SATAN'S ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY

     Where did the devil come from, and what caused him to become the enemy of God and man? These are questions that men ask, and the Bible does not leave us in ignorance about them. As we search our Bibles for the answers to these questions we discover much valuable material in two chapters of the Old Testament: Ezekiel chapter 28, and Isaiah chapter 14.  

     Before making use of Ezekiel 28 let us call attention to the peculiar nature of this chapter. The prophecy or statements of this passage' are addressed to a person who is called in one place "Prince of Tyre", and in another, "King of Tyre". Now certain parts of this chapter are predictions concerning Tyre which were actually fulfilled in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar of that city. But there are other parts of this chapter that cannot be made to fit a earthly monarch. They can only fit a supernatural being of some kind. What is the explanation of this strange fact? The prophets of Scripture frequently are borne along from talking about contemporaneous events to some other event of past or future time, of which the contemporaneous event might be considered a type. That is evidently true here. Ezekiel goes from a reference to the King of Tyre to Satan of whom the King of Tyre is a type. With this light on the subject we discover some very interesting information concerning the origin of Satan.  

     This 38th chapter of Ezekiel refers to him as "Lucifer" instead of Satan, because he was known by the name "Lucifer" during the time that he was yet perfect—before he sinned against God—before iniquity was found in him.  

     Let us read verse 15 of this chapter: "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created." Here is the simple explanation of the true origin of Lucifer. He was created by God. That is how he came into being.  

     But let us be sure we understand that the character of Lucifer right after his creation by God was not like what it is to-day. At that time he was "perfect in all his ways." Other verses in this chapter describe for us his original characteristics. Verse 12: "Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Verse 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 stones of fire." Verse 15:5 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." Lucifer was created by God to be full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and perfect in his ways. He was some sort of angelic being for it is said of him that he was "the anointed cherub". His sphere of activity included the mountain of God, i.e. God's special dwelling place. How different was Lucifer in those prehistoric days from what he is to-day!  

HOW LUCIFER FELL  

     Let us see how Lucifer fell from his high position to which he was created and became "the adversary" of God and man. Ezekiel 28:15-17: "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee. 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. 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." The beauty of Lucifer caused his heart to be lifted up. His brightness caused the corruption of his wisdom. Because of this God cast him out of the mountain of his dwelling place.  

     Some additional information about this fall of Lucifer is given us in Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12-14: "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! 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. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." The personal pronoun "I" is very prominent in this statement made by Lucifer in the days before his fall. It is evident that he sought for himself exaltation. His ambition would not let him be satisfied with anything short of the very highest position in the universe. Yes, he wanted to be like God Himself. It was most certainly pride that caused his fall. Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."  

     Because of his sin, Lucifer—the anointed cherub, created by God—was cast out of heaven and became Satan, the enemy of God and man.  

HOW SATAN CAUSED THE FALL OF MAN  

     After Satan's fall we know that he became the adversary of God and man. When Adam and Eve were created by God we find Satan appearing on the scene in order that he might tempt them to sin even as he had sinned. His strategy was to cause Eve to sin first and then through Eve get Adam to sin. When this plan succeeded, all the descendants of Adam and Eve were constituted sinners by inheritance.  

     There were two steps downward in the sin of our first parents. Genesis 3:1 gives us the first. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" The first step was to doubt God's Word. "Yea hath God said?" Satan put a question mark in the mind of Eve over the Word of God. It is always a dangerous thing to entertain a single doubt about God's Word.  

     The second step is indicated in Genesis 3:11: "And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" The second and final step in the fall of man was disobedience to God's Word. What God commanded them not to do they did.  

EFFORTS OF SATAN TO DESTROY THE SEED OF THE WOMAN  

     Right after the fall of man God made a promise concerning the coming of a Redeemer. In the midst of God's statement is an indication that Satan would go to work; immediately to try to hinder the fulfillment of that great promise. The promise is found in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee (i.e. Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." In referring to the Redeemer as "The Seed of the Woman" there is no doubt that this is a reference to the Virgin Birth of the Savior, because the usual expression is "the seed of the man". There was to be a continuous warfare between Satan's seed ( and the Seed of the Woman. During Old Testament times in particular this warfare took the form of efforts of the devil to interfere with the ancestral line of the coming Redeemer. He endeavored in every way possible to keep the promise of the Redeemer from being fulfilled. But the promise of God stated that the Seed of the Woman was to bruise the head of Satan although His heel was to be bruised in the process. All of this looked forward to the great victory of Calvary's cross over Satan and all his forces.  

     But let us follow along through the Old Testament history and watch the efforts of Satan to interfere with the line of the coming Messiah. In the fourth chapter of Genesis we have the account of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. Back of this first great crime we see Satan as the prime mover. Doubtless Satan thought that the Messiah's line would go through Abel, and so he impelled Cain through jealousy to slay Abel. But God caused the line to go through Seth instead.  

     In the days of Noah Satan had corrupted the whole race to such an extent that God had to destroy men by means of a great flood, but the promised Seed was preserved through Noah concerning whom it was said (Genesis 6:9) "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations."  

     Again, Satan attempted to interfere with the Seed of Abraham, who was to be an ancestor of the Messiah. The story of these attempts will be found in Genesis 12, 17, 20. Abraham and Sarah went down into Egypt and because it had been arranged to call Sarah his sister instead of his wife, Pharaoh took her into his palace and would have married her but for divine interference. Again, Sarah gave Hagar her slave to Abraham to wife and Abraham wanted Ishmael to be the heir. The same experience concerning Sarah with Pharaoh in Egypt was repeated with Ablmelech, but once again God interfered and protected Sarah. The hand of Satan can be seen behind all of these happenings. He was trying to interfere with the line of the Messiah, but his efforts always proved to be a failure.  

     Satan did his best to destroy the chosen family of Jacob and his sons through famine. See Genesis chapter 43 and following. But we all know how God sent Joseph ahead to prepare for famine days in Egypt, and the family was kept alive and God's purpose was fulfilled in that family.  

     When the children of Israel were in Egypt, Satan made a desperate effort to destroy the whole nation through the killing of baby boys at the command of Pharaoh. But again the real purpose of this, which was to destroy the promised Seed, was thwarted by God. Some children perished but God's purpose was not hindered.  

     Satan tried again to destroy the whole Hebrew race when Pharaoh came upon them and they were trapped at the Red Sea. But this trap of Satan was sprung, when God opened up a way through the Sea and Israel walked over as on dry ground, and their enemies the Egyptians were drowned in the waters.  

     Coming on down to the days of David we see Satan trying to do away with him because he knew that through David was to come the promised Redeemer. Again and again Saul tried to kill David, but his life was "a charmed life", because God was protecting him against all the onslaughts of the Evil One.  

     When the Hebrews were scattered in foreign lands, Satan used Haman to try to destroy the whole Hebrew race. The book of Esther tells the story how God used courageous Queen Esther to rescue her people and thus preserve the Messianic line.