Tag: king of pride
King of Pride!
Scripture reading for August 23rd: Ezekiel 24-28
Satan inhabited the body of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in rebellion to God’s command. God told the serpent that the Seed of woman would crush his head and he would bruise the Seed’s heel. (Genesis 3:1-6, 14-15) Job underwent a difficult trial as a result of Satan’s accusations of him before God. Satan was given permission to test Job by first taking his possessions and children and then taking Job’s health. In 1st Chronicles 21:1, Satan stood up against Israel and enticed King David to number the people and take pride in how many fighting men he had. In Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan stood before the Lord and accused Joshua, the high priest. The only other direct reference to Satan in the Old Testament is found in Psalm 109:6 where the KJV has “Satan” as the accuser.
There are two other passages that commentators think refer to Satan. One is found in Isaiah 14 and the other is in Ezekiel 28:11-19. Ezekiel wrote concerning the king of Tyre. This lament describes this ‘king’ as being the model of perfection and full of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, the Garden of God and covered with many precious stones. This king was anointed by God to be a guardian cherub on the holy mountain of God. There he walked among the fiery stones and was blameless from the day he was created. Then wickedness was found in him and he was filled with violence and sinned. God cast him out of heaven and down to earth.
This description seems to fit Satan and not just a man or earthly king. If it is Satan, we learn that he was created by God and was beautiful and wise. His beauty caused a selfish pride that got him evicted from Heaven and thrown down to earth. You might say Satan is the king of Pride and of all the proud of the earth. All mankind has fallen under his spell through Adam and Eve’s temptation and disobedience in the Garden of Eden. But God has provided one who has crushed his head, Jesus Christ. The end of time will see Satan cast into the Lake of Fire to endure fiery torment that lasts forever! (Revelation 20:10) Check your own heart for pride today and look to the humble Savior for grace!
King of Pride
Scripture reading for August 25th: Ezekiel 24-28
Satan is not mentioned by name often in the Old Testament. This fallen angel inhabited the body of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in rebellion to God’s express command. The serpent was told by God that the Seed of woman would crush his head one day and he would bruise the Seed’s heel. (Genesis 3:1-6, 14-15) In perhaps the oldest book of the Bible, Job underwent a difficult trial as a result of Satan’s accusations of him before the throne of God. Satan was given permission to test Job by first taking his possessions and children and then taking Job’s health. In 1st Chronicles 21:1, Satan stood up against Israel and enticed King David to number the people and take pride in how many fighting men he had. In Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan stood before the Lord and accused Joshua, the high priest, and was rebuked by the Lord. The only other direct reference is found in Psalm 109:6 where the KJV has “Satan” as the accuser.
There are two other passages that commentators say refer to Satan because the descriptions go beyond that of an earthly man or king. One is found in Isaiah 14 and I have already written on that one. The other is here in Ezekiel 28:11-19 and is a lament composed by Ezekiel concerning the king of Tyre. This lament describes this ‘king’ as being the model of perfection and full of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, the Garden of God and covered with many precious stones. This king was anointed by God to be a guardian cherub on the holy mountain of God. There he walked among the fiery stones and was blameless from the day he was created. Then wickedness was found in him and he was filled with violence and sinned. God drove him from the mountain of God in disgrace. The sin was pride because of his beauty and wisdom. God threw him down to earth and by his many sins and dishonest trade he desecrated his sanctuaries. God brought him to a fiery end and reduced him to ashes in the sight of all who watched.
This description seems to fit Satan and not just a man or earthly king. If it is Satan, we learn that he was created by God to be close to God. He was beautiful and wise. His beauty went to a selfish pride that got him evicted from Heaven and thrown down to earth. There he corrupted many and ended up destroyed by God’s wrath. You might say Satan is the king of Pride and of all the proud of the earth. All mankind has fallen under his spell because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. But God has provided one who has crushed the head of this serpent, Jesus Christ the Lord. The end of time will see Satan (the Devil) cast into the Lake of Fire to endure his fiery torment that lasts forever! (Revelation 20:10) Check out your heart for pride today and allow the cleansing blood of Jesus to wash it away!