Spiritual War - Origin of Evil #1

Have you ever wondered why the world seems so broken and beyond repair if God made it? That's a question that billions of people have considered since the beginning of time. 

The “Most High God,” Creator of all that is unseen (heaven) and seen (earth) is the absolute ruler of all things. God, Himself is spiritual. God’s plan for His Creation has always existed. The host of heaven (angels, cherubim, seraphim) were created to glorify the Lord in His heavenly tabernacle, the throne room of God. The host of heaven are identified as the “sons of God.” Together in heaven, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the sons of God formed the heavenly council identified in Jeremiah 23. The sons of God rejoiced when they saw their Creator speak the physical world into existence, according to Job 38:7. 

Everything God created was perfect until it wasn’t. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 provide the backstory of what happened in the spiritual world that has so devastated our physical world.

The origin of evil cannot be understood without a clear picture of Satan, who he is, where he comes from, and what he is doing. When was the last time you heard a sermon on Satan? Buckle up, Buttercup. Here it comes. 

Isaiah 14:12  reads, “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.” Historical context for this verse is critical. Isaiah was a prophet of Israel before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. He knew that the sin of idolatry was the reason God would use ungodly Babylon to discipline Israel. That is another lesson for another time. For now, it is important to identify the “star of the morning.” 



According to the Jewish prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), “stars” always point students to the heavenly host, fallen and unfallen. A better English translation of “O star of heaven, son of the dawn,” would be “O day-star, son of the morning.” The Bible has ten specific titles for Satan. “Day-star, son of the morning” is only one of them. This is where many have mistakenly identified the “shining one” as Lucifer, which comes from the Latin Vulgate. Lucifer is Satan. He is the shining one. According to Ezekiel 28:13, Satan, the most beautiful of all that God created in the heavens, was a cherub. He was covered in precious stones that reflected God’s glory throughout heaven. Even today, Satan appears on earth as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).



In Isaiah 14:12-15, Satan’s strategy to overthrow God is revealed in five “I will” statements.

• I will ascend to heaven.
• I will raise my throne above the stars of God.
• I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north.
• I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
• I will make myself like the Most High.

Let’s unpack this. 


1. “I will ascend to heaven.” - The Day-Star was already in heaven. He wasn’t satisfied with two facts. Satan was the guardian of God’s throne, perfect in every way, according to Ezekiel 28:11 & 12. Satan couldn’t get in higher, have any more authority, without displacing God.
2. “I will raise my throne above the stars of God.” - Satan declared his intention to rule over all of the heavenly host.
3. “I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north.” - The Old Testament prophets used this type of expression to identify and describe the Messianic Kingdom, when Messiah Jesus rules the world from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Satan wants the rule that belongs to the Jewish Messiah of Israel over the entire world.
4. “I will ascend over the heights of the clouds.” - “Cloud,” when used symbolically, should spark some hyperlinks in your mind, if you are a student of the Bible. Israel was led in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud on their way to the Promised Land. Moses disappeared into a cloud on Mt. Sinai to receive the Mosaic Covenant on behalf of Israel. Jesus was enveloped by a cloud to discuss His impending death in Jerusalem. “Cloud” is associated with God’s own Shechinah glory. Satan wanted that for himself.
5. “I will make myself like the Most High.” - The Most High owns heaven and earth. It has always been Satan’s objective to be the sole ruler of what God created.

It is clear from what has been discussed today, that Satan is a reality most Christians are woefully unprepared to understand, much less teach to others. The spiritual war between the Creator (God) and His once heavenly adversary (Satan) has broken out on planet earth. This is just one part of the origin story of evil. What happened in heaven came to earth.

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” - Genesis 1:2

The second verse of the Bible presents the picture of a world of chaos and disorder, a world in darkness. As a follower of Jesus, I know that wherever God is, there is light. But this verse indicates there is no light to be found. Why is it dark? This question relates to our title, “The Spiritual War, Origin of Evil.” Earlier we took a Deep Dive into Isaiah 14. Isaiah understood the ruler of Babylon was empowered by a greater king, Satan. 

Now, let’s turn our attention to Ezekiel 28, to the King of Tyre, who is the ruling authority over the prince of Tyre, as discussed in verses one through ten. The prince of Tyre believed himself to be God. The same is true of Satan, the King of Tyre. Read verses eleven through nineteen. This section of Scripture identifies the King of Tyre with certain attributes, some of which have already been spoken of.


• Resident in the heavenly garden of God, the Tabernacle
• Body encrusted with light reflecting precious stones
• THE anointed cherub, guardian of God’s throne
• Possessing blameless perfection
• Traded his perfection, power, and position for violent rebellion against God
• Pride resulted in expulsion from residency and cast down to the ground
• Turned into ashes, and  
• Will cease being a disruptor in heaven or on earth


In English, Genesis 1:3 starts with an interesting word, “then.” This word suggests sequencing. What happened in God’s heaven resulted in the darkness of verse two. Because of the destruction, God began a renovation project on Earth. He spoke into the darkness, saying “Let there be light.” 

The prologue of John’s Gospel, the first eighteen verses of chapter one, identifies the Creator as Jesus. He is the Light where there is no light. Furthermore, as the heavenly enemy of his Creator, Satan knows the identity of Jesus. History then is the story of Satan’s battle within the cosmos to prevent Jesus from recreating that which belongs to Him.

1. 

Satan knows the Creator is Jesus, who will become the “Seed of the Woman.”
2. Satan knows that Jesus will destroy him.
3. Satan knows that Jesus will enter the world through Abraham’s descendants, Isaac and Jacob.
4. Satan knows that Jacob’s descendants will become the nation of Israel through which Messiah Jesus would enter His Creation.
5. Satan knows that the Jewish God/Man will rule from Jerusalem for 1,000 years.
6. Satan knows that at the end of 1,000 years, he will be cast into the Lake of Fire and turned to ashes.

The story of Satan’s demise runs through the history of the Jewish people. Have you ever wondered why throughout time, the Jewish people have been the target of global hatred? 

Satan knows the story. Do you? We will continue this discussion in the next Disciple Daily Deep Dive. But we do not want to leave you without a practical application. 

Jesus defeated death 2,000 years ago through His death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead three days later. All of this was prophesied by the Jewish prophets of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.

The thing Satan fears the most is people having no fear of death, the eternal exile from God’s presence. Second Corinthians explains that for believers in Jesus, absence from the body (death) is presence with the Lord. Those who do not believe, those without faith, will be separated from God forever along with Satan and his fallen angels. Satan is further crushed when each individual who believes Jesus and breaks the darkness to enter the Light. 

Each individual must decide about the truth of the Jesus story. Nobody can do this for you. If you want to experience Satan’s defeat in your world, believe in Jesus and teach others to do the same. Take Jesus’s gift of life as your own by accepting what He has already done on the cross, in the grave and now in the skies.