Return to Bible Basics

 

Several months ago I wrote on the subject: “Back to Bible Basics – The ABCs of Christianity”. Below I am repeating a portion of that post to lay a foundation for some newer concepts for your consideration. The repeated excerpts are these:

For Christians who rely on the Bible as the foundation for their beliefs, there are several basic concepts that bear emphasis and repeating. These include (in no special order):

            RE: The Bible as Scripture

·       All Scripture (Old and New Testaments) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man (and woman) of God may be perfect (complete), thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3: 16-17)  

·       Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.  (Romans 15:4) “Aforetime” refers to the Old Testament scriptures.

·       “Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15)   Remember to note the circumstances of the specific portion of the scripture… who is writing, to whom, what is being said, when, where, how, and if available, under what other circumstances.

·       Early in the Scripture, readers were alerted that God keeps secrets, until He is ready to reveal them.  (Deuteronomy 29: 29)   One key to successful Bible study is to continue reading, to learn those secrets / “mysteries”.

 

With that background, especially the last bulleted point above, consider the additional statement made by one of my teachers that has served me well in my study: “The Bible probably won’t give the answers to every question you want to ask, but it will tell you everything that God wants you to know for your salvation.”  Others have said that all things will be revealed when we are with our Lord Jesus, but we can still exercise our minds now.

As I’ve previously mentioned to a few of our colleagues, many years ago when I read the early chapters of the Book of Genesis there were questions that arose that seemed too difficult to answer. Two of those questions are the focus of this paper. They are:

1.     What happened in Genesis Chapter One, between Verse One and Verse Two? ; and

2.     In Genesis Chapter Three, why did the serpent deliberately deceive the woman Eve, and thereby destroy God’s relationship with man, bringing death into the world?

For the sake of time and writing space, I ask that you review those scriptures yourself, while I attempt to share some of my thoughts on them.

First, like many others I believe there is a link between the two questions and their answers. I would like to address the second question first, because I believe it has a stronger scriptural basis. Also remember the bulleted point above that we should learn from “things written aforetime”.

When we read the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, in Chapter 14 , the Prophet describes by name “Lucifer” as the angel who had fallen / been cast down from heaven because of his intention to “exalt (his) throne above the stars of God…sit upon the mount of the congregation…and “be like the Most High (God)”. (v. 12 – 14) That was the only reference in the Bible to that name “Lucifer”, but earlier in that chapter (v. 4) he was referred to as “king of Babylon”.

Later in the scripture, in the Book of Ezekiel, in Chapter 28, that Prophet provides other significant details about both the status and nature of this fallen angel…this time under the name of “king of Tyrus”. (v. 12 – 19)  The entire description is important, so I encourage you to read all those verses. Even so, note that he was an “an anointed cherub (angel)” with significant responsibility in heaven (verse 14); he had been in the Garden of Eden (v. 13);  until his iniquity / evil / unrighteousness was uncovered (v. 15).  He had been one of the favored Archangels, along with Gabriel (Messenger) and Michael (Warrior), and apparently shared their responsibility to uphold and protect the Righteousness of the Sovereign God. Jealousy of his Creator resulted in his being cast out of heaven down to the ground. (v. 16 – 17). This was confirmed by our Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, as He referred to this fallen angel by the name “Satan”. (Luke 10:18)

Having lost his position of authority in heaven and having had one-third of his angelic followers expelled with him (Revelation 12: 9), Lucifer / Satan undoubtedly magnified his anger and resentment against his Creator God.  Some people have postulated that those events resulted in a cataclysmic war that destroyed the perfect earth of Genesis Chapter One, Verse One, and resulted in the darkness and emptiness of the earth as described in Verse Two. That could be a plausible explanation to answer Question One above. However, without the certainty of scriptural documentation, that will remain one of God’s mysteries, until as stated above, He reveals the answer to us.

Those events possibly made Lucifer / Satan’s desire for revenge and his ambition to replace God even more intense goals.

When God created the heavens and the perfect earth in the Book of Genesis; then created man in His own image and made man His beloved creation by giving him dominion over the earth, that series of events was considered by many to have provided Lucifer / Satan an opportunity to accomplish both his goals.  Potentially he would be able destroy this new creature man, made in the image of God (since he couldn’t destroy God Himself). Further, if he could somehow trick God into performing an unrighteous act, then God would no longer uphold the standard of Righteousness required of the Sovereign. As a result, Lucifer / Satan could / would take God’s Throne as Supreme Being.

Since Satan was a powerful spirit-being, many think that he indwelt the Serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis Chapter Three), in a manner like that in which the scripture says he indwelt Judas in betraying our Lord Jesus. (Luke 22: 1-6). In that guise, Satan would cause the death of the man and / or place God in the position of failing to enforce His own commandment if because of His love for His new creature, He allowed the man to live.

That scenario provides a possible / plausible(?) answer to Question Two above.  I encourage you to now read again the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis in that context.  Do you have some alternative thoughts about the answers to those questions? Since those things that were written aforetime were written for our learning, I’m still trying to learn. 😊

Dr. W. A. Robinson