“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your 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.' Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).
Covenant Prayer
Dear Father, I ask that You would give me the power and the strength to discern the ways of the enemy and what to do about his attacks. I believe in Your divine interventions and Your ability to use his lies to tell me the Truth. I choose to appropriate Your ways within my life. I stand with Your Son, Jesus Christ, in renouncing the tactics of the enemy. I thank You for giving me the help and guidance I need in walking the walk and not just talking the talk. I ask that You would use this lesson to reveal to me the Truth that will set me free from the lies of the evil one. These things I pray in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Take Action – Your View:
Satan, the name of the prince of evil, means adversary.
- Read Numbers 22:22. Answer the following question: Why was God angry?
- By reading Job 1:6-12, we find Satan presenting himself before God among the “sons of God.” It appears that the enemy needs permission to attack the children of God. Read this passage and describe the role Satan must play with God, the Father.
- Read 1 John 3:8 and meditate on its Truth.
- Read Isaiah 14:12 and think about what God did to Satan because of his sin.
- Now read Isaiah 14:13-14. What violation did Satan commit?
- In your opinion, why do you believe it was so important for Satan to steal the role of the heavenly Father?
The Father’s View
The original family is not about to be broken up by an angel who thinks himself to be a father. God’s role is not “up for grabs”. He will not offer His seat to anyone - angel or man. God, the Father, considers it a major violation for any being to attempt to be like Him or to take on the role of the heavenly Father. Preserving the original family is a top priority for God. His perfect model is a clear demonstration of perfection regarding spiritual, relational, and physical relationships. God is pleased to announce that His heaven is secure and free from all forms of rebellion.
It is unclear to us why God allows “self-will,” even in the heavens. We can only assume that God created men and women with the same design of heaven. God created the angels with a will to choose whom they would serve. Satan (named Lucifer at the time) chose to be an adversary to the Father of heaven and paid a stiff penalty because of this act of declaring, “I will make myself to be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). No one is to take on the role of Father except the One who is the Father. Authority is the key to accomplishing a significant work, good or bad. Satan knew that he was unable to accomplish his work unless he had the authority to do it.
Satan knows that God’s order of conducting business is the only way. He understands that God is the supreme Father and Christ is the Son. The Son only says and does what the Father tells Him (John 8:28). The Word of God is God and Christ spoke only His Father’s Words. Even Christ did not speak on His own initiative, but spoke as His Father taught Him. The Holy Spirit’s role was to bring the Words of Jesus to remembrance to the disciples/Christians (John 14:26). Angels are designed by God to carry out the business that God, the Father, orders. Gabriel leads in the deliverance of God’s messages and Michael leads in spiritual warfare. Lucifer was in charge of the “harp” - worship (Isaiah 14:11).
For whatever reason, Satan was not content with the role in which God placed him. He asserted himself by attempting to take on the heavenly Father in the role of the father. His attempt at a “hostile takeover” placed him in eternal damnation. Just as Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden, Satan was removed from heaven (Isaiah 14:15). In heaven, attempting to take the role of the Father is a serious and unforgivable offense. Thanks to Jesus, when we attempt to do this, we can be forgiven and made whole again. This is not the case for Satan. When a heavenly host attempts to take the throne of the Father, the consequences are irreversible.
One can only imagine how hostile Satan was when he was cast from heaven like a lightning bolt. I’m sure he hit the dirt with a revenge that shook the foundation of the world. His consequences for the attempt of takeover put him in his place; but he was not about to stop there. In the next lesson, we will explore what began to unfold regarding Satan’s attempt to take the role of Abba Father.
The term authority comes from the word “author.” God is the Author and Perfecter of the universe. His Son is the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before the heavenly Father endured the cross, despised the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of His author, the Abba Father. When Satan, or anyone else, attempts to claim ownership of the Book of Life, he is attempting to forge the name of the living God. The one who does this has a problem with submitting to authority. Satan does not like what is written in the Book of Life about him. It spells “doomsday.”
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Next time: Satan Becomes Fatherless
