Two God’s have ruled mankind since the Garden of Eden and will do so until the return of Jesus Christ to earth to set up His Father’s kingdom.  In the Book of Ezekiel the prophet writes about those two majestic beings.  We will examine both of them, beginning with the true God.

Ezekiel begins by describing a vision he had received from on high: “And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth from it, creating brightness all about it.  And out of the midst of the fire flowed the color of amber bathed in brightness” (1:1-4).  In 1:26-28 Ezekiel describes a throne in the vision that glistened like sapphire with fire the color of amber inside it.  Above the throne was a Man Whose appearance was like fire that produced great brightness.  A bright rainbow appeared above the Man.  When Ezekiel saw the sight he was overcome and fell on his face.  In this passage the prophet was writing about the Lord of the Universe in all His glory.

But he also wrote about another god, one who knows the Great God, one who wants nothing more that to rob Him of His potential sons and who has an agenda designed to bring that goal to fruition.  This god, called “the Serpent” in Genesis 3:1, had implemented his plan in the Garden of Eden.  His plan had resulted in both members of God’s church turning away from Him–a 100% success rate.  Little has changed.  Since then his success rate among Adam and Eve’s descendants has remained at approximately 99.99%.  The Serpent’s plan calls for him to deceive mankind into embracing his counterfeit salvation (man can sin and live forever in paradise), his counterfeit church (Catholicism/Protestantism) and his counterfeit god (the Serpent himself).  Biblically, the Serpent’s original name was Lucifer, which was later changed to Satan the devil (“enemy of God”).  Let us do some research relative to this powerful bein the Apostle Paul calls “the god of this world” in 2 Corinthians 4:4.

In Ezekiel 28:12,13 the Lord, thorough the prophet, prophesies about the world’s god which He calls “the king of Tyrus.”  The human king of Tyrus was Ithobalus II who was known for his wickedness.  Satan controlled this king, thereby making himself the “king of Tyrus.”  Therefore, all references to the king of Tyrus refer to Satan.  In this passage the Lord speaks to Ezekiel, saying: “Son of man, speak a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, you are the sum of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  You have been in Eden, the garden of God.  Every precious stone was your covering–the sardius, the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald the carbuncle and the gold ….”  Lucifer had been in the original Garden of Eden–the Garden of God.

Speaking about Lucifer in present tense, the Lord continues: “You are the anointed cherub that covers (God’s throne) for I have made you so.  You were on the holy mountain of God.  You have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (vs 14).  Lucifer was one of the highest, if not the highest-ranking angel God had created.  His position was that of a “covering cherub.”  He had covered God’s very throne which sat “in the midst of the stones of fire.”  The Almighty had awarded Lucifer a position directly above His throne so that he could cover it.  He was probably the most beautiful and most powerful of the three archangels mentioned in the Bible, the other two being Michael and Gabriel.

Following the creation of the earth, the Lord set Lucifer over it and placed one third of His (God’s) angels under his (Lucifer’s) authority.   Lucifer had a throne in the original Garden of Eden.  From his fire-surrounded throne Lucifer directed the activities of one third of God’s angels who lived on and cared for the earth in all of its original beauty.

Then Lucifer and his angels rebelled against God, Who speaks about their rebellion in verse 15: “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created.  Then iniquity was found in you.”  The word iniquity is translated Lawlessness.  The Apostle John tells us that sin and Lawlessness are one in the same: “To transgress the Law is sin; for sin is the transgression of the Law” (1 Jn. 3:4).  Lucifer had broken God’s Law and had convinced those angels under him to follow him into sin/Lawlessness.  He and they would be punished for their rebellion.  Even angels have to obey God’s Law.

As John tells us, where there is no Law, there is no sin.  Sin causes God to curse the sinner.  The proverbist tells us that there is no such thing as a curse without a cause (Prov. 26:2).  There is only one thing that causes God to levy a curse–sin, which is the breaking of His Law (summarized in the Ten Commandments).  Simply put: to break God’s Law is sin.  Sin earns a curse from the Creator of the Law.  Fortunately, the opposite is equally true: to obey God’s Law is holiness, which earns a blessing from the Creator of the Law.  As I have stated numerous times, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 state these Truths perfectly.  Moses tells us that the decision to obey God’s Word or not to obey it lies totally with mankind.

This is graphically brought out in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 where Moses is speaking to the children of Israel then and the world today: “Behold, I lay before you a blessing and a curse: a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God … and a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God ….”  The Lord’s Cause and Effect Law cannot be stated more plainly.  Moses had earlier explained the importance of the Law: “… you must write the words I speak to you in your heart and in your soul ….  You must teach them to your children.  You must speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up” (11:18,19).  The Words he was referring to is what is known today as the Holy Bible, which is God’s Law by which everyone who has ever lived will be judged.  So said Jesus Christ in John 12:44-50.

Moses is telling us that true saints will meditate on God’s Words and will speak of them on a regular basis.  Having been freed from Egyptian slavery, most of the people Moses was talking to were undoubtedly anxious to hear what God had to say to them in His Law, which Moses would later record and God would preserve unto this day.  At that time His “church (ekklesia–congregation) in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38) would be open to His Words.

But times and people have changed.  Today the descendants of those Israelites are more interested in the screen they stare into for hours each day.  Due to several factors, I find it almost impossible to get church people to listen to the Word of God.  However, their attitude toward God’s Truth will soon change and those same people, having thrown away their plastic life-sources, will be “running to and fro in search of the Word of the Lord”  But they will not find it (Amos 8:12).  God will have taken His Word and those who believed and obeyed it to a place of safety where He will protect and provide for them while the world goes up in flames.  This will go on for 3 1/2 years during the two periods called the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.  L.J.