This entire study, has been initiated by me, and every bit of it, searched and written by me, I have not borrowed from anyone else just like I did not on the subject of Evil Spirits or Satan in the Old Testament. This is further a study by my own sweat of my brow directed and guided by the Holy Spirit to arrive at truth on this subject. So I will continue until I am too satisfied with what I have found thus far on the truth of these subjects in the Old Testament. God's Word.
Once again, I don't care what the majority believes as most of them have never even set down and done this for themselves, they have relied on someone else who has.
That is fine, as long as it covers the bases of Scripture to Scripture.
This study I am doing is into the Origin of Satan as taught by tradition and men's private interpretations to arrive at a hermeneutic and Holy Spirit taught truth of where did Satan come from. We will determine if He is a fallen Angel as we have been taught, who arrived at that state by having a will of his own, and subverting himself to become an opposer of God, thereby creating evil and then leading thousands of other angels in rebellion to do the same, and that he is the head of this minion, in essence an opposite God of darkness. A god nonetheless but even worse as taught a GOD, only the opposite of the God of light. This has been the contention and definitive statement of classical religious orthodox christianity for a long time now, though not in the beginning or in the earliest writings of the earliest Christians, but most of what we have now is from Augustine, Dante, The Book of Enoch and others, that the church holds fast to, rather then examining, the Old Testament, the Written for the Christians, at the earliest stage of Christianity. They have as we will see gone beyond what is written.
Upon this one Chapter Ezekiel 28, especially verses taken out of context there are the stones of their foundation they have been built for the origin of Satan, as a fallen angel who rebelled and they have taken the main verses for their hypothesis out of context of all the verses in the Old Testament and especially right here what we find in Ezekiel 27 and 28. We will see when studied their rock is nought but sand, and when the storms of life come, it tears down their house which should be built upon Christ, and not demonology, Satan, and evil spirits and vain imaginations of men, traditions of men, or the elders (orthodoxy- those who have forever written down and told us what to beleive, as if the Holy Spirit didn't even exist)
Men, and his vain imaginations teaches these verses and some in Isaiah we will look at later as referencing to how Satan stepped out of the will of God and as a Angel, this creature, created by the Creator God, became a God with power like God. Who by His own free volition or will accomplished this. This entity referred to is taught as being Omniscient, Omnipresent and even Immortal. (the passage refers to a Cherub by the way and not an Angel, I will show you the difference by Scripture and short Ancient Hebrew Word Study, and not by my opinion, but the Bible how wrong they have been in interpreting this passage to Christians as if it was Gospel truth or the Gospel or even part of the Gospel)
We will also look to the culture, and beliefs of those cultures that had some influence upon word selections in the Old Testament, or language used. So forgetting some of my conclusions that came out of my study as written above, set them aside as well as that of your own, and let's just go through the verses and a study to see, what we can reason together from Scripture to Scripture utilizing God's first inspired words written by men, under the power of the Spirit have written, yet they wrote as men as well.
Let's examine Scripture carefully and prayerfully.
1. You first have to approach this verse already in mind that this verse is speaking of the context of the entire Chapter it is in and the Chapters in this book which precede it and follow it.
You must elect to carry no preconceived ideas into it, no previous teaching into it, no prejudice into the passage,in order to look at it fresh and new to be examined in context and in truth. We must also always be mindful of the culture, the religion surrounding that culture, Hebraic thought and belief in this time, and that in regards to salvation being a reality, they were only in the shadow of it.
For those that don't approach Scripture in that matter they have already colored it with their perceptions and prejudice, and the truth cannot come out. That is called reading into a passage of Scripture what is not there. This is presupposition and assumption on the part of the reader. You have already decided what it says before you even begin to read it. So, we have to re-examine it, checking Scripture to Scripture and thought to thought, to arrive at the true testimony of it.
This is proper Old Testament Scriptural hermeneutics to read and understand things by all other things written in the Old Testament. Remember as well, it is best not to compare the Old to the New yet. The Old Testament was the Bible even in the beginning of Christian community and preaching. They had only the Old Testament, so to be true to what it says, about many theological matters we must find that whatever we believe in the New must somehow be able to be found and substantiated in the Old Testament, outside the Revelation of Jesus Christ himself, who actually lived, died and was resurrected on the third day. In other words the New written testimony of who God is as revealed in the historical account of Jesus Christ by the Gospel writers. Christ being that truth, not formulating doctrine from what he said, but how He lived, died and was resurrected. Paul makes clear this is the Gospel, we are not concerned with new doctrines or old perverted doctrines as of yet, we are going to as I have in the first study look at only what God has given that which is written on this matters in the Old Testament, since many new doctrines and probably most that are false have been built out of what, carnal man have created from misinterpretation of the Old Testament, then carried there misinterpretations into the New Testament.
It is OK to look at the Old but not define the Old by the New, nor try to make the Old into the New. They both have value, for us, but first the carnal then the spiritual as Scripture shows us, so we must go to the carnal first, to see what we are to think about these things as men, just plain men, before God can reveal even more of these truths, all the same they are truths, of what God has done in Jesus Christ for us all which will reveal the Spiritual truths we best know.
In all cases, an absolute essential ingredient even in common sense says, that in all these things, Audience Relevance is of most importance. There are many things said and done in Scripture that were said to certain individuals in that time, and done by certain individuals at that time, that these things pertain to and are addressed about, and not to us, nor were we there. These books are to be read for the good we can obtain of understanding how even the early Christians, Jewish Christians believed according to the Old Testament only and how some came to believe like the Pharisees what they believed as a hodge podge of their culture, they lived in, the religions that surrounded them and pagan influences, upon that culture and people. Knowing these things will assist you in seeing, why Paul, Peter and John and the others were in constant battle to correct these new "christians" who kept adding to what was written- The Old Testament, doctrines on the simple things, Who is God, Who is Man, Who are Angels and Demons, etc.
Everything added now has come
not out of the Old Testament definitions, but from new thought, of new carnal Christians, who were not clearly all spiritual as we can gather from all the epistles written in an attempt to correct these new Christians. Remember as well, there is nothing new under the Sun. Just as Israel over time developed their thoughts and religion toward that of the one's they were captured by and influenced by, they too eventually laid aside clearly what is written for what has been called the secret oral teachings of Moses, the Mishnah, translated into the today's Babylonian Talmud and Kabbalah that most present day Jews believe in over the Torah, and the Prophets, and the Pharisees were teaching these things in the time of Jesus. They had gone beyond what is clearly laid out in the Old Testament on Who God is? Man is, man's relationship to God, and all other creatures in heaven and on earth.
I recommend Christians when more settled in with Christ study these things, and one good source is Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish convert to Christianity and Old Testament and times of Jesus scholar, who wrote several great books the first to which I later read called, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah"
We must know this to be true, for Paul would not have been able to convince any Jews, of Christ as Messiah and the Bereans would not have arrived at their conclusion that Paul preached about.
They searched the Old Testament not the New Testament. The New Testament wouldn't see it's first letter be written that makes up a part of them all in what we read today (epistle) until almost 55 a.d. The book of Galatians.
This was sent out among the other believers much later as well as it was written to that assembly only in Galatia at first, some 24 years after Christ was crucified, raised and ascended to the Father. We must know then how did Paul preach Christ then if He didn't have the New Testament? Answer: He used the Old Testament, so we must look for the answers to many of our doctrinal questions and teaching in the Old, and see if they point forward to the testimony of Jesus Christ, or not.
Anyone studying the Old Testament and especially Genesis will clearly see that they do in fact, but I am not concerned with that right now, that is a subject for later, what I am concerned with is private interpretations of men taking things from the Old, reinterpreting them then from the New Testament combined with the pagan philosophy, and teachings of others then trying to prove them from the Old Testament, with presupposition put in it, applied to it by themselves. Let the Old Testament speak for itself first. The Old Testament itself gives us much ground work to understand some things, about heaven, hell, earth, creation and more found that are there. They, these people who do this pervert much of the Good News of Jesus Christ to the bad news of "christian religion and doctrines" that have nothing to do with the purpose of God or why He sent Jesus to die for our sins."
So, though the Old Testament has a lot of genealogy, it's is important as well.
It may at times be a slow read, of history and events, but everyone of them are important to our understanding of the workings of God with men and for men and to see, the plan He was working out, and where to it would lead, and why.
We must compare Scripture to Scripture not Scripture to traditions of men, and their ideas about what a passage means. This doctrine is set forth by Peter for us in the New Testament, and thus it's applicability must somehow stand true for the Old Testament. Since this applies to prophecy, is here what Peter is talking about.
We are looking at the prophetic book of Ezekiel so we best heed this statement.
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Men of theology and religious church men have failed to heed this passage in
2 Peter and many still do to this day. From the prophecies of the Old, to the one's in the New. There are and must be thousands of interpretations of events in the spiritual book of Revelation, and thousands then try to take these things they interpret into the Carnal, and shove them all back into the first book ( the Old Testament, and apply fulfilled prophecy all into their carnal interpretations of Revelation discounting that Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets of the Old Testament. Those books are closed for the actual events to come, but are open for the spiritual things that are!
Now, if what this says stands true, that means, that God when it comes to prophecy would not allow us, to just read something and arrive at our conclusions without two things, to reveal the truth of it. The Word (what it says) and the Spirit (that which only God can show us, and teach us what it says).
So with that, let's read it, study it, and then rather then just settle there, let's be open to God teach us what it says.
I am not God, so, I am only doing a study in what is written, and I am fallible as well, but God is not, in revealing the truth of these passages, for He wrote them. Thus is the written word fallible, yes, when it is our own private interpretation, and when even language translation gets meaning and words changed up, so it will often take time to work through those as well, however, is the Spirit fallible, absolutely not! So, the written word is infallible in that is the Word of God but only infallible as that which is revealed to be, by the one who wrote it, the Holy Spirit.
For God is Spirit and those that worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth. The Word written is only infallible in what is revealed to us, by God who wrote it.
Now what He shows me, and shows you, may not be quite the same quite yet, because Jesus gave us each a measure of trust, in Him, and we all differ, but all the same, in anything written there are things within it, that will help us to look and find the truth, and not just go along with another man's interpretation of it, but let God show us, what it means, by asking Him to first clear our hearts and minds of presupposition before approaching it, to remove the idols of our heart, and we all of us can have those, even I at times, these those things that are not revealed to us by His Spirit but we rely on them because we have nothing better to rely on, for failure to either ask God for wisdom or just plain laziness to seek, and many but most will be those things we accept only because we
are told that is what we must believe to be "orthodox" or the majority of Christians. As if only some men had the Holy Spirit reveal truth to them and them only and God cannot teach the rest of us. Others approach Scripture that it is the majority is always right and everyone else wrong. We must have have a teachable spirit for God's teaching and that not of men, who are no God at ALL. One that stands in awe of God and Him as the ALL POWERFUL AND ALL LOVING CREATOR and not worship of other men's sweat and study of these things.. NOT EVEN MINE.
Here is God's challenge to every man, who lays claim to the title "Christian".
He reveals to us who Christ is, this is apparent from the one doctrine I believe Bible shows we must believe, if we are to be Christians, Who Christ is.
Second, we must study God's word, really study it. To do so, is the failure of the largest kind, to just go along for the ride, like I would say the larger majority of Christianity does, thus they are tossed to and fro, and never come to some rock solid foundations of questions and answers, they just sit on the guess work of others, or their private interpretations, so we must seek and be challenged to examine all that we have come to believe other then that which God has revealed to us, by the Spirit. The first doctrine who Christ is most importantly. Now it won't hurt to understand what the word "Christ' means, or Son of God, but the revealing by the Father to us, has already defined that for us, and any thing that would lead us from that, would no longer be the one doctrinal truth you must have to be a Christian, one of the elect now.
If you do not believe Peter's reply, then there is no use, to go on with this study.
Third, if we are to be true to Him who we lay claim to as our King, then I think it is necessary to know everything we can learn about him, this includes literature and more, culture, life, and all that He has created and set forth to reveal about himself, other men's writings about the subject of the Bible, Christianity, their religions etc. but these things must be last as they contain both carnal and spiritual faculty of thoughts of men, and not anyone source of this material no matter how accepted by orthodoxy or your church, or denomination hold final truth, only God does.
Here in lies the problem, God gives us the first understanding as He did Peter, but then rather seek God ourselves, we are told, that others will now stand in for the Holy Spirit and reveal the rest, then this when heeded soon leads to thinking it's about yourself, and not grace, it's your belief that saved you by your own effort, and it isn't grace that saved you but your belief in that grace that did. We soon find in the storms of life how fast that sand will wash out when the storms come!
That very teaching denies this passage even. Even though Peter who was with Jesus in the flesh could not get this by his own reasoning or mind or even his own belief, THE FATHER REVEALED IT TO HIM. Jesus said it couldn't come by flesh and blood.
To these things we all stand in agreement on, for Christ reveals this in us, to us, and in the written testimony.
There is absolute truth, it is not my truth or your truth but Him as truth, if we jointly accept that proposition then we have unity, no matter what ever else separates us. So, we must accept this one verse, and we will if we are truly born again, and that doctrine becomes our binding doctrine as brethern in Christ.
Jesus only asked time after time that one important question to which in my opinion is
the only doctrine we must hold fast to be a Christian, and Peter gave the right answer which confirms whether we are or aren't one of His members of the Ekklesia, the called out one's of God, at this time.
Who do you say I am? Peter's reply, was what Christ said would be the rock, the foundation of all our other ideas or doctrines, that make us the Ekklesia, present Sons of God or not, and bring us into the ekklesia, as those born again now, to see and live by Him. Here is the one doctrine that if we don't believe this, no matter what we believe otherwise reveals whether or not we have been born from above and the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes and ears to see and hear or not.
This very same question is for all, who do you say He is? They at times asked Him, and for a very long time, He would not tell them, not until the day, He rode down into Jerusalem which in itself fulfilled a prophecy of the Old Testament, to the day and hour of him doing so, but they had so disregarded this prophecy related to the Messiah coming with their interest in world domination as Jews, they misinterpreted it by their own fleshly desires. For a moment a few recognized that day, but only for a short time, once He was arrested and their hopes for a carnal Messiah was gone, and they no longer believed in Him, like many may today, if and when the present state of Israel may find itself once again destroyed by an enemy, or the world doesn't come to an end in 2010, or The Great Tribulation doesn't happen in their lifetimes, or the don't see Jesus physically dropping out of the sky to come rescue them so they can watch from afar as he destroys the wicked, and tossed them into a great burning lake of fire and brimstone. There carnal hopes to will be tossed as their faith in their carnal minded Jesus will not be seen, and yet He is here and present now among us, but they have allowed the carnal minds of others to close their eyes and stifle their hearing for their false interpretations of prophecy, in Revelation, which is written to the body of Christ as fulfilled in Christ, both past, present and yet to come spiritually, and prophecy, fulfilled that Jesus spoke forth to Israel in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, fulfilled in 70 AD. There hopes are often smashed as they ask God to rescue them from their enemies, and their sins, thinking he must do so by returning again in the flesh. Christ has rescued them but they know not! He has delivered them from sin and death, is delivering them from sin and death and will continue yet to deliver them from sin and death, and they would know it, if they would quit their reliance upon the private interpretations of men, and listen to the Spirit who speak unto the "church" the Ekklesia.
Jesus would not tell them for this was left to the Father to reveal to them or Him when He chose to do so. It is not by the will of men, or their belief to be able to reveal this. Only the Father, whether as in Peter's case here, or the cases where Jesus told them or later when the Holy Spirit told them, Flesh and blood cannot reveal this, only God! Any other doctrine is simply those trying to enter the Kingdom of God by violence. We may differ on others, but if we don't have this one doctrine truly revealed in our hearts and not just some human reasoning then we are not of His household, yet. We cannot have His faith, to have faith if it hasn't been given by Him to know Who He is. The Anointed One, the Son of God!
Matthew 16:15-18
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,
but My Father who is in heaven.
18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
If you have been truly born again, and God has revealed this to you, then you are now personally responsible but not alone for letting God reveal more to you, and not by looking for the best teachers, theologians, commentaries, pastors or others,to reveal His truths to you, but you are personally responsible now to listen to God first, seek Him with all your heart, mind, strength and soul, so that He can teach you more.
If you are not studying your Bible, spending time in prayer, walking and talking with Him in fellowship, and seeking and living only for the things of this world, He still loves you, and still has revealed Himself to you this one truth, but is that all you ever want to know about Him is that all you ever want Him to say to you, then that is pretty unloving, to get put in the household of God, and yet want to live there but ignore the very one, who brought you in. He desires fellowship with us, and love from us. He did so much he took the steps for us to be restored. reconciled to Him. It took great pains of the Father to do that, so much,that this Son who you now believe in, had to shed His own blood to get us into the household, and him into ours, yet we would choose to ignore him for a quick 45 minutes on Sunday, and a mealtime, or maybe a bedtime prayer, and then perhaps we might give him 10 minutes for our daily devotional reading, but do you love Him so much, that you seek every opportunity to be with Him to hear from Him, who has bought you. Not many,do. We can sow to the flesh or the spirit, and we will reap what we get, right now in this life. I only wished I would have been truly sowing more of my life in the earlier years of my Christian life to the Spirit, instead of relying on others, stale bread and poisoned waters for my needed fresh bread and living water from God daily and my life I am sure would have been much better, more abundant, more lovely, more holy, and more joyful and more peaceful. I have learned and learned well since 2001. God loved me so much He washed away the sands I had built much of my life on, but didn't destroy the foundation which was always in Christ, and from there on, I have desired Him above all things, and everything to seek Him constantly in my life, as part of my life, and my time devoted to studying, prayer, and my love for Him blooms like a fresh rose everyday. I steal time, find time, and look for time, to be with Him and read, study, and pray, because you see, He is more important to me, then ANYTHING- PERIOD.. other Christians don't understand that, and it is easy to know why and watch them and see why. They love mammon or this fleshly life more than Him and spiritual food from His hand.
I learned by His Spirit, that He provides spiritual life to live the Christian Life, and gives us power over sin and death. Sadly many Christians do not know this experience, because they just don't love Him enough yet, but they will, times will come, flesh reaps flesh, when they will find themselves crying out to Him, and then regardless of their sowing to the flesh, He will by His Spirit in Grace reach and take hold of them, and just love them, with no words of condemnation, just those words "I love you so," and then you will love Him like I do, and many others do.
You may have searched this site, because you are seeking Him, and here is my advice, unless God has showed you something by His Spirit and His interaction in your life that would make you seek to find others of like mind and heart, then don't read this, go back, read and study this entire subject on your own with His written word before you and nothing else, but you and Him only, and listen to Him, if you truly want to know, He will tell you, He will show you, then when He does, if what He has revealed to you agrees even somewhat with what I believe, then come back and read this. Don't let my perception, or prejudice color yours, but please for the sake of God, don't let anybody else do so either, whether your church,a friend, or a Pastor, commentary or even your upbringing or what your parents taught you. Jesus said to come follow Him, and to do so, we can't love any of the above mentioned more then Him.
Get in, dig in, Ask and you shall recieve, seek and you shall find, and alas knock and the door shall be opened for you.
If you have already had God tell you something about this verse in Ezekiel, then you are welcome to share in what I have found, to read this article and others posted on this blog, but still pray about it please, then go back and read again until alas whatever the Spirit has begin to show you or reveal to you, that it will become conviction of yours from God, and no other conviction to rely upon. Let God speak to you and give you conviction of your trust and reliance upon Him, not me, or any other men.
If you have come here to read this because you want to wrangle over doctrine or words, then don't waste your time. I know what I am convinced of, do you?
If so keep it to yourself. I like all of us, make the mistake when God speaks to us, in our private fellowship with Him in our garden or closet with Him, His words to us, so set us free, we immediately want to tell others what He has shown us.
Don't share it unless for the reason to tell others of the hope in you. The Gospel yes, tell it to every man, woman and child, just as Paul did, but don't speak about the things God has given you understanding in, unless He begins to use it in your conversation with them as witness of the Gospel and Christ work in your life.
I am learning, don't give pearls unto swine lest they trample you and the pearls under their feet. I am not calling people swine in a derogatory fashion but simply as those representative in this passage of Gentiles who were outside of the Covenant of Israel, there will be those, who even that may be in the Ekklesia, until God teaches them, and they want to continue to rely on stale bread and water, of others, they too are unbelievers (in what God has revealed to you) and they will attack you, spit on you, and even show how self righteous they are, and attack what you know to be true, trying to prove their belief over yours.
I don't personally care if anyone understands or believes what I believe, see, for I KNOW from whom my source of living water and living bread is, and I am not going to throw it out the door for some of that old stale bread and water, and invite it back to my table, that I too once ate and drank daily before the Father worked on me, and inspired me to listen to Him so that I would desire His fresh living bread and living water always evermore.
Most often because many who call themselves "christian" they have no conviction within themselves for their beliefs, versus your conviction of His revealed truth to you.
I would rather trust my heart to God for the eternal things, then to men, for them. That takes trust, and not a reliance upon men and what they tell us to believe or why we should believe like them based on carnal reasons and carnal reasoning and there no revelation of these things to them by His Holy Spirit.
If you can give me your story, of how you arrived at truth from trial and error, and sin and deliverance, then you have a story, then show me in the Word, what God showed you, I will hear you and listen.
But talk to me, about your wonderful hard work of trying to gain all this knowledge by bible study mixed only with other men's private interpretations and you have no story, don't waste your time, I have nothing nor do you have anything to gain, by a battle of intellect, and words.
If God hasn't revealed His story within your story, then I quite doubt that you have a story, and have only accumulated a bunch of research, facts and dead letters. Which has become the idol of your heart in to which your trust is in and very little in Him.
Most of which will be built upon others opinions and stale bread and water.
There are those of us, like myself our lives are the story, which we see His story in, and His story in ours, We have been taught by the Spirit, and not our carnal reasoning but by experience with God, and His interacting with us, and our life. Most men because of their pride, or fear of men, will not dare expose themselves to others, in fear less they are found to be NOT the perfection of their self righteousness and others judge them for it.Less what they have come to know from God only be criticized, and they might be tossed from the synagogues of men. That means the minute they say something that doesnt fit "orthodoxy"
- which again who were these men to tell all of us, what we are to believe based on their definitions and their carnal reasoning? I am not saying all of it I disagree with, but once it becomes an idol of your heart and you can't or won't listen to God speaking to you, then how will you hear? How will you see? When God speaks!
They are yet pleasers of men, and not of God. I have a story, and I have shared that with others and gladly will again, if asked, but it is rare they will with me, they approach me, like they have been just perfect little walking and talking holy men all their lives, and are afraid to reveal that from which God redeemed them from and delivered them from, is delivering them from and will yet deliver them from.
Then again there are those false prophets and teachers who have no real story, they just spout the rhetoric, they have learned or their favorite, repetitive stale bread and water of others, and tell us they are Christians while they are still steeped in sin, haven't experienced the power over sin and death in Christ, and thus what story would they tell you of God's deliverance in their lives, They have none, and are false prophets and teachers, if you can't give me something that is your story that fits in with the story of God's deliverance, then I doubt very much your credibility in spiritual things. Such are many that I meet and want to come down on me for my personal trust in God, and what Christ has done for me, is doing and yet will do by the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. They offer NO STORY of their lives, which is no testimony of Jesus Christ, beware of such men. They are liars and hypocrites. They seek only to draw men after themselves, to form a church, groupies or fans. They will oppose anyone and anything another person has to say, if it in anyway disparages the idol of their heart, themselves! They do so, to make profit from you, or gain.
Now with that all said, I will precede to my study I am redoing for the sake of those that this may be meant for. It is not for all of you as we can clearly see.
Now let's read the all of this Chapter in context, we must ask the basic questions who, what, when, where why and how?
The who is answered by the to whom it is being spoke to which we find in verse two.
“Son of man, say
to the ruler of Tyre,The next verse is clear even from the New Testament who is being referred to as a god here.
This does not mean they are, but in position in power in the real world of kings, monarchs, and Presidents, rulers in general, they act as gods upon this world and even our very lives at times.
Let's see what Jesus said, and ask the question was He saying here as many of those blinded by evil the evil God sends to delude men in their worship of the creation rather than the Creator, that man is a god?
John 10:34
Jesus answered them, `Is it not having been written in your law: I said, ye are gods?
In this passage, Jesus is speaking to who? The Pharisees, was he telling them they were gods. Was He saying, that there actually other Gods in heaven or on earth?
Was he telling us, that God has competition as CREATOR who does after His own will and counsel
Ephesians 1:11
in whom also we did obtain an inheritance, being
foreordained according to the purpose of Him who the all things is working according to the counsel of His will,No, contrary to those who would want to teach otherwise.
Only God is God and as He tells us in the first commandment.
Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
In my search I found 9 verses where God declares "I am God"
In my search I found 2 verses that God says, "Almighty God"
In my search I found 5 verses where God declares Himself to be "God Almighty"
In my search I found 498 verses, I found God stating " I am"
One most emphatic verse Psa 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God
In my search for God speaks saying " I the Lord do".
and of course one verse most have never bothered to read or look at because they have been taught that "satan created evil".
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace,
and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. So, can we agree He is the only Almighty God, God Almighty, the great I Am, the Lord who does, the I AM GOD?
We understand agreeably and universally as believers in an all powerful God and One CREATOR of ALL THINGS SEEN, that He alone is God and we are not to worship anything or anyone above Him.
This doesn't imply on that which we should all know by the reality of this life, that there are no other "gods," that per se, because of their power to rule over us on this earth. These are simply men in a position over us, whether it be a boss, a mayor, a policeman, a teacher, whoever holds some power over you, in a sense is a god. They however are not THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE that can strike them down as well.
They may hold some of the POWER that God does in the realm of physical life and death, but in the spiritual there is ONLY ONE God and He is Spirit, and must be worshiped in Spirit and truth.
John 4:24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
But that there are men who are considered gods in this life only in the physical realm, we too must agree. Yes those who bear the sword, who can kill us or let us live, who can starve us, or feed us. Anyone men, or government we will agree is in a sense
a god but not THE GOD. Yes, men have made themselves gods, but only by the will of God to serve themselves and to master over others in this world to their own destruction and the destruction of others, so God might work all things to His own counsel and will. Though this be true is this overall what God intends to do forever? Of course not, we watch gods fall everyday, as kingdoms of men come down, men come down. From movie star to presidents, from country and kingdom Rome or Greece, even Israel in 70 ad, we see these gods come fall down, come down, brought to nothing. Even ourselves, fall down, as gods of this world. America as a god of this world, is beginning to see it's last days. For Americans this will be "great tribulation" and for those who for far too long have claimed His name but not His life!
Let us look at another verse in the New Testament, that is only confirming what we will soon see in the Old Testament.
To whom did the word of God come to. It came to the children of Israel, they were to rule only as God's elect or chosen people in the Old Testament, because God enabled them to rule upon the earth as His people chosen to do so. It is whenever Israel, begin to forget from whom this power came from just like Herod in the New Testament, eaten by worms failed to acknowledge the God of the Universe, that only by His own counsel and will did he, Herod have any power and Pilate, in that God corrected them. Pilate much later of course.
They as most men do, consider themselves to be gods as they have some power granted over others lives. Parents over children, governments over parents, but they are neither omniscient, omnipresent, or immortal.
Let's look up this verse that Jesus has made reference to in the Old Testament.
Psa 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Again here who was God the all powerful speaking to - the children of Israel, we know for David wrote this and said it speaking for God. Did God intend to give up his rulership as the God of heaven and universe to the Hebrew tribes? Absolutely not, this is a euphemism because of their election as representatives of the One true God, they would rule and reign over all the other tribes of the earth, as kings because God would enable them with power from on High - His power to do so.
Do a word study, their are no other Gods, in the sense of spiritual beings, that have any power or rule unless appointed by and only by God and Him alone.
So, we must agree God is ALL POWERFUL. Only He truly reigns over both heaven and EARTH. Men may account themselves as gods because of their power, or God may even appoint others as gods over us. However, no man or spiritual being or anything in the Universe is God, nor can be God or act as God in relation to eternal things. For that is to which God and Him alone, holds all power, authority and glory.
No one else, not any creature He has created. If this doesn't stand true, then God is not God, and He must then be subject to these other gods of His creation. Is there anything that can create itself, or determine by it's own will to accomplish anything without His knowledge, his counsel and His Will? I say absolutely not for if that is true, we have negated Him being ALMIGHTY and ALL POWERFUL. We have made Him less then the very God to whom HE SAYS HE IS.
Now let's look back to the scene in the garden, who would become as gods for knowing good and evil, the Devil or Man?
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 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Does this verse reference man or a god called Satan that men try to put in this scene as knowing good and evil. It's obvious God is speaking here in this text of Adam and Eve, mankind, not some spiritual being, that has become as one of them- knowing good and evil.
So now that we have gained Scripture interpreting Scripture let's go back to this verse with the proper contextual view not based on what we have been taught by lying men, but what we have just read in all the other Scriptures here, Let God be declared true and all men liars, is what I say!
Though cherubs are some special creation of God.
(Exo 25:19) And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
(Exo 37:8) One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
(2Sa 22:11) And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
(1Ki 6:24) And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
(1Ki 6:25) And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size.
(1Ki 6:26) The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.
(1Ki 6:27) And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
(2Ch 3:11) And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
(2Ch 3:12) And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
(Ezr 2:59) And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:
(Neh 7:61) And these were they which went up also from Telmelah, Telharesha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
(Psa 18:10) And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
(Eze 9:3) And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
(Eze 10:2) And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.
(Eze 10:4) Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory.
(Eze 10:7) And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.
(Eze 10:9) And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
(Eze 10:14) And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
(Eze 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.
(Eze 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.
(Eze 41:18) And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
We are not told they are Angels from which the Hebrew word is - Cherub, The Word
"Cher"u"bim (?), n. The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim. and hand; Cherubim's, in the King James version of the bible, is an incorrect form, made by adding the English plural termination to the Hebrew plural cherubim instead of to the singular cherub."
The word cherub (cherubim is the Hebrew masculine plural) is a word borrowed from the Assyrian kirubu, from karâbu, "to be near", hence it means near ones, familiars, personal servants, bodyguards, courtiers.
Theology
According to Genesis 3:24, God "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim's, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." The "s" added to Cherubim in the King James version is redundant as the name "Cherubim" is plural for Cherub, a term derived from the Hebrew noun K'rubh.
The word for Angel is - A Mal'akh (Hebrew: מַלְאָךְ; also: Mal'ach or Mal'aqh; plural Mal'akhim) is a messenger of God, an angelic envoy or an angel in general who appears throughout the Hebrew Bible,
So, on that let's get rid first of the wrong definition of what this Cherub is. It is not an Angel, so that eliminates that presupposition of man. The traditions of men, always nullify the Word of God.
Matthew 15:6
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
and
Mark 7:13
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Jesus had these words to say about those who don't take the time, to study and God's Word and instead rely on the teachings of men, or in this case the Elders- which happened to be the Talmudic traditions.
Now that I have established by the Word of God, some things, let's keep to who this is addressed to, who was the one's that said in their hearts they could be like God, and so chose to try to be, and who God says they have become even as we are, knowing good and evil. MANKIND- Adam and Eve.
So, we can see this statement was made first by the serpent to Eve, she believed she could become a god, not Satan thought this, she did, and acted upon it. Satan's name doesn't even appear in this scene of the Fall in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve's name's do!
So let us read now all of Ezekiel 28 -
1The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
2"Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,
"Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said, 'I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods
In the heart of the seas';
Yet you are a man and not God,
Although you make your heart like the heart of God--
3Behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
There is no secret that is a match for you.
4"By your wisdom and understanding
You have acquired riches for yourself
And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.
5"By your great wisdom, by your trade
You have increased your riches
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches--
6Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
'Because you have made your heart
Like the heart of God,
7Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,
The most ruthless of the nations.
And they will draw their swords
Against the beauty of your wisdom
And defile your splendor.
8'They will bring you down to the pit,
And you will die the death of those who are slain
In the heart of the seas.
9'Will you still say, "I am a god,"
In the presence of your slayer,
Though you are a man and not God,
In the hands of those who wound you?
10'You will die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of strangers,
For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!"'"
11Again the word of the LORD came to me saying,
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.
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.
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.
15"You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
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.
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.
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.
19"All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever."'"
Now that we have established some who's in this verse, let's break down for study some more on this subject.
Let me remind you here, God has stated that man are gods, we read that verse. We know this is not the same as God, just simply the roles they may serve in this life in power over others as ordained by God, meaning He wills it so, to be.
Now to be fair to this whole Chapter to gain context we must go back and read Chapter 27 as well.
We only need to start with the first few verses to gain insight even more on some of the things Ezekiel is about to say about the King of Tyre, he starts out here, and begins speaking to the kingdom of Tyre, to which God was to take down.
Let's examine for a moment some history written on the country or kingdom of Tyre
Five Millennia of History
Founded at the start of the third millennium B.C., Tyre originally consisted of a mainland settlement and a modest island city that lay a short distance off shore. But it was not until the first millennium B.C. that the city experienced its golden age.
In the 10th century B.C. Hiram, King of Tyre, joined two islets by landfill. Later he extended the city
further by reclaiming a considerable area from the sea. Phoenician expansion began about 815 B.C. when traders from Tyre founded Carthage in North Africa. Eventually its colonies spread around the Mediterranean and Atlantic, bringing to the city a flourishing maritime trade. But prosperity and power make their own enemies.
Early in the sixth century B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, laid siege to the walled city for thirteen years. Tyre stood firm, but it was probable that at this time the residents of the mainland city abandoned it for the safety of the island.In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great set out to conquer this strategic coastal base in the war between the Greeks and the Persians.Unable to storm the city, he blockaded Tyre for seven months. Again Tyre held on. But the conqueror used the debris of the abandoned mainland city to build a causeway and once within reach of the city walls, Alexander used his siege engines to batter and finally breach the fortifications. It is said that
Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. The town's 30,000 residents were massacred or sold into slavery. Tyre and the whole of ancient Syria fell under Roman rule in 64 B.C..
Now back to this proclamation to be made by Ezekiel herein referred to by God as the Son of Man. ( this too has been taken out of context at times without study, by those who attempt to put things into Scripture that are not there, that this is being said to a pre-existent Jesus Christ) It is not, Exekiel is the son of man in this passage of Scripture. It is obvious.
Ezekiel is the prophet of God, and herein in the beginning of this book says:
Eze 2:1 And he said
unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
With that, my hands are tired, and my mind, so we will stop here and go on in this study tomorrow.
I think already we have seen some false teaching and false word definitions by others that have been made, but we must go on to be true to Scripture and see if these things may be true.
Joseph W. Black D.D.
