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WHY GOD CREATED MANKIND


Chapter 2

The Angels


Creation of Angels

After the 24 elders proved to God that they had thoroughly learnt His way of life and His laws, were convinced that it was the best way to live a happy, peaceful and joyous life, and would always live the way of love, God the Father and the Word decided to proceed with the next phase of their creation plan. They decided to create many more beings: hundreds of millions, or perhaps billions of angels.

In this phase of creation, God for the first time decided to create variety, for all angels don’t look alike. The Bible does not indicate what the angels look like, except that the cherubim have four faces each, the face of a man, lion, ox and eagle, one on each side (Ezekiel 1:10; 10:14). But when the angels appear to human beings, they appear as human beings. The archangels Michael and Gabriel have wings, but the Bible does not indicate what their faces are like.

All angels are not created equal. There were three cherubim of archangel rank, apparently the highest rank: Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer. There are the four cherubim who transport God’s throne (Ezekiel 1:10, 10:14). And then Isaiah mentions Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2, 6.) Also see Revelation 4:8. And then there are other angels of lower ranks.

The angels have differing capabilities. God created variety in them to perhaps provide inspiration and models for them to create a variety of creatures on their own. And certainly, variety makes for a more interesting and exciting world. Isn’t the quality of life improved because there are so many varieties and colors of roses? What would the world be like if roses were only red in color? How comparatively unexciting our world would be if all dogs, cats, horses, cows and other creatures were of one variety only?

The angels are spirit beings, composed wholly of spirit. They do not have circulating blood in their bodies, and do not need to breathe air or be fueled by food to sustain their lives. Their bodies do not deteriorate and age like human bodies. So, they can potentially live forever. But they do not have life inherent in them as Jesus Christ has. They are not self-existent. Though they have spirit bodies that can live forever, their lives are still in God’s hands. He can terminate them as He pleases. Ezekiel 28:18-19 says “…I will bring you [Satan] to ashes…and never shall you be any more,” which indicates that God has already judged only Satan to be worthy of permanent death.    

After being created, the angels first learnt God’s way of life and His laws. They learnt about God’s government at His throne. They learnt to love each other, and respect and honor God the Father and the Word. The angels learnt to love and respect the 24 elders as well. This could have gone on for millions or even hundreds of millions of years. God’s government over the angels was administered by the three archangels: Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel. God, the Word and the 24 elders loved the angels and the angels loved, respected and honored them in return. The 24 elders must have assisted God the Father and the Word in teaching the angels God’s way of life and His laws. God’s government produced a wonderfully happy state of affairs in heaven with perfect love, peace, harmony, cooperation and unspeakable joy.

Training for God’s Government

God created three Cherubim of archangel rank: Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel. Two of the cherubs were assigned the task of covering God’s throne with their wings. Perhaps all three handled this responsibility, though only two at a time. What a fantastic opportunity for them to learn God’s government up close, at the very seat of that government. Lucifer was one of the cherubs assigned that role. Thus, he was trained in God’s government at the very headquarters of that government in heaven. This is described in Ezekiel 28:14: “You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” 

The cherubim are super beings. Here is how Lucifer is described in Ezekiel 28:12-13, 15: “…Thus says the Lord God; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created…You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created…”

That is the description of a super spirit being in whom was created the sum total of wisdom, perfection in beauty and brilliance, great genius and superb musical talent and numerous other skills. His understanding of God’s ways and laws and applying them in life was perfect. The name Lucifer means “shining star of the dawn,” or “light bringer.” Apparently, Michael and Gabriel the archangels embody similar perfection, but perhaps differing in their abilities and talents.

Either Michael or Gabriel initially covered God’s throne with the archangel Lucifer. Later when Lucifer was sent to the earth, both Michael and Gabriel handled those duties. These duties gave the archangels the opportunity to observe and experience the administration of God’s government in heaven. They learnt how to administer God’s laws and create perfect order and harmony.

One can be certain that heaven was not a dull place, with only business and no play or entertainment. Lucifer and other angels were created with incredible musical talent to be used. Inhabitants of heaven must have produced and enjoyed beautiful, celestial music and entertainment. God and the angels must have lived a perfectly peaceful, happy and an incredibly joyous life. This wonderfully happy state of affairs must have gone on for perhaps hundreds of millions or even billions of years, if the history of the Word is taken as a guide.

The Material Creation

When God and the Word were convinced that the angels were perfectly trained in Their way of life of Love, their laws, and administration of their government, they began sharing their future plans with the angels. They discussed with them plans for the creation of the material universe. They told the angels about the kind of creation it would be and invited input from them to get them to exercise their imagination and build up great anticipation and excitement for the project. This planning could have gone on for a long time. The angels looked at the plan from every angle and learnt how thorough God is in planning and executing projects. When anticipation and excitement had built to fever pitch, the Word then created the material universe. That is what is described in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven[s] and the earth.”

When the angels saw the beauty of the earth, they were absolutely thrilled and shouted for joy as stated in Job 38:4: “4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 7 When the morning stars [meaning angels] sang together, and all the sons of God [again meaning angels who are sons of God by creation] shouted for joy?” Genesis 1:2 in the KJV is translated: “2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The correct translated should be “the earth BECAME without form and void.” If the earth had been created without form and void, meaning in a state of chaos and confusion, the angels would not have shouted for joy.

God is the author of perfection and beauty, and not of chaos and disorder. So, when the earth and the universe were created, they were created in a perfect, beautiful state. But the earth and the universe were created for the angels to work with. They were to further beautify and preserve the earth.

Then God chose a pioneering party of angels to rule the earth. He chose one of the highest rank among them: Lucifer, to be the ruler to administer His government on earth. Lucifer had proved himself thoroughly capable of doing so through his training and testing at God’s universe ruling headquarters. The earth was to be the abode of apparently one-third of all the angels under Lucifer. And Lucifer was set on a throne as Isaiah 14:13 indicates: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…”

God’s Purpose in Creating the Material Universe

But what was God’s purpose in creating the material universe. God created the angels with intellect or mind-power. They have the power to think, reason, make choices and decisions, and the freedom to live and act in any way they choose. But free choice means that the angels could choose to live God’s way or choose to live another way.    

Though God gave the angels incredible intellect, there is one quality that even God cannot create instantly with His creative powers. That quality is God’s holy, righteous character. To create holy, righteous character is a supreme act of creative accomplishment for God Almighty. This is how the late Herbert W. Armstrong, Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God described it in “Mystery of the Ages”, pages 69-70 (emphasis in original):

“God assigns angels responsibilities, but God created within them MINDS – WITH POWER TO THINK, TO REASON, TO MAKE CHOICES AND DECISIONS!

“But there was one super-important quality that even God’s creative powers could not create instantly by fiat – the same perfect, holy, righteous CHARACTER inherent in both God and the Word!

“This kind of character must be DEVELOPED, by the CHOICE and the INTENT of the one in whom it comes to exist.

“So mark well this super-vital truism – that perfect, holy and righteous character is the supreme feat of accomplishment possible for Almighty God the Creator – it is also the means to his ultimate supreme PURPOSE! His final objective!

“But HOW?

“I repeat, such perfect character must be developed. It requires the free choice and decision of the separate entity in whom it is to be created. But, further, even then it must be instilled by and from the Holy God who, only, has such righteous character to endow.

“But what do we mean by righteous character?

“Perfect, holy and righteous character is the ability in such separate entity to come to discern the true and right way from the false, to make voluntarily a full and unconditional surrender to God and his perfect way – to yield to be conquered by God – to determine even against temptation or self-desire, to live and to do the right. And even then such holy character is the gift of God. It comes by yielding to God to instill HIS LAW (God’s right way of life) within the entity who so decides and wills.

“Actually, this perfect character comes only from God, as instilled within the entity of his creation, upon voluntary acquiescence, even after severe trial and test.”

So, God created the angels with free choice. But even God cannot create His prefect, holy and righteous character instantly in an intelligent being. That character has to be developed over time, through tests and trials. Even then such character is instilled by God. The intelligent being cannot do it by himself. God must develop that character in him or her. But it requires the agreement and willing cooperation of the one in whom the holy, righteous character is to be developed.

What then was God’s purpose in creating the material universe? Mr. Armstrong answers:

“What was God’s ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE for the angels? Beyond question it is that which, now, because of angelic rebellion, has become the transcendent potential of humans.

“As the testing ground, and opportunity for positive and active creative accomplishment, God created – brought into existence – the entire vast material universe” (ibid. p. 70).

God’s objective for intelligent beings is to create His own holy and righteous character in them. God wants that they always obey His laws and live according to His way of life, no matter what the circumstances. God had tested the angels and they had passed the test so far and learnt and lived God’s way of life. Now if the angels were removed away from His presence, would they still live according to His way of life? Could they be totally relied upon to live that way of life no matter where they were in the universe? And would they always administer God’s government in the universe? The earth would be the next testing ground. 

The angels had demonstrated in heaven that they would live God’s way of life and live under and administer God’s universe ruling government. Lucifer and the angels with him now had the best possible opportunity to prove themselves and qualify to become rulers and creators in the entire universe on their own. It was an incredible privilege for them to be the pioneers in the next phase of God’s creation plan.

The Earth under Lucifer’s Rule

When Lucifer and the angels came to earth, they must have been absolutely thrilled. Here was an opportunity for them to create whatever they wanted on their own. They effectively ‘owned’ the earth under God. God had created the earth perfect and very beautiful, but as Mr. Armstrong calls it: “It is perfect, but subject to a beautifying finish that God intended angels to accomplish.” Mr. Armstrong continues describing God’s purpose in creating the angels:

“The original “unfinished” creation was produced by God alone. But He intended angels, prehistorically, and MAN, now, to utilize creative power – to finish this part in God’s creation – of adding the final beautifying and utilitarian phases of what shall be the FINAL COMPLETED CREATION!

“And whether or not it had been revealed to the angels, it was a supreme TRIAL AND TEST. It was to be the PROVING GROUND of obedience to GOD’S GOVERNMENT and their fitness to develop into final finished creation the millions of other planets in the vast universe” (ibid. p. 89). 

The angels must have first explored the earth, its soil, water, air, energy and other matter to understand its properties. They must have applied themselves to understanding the various laws of physics, chemistry and mathematics that God had set in motion. The Word must have taught them certain things to start with and then guided them in their discovery. In fact, just as God inspires human thoughts, He also inspired the thoughts of Lucifer and the angels in their discovery of the earth.

The angels would have learnt and developed mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and the other sciences. Then God may have shown the angels how to create vegetation. The angels would have explored this creation and understood it. Their intellectual capacities are far superior to those of human beings. So they would have understood the earth much faster than we can understand it. The angels must then have created some vegetation and living creatures on their own. As time passed, they continued making further progress in creating life. They began to master the earth, and were becoming competent in creating vegetation, living creatures, whole eco-systems and sustaining them. They would have experienced a great sense of accomplishment as their competence increased and they created ever more complex creatures.

The angels were increasing their knowledge on how to create, while God’s government was being administered on earth by Lucifer. They experienced the joys of incredible creative accomplishment, and were living happy lives, enjoying fine music and entertainment under the guidance of the master musician, Lucifer himself (Ezekiel 28:13). This productive and happy state of affairs could have gone on for perhaps hundreds of millions, or a few billions of years.  

Archaeologists and paleontologists have unearthed what appears to be the plant and animal world created by the angels under Lucifer’s rule. That is the world we know as the dinosaur world.

From these fossil records, paleontologists have constructed what that world looked like. Though giant dinosaurs capture the fascination of children and adults alike, it should be understood that there was a great multitude of creatures of various shapes and sizes. Certainly, in contrast to our modern world, giants many times the size and weight of our largest land creature, the elephant, abounded. And they were not concentrated only in a few areas but roamed all over the earth. They could be found in what is now North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. 

And to sustain all these gargantuan and smaller creatures were huge forests of ferns, conifers, cycads (plants that resemble palm trees) and gingkoes (a tree native to China and having fan-shaped leaves and fleshy yellowish seeds with a disagreeable odor – American Heritage Dictionary). These forests were probably greater than any that we have a record of in our world. In addition to the tall trees, there were low lying mosses, horsetails and ferns that a variety of creatures chomped on. There were also large inland areas of shrub and scrub, as well as desert regions.

This world was not created in a few short years. According to the U.S. Geological Survey the earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. This means that the Dinosaur world could have been the result of billions of years of learning and creating by the angels under Lucifer’s rule.

There are indications in the Bible that the angels had to some extent mastered the material creation. Satan was able to inflict sore boils on the body of Job when God allowed him to do so (Job 2:7). This indicates that Satan understands the human body very well and can manipulate it. In Isaiah 11:6-9 God has prophesied that the nature of wild animals will be changed in God’s kingdom. Then God says: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain…” This indicates that it was not God’s intention to create animals that would devour one another. 

Present animal nature is a manifestation of Satan’s nature. Perhaps after the Flood God allowed Satan to order the world according to his ways and we see the results in the animal world. The animals were not hostile to man before the Flood but became so after the Flood. This means that Satan has a great deal of mastery over the material creation. He can affect changes in the bodies of animals and their natures. Incidentally, bodies of carnivores don’t have to be changed for them to become herbivores. During world wars 1 and 2 when meat was in short supply, the zoos maintained carnivores on grains and vegetables for years. After the war they were easily switched back to eating meat. And as Isaiah 11:6-9 indicates in God’s kingdom there will be no carnivores again. The Lion will eat straw like the ox.   

Lucifer and the angels are well acquainted with the constitution of animal and human bodies. Revelation 9:4-6 describes terrifying biological and chemical weapons that will be used in a future world war. These weapons will not kill human beings but inflict terrible pain and suffering on them so that they will prefer death rather than living through the pain and suffering. These weapons will certainly be inspired by Satan, which provides further evidence that he understands human bodies very well and can manipulate them. But he is restricted and can do only what God allows.

For perhaps billions of years Lucifer and the angels lived God’s way of life and Lucifer administered God’s government on earth. But at some point in time Lucifer began to entertain thoughts in his mind of doing things his own way; ways that were different from God’s way of LOVE, the way of outgoing concern for the welfare of others equal to one’s own welfare, the way of sharing, caring and cooperation. He felt the way of competition would be better as it would be an incentive to excel for greater accomplishment. He thought it would be better to serve the SELF to maximize one’s own pleasure. He began to imagine a world in which he would be the ruler of the universe.   

Ezekiel 28:15-17 reveals that Lucifer’s heart was lifted up with pride, and because of his incredible beauty, brightness, talents and wisdom, vanity seized him. He began to think he could do things better than God. This led to wrong reasoning which corrupted his wisdom.  

Such thoughts were violations of God’s law of LOVE for their Creator and fellow-brings. This iniquity began to manifest itself in what Lucifer and the angels with him began to create.  

In the dinosaur world, besides the great herbivores, great carnivores also existed that preyed on other creatures. This indicates how far Lucifer had allowed his thinking to be perverted. He and the angels with him began creating creatures for whom survival of the fittest would be a way of life.    

God and the Word allowed the conspiracy to go on and let Lucifer and the angels exercise their free will. Did Satan discuss with God his idea of creating creatures that compete with each other, and only the fittest survive? It is quite possible. God would have told him He does not agree with his philosophy. After Satan’s continual harping on his plan, God may have simply turned a deaf ear to it. Satan may have used God’s disapproval of his ideas to convince the angels that God does not listen to them. So, there is not much of a future for them in God’s scheme of things. They don’t have the ‘freedom’ to exercise their creative powers to the fullest extent.

Satan’s Rebellion

God allowed Lucifer and the angels with him to continue their experiments in creation and govern it the way they liked and show God their alternate way of life.  

Lucifer in his thinking became more and more perverted, contrary to God’s way of LOVE. God describes what Lucifer’s perverted thinking led him to contemplate through the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Isaiah 14:12-14: “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars [angels] of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.”

“Sides of the north” means in the northerly direction, where God’s heavenly city is located. Isaiah here is revealing that Lucifer had nothing less in mind than taking the throne of the universe from God. He thought of deposing God and becoming the ruler of the universe himself.

Ezekiel describes what caused Lucifer’s thinking to become perverted. Ezekiel 28:15-17: “You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” This verse makes it clear that rebellion of the angels did not originate with the other angels, but with Lucifer himself. Continue in verses 16-17: “By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence [indicates introduction of competition leading to violence], and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground…”

God here reveals through Ezekiel that Lucifer’s heart was lifted up with pride because of his beauty, and vanity seized him. He began to think he could do things better than God. This led to wrong reasoning which corrupted his wisdom. Herbert W. Armstrong describes how sin entered Lucifer’s mind in his book “Mystery of the Ages” p. 91-92:

“He [Lucifer] was created gloriously beautiful – perfect in beauty, but he allowed vanity to seize him. Then he turned to erroneous reasoning. God’s law – the basis of God’s government – is the way of LOVE – outgoing concern for the good and welfare of others, love toward God in obedience, humility and worship – the way of giving, sharing, helping, cooperating. He reasoned that competition would be better than cooperation. It would be an incentive to excel, to try harder, to accomplish. There would be more pleasure in serving SELF and more enjoyment.

“He turned against God’s law of LOVE. He became jealous of God, envious, and resentful against God. He allowed lust and greed to fill him, and he became bitter. This inspired a spirit of violence! He deliberately became his Maker’s adversary and enemy. That was his choice, not God’s – yet allowed by God!

“God changed the adversary’s NAME to what he became, SATAN the DEVIL – Satan means adversary, competitor, enemy. [DEVIL is derived from the Greek word for diabolical.]

“Satan directed his supernatural powers henceforth to EVIL. He became bitter not only against God, but against God’s law. He used his subtile wiles of deception to lead the angels under him into disloyalty, rebellion and revolt against the Creator and finally into a WAR of aggression and violence to attempt to depose God and seize the throne of the UNIVERSE.”

Why Angels Joined Satan’s Rebellion

Question arises, what caused all the angels under Satan to join him in rebellion against God? Mr. Armstrong provides one possible explanation. He writes:

“I know well the method he used. He uses the same method still today in leading deceived humans into disloyalty, rebellion, and self-centered opposition against God’s government. First, he turns one or two to envy, jealousy and resentment over an imagined injustice – then into disloyalty. Then he uses that one or two, like a rotten apple in a crate, to stir up resentment, feelings of self-pity, disloyalty and rebellion in others next to him. And, as each rotten apple rots those next to it until the whole crate is rotten, so Satan proceeds” (ibid. pp. 85-86).

There may have been additional wrong reasoning that led the angels under Lucifer to rebel with him. After Lucifer and the angels thought they had ‘mastered’ the material universe, they felt that they knew all there was to know about God’s creation. They thought they knew all the laws that govern the universe and matter on earth. They knew how to create living creatures. God had taught them everything there is to know about creating and the universe. They would develop any additional knowledge necessary on their own through trial, error and experimentation. They did not need God anymore. So why be ruled by God? Why not take over the universe from Him? Satan convinced them that they would have a glorious future ahead for themselves. They could do as they pleased and govern themselves. 

This obviously was wrong reasoning. The angels who rebelled would not be governing themselves but be governed by Satan. They were to find that out later after the revolt failed miserably. Anytime two or more individuals get together in a group or society, for that group or society to function smoothly and harmoniously, there must be government. And a government has to have some leader in-charge; some constituted authority. The government has to function by certain laws. Laws must prescribe punishment for their violation. And laws have to be enforced by duly constituted authority. By overthrowing God’s government over them, the angels would not be doing away with government, but substituting Satan’s government for God’s government. Doing away with all authority is anarchy, with everyone doing as he pleases. Such a group or society cannot function smoothly. 

The results of the earth functioning under Satan’s government are not hard to visualize. Satan can do only what God allows him to do. But still his limited rule has brought only pain, suffering and extreme misery on all humanity. If he was allowed to become the absolute ruler of the earth, the result would be utter chaos and destruction of humanity and the earth. In fact, when Satan is allowed by God to exercise more power in the very near future, within a few short years he will bring humanity to the brink of annihilation and the earth to utter destruction. If Jesus Christ does not come and intervene to prevent man from destroying himself, Satan will succeed. But we have God’s word in the Bible that Jesus Christ will prevent that from happening.

Satan may have convinced the angels with him that they knew all there is to know about the universe, but later when God created our present mammalian animals, sea creatures and flying creatures, Satan and the demons, must have been stunned. Here was a world God created totally different from the dinosaur world that Satan and his demons thought was incredible. And the creation of man must have been even more shocking for them. They could not have imagined that God would be able to create intelligent living beings out of matter. Then when it was revealed to the apostle Paul (I Corinthians 6:3) that we humans shall judge angels, it must have been a further staggering blow for the Satan and the angels with him that God will actually make puny humans into superior beings in character and ultimately have power over them.

Creation of man would also be a humbling experience for the angels. They would see humanity go astray under Satan’s rule. They would see vain thoughts of puny human beings as they interact with other humans and even God. Then they would realize how some of their thoughts about God may have been equally vain. They would finally learn the lesson of how superior is their Creator to all that He has created. They would learn the lesson that rebelling against their Creator will always be futile.

Now consider how the angelic world was different from what had been created before. Apparently, the 24 elders are created in the image of God. The book of Revelation does not give any indication otherwise. But it seems angels were created with different looks, perhaps because God now wanted to create variety. It appears that the 24 elders are created equal in rank. The angels because of the very large number created had to be created with a hierarchy of differing ranks. Some of them were higher rank leaders, while others were of lower rank. Angels also were created with different talents and abilities, much like humans. Could these differences have been exploited by Lucifer to cause resentment and a false sense of unfairness against God, among the angels under his command?

People can become jealous, envious and resentful of talents, abilities and beauty of people of other races. When people live among those of their own race, they never get the idea that God has discriminated against their race by creating them the way He has. But feelings of discrimination and envy can and do arise when people of different races live together.  

It is possible that Lucifer whipped up resentment against God and the Word among the angels under his rule because of the differences in their looks, abilities, talents and rank. It is probably one of the tactics he used to convince the angels to join him in rebellion against God. He uses the same tactic to cause hatred and division between different human races and social classes. 

Once Lucifer decided to wrest the throne of the universe from God the Father, how long did it take him to convince all the angels under him to join him in the rebellion? The Bible does not indicate the time involved. It could have taken tens or even hundreds of millions of years. But once all the angels were aboard, they decided to attack God the Father, the Word and God’s angels at their headquarters in heaven. They rose up from the earth and stormed heaven. This is indicated by Jude 6: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

However, Lucifer and his angels were unsuccessful in their rebellion. While they fought in heaven, some of them probably went on a rampage throughout the universe in fits of rage and frustration. They didn’t care if they destroyed the universe. They caused much destruction of the surfaces of stars and planets, throwing everything into chaos. They hurled massive rocks on the surfaces of stars and planets, or threw some of them out of their regular orbits so that they collided. Whatever they did caused the craters and other destruction we see on the planets, probably through some of the universe in addition to our galaxy, the Milky Way. Everything on earth was also destroyed. That is how Lucifer – son of the morning, the light bringer – became Satan the devil. The rebellion changed Lucifer’s character to that of “Destroyer.” He became a rebel, a violent aggressor. He became God’s adversary and turned to EVIL, determined to oppose God in every project.

Then God decided to put an end to this rampage by Satan and the demons. He blasted them back to earth [where they were assigned] from heaven, or wherever they were in the universe. This is indicated in Luke 10:18: “And he [Jesus Christ] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

We have to understand the depth of God’s humility from Satan’s rebellion. God dealt with them in a gentle and humble manner as equals, just as a human being would treat another human being as an equal. As a result, Lucifer and the angels with him thought they were equal to God in power and wisdom. That is why they felt they could succeed in defeating God the Father and wresting the throne of the universe from Him.



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