by Orlando Gonzalez

Out of all the characters in the Scriptures that have done foolish things, there is none, in my humble opinion, that has outdone what Satan did.

Ironically enough, he started his life off splendidly! You may be right to say that he had much more than anything he would’ve ever needed in his life. Satan used to be one of, if not the greatest, angel God had ever created in all of existence, and yet, he suffered a downfall that could’ve been completely avoided if it were not for himself becoming his own worst enemy.

Thankfully, God was willing to give us a brief glimpse into the origin of the enemy of mankind, the Great Adversary. In the book of Ezekiel 28:12-17, we read this:

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your trade
[f]You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lofty because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you” (LSB).

Granted, this passage is a message that God wanted the prophet Ezekiel to convey to the king of Tyre about his rebellious nature and impending doom; however, the description of the king bears a resemblance to that of a fallen angel. Fortunately, we do not need to delve deeply into the text to determine if this is indeed a symbolic overview covering the downfall of the Great Adversary or not, for God mentions not only the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 28:13) but also the position of a cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). A cherub, mind you, is a highly-renowned position for an angel.

Unfortunately, despite being highly esteemed even by God Himself, Satan wanted more. He wasn’t satisfied with staying as the most powerful, beautiful, and dignified angel out of all of his brethren. One day, he decided, in whatever extreme and ridiculous reasoning he managed to convince himself into following, that it would be a good idea to become like God (his Creator) and the only way to make that possible would be to remove Him from His position; A complete mutiny; a rebellion. A treacherous act. Worthy enough of the deepest pits in Hell.

I do wonder if Satan had any second thoughts or remorse when he was nearing the time when he would carry out this plan. All the thinking, all the planning, all the conversing with other angels to get him to join him and paint the Being that was the source of all that is good as the villain. However, it all played out, we know what caused his rebellion.

In Isaiah 14:12-15, we see that pride was what ran through the spiritual veins of this once highly renowned figure of beauty. It caused Satan to foolishly think that he could do a better job than the Creator at running reality as we know it. So, unsurprisingly, God didn’t take it too kindly. Isaiah 14:12 mentions how badly Satan lost his power, Isaiah 14:15 states his destiny, and Luke 10:18 describes how Satan fell.

“And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (LSB).

It’s humorous (and saddening) how Earth can be seen as a “What-If” scenario if Satan did manage to rule over Heaven. It’s astounding how he thinks he’s better than the Holy Trinity if he can’t even rightly run a single spec of dust in the universe!

Now, you would think that Satan would have learned his lesson and would try his absolute hardest to seek God’s forgiveness and mercy. Well, no, you’d be wrong. Instead, Satan held on to his pride with an ungodly grip. So much so that he thought he still had a chance at overthrowing God after Jesus died and saved humanity! But unsurprisingly, that attempt didn’t work (Revelation 12:7-9). Now, in the modern day, Satan is on a dog leash, being used as a tool to carry out God’s will until He is thrown into Hell, according to Revelation 20:1-3:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time” (LSB).

What should we take away from this, then? The clearest message from this character of the Bible is that pride should be avoided at all costs! It is so dangerous that if someone like Satan were to allow himself to become who he is today thanks to becoming discontent with his former position in Heaven, then we Christians should never believe that we can never become prideful, even with all the experience, knowledge, and wisdom that we have obtained over the years! Yes, we can, and always will, have the choice not to become prideful, but there will always be moments of temptation, big or small. Subtle, or obvious. The devil knows how human minds work, and if we aren’t careful enough, we will start to think that we’re right with full sincerity and conviction, when in reality we have compromised our salvation, ruined our relationship with God, and have caused significant damage to our reputation and effectiveness in the kingdom. Focusing on yourself and what you want never ends well (Proverbs 16:18). Just like how God condemned Satan for becoming prideful over his state in life, God will also condemn us (I Timothy 3:6). We must deeply reflect on our thoughts, our hearts, and our actions and use the Word of God as the judge of whether we’re right in His sight or not.

Let us always remember to strive to avoid becoming conceited. Here are the last two passages that I want to share with you for your consideration. Heed them, and the grace and love of God will strengthen and guide you all the days of your life.

“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time…” (I Peter 5:5-6 LSB).

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:6-7 LSB).