Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 22
Last week we first looked at Tyrus and got a good picture of what the city was like by looking at many of the verses that describe it in Ezekiel.
Music, art, colored flags and tapestries, and architecture. They had benches made of ivory. They were a huge merchant center, you name it they had it for sale. They had power and prestige and riches.
And we looked at what men thought of it by looking at their reaction when Tyrus is destroyed. They will bitterly wail and mourn over the loss of it.
And we saw that they were against God’s people. They really only wanted to profit off of them. They had their own false god and a huge famous temple for it.
We saw that God was not impressed by any of it. What man put a high premium on God did not.
And we saw the real reason why Tyrus was this way. The moving force behind that system is Satan.
But wasn’t the city beautiful? Yes. Wasn’t the city successful? Yes.
But didn’t that city have culture? Yes. But wasn’t that city prosperous? Yes.
It was all of that and more. Some people have a hard time getting their head wrapped around this truth.
They get this idea in their head that he is like they see in the movies. Red with horns and a pitchfork and that he is only after causing pain and suffering and other visually horrible things.
Some have a hard time accepting that Satan can also be behind a system that creates a beautiful, successful, prosperous, city with culture.
But the Bible clearly shows that to be the case in Ezekiel. He is called the prince of Tyrus.
And one of the reasons I think why he would be behind such a system of culture and prosperity is simple. It has power to pull people away from God. It can get them focused on money and power and everything else.
One of his primary goals is to take as many with him to hell as he can. And systems like Tyrus can sure do that.
If we look at the first mention of Lucifer as far as chronologically (as far as the time line goes) it is actually in Ezekiel chapter 28.
We see what he looked like and what his job was before Adam and Eve.
In the beginning there was only God.
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is…
So everything that exists other than God was made in those 6 days. And the angels were made early on in creation. We know this from the book of Job when God is basically saying Job who do you think you are. Where were you Job when I created?
Job 38:3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
All of those verses are talking about the creation week. And God says here that the morning stars sang. The term morning stars is referring to angels not literal stars. And they sang together and shouted for joy as God created.
God said let there be light and they were there to sing praises and shout for joy.
Now go to Ezekiel chapter 28 and let’s look at Lucifer’s description as he was during the creation week.
Ezekiel 28:12 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 28:13 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.
He had tabrets and pipes. Once of his purposes was to create music and he would have done that during the creation week as the angels sang and shouted for joy as they watched God create.
Ezekiel 28:14 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 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Ezekiel 28:16 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 28:17 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.
He was very beautiful. And it was that beauty that lifted him up in pride.
And we that have recorded for us in Isaiah 14:12
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Again we have the term the stars of God, and it is referring to angels. He wanted to be above them all. He wanted to be like the most High God.
Here we have pride and arrogance and selfishness. And God cast him down. Angels were all given a free will to choose God. They had one moment in time to make that choice.
Rev 12:4 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.
1/3 of the angels chose Lucifer and they were turned into demons. 2/3 chose God. At that moment all of them were confirmed in their choice for all eternity.
So a Demon cannot be saved. He cannot undo his choice. And an Angel cannot fall. He choose God and God keeps them all in their choice.
It is the same for man with one exception. While the angels had a moment in time to choose. Man has the vapor of time of his life. If he chooses God it will be confirmed for all eternity and if he rejects God then that choice will also be confirmed for all eternity.
We believe that soon after Lucifer fell and took 1/3 of the angels with him and the first thing he did was go and seek to mess up God’s creation by getting the man to sin.
The first time he is mentioned as far as the order of the bible is Gen. Chapter 3.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 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.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
And in this first mention of him after he fell we see these foundational truths.
He is a liar.
Joh_8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. 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.
He wants others to go against God.
He is cleaver about it. He casts doubt upon what God says.
He appeals to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Gen 3:5 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.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
He got Eve and then Adam to lust for the fruit with their flesh and got them to desire it by the lust of the eyes, and then appealed to their pride of life. It will make you wise like gods.
There is only one God, but Satan turns that truth into gods. Plural and little g.
Satan is the father of all false gods.
The methods that he used in the garden of Eden are the same methods he used in Tyrus.
After Satan temped man and sin entered into the world. There is now enmity between Satan and Jesus.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Enmity is The quality of being an enemy; ill will; hatred; malevolence. It denotes a fixed or rooted hatred,
Satan has this Enmity for anything connected to Jesus in any way. He will do all he can to keep people from turning to Jesus.
And he will use anything that will work. With some people like in Tyrus it is wealth and pride in their city and materialism and beauty and culture that will work.
So for them he used prosperity, the lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
But does not the Bible say he is a roaring lion. Yes it does.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
The context of that verse is talking about His hatred of Christians. Sometimes Satan will give wealth and prosperity to those who are lost if that is what keeps them from getting saved. Like those of Tyrus.
And sometimes Satan does not have to use those things because he can use other things.
Another thing in his toolbox is religion.
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
He not only sends false apostles and deceitful workers into the mist of Christian workers.
But he also creates false religions like Mormonism and Islam. And Islam has such a hold on those people that he does not have to give them prosperity like he did in Tyrus.
If you look today at most of the Muslim world it is largely characterized by hardship and poverty and cruelty.
Hopefully you are seeing this truth.
Satan will use anything in his toolbox to keep people from Jesus. And yes sometimes it is wealth, beauty and pride of life. And sometimes it is religion.
And if cruelty works, then he will use that.
And if someone does break free and accepts Jesus then it is all out war as a roaring lion.
Why go thru all of this in this lesson. Because the Bible warns us about the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
To stand against the wiles of the devil, you have to know what those are.
He has wiles, plural. He has more than one method of attack. He has more than one tool of deception.
It is a mistake to assume that everything Satan uses is dirty and wicked looking.
Sometimes it is excess money or beauty like Tyrus. Sometimes it is religion. Sometimes it is pear pressure or this horrible world system.
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We need to be aware of all of his crafty deceitful wiles.
And we need to listen to Jesus.
As we walk thru this wicked world we need to keep our focus and purpose and desires in line with Jesus.
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.