Satan
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LEKTION 13: SATAN
Absalom was the most handsome, cunning and ambitious prince
among the sons of king David.
The Bible said: “In all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty:
from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.” [10] II Samuel 14:25.
But just the people’s admiration towards his beauty wasn’t enough for Absalom.
He wanted the throne of Israel for himself also.
First, Absalom killed his brother Amnon,
after this fellow raped Absalom’s sister, Tamar.
Amnon was the eldest son of king David, the natural successor of the throne.
After a time, Absalom gradually and cunningly crawled back into favor with his father David,
only to sow doubt and discord in the hearts of the people of Israel about the king,
and “stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” [10] II Samuel 15:6.
Finally, his sinister plan broke out into a full-scale coup,
as Absalom sought to murder his own father to seize the kingdom.
David and his followers had to flee from Jerusalem for their lives,
and it wasn’t before a fierce battle with catastrophic casualties
that the throne was reclaimed for David,
and the handsome prince was killed in battle.
A sad story. But this is not the first time such a thing happened.
Once upon a time, in a much more ancient kingdom,
a similar coup had broken out – the most tragic story of all time.
The name of that ancient kingdom, was “Heaven”.
1. Who was the rebellious prince in Heaven? Why did he rebel?
[23] Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
[26] Ezekiel 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.
[23] Isaiah 14:13, 14 Thou hast said in thine heart:… I will be like the Most High.
[26] Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,
thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.
The name “Lucifer” in [23] Isaiah 14:12
is a Latin translation of the Hebrew name “Helel”, meaning “light-bearer”.
Lucifer was the most powerful being ever created by the Lord,
the highest-ranking angel, standing by and covering the throne of God.
But this angel somehow let his beauty fill his own heart with pride
and an ambition to be like the Most High God.
2. Did the Lord create a devil when He created Lucifer?
[26] Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee.
Not at all. The Lord created a perfect angel with the power of free will,
and then that angel used that free will to make the choice of becoming the devil.
This might be somewhat hard to imagine:
but if we met Lucifer before he sinned,
we probably would have loved the guy and enjoyed his company a lot.
The Bible does not reveal how long this angel had served God with sincere love
before pride and discontentment sprang up in his heart, replacing the original love.
3. As pride and wickedness gradually came into fruition in Lucifer’s heart, what eventually happened?
[27] Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven:
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought, and his angels.
[27] Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
[27] Revelation 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.
Lucifer the light-bearer had become Satan, the enemy of God.
Similar to Absalom, with his beauty and position,
he had managed to entice a third of the angels of God to follow him
before his rebellion broke out into a full-scale coup.
After it failed, these angels were cast out of heaven with Lucifer,
and became the “demons” nowadays.
Contrary to many supposed, Satan and these fallen angels
do not live in a fiery pit beneath the surface of the earth,
but were cast “to the earth”.
They are walking around right on the face of this planet
to execute their sinister plans to deceive and destroy mankind.
4. Why did God give free will to Lucifer and other created beings, and let such a tragedy like this happen?
[23] I John 4:8 God is Love.
When the Lord created life, it is true that He could have made all life forms
to be like pre-programmed robots, without free will.
But robots won’t be able to love,
because true love requires the possession of free will to give it away willingly.
Creating life forms without the power of free will
would be the same as creating a universe without love,
and that is unacceptable to God.
However, free will carries with it a great risk.
A free creature created by God can use that free will to love its Creator back,
or use it to turn away from Him and do evil, according to its free choice.
Not only that, the higher the capability of the creature,
he would be able to do greater good, or greater evil.
Imagine a dog.
If it is a good dog, what is the best that it can do?
Perhaps barking and biting when someone is trying to hurt its owner or steal his stuff,
and maybe peeing and pooping at the right place.
What if it is a bad dog?
The worst it can do perhaps is making a mess out of the house,
and not barking when a thief breaks into it during the night.
But if it is a human being, we have another story.
A good person can serve the Lord, be the pillar of the family, helping the community, society and even the whole mankind.
He might even find a cure for HIV/AIDS.
But if it is a bad person, the extent to which evil he could do is so much more fearful:
blasphemy, idolatry, torture, murder, rape, human trafficking, genocide…
unimaginable crimes that can shake the entire universe in terror,
and certainly can never be performed by dogs, no matter how bad the dog can be.
But let us take our imagination further.
Let us imagine not a human being, but a superman.
The only problem is, instead of catching falling airplanes,
this superman loves smiting flying airplanes down to the ground.
Instead of advocating peace and righteousness, he loves stirring up war, hatred and violence.
Instead of the law of Love, he likes the law of might makes right.
Immediately we can see that with the presence of this superman,
we will quickly get the broken world that we are now having.
This evil “superman” is none other than Lucifer
– the most powerful being ever created by the Lord.
For the sake of love, he was created still, given free will still, beloved and be with God still,
until the day that he finally decided that he will no longer love, but hate His Creator,
that Creator had respected his choice in letting him pursue the course he chose.
God is Love. He only accepts services of Love. Free, willing Love.
5. Why didn’t God just smite Lucifer dead once he had decided to rebel?
Wouldn’t that save everyone a lot of trouble?
[21] Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose.
If the Lord really destroyed Lucifer on the spot,
what would the other angels think
as they were beholding the smoke smoldering up
from the corpse of the angel they love?
“Maybe Lucifer was right”,
“God might just be a tyrant after all”…
Will they continue to serve God out of love for Him?
And how long would it take for a second Lucifer to arise?
The dangerous thing about Lucifer is not just himself,
but the IDEA that he represents,
that violation of the law of God, otherwise known as “sin”, is completely fine!
The Lord will never be able to resolve this crisis
until He manages to root out this dangerous idea completely.
And with His infinite wisdom,
the Lord understood that in order to extinguish evil completely,
He would have to allow it to develop and reveal its true nature first.
Lucifer was not destroyed immediately after he rebelled,
but was allowed to show the entire universe the bitter fruit of “sin”.
Pain, shame and death, along with all evil, are all inevitable results of sins.
They were allowed by God when we choose to sin,
for the purpose of teaching the inhabitants of the entire universe,
including and especially us,
the inevitable consequences of wickedness,
so that after this nightmare is over,
no one would ever think about sinning and rebelling against the God of Love ever again.
6. What tactics does Satan often employ?
[27] Revelation 12:10 The accuser of our brethren is cast down,
which accused them before our God day and night.
[27] Revelation 12:9 That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world.
[02] Mark 1:13 And He (JESUS) was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan.
[27] Revelation 16:14 They are the spirits of devils, working miracles.
[04] John 8:44 He was a murderer from the beginning.
[08] II Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
In a sense, Satan has one advantage over the Lord in this controversy between Good and Evil:
the Lord can only use what is pure and true,
while Satan can use both truths and lies
mingled skillfully together to serve his purposes.
He is especially dangerous when masquerading as a glorious messenger from Heaven,
executing his sinister plans from within the churches.
Even more than Absalom, Satan is very skillful
in pretending to care for other people to deceive and manipulate them.
[10] II Samuel 15:5, 6 And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance,
he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment:
so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
{Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the church, vol. 1, 341.1 – 341.2}
“Fallen man is Satan’s lawful captive.
The mission of Christ was to rescue him from the power of his great adversary.
Man is naturally inclined to follow Satan’s suggestions,
and he cannot successfully resist so terrible a foe
unless Christ, the mighty Conqueror, dwells in him, guiding his desires, and giving him strength.
God alone can limit the power of Satan.
He is going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it.
He is not off his watch for a single moment,
through fear of losing an opportunity to destroy souls.
It is important that God’s people understand this,
that they may escape his snares.
Satan is preparing his deceptions,
that in his last campaign against the people of God
they may not understand that it is he.
II Corinthians 11:14: ‘And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.’
While some deceived souls are advocating that he does not exist,
he is taking them captive, and is working through them to a great extent.
Satan knows better than God’s people
the power that they can have over him when their strength is in Christ.
When they humbly entreat the mighty Conqueror for help,
THE WEAKEST BELIEVER IN THE TRUTH,
RELYING FIRMLY UPON CHRIST,
CAN SUCCESSFULLY REPULSE SATAN AND ALL HIS HOST.
He is too cunning to come openly, boldly, with his temptations;
for then the drowsy energies of the Christian would arouse,
and he would rely upon the strong and mighty Deliverer.
But he comes in unperceived, and works in disguise
through the children of disobedience who profess godliness.
Satan will go to the extent of his power to harass, tempt, and mislead God’s people.
He who dared to face, and tempt, and taunt our Lord,
and who had power to take Him in his arms
and carry Him to a pinnacle of the temple,
and up into an exceedingly high mountain,
will exercise his power to a wonderful degree upon the present generation,
who are far inferior in wisdom to their Lord,
and who are almost wholly ignorant of Satan’s subtlety and strength.
In a marvelous manner will he affect the bodies of those who are naturally inclined to do his bidding.
Satan exults that he is regarded as a fiction.
When he is made light of,
and represented by some childish illustration, or as some animal,
it suits him well.
He is thought so inferior
that the minds of men are wholly unprepared for his wisely laid plans,
and he almost always succeeds well.
If his power and subtlety were understood,
many would be prepared to successfully resist him.”
Satan is well pleased when he sees that he has managed to deceive mankind
into thinking that he is an ugly half-man half-beast creature
with bat wings, red skins, a pair of horns, a goatee and a pointy tail,
holding a trident in his hands to poke at the fires in hell.
No description could be further from the truth.
These cheap ideas had infiltrated the church from the folklore of Greek mythology,
and are nowhere found in the Bible.
The Bible obviously described Satan as an extraordinary radiant angel,
very charming, smart, and especially subtle and devious.
He is the enemy of the Lord, with the purpose of smearing His good name,
misrepresenting His character and usurping His kingdom,
but his show is faking righteousness, seeking the worship of men ([27] Revelation 13:12),
not stepping out into the light and plainly declaring to everyone: “Hey, I am the Devil”.
He is not that dumb and simple-minded, sadly.
He also despises you and your family, and plans to destroy you all.
The purpose of this Prophecy Encyclopedia is to expose his sinister plan in the last days
and show you and your family how to counter him.
You need to place yourself under the protection of the Lord
and pray earnestly for His guidance.
Remember that the enemy is so overwhelmingly powerful, subtle and devious,
that we stand absolutely no chance of defeating him
if we do not lean upon Lord JESUS and His Father.
7. Is Satan an expert of the Bible, skillful in twisting it to advocate lying heresies and deadly temptations?
[01] Matthew 4:5, 6 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,
and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him,
If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written,
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:
and in their hands they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
The most frightening thing about Satan, perhaps,
is the fact that not only has this fiend memorized the entire Bible,
but he is also an expert in twisting Bible quotes,
with approximately 6000 years of practice and expertise in the business of deceiving others.
This is one of the reasons why the people of God
must read, understand and keep in their hearts the Word of God – the sword of the Spirit ([10] Ephesians 6:17),
so that when Satan approaches to mislead you,
the Lord can recall His words to your mind to help you resist the devil and protect you.
Look at how JESUS Himself repulsed Satan in the wilderness:
all three times, His answer for the tempter was always:
“it is written”, “it is written”, “it is written”.
Throughout His sojourn on earth,
Lord JESUS did not use any weapon that is not available to us nowadays:
prayers, the Bible, and the Spirit of God indwelling in the soul.
Likewise, we can learn from Him how to wield these weapons in the battle against the devil.
8. What is the only way to defeat Satan?
[20] James 4:7, 8, 10 Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double minded…
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
The only sure way to defeat Satan
is to use your free will to submit yourself to the One who is stronger than him.
The simplest and most efficient way to draw nigh unto the Lord and to know Him
is by studying His word,
communing with Him through prayers,
and living a life of cooperation with Him in the work He appointed.
Pay attention also, that a totally surrendered heart towards the Lord
will be more and more critical in building a relationship with Him,
as that relationship progresses.
{Ellen G. White, Faith and Works, 50.1}
“When it is in the heart to obey God,
when efforts are put forth to this end,
Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service,
and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit.
But He will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him
and yet are disloyal to His Father’s commandment.”
Occasional failure because of one’s own immaturity in Christ,
lack of watchfulness
and deficiency in character development,
is one thing.
In that case, the Lord will make up for the believer’s shortcomings by His own merits.
But the supposition of many, that they can just believe,
and then can willfully persist in their sins
without reaping for their souls fearful consequences,
is another thing entirely.
What fatal deception!
If even the heart is yet unsurrendered and unwilling to put forth the best effort,
how can there ever be any hope of attaining the level of Christian development
where one can consistently reject and repel all temptations of Satan?
The Bible is clear that we must wash our hands
and cleanse our hearts with sincere repentance
and honestly desire to turn away from sin.
{Ellen G. White – Steps to Christ – 47.1, 47.2, 48.1}
“Many are inquiring, ‘How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?’
You desire to give yourself to Him,
but you are weak in moral power,
in slavery to doubt,
and controlled by the habits of your life of sin.
Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand.
You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, your affections.
The knowledge of your broken promises and forfeited pledges
weakens your confidence in your own sincerity,
and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you;
but you need not despair.
What you need to understand is the true force of the will.
This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice.
Everything depends on the right action of the will.
The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise.
You cannot change your heart,
you cannot of yourself give to God its affections;
but you can choose to serve Him.
You can give Him your will;
He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure.
Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ;
your affections will be centered upon Him,
your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.
Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go;
but if you stop here, they will avail nothing.
Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians.
They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God.
They do not now choose to be Christians.
Through the right exercise of the will,
an entire change may be made in your life.
By yielding up your will to Christ,
you ally yourself with the power that is above all principalities and powers.
You will have strength from above to hold you steadfast,
and thus through constant surrender to God
you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith.”
Between all inner and outer influences upon a man and the action of that man, lies the person’s “free will”.
Surrendering our free will to the Lord
will initiate the training to master this power of free will,
to act right according to His will despite outer circumstances and inner emotions.
For example: someone slandered and persecuted us (outer circumstances),
we feel abused and even angry against the person (inner emotions),
but we can still surrender our free will to the Lord
to choose to act and even think according to His will:
pray for that person, pity him, overcome the negative emotions we are feeling and master them.
Note: we do not merely exercise this power of free will
to fight against the devil by ourselves,
outside the protective arms of the Lord
– like, we do not hang around with wicked friends to enjoy their sinful company,
taking ourselves to strip clubs and bars,
and then flexing our mind muscles to resist the temptations we have placed ourselves in.
That is foolishness.
Likewise, we don’t just go ahead and live our lives without praying to the Lord and reading the Bible daily,
and then wonder why we are so powerless against the temptations of the enemy.
Never forget that we are WEAKER than the demons.
If we allow yourselves to lose our watchfulness and drift out from the arms of the Lord,
we will be overcome by them.
9. How does Absalom’s end reflect that of Satan?
Will he ever manage to rise again?
[10] II Samuel 18:17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood.
[23] Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit.
[26] Ezekiel 28:19 Never shalt thou be any more.
[34] Nahum 1:9 Affliction shall not rise up the second time.
Even the most exalted angel of heaven, because of his sins, will one day be no more.
This sad story of the consequences of going against the principle of Love
to pursue selfishness and self-exaltation,
will forever remain an eternal object lesson for the entire universe,
ensuring that no one will ever be so foolish as to choose sin again.
10. How does God feel when He has to destroy the wicked?
[26] Ezekiel 33:11 As I live, saith the Lord YHWH,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;
but that the wicked turn from his way and live:
turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?!
Even when it is for the purpose of executing justice,
how can the God of Love not be grieved when he has to destroy the creatures that He made?
The Bible even calls the destruction of the wicked in the final day of Judgment the “strange” work of God,
because it is so alien from His loving nature ([23] Isaiah 28:21).
Even so, the Judge of the whole universe still possesses a nerve that is “steel” enough
to do what needs to be done, if He eventually has to do it.
The more reason for us as His children to repent of all our sins
and stop forcing the Father to do what He hates.
11. How did king David react when he heard that his rebellious son Absalom had been slain in battle?
[10] II Samuel 18:33 And the king was much moved,
and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept:
and as he went, thus he said,
O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!
would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son…
12. In this fierce conflict between Good and Evil, there is no neutral ground.
The Lord has said clearly: whosoever that is not with Him is already against Him,
whether the person knows it or not ([01] Matthew 12:30).
A person only needs to not stand with the Lord,
Satan has accomplished his highest pleasure:
forcing God to one day destroy a human being that God loves so much
that He even gave His Son to save, but still failed.
The majority of the human race, sadly, by their own free will,
are still standing with Satan against God.
Do you want to make a different choice and stand with Him?
Appendix
I. Satan symbolized by the king of Tyre and the king of Ba-by-lon.
In [23] Isaiah 14:4-15, the Bible used the king of Babylon to be a symbol for Satan,
and in [26] Ezekiel 28:11-19, Satan is symbolized by the king of Tyre.
In both cases, we can easily see the symbolism far exceeds any earthly king,
because the description given of God to describe the characters
simply cannot be referring to any mere human being.
Take a look at how Lucifer is described in these passages:
-Fell from heaven ([23] Isaiah 14:12)
-Full of wisdom, perfect in beauty ([26] Ezekiel 28:12)
-Was presented in the garden of Eden ([26] Ezekiel 28:13)
-Covered with precious stones ([26] Ezekiel 28:13)
-Was an anointed cherub, covering (the mercy seat of God) ([26] Ezekiel 28:14)
-Used to be on the holy mountain of God ([26] Ezekiel 28:14)
-Used to be perfect in his ways ([26] Ezekiel 28:15)
Because the kings of Babylon and Tyre exercised the same kind of policies,
which would end with their total destruction,
God perhaps had used them to signify Satan.
The symbolism is so vivid here that almost all Bible scholars
agreed on whom these passages were referring to.
Incidentally, the Bible also mentioned Lucifer in many other places
([03] Luke 4:5, 6; 10:18; [04] John 8:44; [22] II Peter 2:4; [23] I John 3:8; [26] Jude; [27] Revelation 12:7-9),
but if it wasn’t for the two passages in [26] Ezekiel 28 and [23] Isaiah 14,
we might not be able to grasp the entire story.
II. The fall of Lucifer according to the testimonies of Ellen G. White.
{Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy vol.1, 17.1-23.1}
Chapter 1 – The Fall of Satan
Satan in Heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son.
His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness.
His forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect.
His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic.
A special light beamed in his countenance,
and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels;
yet Jesus, God’s dear Son, had the pre-eminence over all the angelic host.
He was one with the Father before the angels were created.
Satan was envious of Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone.
The great Creator assembled the heavenly host,
that he might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon his Son.
The Son was seated on the throne with the Father,
and the heavenly throng of holy angels was gathered around them.
The Father then made known that it was ordained by himself
that Christ, his Son, should be equal with himself;
so that wherever was the presence of his Son, it was as his own presence.
The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father.
His Son he had invested with authority to command the heavenly host.
Especially was his Son to work in union with himself
in the anticipated creation of the earth and every living thing that should exist upon the earth.
His Son would carry out his will and his purposes,
but would do nothing of himself alone.
The Father’s will would be fulfilled in him.
Satan was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ.
Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus
to acknowledge his supremacy and high authority and rightful rule,
Satan bowed with them;
but his heart was filled with envy and hatred.
Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to his plans,
while Satan was unacquainted with them.
He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the purposes of God.
But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of Heaven,
his power and authority to be the same as that of God himself.
Satan thought that he was himself a favorite in Heaven among the angels.
He had been highly exalted;
but this did not call forth from him gratitude and praise to his Creator.
He aspired to the height of God himself.
He gloried in his loftiness.
He knew that he was honored by the angels.
He had a special mission to execute.
He had been near the great Creator,
and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God,
had shone especially upon him.
Satan thought how angels had obeyed his command with pleasurable alacrity.
Were not his garments light and beautiful?
Why should Christ thus be honored before himself?
He left the immediate presence of the Father, dissatisfied, and filled with envy against Jesus Christ.
Concealing his real purposes, he assembled the angelic host.
He introduced his subject, which was himself.
As one aggrieved, he related the preference God had given Jesus to the neglect of himself.
He told them that henceforth all the sweet liberty the angels had enjoyed was at an end.
For had not a ruler been appointed over them,
to whom they from henceforth must yield servile honor?
He stated to them that he had called them together to assure them
that he no longer would submit to this invasion of his rights and theirs;
that never would he again bow down to Christ;
that he would take the honor upon himself which should have been conferred upon him,
and would be the commander of all who would submit to follow him and obey his voice.
There was contention among the angels.
Satan and his sympathizers were striving to reform the government of God.
They were discontented and unhappy because they could not look into his unsearchable wisdom
and ascertain his purposes in exalting his Son Jesus,
and endowing him with such unlimited power and command.
They rebelled against the authority of the Son.
Angels that were loyal and true
sought to reconcile this mighty, rebellious angel to the will of his Creator.
They justified the act of God in conferring honor upon Jesus Christ,
and with forcible reasoning sought to convince Satan that no less honor was his now
than before the Father had proclaimed the honor which he had conferred upon his Son.
They clearly set forth that Jesus was the Son of God,
existing with him before the angels were created;
and that he had ever stood at the right hand of God,
and his mild, loving authority had not heretofore been questioned;
and that he had given no commands but what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute.
They urged that Christ’s receiving special honor from the Father, in the presence of the angels,
did not detract from the honor that he had heretofore received.
The angels wept.
They anxiously sought to move Satan to renounce his wicked design
and yield submission to their Creator;
for all had heretofore been peace and harmony,
and what could occasion this dissenting, rebellious voice?
Satan refused to listen.
And then he turned from the loyal and true angels, denouncing them as slaves.
These angels, true to God, stood in amazement
as they saw that Satan was successful in his effort to excite rebellion.
He promised them a new and better government than they then had,
in which all would be freedom.
Great numbers signified their purpose to accept Satan as their leader and chief commander.
As he saw his advances were met with success,
he flattered himself that he should yet have all the angels on his side,
and that he would be equal with God himself,
and his voice of authority would be heard in commanding the entire host of Heaven.
Again the loyal angels warned Satan,
and assured him what must be the consequence if he persisted;
that He who could create the angels,
could by his power overturn all their authority,
and in some signal manner punish their audacity and terrible rebellion.
To think that an angel should resist the law of God which was as sacred as himself!
They warned the rebellious to close their ears to Satan’s deceptive reasonings,
and advised Satan, and all who had been affected by him,
to go to God and confess their wrong
for even admitting a thought of questioning his authority.
Many of Satan’s sympathizers were inclined to heed the counsel of the loyal angels,
and repent of their dissatisfaction,
and be again received to the confidence of the Father and his dear Son.
The mighty revolter then declared that he was acquainted with God’s law,
and if he should submit to servile obedience,
his honor would be taken from him.
No more would he be intrusted with his exalted mission.
He told them that himself and they also had now gone too far to go back,
and he would brave the consequences;
for to bow in servile worship to the Son of God he never would;
that God would not forgive,
and now they must assert their liberty
and gain by force the position and authority which was not willingly accorded to them.
The loyal angels hasten speedily to the Son of God,
and acquaint him with what is taking place among the angels.
They find the Father in conference with his beloved Son,
to determine the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels,
the assumed authority of Satan could be forever put down.
The great God could at once have hurled this arch deceiver from Heaven;
but this was not his purpose.
He would give the rebellious an equal chance
to measure strength and might with his own Son and his loyal angels.
In this battle every angel would choose his own side, and be manifested to all.
It would not have been safe to suffer any who united with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy Heaven.
They had learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against the unchangeable law of God; and this is incurable.
If God had exercised his power to punish this chief rebel,
disaffected angels would not have been manifested;
hence God took another course;
for he would manifest distinctly to all the heavenly host his justice and his judgment.
It was the highest crime to rebel against the government of God.
All Heaven seemed in commotion.
The angels were marshaled in companies,
each division with a higher commanding angel at their head.
Satan was warring against the law of God,
because ambitious to exalt himself,
and unwilling to submit to the authority of Gods’ Son, Heaven’s great commander.
All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father, to have each case determined.
Satan unblushingly made known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before him.
He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God,
and should be taken into conference with the Father and understand his purposes.
God informed Satan that to his Son alone he would reveal his secret purposes,
and he required all the family in Heaven, even Satan, to yield him implicit, unquestioned obedience;
but that he (Satan) had proved himself unworthy a place in Heaven.
Then Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers,
comprising nearly one half of all the angels,
and exclaimed, These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in Heaven?
He then declared that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ,
and to defend his place in Heaven by force of might, strength against strength.
Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan, and his exulting boasts.
God declared that the rebellious should remain in Heaven no longer.
Their high and happy state had been held upon condition of obedience to the law
which God had given to govern the high order of intelligences.
But no provision had been made to save those who should venture to transgress his law.
Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of the Creator’s law.
This Satan could not bear.
He claimed that angels needed no law;
but should be left free to follow their own will,
which would ever guide them right;
that law was a restriction of their liberty,
and that to abolish law was one great object of his standing as he did.
The condition of the angels he thought needed improvement.
Not so the mind of God, who had made laws and exalted them equal to himself.
The happiness of the angelic host consisted in their perfect obedience to law.
Each had his special work assigned him;
and until Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmonious action in Heaven.
Then there was war in Heaven.
The Son of God, the Prince of Heaven, and his loyal angels,
engaged in conflict with the arch rebel and those who united with him.
The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed;
and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from Heaven.
All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of justice.
Not a taint of rebellion was left in Heaven.
All was again peaceful and harmonious as before.
Angels in Heaven mourned the fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss.
Their loss was felt in Heaven.
The Father consulted Jesus in regard to at once carrying out their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth.
He would place man upon probation to test his loyalty,
before he could be rendered eternally secure.
If he endured the test wherewith God saw fit to prove him,
he should eventually be equal with the angels.
He was to have the favor of God,
and he was to converse with angels, and they with him.
He did not see fit to place them beyond the power of disobedience.
*****
Please pray for and participate in the work of translating the inspired books of Ellen G. White into other languages.
III. Does JESUS have the authority to receive worship – part 2:
the testimonies of Ellen G. White
(part 1 in Appendix I of lesson the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit)
The above story about the fall of Satan according to the testimonies of Ellen White
had plainly revealed to us that the tragedy of sin had started
with the highest angel of God one day had decided
that he would NO LONGER WORSHIP THE SON OF GOD.
But we have many other passages proving that the Son of God has the authority to receive worship,
and many other testimonies of Mrs. White also.
{Ellen G. White – Spiritual Gifts vol. 1, 66.1} talking about the angels who came to the tomb of JESUS when He resurrected:
And as Jesus walked forth from the sepulchre in majesty,
those shining angels prostrated themselves to the ground and worshiped Him.
{Ellen G. White – Spirit of Prophecy vol. 3, 202.2 – 203.1}
“In the most explicit manner Christ pleaded for his church,
identifying His interest with theirs,
and advocating, with a love and constancy stronger than death,
their rights and titles gained through Him.
God’s answer to this appeal goes forth in the proclamation:
‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’
Every angelic commander obeys the royal mandate,
and Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain; and that lives again a triumphant conqueror!
echoes and re-echoes through all Heaven.
The innumerable company of angels prostrate themselves before the Redeemer.”
The refusal to worship JESUS is not only a grievous sin,
but it could very well be called the first sin ever in the history of the Kingdom of Heaven,
one of the obvious fruits of a proud spirit.
May that be said plainly, so everyone can be on their guard against any enticement to commit this sin.
In the next lesson, we will study the Truth about Hell,
and uncover one of the most smearing heresy designed by Satan
to misrepresent the character of God from a just Judge into a cruel tyrant.
Click “next” to seize this Truth.
