Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 8 – The premeditated rebellion of pride. Eze 28:12-17

Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 8 – The premeditated rebellion of pride. Eze 28:12-17

3. God’s greatest angelic creature made to be closest to Him and most beautiful and gifted and the tragedy of arrogance.

Ezek 28:11 Again the word of the Lord came to me saying,

Ezek 28:12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God,

"You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Ezek 28:13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.

The mountain, the stones and the fire represent the throne of God.

Ezek 28:14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

The anointed cherub who covers represents Lucifer’s office as ruler of God’s government, priest that guarded the throne of God as precious and communicator of God’s truth to the rest of the angels. Prophet, priest, and king.

Ezek 28:15 "You were blameless in your ways [one will that lined up with God’s will – Righteousness] From the day you were created, Until unrighteousness was found in you.

The unrighteousness, the first sin, was the sin of pride. The detail of this thinking, which was in him before it became an overt act of rebellion, as it always is, is revealed in Isaiah 14in the five “I wills” of satan. We will get to that.

Ezek 28:16 "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.

The rebellion is premeditated. You were internally filled with violence means that he decided in his mind to rebel against God before he committed any overt sin.

What is trafficked by satan is connected with violence, so this isn’t legal trafficking and in the context his high position is used as he is cast profane from the mountain of God. What could satan have trafficked?

What did satan have that he could market for his own profit? He had authority from God as well as wisdom and beauty that was unmatched. He marketed himself and thought to retain some worship for himself and with that originate some authority by himself. With that firmly in place in his heart, his heart was filled with the violence of rebellion.

He had been entrusted with God’s government, priesthood and spokesmanship, but he wanted to act independently of God. He who was prophet – could he not give orders under his own authority instead of being utterly dependent upon the invisible God? Was there not some worthiness in himself that should be acknowledged? This is the origin of his sin, the first sin.

The PT is warned of the same sin in 1Ti 3:6.

1 Tim 3:6

and not a new convert, lest he become conceited [full of smoke and no fire, puffed up with pride] and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.

All of us are commissioned to do for God in whatever we do and not for ourselves. Whenever we take the things of God, the gifts of God, the plan of God, even the salvation of God and seek to apply those things to the edification of self or doing for self then we have fallen into the first and most original sin. Confess it quickly and use whatever doctrine you have to become occupied with Christ.

We find the same pattern in Israel. She was given the promises, the covenants, the Law, the wisdom of God …

Rom 9:4-5

who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

The people of Israel became so accustomed to being the gracious recipients of God’s blessings and power that they had begun to think they had a patent and copyright on God. They failed to be a blessing to the nations around them by keeping the Law and evangelizing their neighbors. And so God spoke to them through Hosea:

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge,

I also will reject you from being My priest.

Since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.

Hos 4:7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.

Great blessing is rejected. They worshiped graven images and false gods and still wanted God to love them through blessing.

Hos 4:8 They feed on the sin of My people,

And direct their desire toward their iniquity.

The sin resulted in blood sacrifice and the priests were gladly taking these animals and keeping the best cuts for themselves. The more sin there was the more filet mignon there was. They didn’t care about the people or their increase in sin, in fact they gave hearty approval to it.

Hos 4:9 And it will be, like people, like priest;

So I will punish them for their ways,

And repay them for their deeds.

Hos 4:10 And they will eat, but not have enough;

They will play the harlot, but not increase,

Because they have stopped giving heed to the Lord.

So it was with the first sinner.

“giving heed” – shamar = to keep, tend, watch over, retain, or revere.

Adam was told to watch over, keep, and revere the Garden. Yet when he lost his rule to satan, cherubim kept him from the tree of life.

Gen 2:15

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Gen 3:24

So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

In Hos 4 the sin of Israel is failure to keep, tend, watch over, retain, and revere the word of God, rather they had a heart to take God’s gifts and turn personal profit out of them.

By his sin he lost the office of prophet since God no longer could use an unholy mouthpiece for divine communication.

He lost his office as priest as he stole the worship that was due to God alone.

And he lost the right to govern in God’s kingdom as he attempted to usurp God’s Sovereignty.

He was offered reconciliation and he said no and convinced one third of God’s angels to say no.

As he has snatched rulership of the Earth back from Adam, he rules a fallen Earth full of fallen creatures in which he is desperately trying to bring order and peace like it was before the fall. He is desperately trying to prove in court that he can do this and he has even found a way to use the Church to assist him. But the condition of this world is proof that he has bit off more than he can chew. He is unable to do so. God’s Millennial reign will be the last sting in satan’s wounds as God shows that He can do it easily.

Ezek 28:17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.

Notice that satan had wisdom but it was corrupted by arrogance. Truth can breed false doctrine when the wrong nature attempts to metabolize it.

Ezek 28:18 "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade, You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you.

Ezek 28:19 "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified, And you will be no more."'"

Matt 25:41"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

“has been prepared” – e`toima,zw[hetoima`zo; perfect passive participle] = to prepare or to make ready. Perfect – prepared in the past and it will always remain.

The execution of this judgment does not occur until the end of human history and so you find yourself in the midst of it.

We find ourselves in the most intense stage of the historic trial as well as the call or election to become an expert witness for the prosecution.

Though sin and evil are allowed to run their course through the decisions of angels and men, God is never overruled nor are His plans frustrated.

God will take every curse and turn it into a blessing through the outworking of His divine love, despite the fact that some creatures, both angel and men, will reject His blessings.

God’s directive will – What God sovereignly decides

God’s permissive will – What God allows but glorifies Him

God’s overruling will – What God stops.

Permissive is not passive. God’s permissive will is a part of His Sovereign will. He alone allows certain sins and evils without being the creator or author of them. So a very important principle emerges from this:

The Sovereign will of God and the free-will of man coexist in human history.