Angelology: Part 2

By Lewis Sperry Chafer

[Author’s note: This, the second installment in this series of articles on Angelology, is to be followed by at least three more with a view to setting forth the entire field of this important revelation.]

Angelic Participation in the Moral Problem

By the phrase The World’s Moral Problem is indicated the conflict which is ever present where free moral agents confront the issues of both good and evil. The force of this conflict reaches a climax in three major instances: (a) the fall of the angels; (b) the fall of man; and (c) the sin-bearing death of Christ. Of these, the first and second are closely related, as are the second and third; but the relation between the first and third is remote, being of principles rather than persons. Evil began with the lapse of an angel. That lapse was followed by a multitude of other angels (Rev 12:4). The same lapse was enacted by the first man and transmitted to his race in the form of a depraved nature. Tracing backwards over this historical sequence, it is possible to recognize that the race was injured in the sin of its federal head and that a multitude of angels sinned under the influence of that same original sinner. Thus far no insuperable problem arises; but it is difficult, indeed, to go one step further and assign a reason as to why an unfallen, untempted (that is, from without), highly enlightened angel who stood in the immediate presence of God and who must have comprehended the difference between moral light and moral darkness, should have chosen the darkness. How can the birth of moral evil from the womb of moral good be explained? The metaphysical aspect of the origin of evil is a problem which theologians have never solved, and, regarding it, only certain consequential features may be observed by the finite mind.

As in the case of the fall of man, it is imperative, in the light of revelation concerning God, to recognize certain unchangeable truths when approaching the perplexing subject of the first fall of the angels. These are: (a) That God is Himself holy and in no sense is He directly or indirectly the instigator of angelic sin. (b) Though angels were created to fill a divine purpose, their fall was anticipated from all eternity. (c) They were given the autonomy of angels, which assigned to them the freedom to remain in, or depart from, that holy estate into which they were inducted by creation. (d) Angels who fell, unlike men who by physical birth inherit the corrupted nature which their federal head acquired through the first human sin, stood directly related to God in original angelic holiness from which position each fell individually as did the first angel. And (e) though the fall of man opened the way whereby the grace of God might be displayed in redemption (Eph 2:7), there is no compensating good of any degree to be seen in the fact that angels sinned.

Angels were created with the responsibility of self-determination. This was the divine ideal represented by them in creation. The possibility of evil was not with them in any sense a necessity. To assert that God should have prevented their fall since He had power to do so, is to array the divine will in government against the divine will in creation—against the divine will as represented in the constitution of the angels. Though the angels when created awakened to consciousness in an estate of holiness and untempted by any outward solicitation, it was, nevertheless, incumbent upon them both to will and to do that which pertains to holiness. As in the case of man, a period of probation seems to have been extended to the angels. God’s love for them was that of the Creator for His creature; but they were assigned to that freedom of action which is germane to angelic responsibility. Such freedom was accorded to the first man; but with this far-reaching exception—there was already in existence a kingdom of evil with its outward and forceful solicitation to wickedness. No such untoward, outward influence challenged the angels when they entered upon their conscious existence. The multitude of angels who sinned under the influence of the first sinning angel are at once eliminated from the problem. They fell each one individually, but by the force of influences which arose after they had experienced their holy estate. Confirmed good is for unfallen angels who ever behold and enjoy the presence of God a far more probable consequence than it could be with fallen man who has never beheld God nor experienced a moment of untarnished holiness. Augustine states: “Let none doubt that the holy angels in their heavenly abode are, though not, indeed, coeternal with God, yet secure and certain of eternal and true felicity.”[1] So, also, Hooker asserts: “God which moveth mere natural agents as an efficient only, doth otherwise move His holy angels: for beholding the face of God (Matt. xviii.10) and being rapt with the love of His beauty, they cleave inseparably forever unto Him. Desire to resemble Him in goodness maketh them unweariable and even unsatiable in their longing to do by all means all manner of good unto all the creatures of God, but especially unto the children of men.”[2]

Angels were definitely influenced in the direction of holiness. That constant communion with God which is accorded the holy angels and was originally extended to all angels, is measureless in its potentiality. The one law of angelic existence was the will of their Creator. That law answered every need of angelic experience and felicity. It determined every detail of their relation to God and to each other. To depart from that will was to assume a false attitude toward all things. To what extent this departure changed love into hate and bitterness, will be considered at a later time.

Concerning the problem of the first sin of the first angel, it may be observed that, under existing conditions, almost every avenue along which sin advances was wanting. Self-assertion against God was the only direction in which such a being could sin. On this patent truth Hooker has written: “It seemeth therefore that there was no other way for angels to sin, but by reflex of their own sublimity and honor, the memory of their subordination unto God and their dependency on Him was drowned in this conceit; whereupon their adoration, love and imitation of God could not choose but be also interrupted.”[3] This conceit which assumed self-direction where the Creator proposed to be the authority and guide is alluded to by the Apostle when he wrote of a “novice” in matters of church order: “lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation [crime] of the devil” (1 Tim 3:6; cf. Isa 14:12, 13; Ezek 28:17). Though the nature of the first sin be thus so definitely disclosed, it yet remains a mystery as to how this principle of evil could find welcome in such a being. To go on with God as infinite wisdom has specified was angelic sanity, to say the least. To depart from that course was angelic insanity—but that sort of insanity which is responsible. Sin has no place in the constitution and status of an unfallen angel. Its presence is lawlessness and void of reason.

Both philosophy and theology have approached the problem which the first sin presents and have offered their solutions. Whatever vestige of truth these may suggest, none are sufficient. To attempt the discovery of an understandable reason where the mind recognizes that reason failed, as it did when the angel sinned, is to undertake the impossible. Sin being a contradiction of reason and irrational in itself is not subject to reason. It is quite possible that an irrational creature accustomed to unholy ways may lend sympathetic understanding to the insanity which a fellow creature exhibits; but that provides no reason which might serve as an explanation for an unfallen angel’s sin.

The creature—whether angel or human-is created to be God—centered. To become self-centered is a contradiction of the basic law of creaturely existence. The falsification of God’s moral order, is, when self-centered, complete. It is also found to be a violation of the original design relative to interrelationships between finite beings themselves. Sin is not only against God, but is against all other fellow beings.

The lapse of an unfallen angel at once gives rise to two important theological questions, namely, (a) How could a holy God permit any creature to sin? and (b) How could an uninfluenced, unfallen angel sin? In considering the issue presented in the former of these questions, it may be said—though the subject is foreign to the present discussion—that God’s original creation is declared to be good in His own holy eyes; that He, being omniscient, knew that certain moral beings would lapse and fall, and nevertheless brought them into being when possessed with that certain knowledge; yet He everywhere, in the case of angels as in the case of men, predicates moral failure to those who fail and never to Himself. As to the second question, this much may be added to what has gone before: Moral evil is an ultimate fact in the universe which can neither be explained nor explained away. When traced to its inception as committed by the first unfallen angel, the truth is developed which estimates sin to be a mystery, irrational, and exceedingly sinful. Sin is not in God as it is not in any part of His original creation. The decree of God anticipated all that would ever be; yet sin originates, not in the divine decree, but in the free act of the sinner. Sin is not in the constitution of creatures as they came from the creative hand of God, else all would sin. Sin is not an inherent weakness of the creature, else all would have failed. Sin is not a concomitant with free moral agency, else all free moral agents must fall. Dr. Gerhart, writing of the first sin, says: ”Ego asserts itself against its own fundamental law, a fact for which no reason is to be assigned other than this, that the possibility of false choosing is a prerogative of finite autonomous beings.”[4] But Dr. Gerhart would admit that the mere power of choice constitutes no reason for choosing. The problem is unanswered. Augustine has discoursed on this feature of sin with genuine profit: “If we ask the cause of the misery of the bad angels it occurs to us, and not unreasonably, that they are miserable because they have forsaken Him who supremely is, and have turned to themselves who have no such essence. And this vice, what else is it called than pride?...If the further question be asked, What was the efficient cause of their evil will? There is none. For what is it which makes the will bad, when it is the will itself which makes the action bad? And consequently the bad will is the cause of the bad action, but nothing is the efficient cause of the bad will. When the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil, not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Therefore it is not an inferior thing which has made the will evil, but it is itself which has become so by wickedly desiring an inferior thing.”[5]

Sin is self-centered living and action on the part of a creature who is by creation designed to be wholly centered in God. One course is present anguish and leads to perdition; the other is present tranquility and leads to eternal glory. Some measure of these truths must have been understood by the angels, hence the more is the inception of sin a mystery. Evil in the world is not an accident nor a thing unforeseen by God, else He could not predict as He does its course and end. The conflict of the ages is compressed in the few words of Genesis 3:15. Evil must run its course and make its full demonstration that it may be judged, not as a theory, but as a concrete actuality. “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen 15:16). The wheat and tares must grow together to the end of the age (Matt 13:30). And He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained (Acts 17:31). And the Man of Sin will be revealed only in God’s appointed time (2 Thess 2:6–8). Thus it is disclosed that evil must continue along with good until each shall reach its determined end. That the evil will be judged and dismissed forever is the assuring testimony of the Scriptures.

Revelation Concerning Satan

Whether holy or unholy, the spirit beings are alike designated angels (Rev 12:7). The unholy angels are usually referred to as δαίμων or δαιμόνιον being properly translated demon. There is but one διάβολος or devil. As there is one archangel among angels that are holy, so there is one archangel among angels that are unholy. The chief of the fallen angels appears under at least forty appellations. Of these some are descriptive titles and some are proper names. When he is styled “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10), a descriptive title appears. There is much revealed, also, in the proper names. These are: Serpent (᾿Οφις), which implies his guile; Lucifer, son of the morning, which is his title in heaven before his fall (Isa 14:12); Devil (Διάβολος), which means accuser, or slanderer, and is Greek in origin; Satan (Σατανᾶς), which mean resister, and is Hebrew in origin; Apollyon (᾿Απολλύων), which means destroyer; Dragon (Δράκων), which implies his power; The Prince of this world; The Prince of the Power of the Air; The God of this World. Four of these personal titles appear in one verse (Rev 12:9). The designation Belial may be applied to the chief of the unholy angels only by implication, though the Apostle assigns to this name a personal and definite character when he inquires “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” (2 Cor 6:15). Meyer contends that this term is a general reference to Satan, much like Πονηρός—the evil one (cf. Matt 6:13; John 17:15; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 John 5:19). It is evident from Matthew 12:24 (cf. vs. 27) that the Jews were wont to class this great being by the name Beelzebub (Βεεζεβούλ; cf. 2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16), which implies that he is “prince of the demons.” As Diabolos he stands alone, the infernal agent who is in command of all δαιμόνια, or demons. This mighty angel appears in the Bible with prominence, importance, and power second only to the Godhead Three. He is as often mentioned in the text of the Scriptures as all of the angels together. He is drawn into the story of human history from its first page to its last and always presented as a most vital factor in the ongoings of men, of angels, and of the universe itself. It is of great significance that the Scriptures trace with detail and care this archfiend from his creation, through all his career, and on to his final judgment. Such distinction is not accorded to any other angel, nor to any human being, however he may be used of God. No other is so analyzed and published as to his motives, methods, character, and purpose as is this one. The Bible student is confronted with this vast revelation and is challenged to give heed to this, a major doctrine of the Bible—the truth concerning a being who is the originator of sin, the promoter of it both in angelic and human spheres, and the most imperious opponent of the things of God. But few can say with the Apostle, “We are not ignorant of his devices.” This being is “the deceiver of the whole world,” and in no manner more evident than that the world does not believe that he really exists. This unbelief, doubtless, is greatly to his advantage. Being uninformed and misinformed, people, to an appalling degree, become an easy prey to the power of the enemy of souls. Modern Sadducees seek to resolve this awful being into a “figure of speech,” “a metaphorical personification of evil,” or a “delusion of unsound minds.” They deny his personality as they do that of the demons. Satan would encourage such impressions since they disarm prejudice and fear in relation to his infernal undertakings. As to this mighty angel being only a “figure of speech” without real personality, it may be observed that figures of speech are not created angels who sin and serve in realms of darkness and are doomed to a final and dreadful judgment at the hand of God. A metaphor would hardly enter a herd of swine and precipitate their instant destruction. Nor would a metaphor offer the kingdoms of this world to the Lord of glory, asserting that those kingdoms were delivered unto it and that it gave them to whomsoever it would. Dr. Gerhart has spoken emphatically on this phase of this theme when he says: “The rationalistic exegesis which ascribes demoniacal possessions to superstition and turns the records of the New Testament on this dark theme into delusive fancies, if applied to all Bible teachings on things invisible and preternatural, would resolve the entire spiritual world into unreality. There is but a short step between a mockery of the Devil and a mockery of the Redeemer. It is not forgotten that belief in the personality of the Devil and in the influence of demons on human affairs assumed grotesque forms during the middle ages; nor that mistaken interpretations of diabolical possessions have led good men to commit deeds of horror. But does the abuse of the facts of Scripture prove that there is no truth in their representations respecting the power of the Devil over bad men and over nature? Is it superstition to hold that Satan is that ‘evil one’ who is the ‘prince of this world’ because some theologians and scholars have in other ages misunderstood and misapplied some of our Lord’s miracles? If this principle of reasoning were applied to real superstitions, would not the monstrous errors of polytheism prove that there is no God? Would not the oracle at Delphi prove that Isaiah cannot be a genuine prophet? Or the fetish worship of Africa prove that no worship is worthy of man? Or the totem of our American Indians prove that there is no divine Providence?”[6]

As fully as to any person in the Bible, every element of personality is predicated to Satan. By the contriving method which would deprive Satan of personality, the Lord Himself and the Holy Spirit could also be thus deprived, and by such torturing of the Bible that Book becomes one adapted only to mislead those who read it. The world strangely retains the Biblical terminology relative to Satan, though every vestige of that terminology is emptied of its true meaning. Without reference to revelation, the world has imagined a grotesque being, fitted with strange trappings, who has been made the central character in fiction and theatrical performances and then, being convinced that no such a being as they portray exists, they have consigned the whole body of revealed truth to the limbo of myths of a bygone age. Unfortunately, the real truth being set forth in the Bible is not dismissed by such puerile and wicked disregard of God’s solemn revelation. There is no want of evidence as to the personality either of Satan or the demons. The record of their doings, like their destiny, forms the darkest pages of the Word of God. The lake of fire is prepared, not for men, but “for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). Characters of fiction and metaphors are not judged by the death of Christ nor are they consigned to the lake of fire.

The fall of this mighty angel was not as a compromise between good and evil. He became the embodiment of evil and wholly void of good. The essential wickedness of this being could not be estimated by the finite mind. His wickedness, however, is constructive and in line with vast undertakings and ideals which are evil because of their opposition to God. Further consideration of the consummate sin of this being will be seen as this thesis advances. It need only be added here that Satan is a living personification of deception. Most revealing are the words of Christ addressed to the Jews: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Thus also a threefold testimony is given in the Revelation. In 12:9 it is declared that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world; in 20:2, 3 it is predicted that he will be cast into the abyss and shut up and sealed, to the end that he shall “deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” Similarly, when released, he is said to “go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth” (20:7, 8). Thus, also, in the Tribulation, the Man of Sin will cause the people to believe the lie, which lie is instigated by the devil and received by the people because of “strong delusion.” With all this before the mind, it is not difficult to account for the present deceptions which are so general, that modern teachers disbelieve in the personality of Satan, that the unregenerate give no consideration to his reality, and that Christians everywhere are misinformed as to his devices. Few indeed would knowingly march under Satan’s banner. Yet, it will be seen, that there are but few who do not to some degree give allegiance to him. Since the whole truth regarding the angels is strangely unreal to human minds, it is perhaps somewhat to be expected that there will be little actuality in the thinking of many people concerning Satan and the demons. However restricted the natural mind may be in this direction, there is no excuse for an open denial of revelation which revelation is both clear and extensive.

He who would be found faithful and useful as a worthy exponent of the Scriptures and a guide to human souls, should comprehend, next to knowing the Triune God and the positive values of His redeeming grace, the truth relative to the enemy of God, who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). The Christian’s conflicts and trials are wholly accounted for within the threefold realities—the world, the flesh, and the devil—; but this mighty enemy is “the god of this world,” and the evil nature which dominates the flesh was born of Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden, and he is himself a living contender against the believer—not alone in the sphere of flesh and blood, but in the realms of spiritual life and activity.

If the text of the Scriptures is observed, it will be found that this greatest of foes is held before the Christian’s contemplation next only to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Should the knowledge of this foe be wanting—as it must be so far as usual theological studies are concerned—, the results can be no less than tragic, reaching on to eternity. If this theme is given the corresponding attention in a course of study which it sustains in the Bible, many pages must be assigned to it with no apology for so doing. Above all, let it not be deemed superstition when attention is given to such extended and explicit revelation and when this portion of Scripture is taken in its natural and literal meaning. Utterly unscriptural and fanatical notions are easily engendered as to evil spirits among those less instructed in the Word of God; but so much the more is it imperative that care shall be exercised to conform to that which has been revealed. The heathen have ever been tortured by their unfounded imaginations as to the presence and influence of evil spirits, and gratitude becomes the Christian in view of the clear revelation which God has given.

Belief in the malign influence of evil spirits antedates the Bible and extends to regions into which the Bible has never penetrated. Plutarch states: “It was a very ancient opinion, that there are certain wicked and malignant demons, who envy good men, and endeavour to hinder them in the pursuit of virtue, lest they should be partakers at least of greater happiness than they enjoy.”[7] The devil worship of Africa, Burma, Ceylon, Persia, and Chaldea is a development which is evidently a perversion of the earlier divine revelation at the beginning of the race. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: “There are, no doubt, serious difficulties in the way of accepting the doctrine of a personal, superhuman, evil power as Satan is described to be. It is doubtful, however, whether these difficulties may not be due, at least in part, to a misunderstanding of the doctrine and certain of its implications. In addition, it must be acknowledged, that whatever difficulties there may be in the teaching, they are exaggerated and, at the same time, not fairly met by the vague and irrational skepticism which denies without investigation. There are difficulties involved in any view of the world. To say the least, some problems are met by the view of a superhuman, evil world-power” (p. 2695).

By many it is believed that the earth was in its first order, like other planets, the abode of spirit beings, that Satan was in authority over this realm, and that the chaos which is indicated in Genesis 1:2 was the direct result of Satan’s sin. Little may be known of these matters and again the silence of God should be respected.

Three general objections have been raised against the Biblical doctrine of Satan: (1) It is asserted that it has its origin in mythology. This conception cannot be sustained. The Bible does not systematize this division of doctrine more than any other. All that is set forth is with that saneness and restraint which characterizes the divine world-conception as a whole. (2) The second objection is that the doctrine of Satan conforms to the dualism of Zoroastrianism. To this it may be replied that the whole doctrine of evil—apart from the eternal divine anticipation of it—had its beginning and will as definitely come to its end. All evil not only exists by divine permission, but is under divine restraint. (3) It is yet said that the doctrine of Satan destroys the unity of God; but the creation by God of other wills than His own, since, in the end, they are accountable to Him, in no way militates against the unity of God. In the end, as from the beginning, “God is all in all.”

The main divisions of Satanology, as here to be attended and presented in succeeding chapters, are: (a) Satan’s career; (b) Satan’s evil character; (c) The satanic system; (d) Satan’s motive; (e) Satan’s method; (f) Satan’s modern devices; and (g) Satan’s relationships.

The Career of Satan

At the opening of this division of Satanology it is fitting to pause in thanksgiving to God for the Book He has prepared, preserved, and presented to His people, which Book discloses truth with infinite accuracy as to the dwellers in spirit realms and points out the nature of these beings with specific reference to the relation they sustain to humanity. As before asserted, the Word of God dwells at great length on the truth concerning one mighty angel. Extended revelation is given as to his creation, his original estate, his fall, the development and manifestation of his authority, his various judgments and,bis final consignment to the lake of fire. The revealed career of Satan is a long story reaching back into the dateless past and on into eternity to come and is full of important details.

1. Satan’s Creation, Original Estate, and Fall.

These three features of the history of this great angel are so interrelated that they can hardly be treated separately. The central passage bearing specifically on these aspects of Satan’s career is

Ezekiel 28:11-19.

A considerable portion of this immediate context is to be taken up verse by verse; but in preparation for that undertaking it may be observed that revelation concerning Satan begins with the dateless period between the creation of the heavens and the earth in that perfect form in which they first appeared (Gen 1:1) and the desolating judgments which ended that period, when the earth became waste and empty (Gen 1:2; Isa 24:1; Jer 4:23–26). This extended passage from Ezekiel, it will be seen, is a delineation of the mightiest of angels—most significant indeed is the fact that more is said of this one angel than any other and more than is said of all other angels together—, the age of earth’s primal glory, and the initial angelic sin. It is reasonable to expect that the Bible will provide information on history so vital and determining as this; and it does. The immediate surrounding context of Ezekiel’s prophecy presents a record of divine judgments upon Israel’s enemies, and, according to 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan belongs to that group. The portion which presents truth regarding Satan is somewhat concealing since it is couched in oriental imagery. This is as legitimate a means of divine expression as any other form of literature; but it yields its message to those only who pursue its deeper meaning with worthy attention. In the right understanding of this so vital disclosure concerning Satan, it is of no little importance to note that the preceding portion of this chapter (Ezek 28:1–10), though addressed to “the prince of Tyrus,” is as clearly a word to the Man of Sin—Satan’s final embodiment and masterpiece—as is that which follows a word to Satan himself. There is notable significance in the manner in which these two addresses are related and placed in sequence. The Man of Sin is identified throughout the Word of God by his blasphemous assumption to be God. This, indeed, is the substance of the resemblance between Antiochus Epiphanes and the Man of Sin (cf. Dan 8:9 with 7:8. Note, also, on the Man of Sin—Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:3, 4; Rev 13:6). Ezekiel 28:1–10 asserts this characteristic with peculiar emphasis. As a prince is inferior and subject to a king, thus it is that the Man of Sin is subject to Satan.

Preceding this address to a “prince” and a “king” in Tyrus, allusion is made to four nations—Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia—and the messages to these are compressed into seventeen verses; while the message to the one city, Tyrus, occupies eighty-three verses. This proportion is arresting, suggesting as it does the symbolic importance of that one city. Tyre was the merchant city of the world, as was Babylon the Great. By this emphasis is intimated the promotion of the world’s ideal of success. As in the world today, to leave everything here and take nothing into the next world is deemed success, but to leave nothing here and take all into the next world is failure. Tyre is the symbol of a mammon-loving world.

This address to the “king of Tyrus” identifies the person in view by one of his forty titles by which he is designated in the Bible. As David’s greater Son is distinguished in the Messianic Psalms from David by the supernatural features set forth, so, in like manner, the person saluted in this Scripture as “king of Tyrus” is discovered to be the highest of the angels. It could not be a mortal. Some of the important features of this Scripture are here considered:

28:11,12.

“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 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.”

Surpassing importance will be assigned to this Scripture when it is recognized that this is the word of Jehovah to the “king of Tyrus,” and not the word of the prophet. A lamentation, which means intense anguish accompanied with beating of the breast, is a most impressive term when it describes Jehovah’s sorrow poured out over the erring; and is it not ever so? Does Jehovah ever fail to lament over His erring creatures? If it were conceded that there might be a secondary application of this lament to some king in Tyrus, such a conjecture would be of little value or meaning in view of the supernatural features which are immediately introduced; for “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Such an expression is superlative even according to divine standards. The intimation is that all divine creative power along the two lines of wisdom and beauty are represented in this being. Such terminology has no place in the mouth of Jehovah concerning a fallen man who, at best, is but a heathen king. The expression, however, is according to truth when seen to be a message to the greatest of angels in his unfallen state.

28:13.

“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.”

There is little difference as to whether this is a reference to a primal Eden or the Eden of Genesis, chapter 3. Satan has been in both; but no one will assert that any king of Tyrus was so favored. The bedecking with jewels suggests his great importance and the luster of his appearance. Thus in splendor was he exhibited in the Garden of Eden, for his name, nachash, translated serpent, means the shining one. The Apostle states that he is even now transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). These precious stones are displayed but three times as recorded in the Bible: (a) In the High Priest’s breastplate, and were a manifestation of divine grace; (b) in the New Jerusalem, which reflects the glory of God; and (c) as the covering of this great angel, which signalizes the highest in creation. No distinction could be imposed on any creature more exalting than is imposed by these covering stones. Similarly, this imagery presents this angel as to have been a diadem of praise to his Creator. “Tabrets and pipes” were prepared in him. He did not need an instrument of praise to glorify his Creator; he was a diadem of praise. But by far the most revealing declaration in this verse is the affirmation that he is a created being. This essential truth is announced again in verse 15 where it is said that he was “perfect in his ways from the day that he was created.” The power and wisdom of this being are so vast that not a few have supposed him to be as eternal as God Himself. Being a creature, he must, regardless of his estate, be subject, in the end, to his Creator, and account to Him. This Satan will do.

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.”

That this being belongs to the order of the Cherubim is arresting. As before indicated, this group of angels is related to the throne of God as protectors and defenders of His holiness. The proofs of this contention, so recently listed, need not be repeated here. Jehovah addresses a special word at this point to this angel—“I have set thee so,” and this is followed by the revealing words, “Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.” This specific service as cherub or protector, was over the very throne of God—since the phrase, the mountain of God is, in its Old Testament usage, the seat of God’s authority (cf. Exod 4:27; Ps 2:6; 3:4; 43:3; 68:15; Isa 2:2; 11:9). From these disclosures it may be concluded that this great angel was created above all angels and to be a defender of the throne of God. If it be suggested that God, being the Almighty, would not need such defense, it may be said that it is not a question as to what God needs, but rather a revelation as to what God has chosen to arrange. He doubtless did not need the Cherubim at the gate of Eden, yet He placed them there.

The remaining phrase-“Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire”—is somewhat obscure. It might refer to a primal glory of the earth. The stones of fire may be the manifestation of that consuming fire which Jehovah is. In such a case, this declaration would suggest that the first estate of this angel was one in which he walked in unbroken relation to divine holiness.

Returning for the moment to the identification of this being, it will be acknowledged that no king of Tyrus answers to this exalted description. No such fallen man was ever a diadem of praise, or was he directly created of God, or did he belong to the Cherubim, or had he been placed on the holy mountain of God, or walked amidst the stones of fire, or was he perfect in all his ways from creation.

28:15.

“Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”

The description now changes and the fact of the first sin of this angel is disclosed. Iniquity was found in him. The intimation is that a secret sin was uncovered. The omniscience of God cannot be deceived nor does it fail to know all things. “Our secret sins” are “in the light of his countenance” (Ps 90:8), would be equally true of the secret sins of the angels.

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.”

The word merchandise is full of suggestion. The same thought occurs respecting the Man of Sin as expressed by the word traffic. The thought here expressed is far removed from the barter and trade in merchandise by human beings. The meaning of the term is to go about. Pember suggests that it is a matter of slander. It may indicate that going about among the angels which was necessary to secure their allegiance to his program of rebellion against God. The direct accusation, ”Thou hast sinned,” and the casting out, are important features in the career of Satan and these will be considered in more detail presently.

28:17.

“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.”

The sin of Satan is here intimated, which sin is described more fully in other portions of Scripture. The self-centered nature of all sin is evident in this instance. It is, however, a long step from “the stones of fire” with all the exalted honor and glory that such language expresses, to the lake of fire to which Satan’s career is tending.

28:18,19.

“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. 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.”

It is obvious that these verses point out the immediate, future, and final judgment of God upon this mighty angel, all of which is more completely described in other parts of the Bible.

In this one context God records the origin, estate, character, and sin of the greatest of angels. The importance of this revelation as it bears upon the doctrine of the angels and on the doctrine of man generally cannot be over-estimated. God did not create Satan as such; He created an angel who was perfect in all his ways and that angel sinned by opposing the will of God. By this act he became Satan the resister and all else that all his titles imply. The ancient question raised by the skeptics of the past as to who made the devil has been answered in this passage just considered. There it is seen that God created a holy angel possessing the power of choice between good and evil, and he chose to do the evil. Through the degenerating power of sin, Satan, as did Adam, became an entirely different being from that which God created. When God creates a being to fill a purpose, that being must be a perfect fulfillment of that divine ideal. It is, therefore, well, when seeking to discover the measurements of this great angel, to identify the purpose for which Satan was created and evaluate the qualities which were his in view of that purpose. By his sin he lost his original holiness and heavenly standing, but he retains his wisdom and he has turned his surpassing abilities into ways of evil and his understanding has been prostituted to the level of lies, deceptions, snares, and wiles. The extent of these evil undertakings, their exalted character, his motive, and method, constitute a portion of this vast theme which will yet be pursued. In his book Satan, Mr. F. C. Jennings sums up at the end of his lucid exposition of the Ezekiel passage after this manner: ”(a) By its setting and language it can apply to no child of fallen man-that is impossible. (b) It must therefore necessarily refer to a spirit or angel. (c) This angel or spirit, whoever it was, was personally the topstone of that primal creation. (d) His office was to protect the Throne of God, to forbid the approach of evil, or any unrighteousness. (e) Iniquity was found in him, and that iniquity was self-exaltation. (f) Sentence of expulsion from his place is pronounced, although not actually, or at least fully, executed” (pp. 55, 56).

Dallas, Texas

Notes

1. City of God, Book XI, 33.
2. BookI, iv. 1.
3. Ecc. Pol., Book I, ch. iv. 2.
4. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. I, p. 688.
5. City of God, Book XII. vi.
6. Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. I, pp. 709, 710.
7. Plu. de Defect. Orac., p. 431, tom. 2, Edit. Paris, 1624.