REMEMBER THIS: Theory is defined: a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principals independent of the thing to be explained. Wikipedia states: The English word theory derives from a technical term in philosophy in Ancient Greek. To me philosophy sounds like an educated guess.
(Col. 2:8) GOD SAID; “Beware (behold, perceive, take heed) lest any man spoil (to lead away as booty, to seduce) you through philosophy (love of wisdom) and vain (empty, void of truth) deceit (delusion), after the tradition (giving up, giving over) of men, after the rudiments (something orderly in arrangement) of the world, and not after Christ. Definitions are from Strong’s Concordance.
Please see (Acts 17:15-34) if you wish to see a bit more about Biblical philosophy. If you decide to explore the complete Wikipedia presentation of philosophy prepare yourself a sandwich and a cold drink because you will be reading for a while.
It is much easier to read the text and skip the reference scriptures so the text becomes a story. If you wish to turn the text into a study the scriptures are there. Please be patient while you read the notes and definitions in this first part because they are extremely important to identify exactly what happened, by who, and why, in the Garden of Eden and they set the stage for the rest of the commentary. You will be surprised, probably several times.
12 NOTES to promote understanding: #1) (Col. 1:16) All things, including angels, were created by God and for God. (Ezek. 28:13-14) Obviously God created the angels before He created man. He’s God (Matt. 28:18 & Eph. 1:17-23 esp. V.20-21) and He has the power to do things the way He wants to, period.
(1Pet. 1:20) God had a plan before (Gen. 1:1-10) He created the world. (Prov. 15:3) God sees all things both the evil and the good. (Psa. 94:11) God even knows every man’s thoughts. In other words, nobody is going to fool God; nobody can make God do what He does not want to do and nobody can tell God what to think. What’s the point of further speculation?
#2) Much of the nearly countless pieces of internet information about angels, hierarchies of angels, numbers of angels and etc. is based on historical information but there is very little scriptural evidence given to verify this information so, in reality, most of it is conjecture. It compares very well with the Biblical information being the skeleton and the rest of it is placing meat on the bones! God’s Holy Word is the only valid source of information concerning angels.
#3) The KJ Bible is about God and His relationship with man and a large amount of information about angels would simply give Satan or any other angel a false fame (Col. 2:18) which would lead some people to worship angels instead of God.
#4) (Rev. 12:7) Obviously there are two types of angels, those who obey God and those who disobey and are in rebellion against God. (Dan. 10:13, 21 & 12:1) Some angels such as Michael have been given greater power and station than other angels. (Dan. 10:13, Eph. 6:12 & Jude 9) Obviously Satan is also such an angel.
#5) (Luke 23:38) Greek, Latin and Hebrew are the dominant languages used in writing the Bible. (Matt. 25:41 & Luke 13:32) The angels who are led by Satan are referred to as devils. The word demon is not used in the Bible. BUT: (Matt. 8:31) Devils in Greek is daimon (supernatural demon). (John 8:44) Devil in Latin is diabolus (Satan the false accuser).
(Deut. 32:17) Devil in Hebrew is shed (a malignant demon). So devil, demon, or daimon all mean the same thing. (Matt. 12:43) Devils are also sometimes called unclean spirits and evil spirits. (Eph. 6:11-12 esp. V.11 keyword: devil & V.12 keywords: principalities, powers, rulers) Satan, the devil, is the leader of a hierarchy of devils much like a military chain of command; commanding officer (Satan), company commanders, squad leaders and soldiers and they have their own spiritual instantaneous communication. (Dan. 10:1-21 esp. V.13 & 21) Daniel is the example of a hierarchy of ‘good’ angels. The devil will be called Lucifer then his name will be changed to Satan and his spiritual followers will be called devils in this commentary.
#6) (Gen. 3:1-5 & Rev. 12:3-7) God gave the angels the option of free choice; they can serve God or not serve God as they choose. (Rev. 12:3-9) It is also obvious angels can be deceived and led by other angels. AND: (2Thess. 1:7-8 and Heb. 2:7) Angels are “stronger” than men. It is necessary to briefly go to the NT to identify Satan so we can better understand Satan’s beginning in the OT.
#7) (2 Cor. 4:3-4 keyword: blinded: defined: to make blind, to obscure which is a type of emotional/intellectual/spiritual darkness) Satan is referred to as the god of this world who blinds unbelievers to the glorious gospel of Christ. (John 14:30) Jesus identified Satan as the “prince of this world”. AND:
(Eph. 2:2) Satan is identified as the “prince of the power of the air” then (Eph. 6:12) Satan’s “principality” is identified as the spiritual kingdom of darkness and the same scripture tells us there is a hierarchy, “rulers“, composed of fallen, demonic angels called devils who take orders from Satan and help rule his kingdom.
#8) (Luke 11:23) Jesus said; “He that is not with me is against me:” (2Cor. 11:13-15) and Satan has a shadow kingdom of darkness in which he tries to mimic (Matt. 5:14 & John 12:36) God’s kingdom of light and (Isa. 14:14) Satan seeks to supplant God as supreme ruler.
#9) (Dan. 10:13 keywords: prince of the kingdom of Persia) It is obvious this prince of the kingdom of Persia was a fallen angel because no mere man, the King of Persia, could have withstood the messenger angel God had sent to bring Daniel, the Jew, a message from God, so that tells us the kingdom of Persia, at that time, was a demonic kingdom led by a king who was demon possessed.
#10) The above still holds true today 12-2-13. Remember what Jesus said? “He who is not for me is against me:” Satan wages his war against God on two fronts. (A) Satan wages a physical war against physical Israel, the Jews, by using physical nations as is shown throughout the Old Testament and through the 2000 year history of Israel from the time of Jesus to now and also as is shown by current events in various news media.
(B) (Luke 17:21) There are no spiritually based, New Testament designed, political, Jesus led kingdoms or nations in the world (2Cor. 4:4 keyword: blinded & 11:13-15 esp. V.14 keywords: Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light) so Satan spiritually fights against the Church by seeking to destroy each individual Christian, each individual congregation and each denomination. AND: In certain situations Satan leads members of certain nations whose religion is Christless including some socialist nations and dictatorships to physically persecute Christians in the underground, hidden from the authorities, church in those countries.
AGAIN: Satan wages a spiritual war against the whole Church and ALSO (Rom. 8:33-39) Satan wages a physical war against parts of the Church, in various parts of the world, at various times, in which Christians are physically persecuted, threatened, tormented, intimidated, imprisoned, tortured and even murdered by certain Christless societies and governments.
#11) (Dan. 10:5-15 esp. V.13 & Rev. 12:7-9) There is a spiritual struggle between angels in a spiritual realm barely revealed in the Bible. BUT: (1Tim. 5:21) The Bible states there is a class of angels called the elect angels and it appears Satan was one of those powerful spirits before he rebelled against God.
#12) (Ezek. 28:13-17) The rebellion that resulted in this spiritual warfare between God and Satan started in the Garden of Eden.
The Beginning
(Job 38:1-7 esp. V.7) God was explaining to Job how He had created the cosmos, especially planet earth and God revealed how the angels had acted; “When the morning stars (princes) sang together and all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy.” Obviously, the angels had been created before the earth was created and they rejoiced because of the beauty, perfection and magnificence of God’s endless creative abilities.
(Isa. 14:1-12 esp. V.12 keyword: Lucifer) Isaiah is writing about the demonic possession of the king of Babylon. (Isa. 13:17) God had already said He would stir up the Medes and use them to destroy the Babylonian kingdom. God’s decision to destroy Babylon was brought about when (Dan. 4:27 thru 5:31 esp. V.18-23) a demon possessed king of Babylon named Bel-shazzar, the proud son of Neb-u-chad-nezzer, (Dan. 5:1-5) defiled the vessels removed from the temple in Jerusalem.
(Dan. 5:4) And he committed idolatry in which he must have proclaimed his idols were more powerful than the Hebrew’s God, as was the custom of the idolatrous nations at that time, or he couldn’t have kept the holy vessels taken from the Hebrew temple in Jerusalem. (Isa. 14:12) But most important God reveals the demon who is possessing Bel-shazzar is named Lucifer, a Garden of Eden name.
(Isa. 14:12) There is a very important clue in the definition of Lucifer’s name (heylel: pronounced hay-lale in Hebrew and is defined: brightness, the morning star). The defined name, brightness, in this scripture ties directly to (Ezek. 28:12-17 esp. V.17 keyword: brightness) where the king of Tyrus is also demon possessed except in Tyrus’ situation a whole lot of other information is given about the demon.
(Ezek. 28:1-10) This scripture reveals what is offensive to God about the Tyrus kingdom and what will be the end of the human king of Tyrus. It also reveals that heathen and even demonic controlled nations are under God’s power and (V.7-8) God will send other nations against Tyrus.
(Ezek. 28:11-17): (V.11) In this verse the word of the Lord changes the identity of the two major participants in the events of the situation (V. 1-10) from a proud, greedy human’s physical, worldly kingdom (V.12-17) to a demon’s proud, jealous, spiritual, rebellious kingdom because (V.13) no human man other than Adam had been in the garden of Eden.
(V.12 keyword: king) This prince demon led the human king thus it is proper to title him king because he inspired and directed the human and was thus his king. This demon is also full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. A modern example is Adolph Hitler and his Nazi kingdom which (V.7) was also destroyed by other nations.
Read some of Hitler’s writings about being in contact and consulting with the dark forces in his garden at night, yet he claimed to be a Catholic. Look around you, read, watch the history programs and keep up with the news; the world is saturated with demon led nations!
(Ezek. 28:13) This particular angel had been in Eden, the garden of God. From the description given this “elect” angel, “the morning star”, was dazzling in the beautiful brilliance, the light, of his presence.
“The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day thou wast created” (both are Hebrew words: tabrets: defined: tambourine and also from the Hebrew root word taphaph: defined: to drum, play with timbrels which are ancient percussion instruments AND pipes: defined: a flute like perforated wind instrument BUT the root word adds something else: neqeb: defined: made from the faceted parts of gem stones).
All this surely means this shockingly beautiful, filled with wisdom, brilliant angel was given by God, “in the day that thou wast created”, an ability to make unimaginably beautiful, hauntingly wonderful music worthy of God’s ears. He was truly a credit to God’s creative power.
(Ezek. 28:14) “Thou art the anointed (Hebrew word with a double meaning #1) mimshach: defined: in the sense of expansion, widespread, with outstretched wings, & anointed: ALSO mimshach is taken from the Hebrew root word #2) mashach: defined: to rub with oil, to anoint, implying to consecrate) cherub (a spiritual cherub is described in Ezek. 10:1-22 and a figurative cherub is described in Heb. 9:5. SO: A cherub is a winged angel and, like the other angels, they have certain duties) that covereth (to protect and defend); and I have set thee so:” AND:
According to this scripture, Lucifer was the only angel anointed to COVERETH (to protect and defend)! We will soon see why Lucifer was given this “special anointing” for a special job.
(Ezek. 28:14 cont.) “thou wast (past tense, sometime in the past from then) upon the holy mountain (a mountain or a hill) of God;”
There Are Two Holy Mountains of God With Their Temples:
At This Time, Dec. 16, 2013, One is Physical and One is Spiritual
The physical Holy Mountain is in Canaan/Israel. (Gen. 17:1-13) God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham (Gen 17:19 & 25:1-5) then to Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen: 35:9-12) then to Isaac’s son Jacob/Israel (Ex. 6:6-8) then to the 12 tribes of Israel through Israel’s 12 sons. The 12 tribes of Israel developed into the nation of Israel without a homeland in their 400 year bondage in Egypt.
Moses, at God’s direction, led them out, wandered in the desert 40 years, gave them the Law of Moses, built the ark of the covenant, (Deut. 32:48 keywords: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses” thru 34:4 keywords: “And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob”) repeated God’s covenant with the children of Israel, gave his blessing on Israel’s 12 sons (Deut. 31:7) and turned his leadership role over to Joshua (Josh. 1:1-9) to whom God repeated the words of His covenant with Israel.
(Josh. 5:1-12 esp. V.7-8) Joshua and Israel performed their circumcising of the flesh that had been instituted by God with Abraham as part of the covenant procedure and then held the Passover celebration. (Josh. 4:1 thru 19:31) Then Israel under command of Joshua divided their Promised Land. (Rev. 4:1 thru 20:4) God will kill approx. 80% of the world population to finally assure that Israel will receive all that He promised Abraham. God said the land belongs to Israel and no other nation or people will ever possess it permanently!
The first Holy Mountain of God is a physical location in Israel. Before we continue with (Ezek. 28:14) it is necessary to thoroughly understand what The Holy Mountain of God means. This scripture–> (Zech. 8:3) is obviously a prophesy (Rev. 20:1-7) of the thousand year reign of our Lord Jesus sometime in the future. (Zech. 8:3) “Thus sayeth the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.”
(Zech. 8:3) This scripture ties together Zion, Jerusalem and Holy Mountain so Mount Moriah is the physical holy mountain of God because the site of the former Jewish temple is located there on that mountain in the midst of Jerusalem. In the present day Mount Moriah is commonly called the Temple Mount.
Moriah in Hebrew is Mowriyah and is pronounced mo-ree-yaw. It is composed of two Hebrew root words raah pronounced raw-aw: defined to meet, be near, see one another face to face. And the second word is Yehovah pronounced yeh-ho-vaw: defined: self-existent, eternal Jehovah. SO: Moriah means a place to meet with Jehovah face to face. (Ex. 6:1-3 esp. V.3) Jehovah is the sacred Hebrew name of God that was first disclosed by God to Moses in Egypt.
There are seven mountains surrounding and under Jerusalem. Mount Moriah is the tallest mountain in the Zion mountain range. (Gen. 22:1-14 esp. V.2 keyword: Moriah) It is where God led Abraham to offer up Isaac. (Gen. 32:28-30 esp. V.30 keywords: I have seen God face to face) Obviously Mount Moriah was the exact place where Jacob met God face to face when God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
(1Chron. 21:15 thru 22:10 esp. 22:1 keywords: This is the house of the Lord God) Mount Moriah is the site where King David bought the threshingfloor from Ornan the Jebusite to offer sacrifice and then David went on to later gather the material needed for his son Solomon to build the temple of God on the location of the threshing floor bought from Ornan.
Hidden Prophesy: A threshing floor is where the pure usable grain is separated from the useless (bad) parts of the plant and the Jewish temple is where sacrifice was made to remove the sins (bad parts) from the Jews.
Mount Moriah, according to ancient rabbinical teaching, (Gen.1:9-10) is where the first land appeared during the creation. The ancient rabbis taught (Gen 3:19 keywords: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return) that God formed Adam from the dust on Mount Moriah in the garden of Eden and it was in that exact spot that God buried Adam, AND that same place (Heb. 9:1-15) is the exact location where the future (V.3) “Holiest of all”, mentioned in the Book of Hebrews, would be located in the temple that would be built by King Solomon.
Mount Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, is a part of the southern slope of Mount Moriah which fits (Rom. 11:17-25 keyword: graffed) because Calvary looks like it is graffed in on Mount Moriah! Graffed is defined: as to prick in, to ingraft, to graft in. Prick is defined: as to pierce something with a sharp point. In horticulture to graft in is to join two plants into one. The established root stock provides all the nourishment the grafted in, by cutting and joining, the different rootless plant needs to grow and produce fruit; <-compare this to (Gal. 5:22-24). It is a beautiful analogy of the salvation experience.
(Isa. 53:5 & John 19:34-37 keyword: pierced) Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. (Rom. 11:7-26 keywords: Israel, Gentiles and graffed) Israel fell from grace and Jesus was pierced (to prick in) (Rom. 8:6-17 esp. V.15-17) so the Gentiles (church, the Christians) could be adopted by God (Eph. 2:19-22) into the household of God (Gal. 5:22-24) and bring forth spiritual fruit. Hidden prophesy? You decide.
Mount Moriah is also known as the temple mount in Jerusalem (2Chron. 1:1 thru 5:14) where the first temple was built by King Solomon and was later destroyed by the Babylonians. THEN (Ezra 1:1 thru 10:44 esp. 5:2 keyword: Ze-rub’ba-bel and esp. 6:15-17 keywords: this house was finished) The second temple was built in the same place by Ze-rub’ba-bel.
The present day “wailing wall” is located in the temple area but was not actually part of the temple proper. It is part of the retaining wall built to support the land fill which was constructed to level the 37 acre temple mount area building construction site.
In Jesus’ time the second temple, the one built by Ze-rub’ba-bel, was commonly referred to as Herod’s Temple. There were four Jewish Kings named Herod who were vassal kings politically appointed by the Roman Government to administer Israel. Herod the Great ruled Jerusalem for more than 30 years before Jesus the Christ was born (Matt. 2:1-20) and he was the King who sought to kill Jesus and did kill all the children up to two years old in Bethlehem.
During his reign Herod the Great renovated and added to the second temple built by Ze-rub’ba-bel but he did not build it as is commonly believed. Herod, a descendant of an ancient Idumean people who had converted to Judaism and was not a “pure blood Jew”, known as the world’s greatest builder, also built pagan temples in Israel and created his own Jewish religious sect known as (Matt. 22:15-18, Mark 3:6, 8:15 and 12:13) the Herodians. (John 2:13-16) It was Herod’s Temple, initially built by Ze-rub’ba-bel, that Jesus cleansed.
It was Herod’s Temple the Roman Legions under Titus destroyed in 70AD and Israel as a nation was finally destroyed around 126-135AD (historians disagree as to the exact date). During this 56-65 year time period the temple was torn down, the stones were dragged away, the ground was plowed and salted so nothing would grow there. More than a million Jews and Christians were murdered and the majority of the remaining Jews were dispersed (the Diaspora) among the nations of the world.
The ancient name of Judaea (Israel) was removed from all Roman maps, Judaea was renamed Syria Palestinia, see (Isa. 14:29-31), (Palestine) and Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina, both Latin names, on those maps. Tribal people (Canaanites) gradually filled the vacuum left after Rome removed the Jews from Israel. That Roman name replacement event is the source of the modern name Palestine and that is the source name for the Palestinian people (Arabs) who moved into Israel and they state they have a “prior claim” to the land of Israel. But it is an invalid claim! Because:
(Ezek. 36:16 thru 37:28) The ancient nation of Israel was brought back and became Modern Israel, in 1948, after Germany, led by Adolph Hitler and his Nazis, murdered 6 million Jews in the Holocaust during the WW2 era. It is commonly believed The Balfour Declaration of 1917, a British Plan, brought about the creation of a Jewish state (nation) but that is in error. In May 1946 a Baptist, Harry Truman, President of the United States, announced his approval of a recommendation to admit 100,000 Jews into Palestine. Then in October of that same year, 1946, President Truman declared his support for the creation of a Jewish state.
The United Nations formed a Special Commission to study the question of what to do with the Jews who had been without a physical homeland for nearly 2,000 years. On Nov. 19, 1947 the Commission adopted Resolution 181 which would divide the Roman named land of Palestine (ancient Israel) into both a Jewish state and an Arab state after the British relinquished their control of Palestine in May, 1948.
The term “Palestinian People” appeared for the first time in the preamble of the 1964 PLO Charter drafted in Moscow, Russia. The term was formally used by newspapers around the world after 1967.
If you wish to read further about how God had prepared America to help establish modern Israel please read the Introduction Part 1 to the commentary Sin in Church. You will be amazed and shocked as you see how God used the Jews in the events that created America as a free nation in the American Revolutionary War against the British AND how God had America ready to free (James 1:1) the remnant of European Jews during WW2 and how God used America to create the modern state (nation) of Israel after WW2.
(Ezek. 37:1-28 esp. V.11 keywords: whole house of Israel: and V.21 keywords: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, and V.25 keywords: And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, and V.28 keywords: And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.) In May, 1948 the scripture (Ezekiel 37:1-28) was fulfilled and God brought Israel home to (Gen. 15:18 & Josh. 1:4) part of its God given homeland that He had promised to Jacob/Israel.
Think about this; WW2 could not have been won without America. America had the most wealth and the strongest military machine in the world and America had “the atomic bomb”. For effect Harry Truman, Baptist President of the United States of America, was the “king of the modern world” when he engineered the return of the Jews to Israel (Ezra. 1:1-7) JUST LIKE Cyrus, the king of the Persians, was the king of the ancient world at the time he let the Jews return to Israel because he had the greatest wealth, the strongest army and the most developed weaponry of that historical era.
The modern day Adolph Hitler and his Nazis episode in the 1930’s- 40’s, the results of WW2 and the actions of President Harry Truman are spiritually no different than (Ezra 1:1-3) when Cyrus, the king of Persia, let the Jews return from their Babylonian captivity to their God given land of Israel after Cyrus, king of the Persians and overall commander of the armies of the Medes under (Dan. 5:28-31) Darius and Cyrus’ own Persians defeated the Babylonians.
The Babylonians had performed their own holocaust upon the Jews when they destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish temple and then held the remnant of the Jews captive in Babylon. As already discussed, the Romans also performed their own holocaust on the Jews, destroyed the Jewish temple and disbursed the remaining Jews.
SO: A SUMMARY
There was a total of three holocausts on the Jewish people; 1st holocaust by the Babylonians in Israel in which the remaining Jews were disbursed from Israel and later returned to Israel by Cyrus the Persian; 2nd holocaust by the Romans in Israel that led to a dispersal of the remaining Jewish population. Both the Babylonians and the Romans also destroyed the Jewish temple on mount Moriah. Both the Babylonian culture and the Roman culture disappeared but the Jewish culture is still alive and well today.
The Germans performed the 3rd holocaust upon the disbursed Jews who lived in Europe and the Near East. Adolph Hitler’s German Reich culture he said would last a thousand years disappeared after twelve years which resulted in the Jews returning to Israel and regaining part of their Promised Land.
The Jews in Israel fought and won five wars when they were attacked by their Arab neighbors which resulted in their regaining Mount Moriah where they patiently await (Rev. 20:1-4) the coming of Messiah, the rebuilding of the third temple and (Dan. 9:27 & 12:11 and Matt. 24:15) the removal of the abomination of desolation.
The Second Spiritual Holy Mountain and Its Temple
(Rev. 21:1-10 esp. V.10 keywords: great and high mountain AND holy Jerusalem) This is the spiritual holy mountain and spiritual holy Jerusalem (Ezek. 28:14) where Lucifer was allowed to “walk up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” because the scripture does not describe the earthly Mount Moriah as ever having stones of fire. (Rev. 21:11-27 esp. V.24 keyword: saved & V.27 keywords: they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life) A description of holy Jerusalem is given here and the type of people who will inhabit it are specified.
Three is generally accepted as God’s number of completion SO (Rev. 21:1-5) Is this to be the third temple in Jerusalem, the one Jesus brings to establish His thousand year reign? OR: Will the Jews rebuild it and have it ready for Jesus when He comes? (Rev. 6:1-11) When you watch and listen to the world news, when you see the deterioration of American society and when you listen to the raging of the nations of the world, if you listen closely, you can hear the hoof beats of the antichrist and his forces midst the vain noises of men.
Yes, I got off the subject of Who is Satan the Devil. (Rev. 20:11-15) I do not apologize for my joy and excitement because I am saved and my name is written in Jesus’ book of life. (1Pet. 2:9-11) This cruel, hateful, evil world has become strange to me and I’m glad my pilgrimage through it is almost over and I become excited when I think about the nearing time I will be allowed to be into the “marvelous light” of Jesus.
Back to Ezekiel 28:14-15: We have well studied about the holy mountain of God and discovered that Lucifer had walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire in what must have been the spiritual Mount Moriah. With all his beauty, brightness, wisdom (V.15) and perfection in his ways from the day he was created what provoked Lucifer to abandon the perfection of his ways and commit iniquity in verse 15? What was the iniquity?
(Gen. 1:1-25) We must strain our imaginations to try to picture the beauty, perfection and the glorious wonder of the pristine new world God had created. It was a place of timeless. It was continually now. For a study of time and timeless and God’s identity please read Who is the Holy Spirit in the commentary The Holy Spirit and you. You will more than likely not understand all the following events if you don’t.
SO
(Gen. 1:2 keywords: the Spirit of God moved upon) God said (Gen. 1:3, 6, 14) “Let there be, (Gen. 1:11, 24) Let the earth bring forth and (Gen. 1:20) Let the waters bring forth” as He made (created) this beautiful new world and everything in it.
And God said: (Gen. 1:26-30 esp.V.26 keywords: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:). BUT, that scripture is repeated in (Gen.2:6-15) and it goes into great detail to describe the creation of man and his purpose in this new world thus signifying something special. (Gen. 2:6-7) The scripture carefully describes the creation of man this second time as a personal, careful, tender, loving, beautiful event–>(Gen.2:1-7 two keywords: (V.6) watered: defined: moisten and (V.7) formed: defined: squeezed together, to mould as a potter).
(John 5:26) God has life in himself and He is the possessor (Gen. 2:7) and giver of the breath (spirit: defined: the vital essence) of life, which many men choose to call the spark of life. (Matt. 13:41-42 & Rev. 20:10-15 keywords: for ever and ever) The eternal spirit of life from God is given to all men (John 5:29 keywords: resurrection of life and resurrection of damnation) and all men will live forever (Rev. 20:10-15) and go to be in their chosen eternity (forever) (Prov. 1:23-33, John 6:44-69 & Rom. 8:7-17 and 10:8-13) in paradise ever living with God/Jesus or in a lake of fire with the Satan the devil ever dying but never being able to get it done (Rev. 20:14) because death itself is there with them.
I’m sure this engenders questions so for a beautiful, penetrating, complete explanation of their chosen eternity please read the one-article commentary Is God Fair on this website.
(Phil. 1:19) The Spirit of Christ, (Matt. 3:16) the Spirit of God, (Rom. 8:26-27) the Spirit, (1Cor. 6:19) the Holy Ghost, (John 14: 16 & 26) the Comforter (Luke 11:13) and the Holy Spirit are interchangeable names and are defined as (Psa. 78:41 keywords: Holy One), Holy One is an identity so the Holy Spirit is God’s soul. (1Tim. 3:16) Jesus is God in the flesh. (John 20:28-29) Thomas recognized who Jesus was after Jesus’ resurrection and called Jesus “My Lord and my God.” Jesus accepted the homage from Thomas because it was true.
God’s presentation of Himself to man is (Gen. 1:1-31) #1 God -spirit (life itself)-/Creator, (John 4:29-42) #2 Jesus-body/Saviour and (John 14:15-23) #3 Holy Spirit-soul/Comforter. (Col. 2:8-9) In Jesus dwells all the Godhead bodily. #1-3 is the US of God! (Col. 1:13-17 esp. V.15) Jesus is the image (representation) of the invisible God. When God said; “Let US make man in our image” God’s body, soul, and spirit was the US and man, made in God’s image, (1Thess. 5:23) is also body, soul and spirit. (Matt. 28:18 & Rom. 13:1) God can do anything and He can come and go as He pleases. SO:
The man God was preparing to build (1Thess. 5:23) would be in His own image; spirit–>life, personality, psyche, a self, a me–>soul and the temporary, flesh organism you live in–>body. That’s what Lucifer didn’t know; yet! Proof: #1) (Dan. 3:25) The Hebrews were in the captivity of the Babylonians and the Son of God (Jesus) manifested Himself (not born of a woman yet where He would be vulnerable to physical death) in the flesh in the fiery furnace with the 3 Hebrews.
#2) (Josh. 5:13-15 esp. V.14 keyword: worship) Jesus manifested Himself in the flesh (not born of a woman yet where He would be vulnerable to physical death) to Joshua to help conquer Jericho. key: an angel would not have accepted Joshua’s worship. #3) (Matt. 17:2 keyword: transfigured: Greek word metamorphoo: defined: to change, metamorphose, transform) Jesus, after He was born of a woman and could be killed, in reverse to #1 & #2, manifested Himself as God to Peter, James and John. See the commentary The Holy Spirit & You and read the article Who is the Holy Spirit if you wish to read a complete, scriptural study concerning the identity of God.
Obviously (Gen. 2:1) the Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit, God’s Soul) manifested into His Jesus Person for this special creation. Before this God had said; “Let there be, Let the waters bring forth and Let the earth bring forth.” But for this one, His special one, (Luke 24:39) His greatest creation, God used His hands to form and mold.
(Gen. 1:2 keywords: Spirit of God moved) Lucifer and the angels must have been shocked speechless for at least a brief moment as (Eph. 3:9) The Spirit of God slowly transformed into the body of something? They had never seen a man so they didn’t know what this something was!
The angels must have looked with rapt attention as they (Job. 38:7 keyword: sang) sang and surely they wondered while God knelt there on the moist soil and started molding, from Lucifer’s point of view, something out of the dirt. The idea had not sunk into their thoughts when God had said (Gen. 1:26) “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”
Possibly Lucifer, the most beautiful of them all, with more wisdom than them all, thought; “I wonder what type of (Gen. 1:2 & Heb. 1:13-14) spiritual creature will this be? Maybe he even thought; “Why is God making this one out of the dirt?”
Can you see God? He was surely crouched there on His knees, He had forever to work because in Eden there was no time because time had not yet started, it was always NOW, and He surely took as long (a frame of time to promote your understanding) as He wanted because, even though Lucifer didn’t know it, God was working on His greatest creation, (1Cor. 6:3) who, in the far, far future, would judge Lucifer!
With “hands on” care, infinite patience, gentle kindness and the greatest loving detail God formed a skeleton of joints, cartilage and bones out of the never trod upon, moist, dust of the earth. It was God’s special time because this one, like none of the others, was in His own image.
With infinite grace and a Master’s hands God molded and built layer upon layer of bones, vital organs, muscle and connective tissue. God, the wise master builder, with tender hands, laid the earthen endocrine, nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems. He filled the earthen skull with an earthen mass that would be a marvelous, complicated, intricate brain.
God carefully fashioned the earthen brain to sit squarely on top of the string of earth that would be a spinal cord housed, for right now, in its formed earth, protective housing of flexible un-jointed bones which were cushioned by discs. How loving and kindly the God of everlasting must have been when He placed part of the autonomic nervous system through the parts of the brain just like an invisible overlay.
With this autonomic nervous system man wouldn’t have to consciously think to breathe, beat his heart, dodge an unexpected flying object by reflex, regulate his temperature, tell his glands to secrete chemicals, digest food and etc. God wanted this creation to spend his time using his brain to reason instead of in the details of staying alive.
While He was in there His infinitely gentle fingers gently laid the stirrup, anvil, and hammer that would be the hearing bones and He tenderly covered them with earthen eardrums. God set the teeth, voice box and trachea. Ahhhh, perfect hands and feet to feel and run.
Lucifer was aghast. “That ugly looking thing there in the dirt is starting to somehow resemble God’s body!” Lucifer’s thoughts had planted the tiny seed of pride in his soul.
Carefully, ever so carefully, the greatest sculptor fashioned the perfect features that composed the earthen face; the slightly bulging eyes beneath their earthen lids, the arched earthen eyebrows, the delicate sweeping eyelashes, the arch of the nose with its delicately flared nostrils, the curling whorls of the external ear, the slight bulges of the cheekbones, the flat planes of the cheeks that curved into lips that would someday smile and curse.
God lovingly covered the bare earthen skull with skin and full, sweeping, earthen hair. (Gen. 2:19) God already knew he would call this first man Adam (to show blood in the face, rosy) as soon as He finished the creation sequence.
God sat back for a timeless moment and looked at the beauty of the dead, grey earthen body before Him; “in His own image”. There must have been a look of sorrow upon the face of the One who came from forever (1Tim. 6:9-10; 2Tim. 3:13; & Rev. 11:18) when He thought how this, His greatest creation and his progeny, in lust and greed would fight, war, connive, hurt and steal so they could rape, rob and destroy this gorgeous planet (Eph. 4:30 & 2Pet. 3:9) and of all the pain, suffering, sorrow and grief they would cause Him.
Then God’s face must have changed from sadness to at least the hint of a smile (James 5:11) because they would also bring happiness and joy to God’s tender heart.
Lucifer was surely astonished by the changing expressions on God’s face and yet he wondered over and over why God’s basic expression remained so tender. “God never looked at me like that.”
There was no other way though; (John 6:64-69 & Heb. 11:25) man must have the power of choice for God to obtain what He wanted most; (Mark 12:30) that some of them would freely, of their own free will, choose to love God with all their hearts. (Deut. 1:37 keywords: the Lord was angry, John 11:33 & 38 then 12:27 keywords: groaned & troubled then 1John 4:8 & 16 keywords: God is love and many other scriptures: all = emotions: God has emotions) This one of a kind Eden God had made teemed with beautiful, surging life God had created and God was excited to give all this wonder and beauty to His greatest creation; this wonderful creation “in God’s image” who was the centerpiece of God’s creative efforts.
Lucifer, the brilliant, wisest, most beautiful angel of all trembled with the intensity of his fascination with what God was doing and a thought crept through his mind; “God is drab in what He has become. (Ezek. 28:17) I’m more beautiful than God (Ezek. 28:13) and I can make beautiful music too.”
(Gen. 2:7) All of creation must have stilled and come to motionlessness because of the intensity of the moment when the Beautiful God of Glory started slowly and steadily bending, bending, bending closer and closer to the lifeless earthen face. The forever face finally touched the cold, emotionless earthen face that knew not and lived not. For a split second their faces touched and all life on planet Earth held its breath; then God gently breathed into the earthen nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living soul (spiritual) and the earthen body changed into flesh (1:26) in the image of God.
The heart began a faint pounding; the living man gasped and started to hesitantly take breaths and oxygen laden blood slowly started surging through the living arteries; the grey skin pinkened and became rosy with life; the heart steadied into a regular rhythm and blood sang its song of physical life through the arteries and veins. The breathing deepened, slowed and became regular.
The man’s eyes fluttered open, the pupils contracted from the sudden light; then the living eyes focused and God could see the conscious knowledge and the perceptive, reasoning awareness of a living soul in their depths. Creator and created, God and man, just a few inches apart, stared into the eternity in each other’s eyes.
Then God did something He had never done for the angels or the animals. (Gen. 2:8-15 keyword: Eden: Hebrew word adan- aw-dan: defined: to be soft and pleasant, to live voluptuously, to delight self) He planted a special garden eastward in Eden just for the man. A flash of bitter jealousy flashed through Lucifer’s mind and was gone.
(Gen 2:19) To add insult to injury God taught the man to talk, gave him the name Adam, then He brought the animals to Adam (rosy, to show blood in the face), so he could name them. Lucifer thought; “He’s never asked my advice about anything.” A tiny almost un-noticeable coal of envy and resentment started growing in Lucifer’s mind. (Ezek. 28:17) “I’m beautiful, I make music no other can, I’ve been places Adam can’t go!” and that tiny seed of pride based on jealousy started growing in Lucifer’s soul. And God knew!
(Gen. 2:21-25) Then God made a woman out of Adam’s rib. Envy seared Lucifer’s soul when he saw how happy it made God to give Adam a woman and it was even worse when Adam was overjoyed with what God had made for him.
(Gen. 1:28 keyword: multiply) Then the shock of understanding hit Lucifer broadside when he understood the meaning to what God had said; “Be fruitful, and multiply.” “God wants these people to multiply, soon the place will running over with them and God will never notice me again. Or WORSE! God might tell me to make beautiful music just to entertain THEM!” A tiny germ of hatred toward the man and woman took root and began to grow in Lucifer’s mind.
(Ezek. 28:14) Then the unthinkable happened. With great ceremony, right in front of everyone, God anointed Lucifer to guard and protect (covereth) Adam and the woman there in the Garden of Eden. Expressionless but seething, Lucifer never knew God was reading Lucifer’s every thought and every emotion while He performed the anointing ceremony.
If Lucifer could have read God’s mind during the anointing ceremony he would have been amazed because God was satisfied with his thoughts; “My great, secret plan is right on track, everything is going just as I knew it would.”
Angel or man, making a choice according to values is all that will ever count. (Ezek. 28:17 & Gen. 3:1) “Lucifer is lifted up with pride in his beauty and brightness. (Isa 14:12-14) He wants to have My throne (Ezek. 28:17) but he has corrupted his wisdom (Ezek. 28:16) and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.”
(Gen. 3:1-24) As he guarded and protected the man and woman Lucifer studied them closely. He noticed how curious the woman was about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. None of them knew what the tree of life meant because they had never seen death, so they didn’t pay much attention to it. All they knew was life! (Gen. 2:17) But God had told Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The scripture does not say Adam, Eve, or Lucifer (brightness, the morning star) even knew what good and evil was. Lucifer knew death must be something bad because God had stressed the point; so Lucifer knew; (1Tim. 2:13-14) “If I deceive the woman into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she’ll lead the man by the nose and get the man to eat of it because he dotes on her and I’ll be rid of them (Isa. 14:12-14) and I’ll just go ahead and take God’s throne while I’m at it”.
Of course, you know the story about how Lucifer, as he guarded and protected the man and woman, donned the guise of a serpent, whatever it was at that time, thinking God wouldn’t know who did it and deceived the woman so she would eat of the forbidden tree. But God wasn’t fooled. (Ezek. 28:15-17) (V.15) The iniquity (wickedness, evil) in Lucifer had been revealed (V.17) and it had sprang from Lucifer’s pride (lifted up) in his beauty (harmony of form and color, excellence of craftsmanship), wisdom (to be wise, to teach) and his brightness (splendor).
The serpent, because he had been Lucifer’s vehicle of deception was changed from whatever he was then into the serpent we all know today. (3:14) Lucifer was cast out of Eden first and he crawled out of Eden on his belly and his name was changed (1Chron. 21:1) because the next time he’s mentioned in the Bible he is called Satan (defined: 1Chron. 21:1 Hebrew: the arch-enemy of good, adversary, to attack, to resist and Acts 26:18, 2Cor. 11:14 & Rev. 12:7-9 Greek: accuser, devil, 1Pet. 5:8 “your adversary the devil as roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”). (Gen. 3:23-24) Then God drove Adam and the woman Adam had named Eve from the Garden of Eden.