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Three Heavens: Sons of God: Lucifer & Demons
A Study by Josprel
According to Scriptures, there are three heavens.
THE FIRST HEAVEN
The First Heaven is the atmosphere; the envelope composed of a mixture
of vapor with various gases that encloses the planet earth. This is
where the birds fly, and this is where Satan and his demons now exercise
their power. At present the air is their domain.
Ephesians 2:
1: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2: "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience: . . ."
THE SECOND HEAVEN:
The second heaven is what is termed "outer space" by mankind, but is
called "the firmament" by God. In the second heaven are located the sun,
moon, planets, and stars:
Genesis 1:
1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
3: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4: "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divide the light
from the darkness.
5: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
the evening and the morning were the first day.
6: "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,
and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7: "And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under
the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it
was so.
8: "And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day."
It is this second heaven that separates the waters that "are under the
firmament from the waters that are above the firmament."
THE THIRD HEAVEN:
The third heaven is a place to where the Apostle Paul was
caught up:
2 Corinthians 12:
1: "It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to
visions and revelations of the Lord.
2: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the
body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God
knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3: "And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I
cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4: "How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable
words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
This third heaven is referred to as "the heavens of heavens" in:
1 Kings 8:
26: "And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified,
which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
27: But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and
heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have
builded?"
THE SONS OF GOD:
The Old Testament refers to angels as "the sons of God."
Job 1:
6: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan came also among them . . .:
2:1: Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself
before the LORD."
These sons of god were present at the creation of the earth and that
they sang and shouted for joy at that event:
Job 38:
4: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare,
if thou hast understanding.
5: Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath
stretched the line upon it?
6: Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the
corner stone thereof;
7: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?"
Throughout the Scriptures stars often represent angels:
Rev 9:
1: "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto
the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the
pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
LUCIFER:
Josprel's comment:
According to Dr. Scofield's Bible notes, the language of this passage
of Scripture goes " . . . beyond the prince of Tyre to Satan, the
inspirer and unseen ruler of all such pomp and pride as that of Tyre.
Gen.3:14-15 and Mt.16:23 are other instances of thus indirectly addressing
Satan. The unfallen state of Satan is here described; his fall is written
in Isa.14. [Also] See Rev,20:10 . . . Moreover, the vison is not of
Satan in his own person, but of Satan fulfilling himself through an
earthly king who arrogates to himself divine honors, so that the prince of
Tyre foreshodows the beast)Dan.7:8: Rev.19:20").
End of Josprel's comment:
When Satan was Lucifer, he was the sum total of beauty and wisdom:
Ezekiel 28:
11: "Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12: Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say
unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was
thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx,
and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:
the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in
the day that thou wast created.
14: "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee
so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down
in the midst of the stones of fire.
15: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee.
16: 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.
17: 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.
18: Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a
fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee
to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19: All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at
thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more."
The above Scriptures indicate that:
1.) The king of Tyrus is a type of Lucifer/Satan: (verse 12):
2.) As Lucifer, Satan was created by God: (verse 15):
3.) As Lucifer, Satan was full of wisdom: (verse 12):
4.) As Lucifer, Satan was perfect in beauty: (Verse 12):
5.) As Lucifer, Satan was perfect in his ways: (verse 15):
6.) As Lucifer, Satan's perfection originated from the day of his
creation: (verse 15):
7.) As Lucifer, Satan was anointed by God to an exalted office: (verse
14):
8.) As Lucifer, Satan was the Covering Cherub: (verses 14&16):
9.) As Lucifer, Satan sinned through pride, because of his beauty:
(verses 16&17):
10.) As Lucifer, Satan lost his position when iniquity was found in
him: (verse 15):
11.) As Satan, Lucifer defiled his sanctuaries by the multitude of his
iniquities: (verse 18):
12.) As Satan, Lucifer was cast out of the mountain of God:
[Study verse 16 in conjunction with Isaiah 14:13].
13.) As Satan, Lucifer became the purveyor of multitudinous merchandise
that fills his domain with violence: (verse 16):
14.) As Satan, Lucifer will be cast to the ground by God: (verse 17):
[Study verse 17 in conjunction with Isaiah 14:12 & Rev. 12:12 -13:
"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the
inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
13: And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child."]
15. As Satan, Lucifer will be destroyed by God (verse 16):
Study verse 16 in conjunction with Isaiah 14:12: "How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13: 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: 14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I
will be like the most High. 15: Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
to the sides of the pit."
Verse 16 also records that:
1. One of Lucifer's titles was "son of the morning" (verse 12):
2. Lucifer fell from heaven (verse 12):
3. Lucifer's fall was caused by his ambition to ascend into heaven
(verse 13):
4. Lucifer's ambition was to exalt his throne above the stars of God
(verse 13):
5. Lucifer's ambition was to sit upon the mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north (verse 13: compare to Ezekiel 28:16):
6. Lucifer's ambition was to ascend above the heights of the clouds
(verse 14):
7. Lucifer's ambition was to be like the most High (like God) (verse
14):
8. Lucifer was cut down to the ground (verse 12): (compare to Ezekiel
28 and Revelation 12:12-13):
9. Lucifer will be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit (verse
15):
As Satan, fallen Lucifer is referred to in the Bible as, “the god of
this world”:
2nd Corinthians 4:3: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost 4: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
DEMONS:
Demons are fallen angels. Lucifer once ruled the angels of God. He
rebelled through pride, and took one-third of the angels with him; these
angels became demons:
Revelation 12:3: "And there appeared another wonder in heaven . . . a
great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns
upon his heads.
4: "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth . . .
7: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8: "And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven. 9: And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
SATAN CONSIDERS HIMSELF THE RULER OF THIS WORLD:
This is certain from his words to Jesus:
Luke chapter 4:
5: "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him
all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6: And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and
the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I
will I give it.
7: If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8: And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for
it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve."
Matthew chapter 4:
8: "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and
sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9: "And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt
fall down and worship me.
10: "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
Satan's claim that the kingdoms of the earth were delivered to him most
certainly makes reference to Adam's forfeited inheritance. Yet - and
this is conjecture on this author’s past - his words, "All this power
will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me;
and to whomsoever I will I give it . . ." (Luke 4:6) might carry a slight
hint on just why he was so anxious to bring about the fall of man in
the Garden of Eden -- he desired to undermine man's authority over the
earth in order to again establish his own. In this he appears to have a
momentary success, since he is recognized as:
1. "The prince of this world" by Jesus (John 12:31, John 14:30, John
16:11):
2. "The god of this world" by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:4):
3. "The prince of the power of the air" by the Apostle Paul (Ephesians
2:2).
We must rejoice that his success in this is only momentary.
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY, HONOR AND PRAISE, THROUGH HIS ONLY BEGOTTON
BEGOTTEN SON, OUR SAVIOR AND LORD, JESUS CHRIST!
-30-
© Josprel
josprel@verizon.net
About the Author:
Josprel is an ordained evangelical minister who resides
in Western New York - just across the Niagara River from Canada. Though
brought up in a Christian family, he rebelled against the Lord at an
early age, finally enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. He served three
years in the Air Force, two and one half of them in the Far-East, as a
sergeant of operating engineers. Josprel was among the first Air Force
troops to enter Japan, after World War Two. Upon returning home, he
accepted Christ as his Savior and studied for the ministry. A prolific
writer, many of Josprel's stories and articles have appeared in print
and on the Internet. For some ten years, he pastored in Attica, New
York, site of the nation's worst prison riot. After the riot, at the
request of the Attica Prison administration, Josprel sponsored and
conducted three-hour-long weekly Bible studies for the inmates. He is
the author of two novels in progress, "Beloved Apostate" and "Kanfal."
Note: To read of Josprel's ministry at the Attica
Correctional
Institution, see "Maximum
Security: Attica," on Christian-Article-Bank.com
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