When Lucifer Became Satan

When did Lucifer fall into sin? At what point did he change from being humble, loving, and always longing to be in the presence of God, to being proud, hateful, and wanting absolutely nothing to do with God?

When did he say in his heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." - Isaiah 14:13-14

At what point in history did this terrible event occur? Some say that he fell millions of years before the world was made, but we know from my previous blog "When Were the Angels Created?" that the angels were created on Day 1 of creation week, possibly moments before God formed the world.

Some say that God created the angels and the world on Day 1 with a million year gap taking place between Day 1 and Day 2 of the creation week in which Satan's fall occurred somewhere within that time. Is this idea possible? Well, let us look to Scripture for the answers.

"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good...Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all of their hosts."  

Genesis 1:31-2:1

At the end of the creation week, when God looks over all He had made, He says that it is very good. He was not just looking at the plants or the rocks or even the galaxies. He was looking at everything. He was being all-inclusive. So what did He look at when He said "very good?" He looked at all of the hosts (Lucifer, the angels, humans, etc.). Genesis tells us that all of the hosts were very good at the end of the creation week. Therefore it is impossible for Lucifer to have fallen before that time because God would never refer to Satan now as good.

There is also no indication whatsoever in Scripture that there could be a gap between Day 1 and 2. Some will say that the word "formless" in 1:2 could also mean "a place of chaos." They will take you to Isaiah 45:18 which says the LORD made the earth and did not create it a waste place. They will use that to support the argument that God created the world and then Satan fell and corrupted the earth for a really long time and then God came back to creation and began on Day 2.

However, they are misunderstanding the Hebrew word and the texts. Just because it can mean "a place of chaos" does not mean that it does mean "a place of chaos." The word there at its simplest definition means "formless" and that is exactly what the text supports. Remember that on Day 1 there is not yet dry land giving the surface of the earth "form." Dry land does not appear until day three, therefore, it makes sense that the earth is formless because it is a big ball of water at this point.

Finally, God had planted a garden called "Eden" and placed man there on Day 6 of the creation week. Ezekiel 28:11-17 God refers to Lucifer as having...

"had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you..."

God says that Lucifer before he fell into sin walked in the garden of Eden. Well, we know that the garden was created before Adam (2:8) but it couldn't have been too long before the creation of man. In fact, the earliest that God could have planted the garden was on Day 3 which indicates that at least by Day 3 Lucifer was still "very good." However, we know from the end of chapter one and beginning of chapter two that he was still very good at the end of day 6. Thus, Lucifer fell into sin and became Satan sometime after the creation week and before the fall of man.

Can Sin be Numbered?

I have found that many of us in the States think and view things in a very linear fashion. We love things in order and written in a systematic way. We are very logical in our conclusions and we seem to love bullet point lists, especially in meetings because we can move from one point to another.

Often times as a result of this way of thinking we can begin to number our sins and list them in a similar style. This is not a huge problem, but if we are not careful then we begin to grow in a type of independence which causes us to begin thinking self-consciously that we do not need God as much as we originally thought.

So let me ask you, "When you sin, how many sins have you committed?" For example, let us imagine that you have just lied to your wife. If I were to ask you how many sins you have just committed, you would more than likely say just one.

ME: Why would you say you have only committed one sin?

YOU: Because all I did was tell a little insignificant lie?

Well maybe, but is that a Scriptural idea? I dare say no it is not! Maybe we have this thinking because so often we don't actually view our sin as being that bad. Now I don't honestly think that you would verbally call a lie little and insignificant, but how often do we do that with the way we respond to sin?

Colossians 3:5 says,

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."

What is Paul saying? He is telling us that each of these sins and any sin for that matter is idolatry. He didn't list every sin known to man because that would be larger than this entire letter and that is not the focus. The point that the apostle is bringing out is that no matter what sin you commit, the very fact that you committed it shows the idolatry that you are holding onto.

So if you are involved in immorality, you are an idolater. If you are acting in greed, you are an idolater. If you have just lied to your wife, you are an idolater. What does this mean? It means that having just lied to your wife, it was not one sin that you committed, but two.

The two sins are lying and idolatry. However, with your lying and idolatry, what comes with it? Pride. Now there are three sins which you have committed against God and His holiness. You have lied. Because you have lied, you having committed idolatry by lifting yourself up as the determiner of your own path and actions. As a result of placing yourself on the throne in your life, you have become proud.

This is serious! Sin was never meant to be numbered. How often, when we sin, do we confess all of these things? I personally struggle with this because self-consciously I don't think what I have done is all that bad. It's just one lie. WRONG! It is so much worse than we will ever realize. I pray that this fact will cause both you and I to gain a better understanding of our desperate need for God Most High.

When Were the Angels Created?

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "At what point in eternity past did God create the angelic beings? Were they made before the earth or after? If they were made before, then how long before?

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4-7

In the above passage, God tells Job that when He created the world all the morning stars sang together and all of the sons of God shouted for joy. "Morning Stars" and "Sons of God" are two terms which both refer to the angelic beings.

The implication of them singing while God was creating the world shows that the angels were created before the world. So then, if the world is around six thousand years old, how old are the angels?

We all know that God does not exhaust us with details throughout His Word. However, there are two passages that tell us not only when the angels were created, but the exact day!

"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work..."  

Genesis 1:31-2:2

Who are the hosts that fill heaven and earth? Angels, humans, animals, etc. This passage tells us that all of the hosts were created within the six days of creation. Therefore the idea that they were created possibly millions of years before the world is not a Scriptural point of view. Another passage is...

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day..."

Exodus 20:11

Just in case the first passage was not clear enough, Exodus 20:11 establishes for us the fact that God made everything that exists in creation within the six days of creation. Not only did He make heaven and earth and the sea, but it says that He made all that is within them (i.e. all the hosts).

 

Therefore, because the angels were created before the earth yet within the creation week, we can be confident that the exact day the angels were created was on Day 1 just before God began creating the world. The angels, as far as we know, were His very first creation ever in all eternity past. 

5 Reasons Cain and Abel were over a Hundred Years Old.

For some reason the first thing to pop into my head almost every time I envision Cain and Abel is a couple of guys possibly in their early twenties.  Maybe you can relate, but is it Biblical?

Well, no.

Reason #1 Adam and Eve were the best fit to reproduce.

 

Adam and Eve were made on day six of the creation week.  They were crafted by a perfect God and brought into a perfect world.  There was no such thing as disease or illness.  There was still pain to be experienced in child birth, but it was far less than what is experienced today (Genesis 3:16).

 

There bodies were made perfectly for the purpose of reproduction so that they could fulfill the great command of God to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28).  Also, because they were made directly by God they were the strongest and healthiest humans to have ever lived.  Thus, Adam and Eve were the most capable of bearing an abundance of children.

Adam and Eve were equipped with the possibility of having a child every year for a huge portion of their lives.  It is likely that Eve alone gave birth to several hundred children during her life.

 

Reason #2 Cain was Adam and Eve's first child.

 

Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve.  The Bible does not give us a clear indication that Abel was indeed second, but we can be confident that Cain came first (Genesis 4:1).

 

Reason #3 Cain and Abel were both well of age to perform specific tasks.

 

These two brothers were old enough to understand their sinful condition before the Holy God because they are seen bringing offerings to the LORD (Genesis 4:2-5).

 

Reason #4 Seth was the very next child to be born after the death of Abel.

 

When was Seth born?  At the very end of Genesis chapter four in verse twenty-five we see that Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old.  This means that one hundred and thirty years after day six of creation, Adam and Eve gave birth to Seth. 

 

Since Cain was the very first child and supposing he was born within a year after the marriage of his parents, then the passage suggests that Cain could be about 129 years  old.  Again, there was nothing to prevent Adam and Eve from starting early.  There were no contraceptives nor was there anything preventing pregnancy.

 

Do you think it is weird that Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, could have always been just nine months younger than his parents?  Nowadays we cringe at the thought of the mom or dad only being maybe fourteen years older than their child, but I think Cain broke the record.

 

Reason #5 There were many people upon the earth.

 

By the time of Abel's death, there were possibly several thousand people upon the earth.  Genesis 4:14-17 is the conversation that God had with Cain just a short time after killing his brother.  When God curses Cain something happens.  There is an interesting statement made by Cain as he is communicating his concerns.  Cain told the LORD, "I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

 

Let me ask you a question.  If the only people in the world were you, your now dead brother, maybe two or three other brothers and sisters, and most importantly mom and dad, would you say what Cain said?  I doubt it.  If you would say anything of the sort, then I reckon you would more than likely say, "and if my family finds me they will kill me."

 

Cain's statement implies more than just his immediate family.  The implication is of course mom and dad, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, his own wife, and because of the one hundred and thirty year gap of time, it is highly likely that Cain even had grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 

Cain had a legitimate fear that "whoever" found him would kill him.  A lot of people can be born in a hundred and thirty years (many of them Cain probably never even met) and because of how much time had gone by, at the very least a few thousand people were dwelling upon the earth.

 

Conclusion

 

Again, we are not given all of the details, so I am just stating the possibilities.  We know that Cain was a married man (Genesis 4:17) and in all likelihood so was Abel.  These were not men who were in their teens or early twenties.  These were men who had lived on this earth for well over a hundred years.