THE THIRD ABODE OF SATAN
According to Ezekiel 28:12 b, when Satan was created, he was "the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." Centuries ago there was a general tendency to represent Satan as ugly and hideous. The vast majority of images and pictures of Satan by artists and sculptors show an ugly creature. It should be noted that nowhere in the Bible is that the image of Satan. We never see him as a man with horns, tail and dressed in red clothes. In fact, according to the Scriptures, of all created beings he was the most beautiful and the wisest.
Also according to Ezekiel, Satan was appointed cherubim guard of the throne of God, the holy mountain of God, which was the highest position that could be occupied by one of His creatures. Upon this appointment, he became the greatest of all created beings, not only in wisdom and beauty, but also in power and authority. This was his first abode.
Satan wore a covering made up of every precious stone, and walked up and down among the fiery stones in "Eden the garden of God" (Ezekiel 28:14). "Eden" can be translated as "delight" and it is likely that this meaning is used here. The description in verse 13, indicating mineral beauty does not seem to be the same garden that God planted for the use of Adam. The "Eden” in Genesis 2:8 is a very old word that can also be translated as "plain." According to a Jewish interpretation the first would be a "mineral garden" and the second a "vegetable garden” planted later on earth. The "mineral garden of Eden" was the second abode of Satan.
At one point, pride because of his beauty and corruption of his wisdom by his brightness (Ezekiel 28:17 NIV), moved Satan to say "I will ascend into heaven ... I will exalt my throne ... I will also sit on the mount of the congregation... I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ... I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14). For this purpose, he led a revolt against the authority of God in which he was followed by one-third of all angels (Revelation 12:3-4). Thus Lucifer, the “son of the morning” (Isaiah 14:12) became Satan, "the adversary" or "the Accuser." The Judgement of God was soon to befall him (Ezekiel 28:16 NIV): He lost his first abode, which was the elevated position as the guardian of the throne of God, "Therefore I cast you, as a profane thing out of the mountain of God;” then he lost his second abode “and I destroyed you, o covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.”
In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is the prince of the power of the air. In Ephesians 6, he is in the heavenly places. Thus, the third and current abode can be described as the atmospheric heavens. He is not in hell with the devils, as in the anecdotes! He lives in the air or atmosphere, but still has access to two other locations: heaven and earth.
He can still go to Heaven and stand in the presence of God to be the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12: 10), as he did against Job (Job 1:6, 2:1) and Israel (Zechariah 3:1). When a believer does not confess a sin, Satan stands before the throne of God the Father to accuse him. So believers need the ministry of Christ as their Advocate. When Satan comes to accuse them, the Lord can say, "put the sin to my account. I've already paid for that sin, when I died on the cross." Thus, our Saviour is still in ministry before God for us. On the other hand, believers have a responsibility to be careful not to give reasons for Satan to accuse them before the Throne of God.
Satan also has access to earth. He is still the ruler of this world (John 12:31). He is still the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4) and he still claims to have authority over all the kingdoms of the world and to be able to give it to whomever he wishes (Luke 4:5-7). When using the permission of access to the world he acts in one of two ways:
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In the form of a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). The purpose of coming as a roaring lion is for destruction. This is the way in which Satan often appeared to the Jewish people throughout Jewish history. Satan works on the principle that "anyone who loves the Lord, Satan will hate." Through the Prophets and the New Testament, God showed His eternal love for the people of Israel, so Satan has moved a perpetual war against the Jews, seeking to destroy them at every possible opportunity. Satan also appeared as a roaring lion to the church. In the early centuries of church history, Satan used the Roman government. Thousands of faithful were literally fed to the lions in the arenas of Rome. As he tried to use the Roman government to end the Church at that time, today he continues to use the governments in communist and Muslim countries, among others, to try to end the groups of believers that exist in these countries.
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In the form of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Satan uses this form to implant error. His fifth resolution was "I will be like the Most High". Satan knows that he cannot be the Almighty himself, so he attempts to become just like Him. For this purpose he has introduced a programme of falsehoods to implement a work of deception, even among true believers, encouraging them to be guided by experience and blinding them to their need for a careful study of the Word of God. The programme of falsification is performed both against Christians (2 Corinthians 11:3) as against unbelievers (Revelation 20:3).
The aim of a fake is to make something that looks as much like the original as possible. A fake will only succeed if it can be confused with the true item. Police investigators go through extensive training to get to know genuine banknotes in their smallest details, so they can check doubtful notes presented to them. The best forgeries may still be faulty, printed on a different quality of paper, another type of ink, imperfect design of some obscure detail, but they are never obviously false to those who do not know the genuine note.
Likewise, the counterfeit programme of Satan is very much like the real programme of God contained in the pages of Scripture. The programme of Satan will have no obvious flaws in itself. Therefore, believers should be trained in the Scriptures to be able to discern the difference between real and false.
The counterfeit nature of the programme is found in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4: "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”
In verse 4, Paul mentions three things labelled with the words "another", or “different”: another Jesus, a different spirit, a different gospel. Because of the cunning of Satan the Corinthian believers would be able to put up with the preaching of another Jesus than that which Paul preached, a different spirit than what they had received or a different gospel than they had embraced. They did not yet know how to distinguish the false from true.
Verses 13-14 of that chapter state, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." Those who were preaching a false Jesus were clearly identified by Paul as false apostles, but they looked nothing like this because they "disguised" themselves to look and sound as if they were real ministers of Christ. In doing so, they were reflecting their true master, Satan, the angel of darkness, who disguised himself to appear as an angel of light. It is part of the programme to spread a false Jesus that is very similar to the Jesus of the New Testament, but is a fake so well done that it may go unnoticed by believers who are not sufficiently knowledgeable in the Word of God.
How far the fake programme can be accomplished is seen in Matthew 7:22-23: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Observe carefully what they are able to perform on behalf of a false God: They can cast out demons, prophesy, and use the name of Christ to perform miracles like healing, among others. However, the Lord Jesus will say: “I never knew you”. The reason all these outward manifestations in themselves do not prove anything is because Satan can duplicate them all. The real test is never the existence of outward manifestations. The real test is always conformity with Scripture. Is what is being said, what is being done and taught in accordance with the teachings of the written Word of God? We have no other test by which to judge. In our modern day when so much emphasis is placed on the sensational, on experience and feelings, many believers are being caught in several "super spiritual" movements for no other reason than the existence of outward manifestations. In doing so, they do not mature in the faith nor do they produce in themselves the kind of fruit that God wants believers to produce.
In the middle of the tribulation period Satan will be cast upon the earth (Revelation 12:9), this being his fourth abode. But he will be bound and cast into his fifth location, the abyss, after the second coming of Christ (Revelation 20:1-3). After the millennium he will be released on earth for a short time, then cast into his sixth and final abode, the lake of fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented day and night, with the beast and false prophet, forever and ever (Rev. 20:7 -10).
R David Jones
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