7. Chapter VI
The Eternal Purpose (1906)
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Chapter VI
The Invasion of Sin
Sin. - Whence and How it Came. - The First Sinner. - His First Estate. - His Sin. - Prophetic Testimony. -The Final Penalty Delayed. - The Arrest and Imprisonment. - The Day of Judgment. - The Foiled Purpose. - Renewed Rebellion. - Another Conspiracy. - Foiled Again. - Chains of Darkness. - Still Active and Rebellious. - Another Conspiracy. - The Man of Sin. - The Binding of Satan. - Loosed for a Little Season. - Why? - Satan and His Host Involved in a Common Overthrow. - Iniquity Shall Not Rise up a Second Time. - Consequences of this Invasion.
Sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4
The announcement of the divine law to his intelligent creation is God's recognition of their mental and moral constitution and of their free-will either to obey or to disobey it, and is also the declaration of his purpose to deal with them upon the basis of that moral responsibility for which he holds them accountable. This divine endowment with its consequent responsibility is man's God-given royal prerogative. It is this which has not only made him king of earth, but which also brings him into communion and fellowship with his Maker, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. And this royal prerogative is a sacred trust from the Supreme Lord of all, who must, in wisdom and in justice, hold such beings to a strict account for its use.
The Godlike endowment of free-will is one which all men most highly prize, even though too often they fail to consider its responsibility, and of which they are very jealous. When it is unhampered by unjust limitations, men call it their liberty; and that which at any time unjustly hampers it, they call oppression. When the liberty of any individual or company of individuals is carried beyond the point where another man's liberty begins and thus infringes upon the liberty of another, they call that an assumed license. That measure of individual or corporate liberty therefore which first recognizes and yields obedience to the supreme authority of God, and which then among fellow-beings, in justice and wisdom conserves its own right, and equally respects the same right of others, is true liberty - the right exercise of the free-will. And the divine law of love which requires this is therefore, as we have seen, "the perfect law of liberty," and the only law which can be unto life.
From the proper exercise of the free-will in harmony with the divine law, come all the excellencies of virtue, all the nobility and dignity of manhood, all the charms of cultivation, all the sweets of friendship, indeed all that makes life worth living. But from the misuse of this blessing, in sinful violation of the divine law, flow all of the calamities included in that comprehensive term, evil. Evil is the consequence of sin. Sin and evil are twin companions, and proceed together, until "sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Jas. 1:15. Evil must therefore, of necessity, continue until sin is finally and completely eradicated.
Sin, then, being the willful transgression of the law, which God established for wise and benevolent ends in the interest of the whole creation, is rebellion against the supreme wisdom and rightful authority of God. If the creature willfully, and therefore wickedly, turns the choicest blessings of God into curses, the fault is his own, and cannot in any sense be charged to the Creator. And there is no blessing which a perverse will dominated by a wicked heart cannot transform into a curse. The tongue that is made to utter words of truth and wisdom and to warble notes of joy and praise, may pervert its power to utter words of falsehood and folly and of wrath and cursing. The hand so deftly designed for works of art and beauty and utility, may pervert its skill and cunning to works of wrath and refinements of cruelty. The brain so wonderfully constructed for nobility of thought and action, may pervert its noble powers to wicked devices of selfishness and oppression. So also we may wait for the light of day, either to make a legitimate or an illegitimate use of it, according to the disposition of the will either to that which is good or to that which is evil.
The will is free to do either right or wrong, and being thus free, the choice of the creature to do right is a noble and praiseworthy act; and such choice habitually, under all circumstances, and at any cost, confirms the habit, and eventually establishes the character in righteousness; and God rewards it with his approval and blessing. When we come to analyze our mental states must we not admit that the highest and most exhilarating joy that we can experience is that sense of dignity and honor which always and inevitably follows a truly noble act, while the deepest and most poignant woe is that sense of shame, of cowardice, of degradation, which always and inevitably follows a mean or wicked act? Thus are we made continually to recognize our personal responsibility for the right use of the free-will in harmony with the dictates of enlightened conscience.
If we had not this free-will and conscience to direct it, we could never know either of these mental states, and in this respect we would be like the lower animals, incapable of moral perception. In that case, there would be no moral responsibility, and hence no law. And being thus incapable of moral perception and moral accountability, we could never appreciate the goodness and glory of God, and there would be no moral beauty in us to call forth God's paternal love.
To such inferior, irresponsible beings God could not commit the vast interests which he had committed to beings in his own likeness. Nor could he give them the intellectual endowments which they do possess; for great intellect without moral control would be a dangerous thing. With no moral perception or accountability man would be unfit to have dominion over the earth, and like the lower animals, would need always to be subject to some superior race which would have such perception and accountability. And to such a race he could then be of no more value than the beasts, for he would be reduced to their level. Being unable to understand and appreciate God and his works and ways, his intellectual scope would be narrowed to the limits of his physical senses. In time interest within these limits would be exhausted, and life thereafter must remain a wearisome treadmill, undesirable and undesired, and hence would be cut off.
The folly of the misuse of the free-will is even worse than the deprivation of it would be; for while the deprivation of it would degrade the intelligent creature to the level of the brute, and would leave little in him to call forth the love of the Creator, the misuse of it calls forth his righteous wrath and indignation. But in the possession and in the right use of the free-will in the writing of a noble character upon the blank page of original innocence is Godlike nobility and fullness of blessing. This is God's desire - his "hope" - Rom. 8:20. And herein is the necessity for the long period of the universal probation, with all the evils which have characterized it; for if we find moral evil any where it is chargeable only to the perverted responsible free-will of some intelligent being or beings.
And not only so, but if we find physical evil in the irresponsible brute creation, and even in the inanimate creation, that also is chargeable to the same source; for the whole creation, both animate and inanimate is one, and all created things are parts of that comprehensive whole, of which, if one member suffer all the members in some sense suffer with it. In some way which we cannot fully understand, there is manifestly a close relation even between things animate and inanimate. Observe, for instance, the sympathetic relation between the material human body and the immaterial human mind - how thought affects the body, and the body in turn affects the thought; and how character writes its very legible testimony in feature and form and action. Observe again the groans and throes of inanimate nature, as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, cyclones, tornadoes, etc., which ever and anon beat the bass refrain to the doleful wail of human suffering; and how the face of the earth is marred in consequence of sin: "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee." Note also how the irresponsible animal races feel the pulsations of that agony resulting from human sin. Earth's king has fallen and his dominion must suffer in consequence.
Nor is earth alone affected by human sin, for the whole family of God in heaven and in earth is one family, and if one member suffers the sympathetic harmony is marred, and all feel it. So all the angels are affected by it: human sin and woe casts its shadow of sadness over the whole creation, and there is joy when that shadow is to some extent removed by the conversion of even one sinner. Luke 15:7. And if they are affected by the fall of man, they have likewise felt the shock from the fall of those angels that kept not their first estate. And if inanimate earth is affected by man's sin and distress, so also has inanimate nature elsewhere probably been affected by the sin of fallen beings, both angelic and human.
Paul says, "We know that the whole creation groaneth and traveileth in pain together until now." Rom. 8:22. And all of its groans and traveil are in consequence of the invasion of sin. This word "creation" and the word "creature" in the three preceding verses are from the same word in the original, and are all translated "creation" in the Revised Bible, the Emphatic Diaglott, and are so corrected in The Bible Commentary, which remarks that "the word is of unlimited application." And "Vincent's Word Studies" says, it is "equivalent to all nature." The statement includes therefore, not only the earth, but the whole creation.
In this view of the universal blight of sin, is it not an appalling calamity that has befallen God's fair creation? It surely would seem so from the standpoint of the creature; but from God's standpoint there is no such thing as calamity, because his eternal purpose comprehends all contingencies and utilizes all things in the outworking of his great designs. But whence the responsibility for all this? Truly it lies upon many shoulders. But where did it begin? It did not begin with man, for there was a tempter and a seducer in his case.
All the fingers of divine inspiration point to one first, chief and leading sinner. Various names are applied to him descriptive of his character. He is the devil and Satan, the accuser and the adversary of God and man. He is described as a liar, a deceiver, a hypocrite, a murderer. In symbolic language he appears as a serpent, an adder, a dragon, a beast, a wolf, etc. In reference to his power and wicked influence he is variously called the prince of devils, the prince of this world, the king of Babylon, king of Tyrus etc. If he is the prince of devils, then there are many more of his character; and if he is a prince and a king his power and influence are multiplied by the hosts of his subjects. And he and his hosts are here on the earth. He is the prince of this world (John 14:30) and he works in the children of disobedience. Eph. 2:2.
It is because of this mighty subtle wicked influence that is in this world that the Apostle Paul urges the children of God to put on the whole armor of God that they "may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil"; for, he says, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph. 6:11, 12. This is that dominant spirit of this world against which God's people must war a good warfare.
But who is this devil or Satan? The term, "devil" signifies, the accuser, the calumniator or slanderer; and Satan signifies, an adversary. He is thus described in the Word of God as the adversary and slanderer of God; and his motive for such a course is shown to be pride, personal ambition and rivalry; and in the pursuit of these ends he has become a liar and a murderer. John says, "The devil sinneth from the beginning"; and Jesus says, "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 he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." 1 John 3:8; John 8:44. The beginning here referred to cannot be the beginning of his existence for everything created by God is good (1 Tim. 4:4; Gen. 1:31) and only when the intelligent being perverts his way does he become evil. The responsibility of Satan's evil character cannot therefore be charged to the Creator, but can only be attributed to his own willfully wicked choice of sin. That he was a sinner from the beginning of human experience at least, is very manifest. Yet long prior to this time he had corrupted and misled multitudes of angels - those "angels which kept not their first estate." Jude 6. Consequently the beginning here referred to must be the beginning of the great day of the universal probation which will be noticed later.
The prophets tell us something of his first estate, before he sinned. Isaiah addresses him by a term which describes his native glory: "O Lucifer [radiant one, day star], son of the morning [Heb. shachar - the dawn]" - the morning dawn of creation. Isa. 14:12. Ezekiel (28:4) describes him as "the anointed cherub that covereth." Indeed he is shown to have been the first and chief of all the angels. And since all of the intelligent creation were created by the only-begotten Son of God, without whom was not anything made that was made, this being was the son, the eldest son of the Son of God - the son of the dawn of creation, all other angels of every rank and order being his younger brethren. And as the first created angel and eldest brother of the whole creation, he was, as the prophets tell us, in special honor and dignity and had a special charge committed to him in the interest of the whole family of God, as we shall see.
It was from this height of glory that this morning star, this shining one, fell. Pride and ambition were the forms of his folly and the alchemists which transformed all of his blessings into curses. He vainly magnified himself beyond his station and calling, despised the claims of love and gratitude, ignored the sovereignty of Jehovah, and the divine authority of his only-begotten Son, and treasonably aspired to grasp power and to usurp even the universal dominion. In observing his character and course of action we do well to bear in mind this treasonable aspiration which dominates his entire policy - first among the angels, and subsequently among men. And to this end he seized and appropriated all the weapons of iniquity - lying, calumny, hypocrisy, deceit, intrigue and violence.
The shock of this terrible sin in such a high place of honor, power and glory was, no doubt, tremendous. A highly-honored and long-trusted one had betrayed his trust, and the schemes of deception were contrived with masterly skill. The outlook from the standpoint of all the hosts of creation was appalling. Yet this evil was not nipped in the bud, but God permitted it to grow and flourish until in its vast proportions it became a test of the loyalty of all the sons of God.
Doubtless the query was universal - Why hath God permitted this evil? The aspiring usurper evidently taught angels then, as he taught man later, that God could not execute the penalty of his law, and represented his authority and his warning as savoring of tyranny - "Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know, etc." The reverent fear of the Lord thus destroyed in those who gave heed to the accuser, the way was paved for the temptation, doubtless similar to that wherewith he afterward assailed even our Lord in the days of his flesh, saying, "If thou wilt worship me, I will give thee power and glory." Luke 4:5, 7. Thus with the lure of present advantage, he sought to supplant the authority of Jehovah.
Unstable, disloyal hearts were misled by this sophistry, for with the heart both men and angels believe unto salvation, and out of it are the issues of life. Rom. 10:10; Prov. 4:23. But observe, the deception is not in the primary matter of right and wrong, for Satan and all the angels well knew the rightful authority that claimed their allegiance, and that had lavished only blessings upon them from the dawn of creation: they were only deceived as to God's ability to execute the penalty of their treasonable rebellion. Their temporary success was the net in which the disloyal were caught, being deceived by Satan's lying and allured by his promises.
Loyal hearts in which the goodness of God had awakened love and gratitude too strong and true to be overcome by temptation, could not be deceived. Though unable to fathom God's deep designs in permitting the evil to flourish, they recognized the sovereign right of the Creator to command and to permit whatsoever his wisdom sees fit; and the duty of the creature, trusting his love and grace, to obey under all circumstances. All past experience of his love and care justified their faith and had established it on a permanent basis which no rebellious power beneath the throne of God could shake: and so, in the midst of apparent disaster, they believed God, and patiently waited for the final triumph of his authority and power. And while they thus confidently wait, even till now, they mount up on the wings of faith and renew their strength.
Thus there was a division among the angels. There was a loyal, faithful class - God's elect angels who kept their first estate of purity and holiness; and there were multitudes also who had espoused the cause of the usurper, and so are classed with him as "the devil and his angels." By and by, when the conspiracy had run its course among all the hosts of intelligent beings in the whole heavens, testing the character of all, divine vengeance was suddenly manifested. Yet it was not manifested in the full penalty of the law - the destruction, the death, of the evil-doers - but in their being cast out of the heavenly places. In reference to this Jesus says, "I beheld Satan as lightning [suddenly] fall from heaven."
Where did he alight? The Word says, on the earth, and that his angels are also here with him; and that here they await the appointed Day of Judgment, when both angels and men must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Compare Rev. 12:9; Isa. 14:12; Ezek. 28:17, 18; Job 1:7; 2:2; Luke 4:6, 7; John 14:30; Eph. 2:2. And when Satan himself is brought to final judgment, then indeed will it be seen who is the rightful Sovereign Lord of all, whether it be Satan as he claimed, or whether it be God; for, "In his times Christ Jesus shall show who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords," and that no power in heaven or in earth can stand against his will.
Thus, in brief, the great first sinner is pointed out, and also the hosts that are with him. But let us read this testimony from the prophets, who in striking symbols have drawn his portraiture. Notice first Isaiah 14:127 which describes Satan's first estate, his sin and fall, his binding and his final doom. Verses 1-3 fix the time referred to in this prophecy as that when the Lord will have mercy upon Israel, and set them in their own land, and give them rest from their sorrow and fear and hard bondage - clearly the time of Christ's millennial reign upon earth.
Verses 3-7. "And it shall come to pass in [that] day ... that thou [Israel] shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon." This cannot be against the literal king of literal Babylon, for that empire and its kings perished many centuries ago, and this time is still future; but it is Satan who is aptly symbolized by this term. Babylon, the Greek form of Babel, which signifies confusion (Gen. 11:9), was the name given to the capital of the Babylonian empire. Hence the aptness of this symbol describing Satan as the king of the empire of confusion - the king of Babylon. Babylon in its widest sense consequently includes the whole dominion of Satan in the earth to which he is now confined. And every thing on the earth, be it civil, social, financial or religious, which is dominated by his power or animated by his spirit is in its widest sense a part of it.
"And thou shalt say, How hath the oppressor ceased! ceased the exactress of gold! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of the rulers [tyrants]; he who smote the people in wrath blows without intermission, he that ruled in anger nations, persecuting without restraint! The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing." Compare Leeser's translation. The Cambridge Bible Commentary says: "This song of triumph over the king of Babylon .... is like a sigh of relief breathed by the whole creation
when the disturber of its peace has vanished from the scene." The line may be rendered - "How is the oppressor stilled! stilled the insolent rage."
Verse 8. "Yea the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon [symbols which Ezekiel plainly shows refer to the sinless angels, as we shall see - [Chapter 31:3-9], saying, Since thou art laid low, no feller is come up against us." By the temptations which he wielded he felled many a tree in the heavenly Paradise - all of "those angels which kept not their first estate." So heaven and earth will rejoice together when he is laid low.
Verses 9-11 give to the grave and to the human beings who have gone down into it a voice, thus - "The grave [Heb. sheol - grave: same word rendered grave in vs. 11. Also see margin] from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth: it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee: Art thou also become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave [sheol] and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee." Thus the grave is represented as in great commotion in view of receiving so distinguished a prisoner; and it is this contrast of his end with his first estate that is the occasion of the wonder here expressed.
Verse 12. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning [O morning star, son of the dawn - Leeser]! how art thou hewn down to the ground, crusher of nations" - both angelic and human. Mark the contrast here - from a glorious estate in the heavens to the grave - destruction, extinction, on earth: to death, the final penalty of all the wicked, both angels and men.
Verses 13, 14. His presumptuous sin: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven [the highest heaven, the throne of God, for he was then in heaven - vs. 12], I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [See Job 38:7 - and even above the anointed Son of God - 'the Bright and Morning Star' Rev. 22:16; Num. 24:17]; I will sit also upon the mount of the assembly in the farthest end of the north [the heavenly Zion, the throne of God]; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."
That which he thus coveted and sought to usurp was first, the Lordship of the Son of God, and then he would grasp even the dominion of Jehovah, vainly presuming upon his own power and resources. Contrast this treasonable attitude of the would-be usurper with the humility of the Son of God - "who, though being in the form of God [of the same divine nature], yet did not meditate a usurpation to be like God [the Supreme Sovereign Lord], but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Phil 2:6-9 Diaglott. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted him," while the selfexalted one he abased. Matt. 23:12.
Verses 15-21. "Yet thou shalt be brought down to the grave [sheol] unto the lowest depth" - to ruin complete and eternal. "They that see thee will gaze at thee, will regard thee well, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake Kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and pulled down the cities thereof [the seats of government], that opened not the house of his prisoners?" "All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory [comparatively speaking], every one in his own house [his grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet."
Mark, in partial fulfillment of this, the conscious punishment of Satan and his angels before going down into the pit - from the time they were cast out of heaven until the close of the Day of Judgment: a period of at least seven thousand years. Ambitious for recognition and honor of men, Satan has been despised of men as the author of all their sin and sorrow.
"Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial [with humanity, whom he has slain, and in a grave lightened with the hope and promise of a resurrection], because thou hast corrupted* thy land and slain thy people" - angels and men - by leading them into sin, and thus under its death penalty. "To eternity shall not be called the seed of evil-doers." There shall be no resurrection for him, nor for that progeny of vipers who share his guilt and its penalty, the second death. Rev. 20:10, 13-15. "Prepare slaughter for his children [the willfully wicked children of the devil] for the iniquity of their fathers [the devil and his angels - of which iniquity they are the willful partakers], that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities [with their base dominions]."
*Heb. shachath - to mar, to corrupt. So rendered in Ezek. 20:44
Verses 22-25. "And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, son and grandson, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts."
"The Lord of hosts hath sworn saying, Surely as I have thought so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian in my land [the land of Israel], and upon my mountains tread him under foot" - the mountains of Israel here, as in Isa. 25, symbolizing the kingdom of God again established in Israel. And from thence after destroying the enemy, its blessings will extend through Israel to all the world. Isa. 25:6; Rom. 16:20. "Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders." "The Assyrian" is another name for the king of Babylon - after Assyria had gained the ascendency over Babylonia. The two appellations are therefore used interchangeably to symbolize Satan.
Verses 26, 27. "This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth [the purpose of judgment of both men and angels, in the millennial day when Christ cometh to judge the earth - Psa. 96:11-13]. And this is the hand [the hand of God] that is stretched out upon all nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?"
Now see how Ezekiel's prophecy corresponds with this of Isaiah. Ezekiel refers to this same great leading sinner under another name - the king of Tyrus. Observe the correspondence of Rev. 18 and Ezek. chapters 26-28 - which, under the symbolic names Babylon and Tyrus, describe the dominion of Satan in the earth.
Ezekiel's Prophecy
Ezek. 28:12-15 tells of Satan's first estate: - "Son of man, take up a lamentation concerning the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." The Bible Commentary adds this explanation: "To seal, means to seal up and close that which is complete. 'The sum' - Heb. toknith - pattern, measure. Hence 'to seal the sum', is to make up the whole measure of perfection. Compare the English word, consummate." This reference to his first estate agrees with that of Isaiah - "O Lucifer [radiant one, day star] son of the morning dawn, how hast thou fallen from heaven!"
Verse 13. "In Eden the garden of God didst thou abide [Isa. 14:12 says, in heaven, which Ezekiel here likens to Eden. He dwelt in the heavenly Paradise]. Every precious stone [every intelligent being, here as in Mal. 3:17 and 1 Pet. 2:4-6, likened to precious stones, 'stones of fire', brilliant stones - vs. 14] was thy covering [mesukah, covering or hedge - loyally supporting his recognized authority as a minister to them from God - as 'the anointed cherub' - vs. 14]. The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes [musical instruments - symbols of joy] was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created." That is, the high honors wherein he rejoiced were his by inheritance from the bountiful Creator, as the first son of the vast intelligent creation of the only-begotten Son of God.
Verses 14-16. "Thou wast the anointed cherub with outspread covering wings." Cherubs are always referred to as the guardians of righteousness and avengers of its violation. Note those with flaming sword at the gate of Eden, and the two with outspread wings covering the Mercy-seat. So was his appointment that of a covering protector to all others. "And I had set thee upon the holy mountain of God [the seat of this great power] as thou wast [as he was in his original beauty and glory]. In the midst of the stones of fire [the living stones - all of the intelligent creation] didst thou walk up and down. Perfect wast thou in thy ways, from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the abundance of thy commerce [by selfish schemes of self-aggrandizement and oppression] thou wast filled to thy center with violence: and thou hast sinned!"
Thus God, through the prophet, utters his sad "lamentation" over the fall of this highly-favored one who had willfully become a traitor to his trust, before pronouncing his final self-incurred just doom. It is as though he would again repeat, "As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." And observe how repeatedly in pronouncing the penalty, he refers to the willful wickedness that incurred it.
The Penalty: - "Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God [the kingdom of God in the period of the universal probation], and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire" - the other angels.
Verses 17-19. "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty: thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." Pride transformed his blessings into curses, suggesting that the very height of his glory , though the gift of divine love, be used as a stepping-stone toward the usurpation of that divine power to which he owed allegiance by every principle of right and gratitude, and deceiving his rebellious heart with the delusive hope of success. But God said, "I will cast thee down to the ground, I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries [the holy offices to which he had been appointed of God - vs. 14] by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic [For, misusing his office, he went forth among the hosts of God as a tempter and leader into sin.] Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee; and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee" - the whole creation, both angels and men. The penalty will be as public as was the wide career of his sinful course.
Mark also, the earth is the stated place of his final punishment, as it has been that of his exile. Here Satan and his angels await the millennial Day of Judgment. "All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Observe here first, the terrible, public and realized humiliation and defeat, and then the final utter destruction.
Again - Ezekiel 31st chapter - he is Pharaoh, king of Egypt (vs. 18) and is like the Assyrian, the king of Babylon, the three figures depicting the same character - Satan; and Egypt, as in Rev. 11:8, is another figure of his earth-wide dominion.
Verses 3-9 describe his first estate as follows: "Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful in its boughs, and a shadowing thicket, and high in stature, and among the thick-boughed trees was its highest branch" - the chief of all the angels, here likened to trees. "The waters [the waters of life - God's bounty] made him great. The deep [the depth and grandeur of the whole creation, in the midst of which he stood and was so highly honored] made him high, with its rivers [of divine bounty] flowing round the place where he was planted, and sent out its conduits to all the trees of the field." Compare margin, also Leeser. The thought is that he was a being so highly endowed and honored of God as to be an appointed agent of blessing to all other intelligent beings.
"Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field [above all the other angels], and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters [of divine blessings]. When he shot forth all the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations [angelic nations, for humanity was not yet in existence]." Thus we see as plainly as symbols can show, that this son of the morning dawn of creation was given a charge of vast importance concerning the whole creation. "Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches, for his root was by great waters" - the waters of life that proceed from the throne of God.
Verses 8, 9. The cedars [other exalted angels] in the garden of God could not hide him; the fir trees [other great ones] were not like his boughs; and the chestnut trees [still other orders of intelligent beings] were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God [all the intelligent beings - angels - in the universal Paradise] envied him"- rather, were zealous for him. The word here translated "envied" is sometimes rendered zealous, which must be the meaning here as this was before the invasion of sin. "Zealous for him" expresses the universal esteem of all the hosts of God for this "anointed cherub," an agent of God for their blessing, and an elder brother. How perfectly these several descriptions of his native glory and beauty match each other and vindicate the righteousness of God who created all things and declared them "very good." Gen 1:31.
Verses 10, 11. His sin and its penalty: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height [through arrogant vaunting pride and treasonable ambition], I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the Mighty One of the nations [to Christ Jesus, unto whom all judgment, both of angels and of men, is committed -John 5:22]: he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness." Thus banished from the heavens by Jehovah's authority and power, and exile in the earth, his prison, he awaits in conscious humiliation the appointed judgment day of Christ.
Verses 12-18 describe in symbol the manner in which "the Mighty One of the nations" will execute judgment against this evil power, first in his conscious humiliation and defeat, and finally in his death. In the light of the rising sun of righteousness a "great chain" of providential circumstances, referred to in Rev. 20:1-3, will compass him about, and the mighty power of the Judge of all the earth and heaven will pull him down from his present throne as "the prince of this world," and a world-wide revolution will up-heave the foundations of his kingdom - Great Babylon which he has built - and "like a great millstone" it will be cast into the sea of oblivion to rise no more.
Read the account of it in Rev. 18 and the other prophets, and see there depicted the distress of nations and how the nations are "shaken at the sound of his fall." Ezek. 31:16. After that terrible experience, foretold by Daniel (12:1) as "a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation," so clear will be the exposure, and so great will be the abhorrence of this evil power which has cost humanity a price so dear, that the terrible strife of the nations will be the sword that will cut him off, and all the people of the earth will leave him; and those who in their iniquity once took shelter under the power of the prince of this world, will flee from him when they see him thus shorn of his power. Compare vs. 12 and chapter 28:7, 8. And in the symbolic language of this prophecy, this once stately cedar in Lebanon will lie upon the mountains, his branches - all affiliated powers - fallen, broken, scattered and trampled under foot, a perpetual warning against iniquity. The mourning of Ezek. 31:15, 16 corresponds to that of Rev. 18: 9-19.
Chapter 32 proceeds with the lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, which is parallel with the lamentations over the kings of Babylon and Tyrus, showing that each of these are symbols of the same being.
Again, in the prophecies of Daniel and of the Revelation, Satan, primarily, is shown under the figure of a beast. Isaiah and Ezekiel use kings and trees as symbols so that his first estate, as well as his decline may be indicated; but Daniel and John, making no reference to this first estate, use the beast in portraying him in his degradation, and in showing his wicked and destructive character. Although here different beasts are used to bring out different features of his character, and different lines of his work, and clearly represent different agencies through which he operates, yet, be the instrumentality this or that, in every case it is Satan that is the inspiring beast, the real power, working in the children of disobedience developing in them both individually and collectively a beastly character. Eph. 2:2. And these, if they repent not, will be involved in his ruin. These prophecies also, like those already considered, show that here on the earth, the beast is brought to judgment. Daniel says his dominion is taken away, and the beast is slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame; and the Revelation predicts the same end. Compare Dan. 7:10-12, 26; Rev. 19:19-21. It is the doom not only of Satan, the beastly prince of this evil world, but also of all the beastly powers of the earth animated We might pursue the prophetic testimony further, but our limits will not permit.
The final penalty of sin - death - was made known ages ago. With the first presentation of law goes the statement also of its penalty; and law is given necessarily with the first awakening of conscious life. See Gen. 2:15-17. But the execution of penalty seldom falls quickly, though it often falls suddenly; and so likewise the promised rewards of righteousness test the faith and patience of God's waiting people. Yet God's delays prove, not weakness nor indifference, but his wisdom and his grace, whereby he is able to make all things work together for good to them that seek his face. If the delays seem long to human reckoning, they only indicate a wider scope for blessings that are to ensue to the righteous, and give space for the spreading of the net in which all of the wicked shall surely be taken.
In the light of eternity all of the periods of time dwindle into insignificance. The only proper attitude for God's people, either angelic or human, is therefore one of faith, and patient waiting, assured as we are, that "the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. 2:9.
It was long before Satan was even arrested for his crime, while the appalling and destructive work of that time of trial swept through the whole intelligent creation, making manifest everywhere the hearts that were loyal to God and to the principles of truth and righteousness embodied in his holy law, and those that were not; for to this end God permitted the evil to take its wide and corrupting course.
This accomplished, then suddenly, when self-deceived and wicked hearts were not looking for it, and when Satan flushed with the victory of acquired hosts, was saying in his heart, "I will ascend, etc.," then came the abasement in the arrest and banishment from the heavens of himself and all his host. It came as suddenly as the lightning-flash, Jesus says, - "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 10:18.
It was then that "Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice ... Yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightning and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen [the real channels of blessing, here contrasted with the false claims of Satan] and the [true] foundations of the world [viz., the divine authority and law] were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord; at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils." Psa. 18:13-15. They were discovered beyond all dispute, to be in the righteous authority of God, and not in the presumptuous claims of Satan.
Thus far we have noted the origin and development of this rebellious power in the heavens and the vast and treasonable purpose conceived and carried forward by Satan with consummate skill until he and his host were arrested, and his purpose was foiled, by the sudden manifestation of that infinite power of Jehovah with which he vainly thought to cope. And now since he is a prisoner on the earth, and his course here is outlined in the Word of God, we may observe him at closer range; and being thus forewarned, we shall be forearmed against his devices.
He is presented to us now as a thoroughly reprobate character, animated only by the spirit of hatred revenge and malice against God and all of his loyal subjects. And just as God permitted him for a long time to pursue his evil purpose among the angels in the heavens, as a test of their loyalty to God and his righteousness during the long period of their probation, so during the period of human probation, he permits him to pursue his wicked designs on the earth, and for the same purpose - viz., that of developing and testing character among men.
His first revenge was to involve the newly-created humanity in the same sin and condemnation with himself. In this he quickly succeeded. Angered, enraged by the punishment meted out to him in the complete overthrow of his ambitious schemes for universal dominion, he will take his revenge to the extent of his ability. If he is to be confined to the earth he will capture humanity and set up his rival kingdom here in defiance of the Almighty. Thus with the instruments of hypocrisy, of deceit, of lying and slander against God, he approaches humanity. He would show them that the forbidden tree was for their good - pleasant to the eyes, good for food, and desirable to make them wise. Hence that the authority which forbade it must be evil, was the suggestion, while the wily tempter posed as their friend. And as to the penalty threatened, he declared that it could not be executed - "Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil."
And it is quite possible that in his pride and self-deceiving unbelief, he thought that the threatened death penalty so long delayed in his own case, would never be executed. But soon the death of Abel showed this penalty going into effect upon humanity; and to this extent at least, the delusion was dispelled. Then a scheme was devised apparently with the idea of infusing new life into the dying race, and so to perpetuate a rebellious kingdom on earth in defiance of the Almighty.
A comparison of Gen 6:1-9 with Jude 6, 7 seems to indicate this line of policy - a policy pursued until God suddenly terminated it by the flood in the days of Noah, since which time the fallen angels have been reserved in chains of darkness. These angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation and were guilty of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, seem identical with those fallen sons of God mentioned in Gen. 6:4 as "giants" [Heb. nephilim, fallen ones] who "were in the earth in those days" - visibly present - and who consorted with the daughters of men and became the progenitors of a mixed race, known in the earth as "mighty men of renown," but like their progenitors, thoroughly depraved, so that God saw that "every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually" - a clear definition of total depravity.*
*This interpretation is no new thought. These scriptures were so understood by most ancient Christian fathers - Justin Martyr, Fatian, Athanagorus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertulian, Cyprian, Lactantius. So also the Apocryphal Book of Enoch, and some of the Jewish writers expounded it, and it is mentioned by Josephus. So also the German Commentators - Hofmann, Baumgarten, Delitzsch, Kurtz, who contend that only some very portentous excess of sin must have been the cause of the deluge.
This brought that penal stroke of divine indignation, the flood, which destroyed that entire mixed race and all of the human stock that was identified with it, leaving only Noah and his family on the earth. And he is described as "a just man who walked with God and was perfect in his generations," none of them being of the mixed race. Gen 6:9. Yet, for a purpose then unfathomable, the wicked fallen angels and their leader, Satan, were still permitted to live, though thenceforth restrained under chains of darkness - unable to assume human form. Previous to that time they must have exercised a power which angels seem to have, to assume the human form, so often mentioned in the Scriptures; as, for instance - See Gen 18:2, 16; 19:1, 10-16; Judges 13:3-21; 1 Chron. 21:16, 20; 1 Kings 19:5, 7; Luke 1:11-19, 26-29; 2:9, 13-15; Acts 12:7-10. The holy angels never use this power except by divine authority.
Foiled here, what will the great adversary do next? There is abundant evidence of his evil - working in all possible ways in the hearts of the children of disobedience, notably in leading the nations, and even God's chosen people Israel, into the sin of idolatry, which is but the worship of Satan in various forms; and individuals into the sins of witchcraft (communication with evil spirits) and every evil way. But there is no evidence of any clearly defined plan in his movements from the time of the flood to the dawn of the Christian era. There the divine purpose for human redemption was about to be accomplished. Satan was a student of the prophets, for his own ends, and he believed their testimonies, knowing whence they came. See Matt.4:6. From their testimony he knew about when and where the Savior of the world should be born, and inspired the murderous hate that sought the young child's life. Again foiled here, he awaits his coming forth to his public ministry, and then, at the threshold of his work, he dares to approach even him, seeking with consummate arrogance and cunning sophistry, to lead him to doubt Jehovah's power and grace, and hence to regret his steps of obedient faith in the divine purpose, which had thus far led to his present humiliation, and to accept as a palliative, from the self-constituted prince of this world, such earthly glory as he had in his power to bestow: "If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine." Luke 4:6, 7. The depth and venom of Satan's iniquity thus manifested, can be fully appreciated, only when we consider our Lord's pre-existent glory, and the relationship he sustained to the whole creation - Satan included.
But missing his mark there, foiled again by the majesty of invincible faith and righteousness (Isa. 53:11), he inspired the murderous hate that pursued him to the death, blinded evidently to the fact that, in so doing, he was unconsciously fulfilling that which was written, that thus Jesus should give his life a ransom for many.
Three days later the glorious resurrection of Christ foiled that purpose. Surely the powers of darkness were beginning to learn by this series of defeats, though at long intervals, that God has ample power to deal with them, and that he will effectively do so in his own time. Thus when the enemy - Satan and his host - came in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord lifted up a standard against him. Isa. 59:19. That standard was the cross of Christ, radiant with resurrection glory -
"All the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime"
By this was proclaimed to those wicked spirits in prison - the redemption accomplished, and the success of God's eternal purpose assured. 1 Pet. 3:19, 20. Even in the days of Noah while the ark was building and Noah was forewarning they heeded not; nor did the depraved humanity of those days, until the flood, in judgment, overwhelmed and destroyed them. But the fallen angels, still reserved in chains of darkness unto the Day of Judgment, were yet to witness their assured final doom and Jehovah's triumph in - Christ crucified, risen, glorified - the first fruits of God's maturing plan. 1 Cor. 15:20.
But still undaunted, Satan pursues the church of Christ with relentless energy, and with all the subtlety that characterized his approach to her Head. While his devices to deceive and to mislead the church have been countless, Jesus forewarned his disciples of his coming as the prince, the ruler of this world - "For the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me" - nothing in common with him. The apostles also refer to the same power in their predictions of the stealthy and gradual rise of a great worldwide and professedly religious power, but animated with the spirit of Satan, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, which they call "the man of sin," "the mystery of iniquity," "the antichrist," etc. 2 Thes. 2:3-10; 1 John 4:3. Here they showed that Satan would actually take his seat of power right in the temple of God - the church of Christ - and that from that seat of power, he would rule the world as by divine right. His opportunity would come as the result of a great falling-away in the church from her first love and devotion to God. Having a form of godliness without the power of it, this masterpiece of Satanic ingenuity would be very delusive. Hence the warning, Be not deceived by it.
Paul and also John said that this mystery of iniquity was beginning to work even in their day, and they showed that it would continue to grow and prosper until finally destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming. It was to be permitted to stand therefore for many centuries.
This foretold antichristian power has long been recognized by God's people in that great counterfeit of Christianity, the Papal System; for though there are many antichrists, this has been the masterpiece. And his dominion is that great Babylon described in Rev. XVII and XVIII, which is identical with that previously described by the prophet Daniel. In the beginning, this mystery of iniquity was the stealthy introduction into the church of Christ of a false hypocritical element, having a form of godliness, but lacking its power. Or in the words of Jesus, it was the sowing of tares, children of the devil, among the wheat, the children of God. And, as in the illustration, it was not long before the world-wide field was overrun with tares, which as they multiplied and flourished, threatened to choke the wheat, which had to struggle for its very existence against the dominant power of the tares.
Thus a great counterfeit system of Christianity was developed and maintained by the powers of darkness, and notwithstanding the repeated attempts of the true ones (the wheat element) to reform the great system with which they thus became entangled, every such attempt has been in some degree a failure, for wherever the sons of God came together the devil came also, and it was Babylon again and again. And so the true and the false - the wheat and the tares - have grown together, and will to the end of the age, when the Lord shall surely send his angel reapers to separate them.
The prince of this world is dominant thus, not only in the professed church of Christ, but he has extended his sway over every interest of human life - civil, social and religious. In civil life this influence corrupts governments, stirs up national animosities, promotes wars; and its dominant power baffles the skill and efforts of the wisest and best statesmen to give to the masses of the world justice and judgment.
In social life it draws the lines of social caste on ignoble and unjust issues, creating its aristocracies of wealth - a miserable issue, tempting men to hazard every other interest and to risk any shame to get it; or of pedigree, which, since the fall of Adam, never had anything whereof to boast; but never on character, which is the only true aristocracy, and one which delights to lift all below it to its honorable level. In religious life it substitutes opinions of men for the oracles of God, so that his sure testimonies are in large measure forgotten, ignored, or rendered null and void by human traditions, speculations and philosophies.
In the midst of this great Babylon where then, is the true church? They are not an organized unmixed company anywhere, but "the Lord knoweth them that are his." Individually they are true to God, true to every recognized principle of righteousness, and obedient to the divine Word. They are wheat in the midst of tares scattered all over the field, which is the world; but they are precious in the sight of the Lord, and his angel reapers will gather them into the heavenly garner, while the tares will be judged according to their works.
And just as surely as the earlier devices of Satan met with sudden disaster, so also will this latest device, for great Babylon which he has reared shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy; and Satan, its king, shall be bound for a thousand years that he may deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little season. Rev. 18; 20:1-3.
His loosing for a little season at that time is evidently for the purpose of the final test of humanity's individual trial; for as soon as he is loosed, again he goes out to deceive the nations and to incite to rebellion against God. Rev. 20:7-9. His character never changes. Defiant hatred and revenge ply all their wicked arts upon every occasion. But here is the limit of his opportunity, for fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. It is "the fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41) "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." 2 Thes. 1:9.
During the millennial day of Christ's reign, freed from all the deceptive devices and the temptations of Satan, the great work of reconstruction - "restitution" - will go steadily forward until at the end of that time, order will reign supreme in the earth - the order of righteousness, peace and prosperity. Mankind will then have come to the same full measure of individual responsibility which all the angels had when Satan's rebellion in the heavens put their characters to the final test. So this last trial, in consequence of the loosing of Satan at the end of the millennial reign, will come to humanity individually as the trial came upon the angels, after long experience of the goodness and grace of God, which should result in established righteous character. Those in whom the goodness of God has not worked this result will thus be made most publicly manifest, and will be included among "the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." Rom. 9:22
Thus will the Lord "make an utter end" of the wicked, so that "affliction shall not rise up the second time"; for though "the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, he will not at all acquit the wicked." Finally, "he hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm," and "who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?" Nahum 1:3-9.