It must have been strange to live in Bible days, particularly the Old Testament time period. Oh, it wasn’t strange to them, because that was just life. But it is as foreign to us as our life would be to them. However, if we sat down and compared notes, there would be some definite and not obvious similarities, particularly in the areas of “What are we here for?” and “What is trying to interfere with that purpose?”
One area where we can see interference during the days of Noah and during the Old Testament period is the area of the giants, descendants of fallen angels and human beings. In Ezekiel 28 we see two leaders of the kingdom of Tyre. We see the prince of Tyrus in verses 2-10 and the the king of Tyrus from verse 11-19. I would submit that the prince of Tyre is an earthly prince of the kingdom of Tyre in the Lebanon region just north of Israel. The King of Tyre, however, is Lucifer Himself as it is clear from these verses that it is not speaking of an earthly ruler. How interesting that the ruins of ancient Tyre are about 38 miles away from the peak of Mt. Hermon (about 33 miles away from its base) where the fallen angels made their pact. Certainly, that area of the world is demonically charged.
Let’s see what it says about Lucifer:
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
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.
In the above verses, we see where Lucifer was put in a special role in the garden of God, the garden of Eden. He was a most beautiful creation, and, he was associated with music (the tabret being essentially a tambourine and pipes being some sort of wind instrument). This was his role. This was the job gave him. And, oh, can’t we see today what a special role it was! Music moves people. Music in and of itself can be an instrument of praise to God. Whoever has been gifted musically has a very powerful tool in their hands. It is meant for the worship of God and the edification of His people. Any other use is illegitimate. And, this is part of what Lucifer did. He misused the gifts of God for his own purposes.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:
Lucifer was gifted with many talents. He was anointed by God and such a precious part of God’s creation – but then he started being filled with pride and started using his gifts for what they were never intended. He started using them for his own glory. And it ate away at the glory God created in him and ultimately destroyed him.
The world for violence here is chamac חָמָס and it means violence, cruelty, injustice, wrong, unrighteousness. When we allow pride to rule in our lives, when we start using the gifts God gives us for any other purpose than His glory and the good of His children, we do violence to ourselves and begin to saturate our souls in unrighteousness. Look at today’s music? Full of violence and murder and sexual immorality and the degradation of God’s creation – and what happens? The people love it! By filling your mind with ungodly music, you degrade your own soul and you quench the spirit of God. Modern music is a poison. Stay away!
So, having ruined himself and profaning the gifts of God, God casts Lucifer out.
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.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Lucifer’s judgment is sure. He defiled himself with evil and his choice will be his ultimate condemnation. And we will all see his destruction and we will be astonished. We see this elaborated upon more in Isaiah 14 in a prophecy against the king of Babylon (another name for Anti-christ during end times).
6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
After this earth is judged, and after the 1000 year reign of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, after the regathering of God’s people Israel to Himself – Satan will be judged. And, the Bible says we will be stunned. “Is this the man that persecuted us? ” I look forward to that day because I’m about as sick of Satan and his vices as I can be!
But notice more of Lucifer’s sin is laid out:
13 I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Such pride! Such arrogance! I will be a god! Nevermind the real God. I don’t have to be ruled by Him. I can make my own path, gain my own glory, have my own power and rule over my own universe. And yet, it is exactly the temptation that is one of his chief lures.
This was the sin of the angels who fell.
Jude says:
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
From the “likewise”in this passage, we can infer that the fallen angels did the following:
1) Kept not their first estate (that is, they didn’t stay within the role that God wanted for them)
2) Gave themselves to fornication (sexual sin is a direct rebellion against the Godly order)
3) Went after strange flesh – went after the forbidden flesh of human beings and intermingled themselves with it
4) Were like Sodom and Gomorrah – the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not just homosexual sin – remember the men of Sodom wanted to have sexual relations with the angels. This revelation helps us understand the severity and finality of the judgment against Sodom. God was nipping this rebellion in the bud right then and there.
5) They defiled the flesh – again, with their sexual sin and with the poison of rebellion which was literally changing their DNA. The noetic effects of sin on humanity have been lasting and strong and only Christ’s blood can overcome them
6) They spoke evil of dignities (more on this in a bit)
7) They spoke evil of those things which they knew not (that is, they speak evil of the truth of God which is not discernable to the spiritually corrupt).
8) They indulge sinfully in the natural thereby corrupting themselves
A Parallel passage to Jude is 2 Peter 2 – which we shall turn to in the next post.