For any enterprise to be successful, someone must be in charge, someone who has the authority to see that the work is done according to plan. The angels assigned to take care of the earth were no exception. When God gave them the task of caring for the earth He set over them, on a throne, the archangel Lucifer. Only two other angels were of his class–Michael and Gabriel. As an aside, I will point out that GOD SETS SOME PEOPLE OVER OTHER PEOPLE. The much-used phrase: “All men are created equal,” though constitutional, is not Biblical. God chooses certain people to lead other people and to have authority (the use of His power) over them. He gives these people knowledge, wisdom, insight and understanding of Him and His ways which they then teach those over whom He has set them.  This is true not only in the spiritual/church realm, but also in the social realm. In the social arena, most often our best leaders are not God’s people, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King being prime examples. Now let us return to Lucifer who was created magnificently then appointed the leader of the earth’s angelic overseers.

In Ezekiel 28:11-15 we find God addressing “the king of Tyre”–code for Satan. In this passage we are told that Lucifer–his pre-fall name–was created perfect in wisdom and beauty, placed in the Garden of Eden and surrounded by every type of precious, fiery stone. He was on the holy mount of God and walked among those blazing stones. He was blameless in all his ways from the day he was created. Question: How did Lucifer–the bringer of light–become Satan–the enemy of God? Answer: Wickedness was found (not created) in him.

Though God can create and equip His angelic and human creations any way He desires, the one thing He does without variation–He equips both with the power of choice. Lucifer chose sin, which turned him into Satan. Isaiah 14:11-14 tells of this transition. “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How are you thrown down to the ground, (you) who did weaken the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars (angels) of God. I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.”  Notice that Lucifer had a throne. Though he “had it all,” it was not enough–Lucifer wanted to replace his creator. Which is exactly what he convinced Adam, Eve and their spiritual descendants to attempt to do. His efforts have paid off royally–RELIGIOUS MAN INSISTS ON BEING HIS OWN GOD, ABLE TO MAKE HIS OWN RULES. Because of this near universal character flaw, both angels and man will suffer the outcome voiced in verse 15: “Yet you will be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” As the Bible notes, Satan is real, powerful and persistent, as the size of his church–2,000,000,000+ deceived souls–indicates. Just as Lucifer’s choice of sin turned him into God’s enemy, so two billion parishioners, having chosen sin over obedience to God, have become His enemies (Rom. 5:9,10/ Phi. 3:17-19). Though universally rejected, God’s message is clear–CHURCH SINNERS ARE GOD’S ENEMIES.

It is for this reason that I continually admonish people to abandon their man-directed, Satan-empowered Catholic/Protestant organizations, along with his other religious “isms,” and to embrace God and His Word. Once the Great Tribulation begins and He has taken His saints to their “place of safety,” one will have to literally lose one’s head in order to be accepted by the Lord. Either the Mark of the Beast or the sword awaits those who hesitate too long. L.J.