Friends, when it comes to the realities of spiritual warfare, I'm almost always bewildered by the numbers of professing Christians that seem to want nothing to do with it. However, to walk with God in continual covenant, through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit is to inherit a supernatural enemy. Like it or not, spiritual warfare is a normal everyday part of the true Christian's walk. That being stated, it is extremely dangerous to be engaged in battle with an enemy and not know anything about that enemy.
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Scriptures paint a basic picture of the warfare in which we are engaged, and the enemies we face. Yet in order to bring this picture into a better focus it would be beneficial to assemble a kind of frame to place it in. That is the purpose of these series of posts... to Scripturally address basic questions with answers that will create a frame. This frame will point to, and allow us to fine tune the pictures of spiritual warfare that every believer is presented with from the Scriptures. I would submit that without clarity on this subject, we will be facing an enemy that we will not defeat properly... but before I go any further on this subject, I'd like to take a moment to remind all who may come across this post of the promises of Jesus.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.(Luke 10:17-19)
In Christ Jesus we have been given power over serpents, scorpions, and over all of the power of the enemy. Nothing by any means can harm us. That is a promise of Jesus. We cannot be defeated! Those who are defeated, decide to be defeated! Because of an ignorance of the Word of God, His ways, and who we are at war with.
So who is Satan? To answer that question we must go back to the beginning. Before God created the world He created the angelic hosts. The angels were with Him, and shouted for joy at the laying of the foundations of this earth. They witnessed from eternity the creation of the stars, the planets, and the commencement of time itself.
There are five orders or ranks of angels mentioned in the Scriptures. There are the seraphim of Isaiah 6. These are the angels that declare the glory and holiness of God Almighty. The cherubim of Genesis and Ezekiel. These angels cover and protect the glory of God. There are the Living Creatures of Revelation 4, which seem to be a combination of seraphim and cherubim... the difference being that they are covered in eyes. The archangels are mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. These are the leading and the warring angels. Lastly, there is the fifth order angels which I simply refer to as common angels. They appear throughout the Old and New Testaments... and are commonly mistaken for young men as they are wingless.
The Scriptures go on to specifically mention three angels by name. Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. I believe these three to be archangels. In the book of Revelation, Lucifer who is now Satan can be seen warring in the second heaven. This is between the third heaven where God's throne is located, and the first heaven which is our visible sky and atmosphere. He is also described as fighting with one third of the heavenly angels by his side.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:3,4)
These angels are the fallen ones who rebelled against God, and were cast out of heaven when Lucifer was cast to the earth in a pre-adamic judgment. Jesus said that He saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.(Luke 10:18)
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, (Revelation 12:7)
One third of the angels of heaven rebelled and are under Satan's command. This leaves two thirds who remained faithful to God. Seeing from the Scriptures that Michael is leading angels into battle, I think it a reasonable assumption that his angels would constitute one third as well. Now what of the remaining third? Following the pattern, these angels would fall under the leadership of Gabriel.
So now we see the heavenly hosts equally divided into three divisions. We have three archangels, one over each division... In taking this pattern to an even deeper level, we must look to the revelations of God as a Holy Trinity. One God, yet three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I would submit to you that each of these archangels held a specific position of authority under the revealed trinity of the Godhead. However, this leads us to a question of which archangel fell under which person of the Godhead? I believe the clues lay with the anointing.
The anointing deals specifically with the power of God... the Holy Spirit. Only one angel has ever been anointed... Lucifer. Therefore it would seem that Lucifer would have held a specific position of authority directly under the person of the Holy Spirit. Gabriel's position would be directly under God the Son... or the Word. While Michael's position is directly under God the Father. That being stated, Lucifer is who I specifically want to deal with in this post. In the book of Ezekiel, we are presented with a sorrowful, sorrowful lament concerning him. At its beginning, the prophet is addressing the king of Tyre. But as he continues in the power and revelation of the Holy Ghost, he begins to speak directly to the authority behind this king. He begins to address Satan.
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (Ezekiel 28:11,12)
Lucifer is being addressed here. Thou sealest up the sum... this means that there is nothing that can be added concerning his wisdom. It was perfect. The Scriptures say that he was perfect in beauty. If you were to see him you would honestly think he was beautiful to behold.
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Ezekiel 28:13)
This Scripture is pre-adamic. It speaks of a time when Lucifer walked in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was his covering. Friends, don't think of these gem stones as the typical one or two carrot. These precious stones were supernaturally cut and perfect. Furthermore, I believe they were miniscule in size and made into his angelic flesh. When Lucifer walked about, he sparkled as if sprinkled with glitter of every color of the rainbow. If he were to walk into a room, rainbows would dance upon the walls as if light had shined through a prism... or rain cloud after a storm. The Lord created tabrets and pipes in his being. People of God, when this angel spoke there was melody to his voice. A symphony performed with his every step and gesture...
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:14)
Not only did the anointing come upon Lucifer, but he was also given the office of a cherub that protected the glory of God. Notice the Scripture says I have set thee so, not created thee so. Lucifer was not a cherub, he was an archangel that was given the office of a cherub in addition to the one he already had. No other angel ever held two offices like that! Also, remember that he was anointed possibly from eternity. He understands the anointing and how it works, so he is able to defeat the anointed if they are ignorant! The Scriptures go on to tell us that he walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire... there is a sea of glass mingled with fire before the throne of God. One of the chief things that happen before the throne of God is worship and praise. Lucifer used to be in charge of protecting that atmosphere.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:15,16)
By the multitude of thy merchandise... keep this in mind as we go on.
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; 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. 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. (Ezekiel 28: 17-19)
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries... Sanctuaries pertain to priests. Therefore he was a priest as well. By the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick... merchandise... this tells me that there is some kind of trading, or exchange that is happening here. A kind of back and forth if you will. People of God, Lucifer's job was that of a mediator between God and the pre-adamic inhabitants of earth and the angels under his authority. He was to deliver the word of God to the inhabitants and the angels... in addition to giving their praise and worship to God in heaven, but he became proud. From the roots of pride came a stem of jealousy. Pride was the first sin. Consumed with jealousy, Lucifer began to corrupt and twist the word of God to be given to the inhabitants and angels. Instead of giving the praise and worship to God, he kept it.
People of God, you must come to the realization of the fact that we have ALL been deceived on some level. The greatest of these deceptions enacted by Satan was a convincing of the world that he does not exist... That he's harmless, misunderstood, misrepresented, powerless, without authority... that he's not such a bad guy if you give him a chance... that his very name should never be mentioned by the people of God in study, preaching, or conversation lest we concede some kind of defeat or glorification of him. Friends, almost every depiction that we have of the devil throughout history is a false one. And there is entirely too much at stake to remain ignorant of who we are fighting any longer. Satan, the enemy of your soul is powerful, but he is not all powerful. He is supernatural, but he is not supreme. He is more than man, but he is less than God. In the Scriptures he is called the prince of the power of the air... the god of this present age... of this current world system.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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