If you’re like me and hang around Bible circles, chances are that you have gotten into a debate over one of the most famous events in the Bible and human history.
What debate is that? The debate over what happened in the Garden of Eden, of course!
Whether the question is, why did GOD say that it was not good for man to be alone, or whose fault it was as to why Adam and Eve got thrown out of the garden, everyone seems to have their take on what really happened. In fact, a recent debate that I had sparked this article.
While listening to someone explain their theory of why Eve listened to the serpent in the garden. And I do mean their theory because their story was nothing like the Genesis version. While pretending to listen, I would occasionally nod my head. As my mind began to wander, I thought about a statement I heard many times across the pulpit of my church. The statement was, “Satan always uses the same trick over and over again.” Satan doesn’t change his strategy because it continues to work.
From the beginning of humanity until now, Satan has been a thorn in humanity’s side. However, Satan had a past before the beginning of humanity. Let’s look into Satan’s past, and what he was like before he was placed in the garden of Eden.
The Bible mentions very little about Satan’s role before Adam and Eve were created. He was mentioned once in the book of Ezekiel, and once in the book of Isaiah.
In Ezekiel 28:12-19, the Bible explains that Satan was an angel in heaven. He was very beautiful from the day he was created. GOD arrayed him with all kinds of beautiful stones, and he walked in some very sacred places in Heaven. Two places mentioned are the Holy Mountain of GOD and in the midst of the stones of fire. This all ended when iniquity was found in him.
Ezekiel 28:16-17 says, “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, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.”
These verses are important because we see that Satan had sinned, and his heart was lifted up because of his beauty and the multitude of his merchandise (goods).
In Isaiah 14 verse 12, the Bible calls Satan by the name of Lucifer, which means son of the morning. In verse 13, the Bible explains what was in his heart that caused him to sin which we read about in Ezekiel.
It says, “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.” (Ezekiel 28:13-14 KJV).
Lucifer was created by God to have the finest clothes, and to be beautiful to look upon. However, it was not from anything that he did or accomplished, it was because of God’s goodness. Unfortunately, Lucifer’s position went to his head. Instead of serving GOD like he was created to do, Lucifer wanted to be the boss.
The Bible doesn’t explain how, but we do know that Lucifer (Satan), was somehow able to persuade one-third of the Heavenly angels to join his treason. I believe Lucifer deceived the angels in order to get them to follow him. That last statement was my only opinion, so you can take it or leave it.
I once heard a famous television personality make a profound statement. The statement that he made was pertaining to a different topic, but I think it works here. He said, “They don’t create, they recruit.”
That’s exactly what Satan did in Heaven, and that’s what he also does on Earth. He cannot create, so he uses deception to recruit people to join him instead of following God.
Let’s look back at the story of the Garden of Eden. Satan used deception in order to get Eve to commit the same sin he did, wanting to be like God. That is just how recruiting works, Satan recruited Eve to fall into sin, and she then recruited Adam to join her. 1 Timothy 2:14 says, “Adam was not deceived.” Adam knew that he was choosing to follow Eve rather than obey GOD. So, Eve and Adam were Satan’s first two recruits on earth.
Lying, deception, and sin are so highly contagious that once unleashed, it spreads until it destroys everything in sight. You can see Satan’s main tool, deception, throughout human history in and outside of the Bible. In fact, things got so bad that GOD had to start over with a man named Noah.
Unfortunately, Satan was able to once again use deception to corrupt the world. With the tower of Babel, Satan deceived people once again to believe they could build a building to reach Heaven. Throughout the years, kingdom after kingdom was deceived into believing that either the kings were gods, or the king demanded that the people worship false gods.
However, it finally took Jesus to come to earth to stand against Satan. And Satan even tried to deceive Jesus, but Jesus fought him the way we should fight him. Jesus used the word of God against him, and Jesus overcame Satan.
In the last days, Satan will once again deceive many. The Bible says that those days will be like the time of Noah. Evil! Sound familiar?
Satan will place the Antichrist in a position where he will deceive many by saying that he is a god. However, once again, Jesus will come and save the day. Jesus will throw the Antichrist and the false prophet into the Lake of Fire. Next, Satan will be chained and thrown into the bottomless pit. Then, Jesus will set up his kingdom on Earth, and he will reign for a thousand years.
After the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released for a short time. Just as before, Satan will go out and deceive people again. He will cause people to gather together to fight against Jesus and his Saints. Finally, fire will fall from Heaven destroying the wicked people, and Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.
It’s amazing to me that Satan has been using deception for all of humanity’s existence, and humanity falls for his trick every time. As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” God has told us through the Bible what will happen in the end times. We know that many people will be deceived, but we should not be the ones that are deceived like Eve was. Furthermore, we should not be like Adam, being a willing recruit for Satan’s tricks.
Let’s end with a sports analogy. If a team that you are playing against runs the same play over and over again.
STOP FALLING FOR IT!
Selah. (Think about it).
G. Edward Wyche