:13)
• “All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29)

This biblical perspective reframes our understanding of the fourth horseman and his follower. Their appearance in Revelation represents not just mortality but the comprehensive cessation of physical life that only resurrection can overcome.

The Modern Reality of Disease

Contemporary Causes of Death

Ritenbaugh’s examination of leading causes of death in the United States (circa 2001) reveals a striking pattern: disease vastly outpaces violence as humanity’s primary killer. Of the top ten causes of death—including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and respiratory diseases—94.66% resulted from illness rather than injury or violence.

More revealing still is the nature of these modern plagues. Unlike the infectious epidemics that historically followed war and famine (plague, dysentery, tuberculosis), today’s leading killers are largely “diseases of affluence” stemming from lifestyle choices: heart disease linked to poor diet and sedentary habits; cancers associated with smoking, alcohol, and environmental factors; diabetes connected to obesity and nutrition.

Self-Inflicted Judgments

This pattern suggests a profound truth: even in peaceful, prosperous societies with advanced medical technology, humanity remains vulnerable to pestilence—often through self-inflicted health crises. The fourth horseman’s work continues not primarily through dramatic plagues but through the slow, cumulative effects of poor stewardship of physical health.

As Ritenbaugh observes, these diseases are “in many respects self-inflicted, caused by years of abuse through overeating or poor nutrition, smoking, drinking, or dealing with known carcinogens.” This perspective aligns with biblical principles linking behavior with consequences—the same pattern underlying the progression of the Four Horsemen.

Medical Limitations

Despite unprecedented advances in medical science—”at no time in man’s history has it come farther”—humanity remains unable to solve “the mystery of disease and death.” This limitation reflects the fundamental reality expressed in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.” Medical technology may extend life and alleviate suffering, but it cannot overcome mortality itself.

This sobering reality reminds us of our dependence on God not merely for physical healing but for the ultimate solution to death. As advanced as our treatments become, we cannot escape the fourth horseman’s reach through human ingenuity alone.

Wild Beasts: The Ecological Consequence

The Surprising Addition

Revelation 6:8 concludes with a seemingly unexpected addition to the horsemen’s powers: “to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” Ritenbaugh convincingly argues that this represents a summary of all four horsemen’s activities rather than attributes of the fourth rider alone.

The inclusion of “beasts of the earth” might initially seem puzzling, but Ritenbaugh demonstrates its logical place in the progression of catastrophes. When war, famine, and disease depopulate regions, the natural balance between human civilization and wildlife shifts. Predatory animals multiply and expand their territories, increasing the likelihood of deadly encounters with humans.

Biblical Precedents

Scripture provides several examples of this ecological principle:

• Nimrod’s rise to power after the Flood began with his hunting skills, suggesting predators threatened the small post-diluvian population (Genesis 10:8-9)
• God promised Israel a gradual conquest of Canaan partly to prevent wildlife overpopulation: “I will not drive [the Canaanites] out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you” (Exodus 23:29)
• Lions killed Samaritans after Assyria depopulated northern Israel through captivity (2 Kings 17:25)
• Wild beasts appear in biblical curses for disobedience: “I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number” (Leviticus 26:22)

These examples illustrate how war, famine, and disease create conditions where animal attacks become a genuine threat—completing the cycle of judgment represented by the Four Horsemen.

The Theological Significance of Pestilence

The Progression of Judgment

The Four Horsemen follow a logical progression that reveals the principle of cause and effect in human affairs. False ideas (first horseman) lead to war (second horseman), which disrupts agriculture and causes famine (third horseman), which in turn weakens populations and enables disease (fourth horseman). This sequence demonstrates that catastrophes are not random but follow predictable patterns—patterns that often begin with spiritual deception and moral failure.

As Ritenbaugh observes, “God is showing us that these sorrows trace their roots back to disobedience and rejection of Him.” The progression of horsemen illustrates Jesus’ teaching that a civilization built on sand cannot withstand the storms that inevitably come (Matthew 7:24-27).

Divine Warning and Human Responsibility

Scripture consistently presents disease as both a natural consequence of human behavior and a divine warning. The blessings and curses delineated in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 explicitly connect obedience with health and disobedience with disease. This pattern appears throughout biblical history, with pestilence serving as both judgment and call to repentance.

The pale horseman thus serves a dual purpose in God’s economy: executing justice for sin while simultaneously warning humanity to return to Him. Like the other horsemen, pestilence reminds us that “God is still on His throne, judging mankind for his sins.”

The Beginning of Sorrows

Jesus described the calamities represented by the Four Horsemen as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8), indicating that these judgments—though severe—represent only preliminary warnings before the final climactic events of human history. In this sense, even the ghastly pale horseman serves as an act of mercy, offering humanity an opportunity to recognize the consequences of sin and turn to God before facing more severe judgment.

Ritenbaugh quotes Hebrews 12:25, 28-29 to emphasize this warning aspect: “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks… For our God is a consuming fire.” The fourth horseman’s pestilential ride across human history represents not merely punishment but a sobering call to reverence and godly fear.

Conclusion: Beyond the Pale Horse

The pale horse and its grim rider remind us of humanity’s mortality and vulnerability despite our technological advances and medical breakthroughs. Disease remains a powerful equalizer that affects individuals across all social strata, economic levels, and geographic regions. Yet this biblical image offers more than a morbid reminder of death’s inevitability.

By understanding the fourth horseman as representing pestilence—a judgment that follows logically from war and famine—we gain insight into both divine justice and providential warning. The progression of the Four Horsemen reveals that actions have consequences, whether on personal, national, or global scales. False ideas lead to violence, which disrupts food production, which compromises health, which creates conditions for further suffering. This cycle demonstrates that spiritual realities have physical manifestations.

More hopefully, Scripture’s teaching about death and the grave points toward the ultimate answer to the fourth horseman. While pestilence claims bodies for the grave, God promises resurrection and redemption for those who turn to Him. As Hosea prophesied and Paul later quoted, “O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!” (Hosea 13:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55).

The rider named Death may wield terrifying power, but his authority extends only as far as God permits—”over a fourth of the earth.” Even at his most devastating, the pale horseman remains subject to divine limitations and ultimately serves God’s redemptive purposes. For those who heed the warning he represents, even this most fearsome of the Four Horsemen becomes not a harbinger of despair but a somber invitation to seek the God who alone conquers death and the grave.

The Doctrine of Eternal Security

by Thomas Abshier | May 18, 2025 | Apologetics/Theology/Christianity

The Doctrine of Eternal Security: A Critical Biblical Examination
by Thomas Lee Abshier, ND
5/18/20205

Introduction
Among Christianity’s most enduring theological debates stands the question of salvation’s permanence: Once a person accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, is their eternal destiny irrevocably secured? The doctrine of “eternal security”—often expressed in the phrase “once saved, always saved”—has become a cornerstone of many Protestant denominations and evangelical movements. This belief suggests that, following genuine conversion, a believer cannot lose their salvation regardless of subsequent behavior or spiritual condition.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh’s analysis challenges this doctrine, presenting a biblical case that salvation requires not only initial acceptance of Christ but continued obedience and spiritual growth. This essay examines the scriptural foundations of this perspective, explores the theological implications of both positions, and considers the profound impact these views have on Christian living.

The Origins of Eternal Security Doctrine
The eternal security doctrine finds its modern expression largely in Reformed and Baptist traditions, but Ritenbaugh traces its conceptual roots to a much earlier source—Satan’s deception in Eden. When God warned that sin would result in death, the serpent countered, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), effectively promising humanity immunity from the ultimate consequence of disobedience.

This ancient false assurance, Ritenbaugh suggests, finds its theological parallel in the modern belief that once God’s grace covers a person, no future action can sever their relationship with Him. Just as the serpent promised immortality regardless of behavior, the doctrine of eternal security appears to offer salvation regardless of post-conversion conduct.

The doctrine gained particular prominence during the Protestant Reformation, when theologians like John Calvin developed systematic frameworks emphasizing God’s sovereignty in salvation. Calvin’s doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints” maintained that those truly elected by God would invariably persevere in faith. Later interpretations, particularly in American evangelicalism, sometimes transformed this nuanced position into a more simplified “once saved, always saved” formula that minimized the necessity of ongoing sanctification.

Biblical Challenges to Eternal Security
Ritenbaugh identifies several key scriptural passages that directly challenge the doctrine of eternal security:

The Warning in Hebrews 10:26-31
Perhaps the most direct biblical challenge comes from Hebrews 10:26-27: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

This passage explicitly addresses those who have “received the knowledge of the truth”—converted believers—and warns that willful, persistent sin can place them beyond the reach of Christ’s sacrifice. The writer continues with a sobering comparison: if those who rejected Moses’ law died without mercy, how much worse punishment awaits those who have “trampled the Son of God underfoot” and “insulted the Spirit of grace” (verses 29-30).

Such language would be meaningless if salvation could never be lost. Why warn believers about judgment if their eternal security was guaranteed regardless of conduct?

Paul’s Teaching on Judgment in Romans 2
Ritenbaugh highlights Romans 2:1-16 as particularly problematic for eternal security advocates. Here, Paul writes to believers that God “will render to each one according to his deeds,” promising “eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality,” but “indignation and wrath” to “those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth” (verses 6-8).

This passage establishes a clear connection between behavior and ultimate outcome, even for believers. Paul’s assertion that “the doers of the law will be justified” (verse 13) directly contradicts the notion that justification comes solely through initial faith without regard for subsequent obedience.

Jesus’ Vine Analogy in John 15
Jesus’ teaching in John 15:1-8 provides perhaps the most vivid illustration challenging eternal security. Christ describes himself as the vine and believers as branches, stating unequivocally that branches which fail to bear fruit will be “taken away” (verse 2) and “cast out,” ultimately to be “thrown into the fire and burned” (verse 6).

This agricultural metaphor leaves little room for ambiguity—branches that were genuinely connected to the vine (Christ) can be removed and destroyed if they prove unfruitful. If eternal security were biblical, such branches would remain connected regardless of their fruit-bearing capacity.

Peter’s Admonition in 2 Peter 1:10-11
Ritenbaugh considers 2 Peter 1:10-11 particularly devastating to eternal security doctrine: “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom.”

This direct apostolic instruction makes no sense if calling and election were automatically “sure” upon conversion. Why would Peter urge believers to “make sure” what was already guaranteed? The conditional phrase “if you do these things” clearly indicates that entrance into God’s kingdom depends on ongoing diligence, not merely on initial acceptance of Christ.

The Necessity of Spiritual Growth
Rather than offering believers passive security, Scripture consistently presents salvation as a dynamic relationship requiring active participation through ongoing growth. Ritenbaugh emphasizes that genuine conversion initiates a process that must continue throughout a Christian’s life.

Bearing Spiritual Fruit
Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:16-20 that “by their fruits you will know them” establishes fruit-bearing as the authentic evidence of genuine conversion. This theme continues throughout the New Testament, with Galatians 5:22-23 detailing the “fruit of the Spirit” that should characterize believers’ lives.

The absence of such fruit, far from being merely a matter of diminished rewards, indicates a fundamental problem with one’s spiritual condition. As Jesus warns, trees without good fruit are “cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19).

Continuing in Faith
Colossians 1:21-23 emphasizes that Christ’s reconciling work presents believers “holy, and blameless, and above reproach” only “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” This conditional language directly contradicts the notion that salvation remains secure regardless of whether one continues in faith.

Growing in Grace and Knowledge
Peter’s final exhortation in 2 Peter 3:18 to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” comes immediately after warning believers to “beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness” (verse 17). This juxtaposition establishes growth not as optional but as essential for preventing spiritual failure.

Ritenbaugh’s conclusion is straightforward: “If we grow, our salvation is assured.” The biblical model presents salvation not as a static, one-time transaction but as a dynamic relationship that must be actively maintained through ongoing spiritual development.

Theological Implications
The question of eternal security reaches far beyond academic theological debate, profoundly shaping how Christians understand their relationship with God and their responsibility within that relationship.

The Nature of God’s Promises
Advocates of eternal security often emphasize the faithfulness of God’s promises, citing passages like John 10:28-29 where Jesus states that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand. This represents a valid and important biblical truth—God is absolutely faithful to His promises and desires all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

However, Ritenbaugh notes that biblical promises often contain conditions. God’s faithfulness does not override human responsibility or eliminate the conditional nature of the covenant relationship. As Deuteronomy repeatedly demonstrates, God’s blessings are contingent upon obedience, while disobedience brings consequences. The New Covenant, while based on grace through faith, does not abolish this principle of conditionality.

The Role of Human Responsibility
The doctrine of eternal security risks minimizing human responsibility within salvation. Scripture consistently presents salvation as involving both divine initiative and human response—God’s grace enables while human obedience actualizes. Philippians 2:12-13 captures this balance: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Ritenbaugh’s analysis emphasizes that believers must “reciprocate” God’s grace through obedient living. Without this reciprocity, “the relationship He has begun will fall apart.” This perspective preserves divine sovereignty while acknowledging the genuine role of human choice in salvation’s ongoing process.

The Reality of Apostasy
Perhaps most significantly, the doctrine of eternal security struggles to account for the biblical reality of apostasy—believers who genuinely experience spiritual life but later abandon faith. Hebrews 6:4-6 describes those who “were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit” yet fall away, effectively “crucifying again for themselves the Son of God.”

Such passages become problematic for eternal security advocates, who must either argue that such apostates were never truly saved (despite the passage’s clear description of their spiritual experience) or reinterpret “falling away” as something less than loss of salvation. Ritenbaugh’s perspective acknowledges apostasy’s reality without requiring such interpretive gymnastics.

Practical Implications for Christian Living
Beyond theological considerations, the doctrine of eternal security has profound practical implications for how believers approach Christian living.

The Danger of Presumption
Ritenbaugh warns against taking “God’s salvation for granted,” noting that such presumption can lead to spiritual complacency. If salvation is guaranteed regardless of behavior, the motivation for vigilance against sin and commitment to spiritual growth may be significantly reduced.

This concern echoes Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warning against “cheap grace” that “means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner.” The biblical pattern instead calls believers to “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).

The Balance of Assurance and Vigilance
Rejecting eternal security does not mean Christians must live in perpetual anxiety about their salvation. Scripture offers genuine assurance to believers who maintain their relationship with Christ. Romans 8:38-39 affirms that nothing can separate us from God’s love—a promise that brings tremendous comfort while still requiring our continued participation in that loving relationship.

The biblical balance presents salvation as securely held by God’s power but requiring our vigilant cooperation with His Spirit. This creates a healthy spiritual mindset of confident dependence rather than either anxious uncertainty or presumptuous complacency.

The Motivation for Obedience
Ritenbaugh’s perspective underscores that obedience is not merely optional for the believer but essential to genuine faith. This aligns with James’ teaching that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) and John’s assertion that those who claim to know God while disregarding His commandments are “liars” (1 John 2:4).

Rather than obedience flowing from fear of losing salvation, however, the biblical model presents obedience as the natural expression of genuine love for God. As Jesus stated, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Obedience becomes not the means of earning salvation but the inevitable outworking of authentic relationship with Christ.

Conclusion
The doctrine of eternal security, while offering an appealing sense of guaranteed salvation, faces significant challenges from Scripture’s consistent teaching about the conditional nature of the believer’s relationship with God. Richard Ritenbaugh’s analysis highlights the biblical emphasis on continued obedience, spiritual growth, and active faith as essential components of salvation.

Rather than undermining assurance, this perspective actually strengthens it by grounding confidence not in a past decision but in an ongoing, dynamic relationship with Christ. Believers can indeed have assurance of salvation—not because their eternal destiny was irrevocably settled at conversion regardless of subsequent behavior, but because they continue to “abide in the vine,” bear spiritual fruit, and grow in grace and knowledge.

The biblical pattern calls Christians neither to anxious uncertainty nor presumptuous complacency, but to diligent perseverance, knowing that God faithfully completes what He begins in those who continue in His way. In this understanding, salvation remains secure not despite human responsibility but through the believer’s faithful response to God’s grace—a response that continues from conversion until final glorification.

As believers “make their calling and election sure” through continued growth and obedience, they can indeed have confidence that “an entrance will be supplied to them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11).

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by Thomas Abshier | May 15, 2025 | Apologetics/Theology/Christianity