Lucifer, the angel, threw everything into his quest to be equal with God. There were “ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands upon thousands” of angels around the throne of God (Revelation 5:11), and Lucifer was the “anointed cherub that covereth,” (Ezekiel 28:14). This means he held the highest position among the angels and it was given him by the Lord.
He wanted more and he left nothing to chance. To achieve a good following, he got into the hearts and minds of many of the angels around him and led their thinking.
So the question thrown at worshippers is this; did God create the evil mind that Lucifer developed? If God created everything and “it was good,” did He create evil also?
My question in reply is this; did God create free choice? Or did He create robots?
Lucifer’s wisdom and perfection and beauty is described by Ezekiel in chapter 28, then it says “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,” (Ezekiel 28:17), and “thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Satan had wisdom, the evidence of a brilliant mind. Free choice is a great gift and we all cherish it. There is nothing worse than to be stifled by those who despises depth of thought and the Lord desired us to seek knowledge and wisdom. But He has set the boundaries and the everlasting boundary is that our seeking should remain within the boundaries He put around us at creation.
Just notice the wording — “thou hast corrupted…” God is saying that Lucifer, also known as Satan, made the choice to do his thinking outside the boundaries set by God. War became inevitable because Satan’s choice went into the area of pride and domination, and he wanted a position that was not his. He wanted what belonged to the eternal, immortal trinity, and to be as God.
Now come to Revelation 12:7, and please note that Satan is given many names in Scripture. He is the serpent, Beelzebub, accuser of the brethren, the dragon, and so on. He is clearly identified as Satan in Revelation 20:2: “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan.” and “There was war in heaven: Michael [the archangel] and his angels fought against the dragon.” (Rev. 20:9), and “The great dragon was cast out…he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
This is what Jesus referred to when He said He saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Satan became man’s representative when “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord,” (Job 1:6).
Today, the Bible’s early historical narrative is treated as mythology, and as the culture of our country, it is pointedly ignored or relentlessly disparaged.
Questions have even been raised whether the Lord’s Prayer should be said at the beginning of parliamentary sittings, and this in a country whose laws are based on the commandments of God. The last six commandments, for instance, are the basis of any decent society and the first four spell out the identity and compassion of the Lord’s government.
Let me say over and over, Christianity is not a religion, it is a culture based on the eternal law of God and on whom God is. Culture should not be laughed at or pushed aside, and the culture of our own country should be taught with respect and in detail.
We choose what government we want just as Satan chose whether he wanted the government provided by God or whether he wanted an alternative.
I pray that your choice and mine are in harmony with the principles of Psalm 8:8: “I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Our God put in place from the beginning that which will truly untangle our tangle to keep us safe.
Please join us next Thursday for Tangle Untangled, Part 3.
Elizabeth Price
(To access the entire “Tangle Untangled” mini-series, please click here.)