When you read the Old Testament books, you would notice that little is said about satan despite his existence and operations since the creation of earth and man. How could it be that a force like that only had a few mentions in historic Israel?
It would interest you to know that there are only four references to satan in the Old Testament books (Job 1,2; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2; Psalm 109:6).
The reason for this oddity is the lack of knowledge about the identity and character of satan. And it is excusable because darkness can never be known if light is not known, just as you cannot know a fake currency if the original currency is not known.
For satan to be known, humans had to know who God is, and it took the coming of Jesus Christ for God to be known.
Here is a scripture that proves this fact.
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
— John 1:18 (KJV)
The Greek word translated “Seen” means “To discern clearly.”
Notice the verse reads “No man.” This means that no one, from the time of Adam until the coming of Jesus, had discerned the character of God. This explains why they could not identify darkness when he was in operation all through human history.
The consequence of this ignorance of the identity and character of God gave occasion for satan to pose himself as the God of this world. But he was merely an imposter God whose reign ended through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the revelation of God’s identity and character. In him, God is fully and truly explained. And this knowledge of light has enabled man to clearly identify satan in his works and character.
I want you to journey with me to the book of Hebrews to see markers that identify this imposter God in human history.
Hebrews 2 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁴ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
¹⁵ And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
There are two statements I want you to note in the above verses – “Power of death” and “Fear of death”.
The text reveals that Jesus, through his death, destroyed satan, who had the power of death. And it was through his power of death he could bring the fear of death upon mankind and consequently bring them under bondage.
The power of death is the knowledge (information) of death – I believe you know that knowledge is power.
There is a biblical proof of power being knowledge.
In Romans 1:16, Apostle Paul equates the gospel of God – which is the knowledge of God – to the power of God.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
— Romans 1:16 (KJV)
Also, the knowledge of death is what produces the fear of death. So, Jesus came to destroy the one (satan) who had the knowledge of death, and through this knowledge, he brought the fear of death upon mankind.
Now, let’s go to the book of Genesis to see if we can identify satan based on the markers – power of death and fear of death – given in Hebrews 2:14-15.
The book of Genesis is important in uncovering the identity of satan and the operation of light because the understanding of the beginning is the beginning of understanding.
It would interest you to know that the first mention of death is by the one called the Lord God.
Genesis 2 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
According to the text above, we see that it is the Lord God who had the information about death and, by implication, had the power of death because knowledge of death is the power of death.
I know that you may want to stop reading at this point, but I encourage you to read on with an open mind: not to take what I write about hook, line, and sinker, but to critically analyze the facts presented in the scripture and in this article.
When the Lord God communicated this knowledge of death to the first family, it produced the fear of death in them so much that when the “serpent” engaged Eve in a conversation, she said that they were not so much as to touch the tree
“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
— Genesis 3:3 (KJV)
The one who we have come to know as satan – the serpent in the garden – didn’t communicate any knowledge of death to Eve, neither did his communication with her impart fear of death in her; rather, it emboldened her to begin the walk of freedom from the bondage of the Lord God.
Now, I must point out that the Lord God in the Genesis account is actually satan, who has reigned as an imposter God over mankind, and the serpent was Light’s first attempt to free mankind from the dominion of satan.
Across the scripture, the serpent has a redemptive theme as seen in the brazen serpent that gave life to dying Israelites to Jesus’ identification with the serpent in John 3:14-15.
John 3 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
¹⁵ That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Another important fact to note in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 events is the fact that the Lord God lied about the outcome of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the serpent apparently spoke the truth.
The proof is in the scripture!
In Genesis 3:23, the Lord God went back to his company and he did not say, “Man has died from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” instead he said, “Man has become like one of us to know good and evil. . .”
“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”
— Genesis 3:22 (KJV)
And the above report was exactly what the serpent said to Eve.
Genesis 3 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
We can clearly see that the Lord God lied about what the tree would do to man, and he used the tactic of lie and fear to keep them away from the tree that begins their journey to living as they were created to live. (Hang on, I will explain the significance of the two trees in the garden in relation to man’s existence.)
Here is what Jesus said about satan and his lying nature:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
— John 8:44 (KJV)
Do you remember that the divine counsel concerning the creation of man spoke of man being created in the likeness and image of God?
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
— Genesis 1:26 (KJV)
So, for man to be in the likeness of “God”, he needs to have the knowledge of good and evil. We know this because the Lord God reported to his counsel members that man had become like them to know good and evil.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is actually information and not a fruit, is intended to give humans the consciousness of their humanity, and the Tree of Life, which is also information, was intended to give them the knowledge of their divinity.
For a man to be in the image of “God,” they needed to receive information regarding their divinity. For a man to be in the likeness of “God,” they needed to receive information regarding their humanity.
I put the word “God” in parenthesis because its derivative Hebrew word was mistranslated to the word “God” when it should rightly be translated as “gods.”
H430Hebrew: אֱלֹהִים
Transliteration: ʼĕlôhîym
Pronunciation: el-o-heem’
Description: plural of אֱלוֹהַּ(H433); gods in the ordinary sense.
So, we are actually dealing with a group of angels here, and this explains the “Let us. . .” in Genesis 1:26 and “one of us. . .” in Genesis 3:22. Don’t think for a second that “us” represents “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”
The word “Lord God” loosely means “Head of the gods.” And the gods here mean angels. The scripture is replete with proof that angels were referred to as gods in ancient civilization.
These angels belong to the class of the angelic called “Morning stars,” for they are the class of angels associated with creation and the emergence of ages.
Job 38 (KJV)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
⁴ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
⁷ When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Now, we can put a finger to when satan fell. He fell in his digression from the divine counsel for man to be created in the image and likeness of “God.”
Instead of leading man on the path of education and evolution, he chose to keep man away from the two knowledge that was key to their existence and dominion over the earth and heaven.
You can clearly see why he did that – he didn’t want man to rule over him. So, he kept man in bondage through ignorance of their humanity and their divinity. (Now in Jesus Christ, mankind rule over the heaven and the earth.)
The ultimate tool of his dominance over man was his introduction of the sin and death concept through the introduction of the law not to eat and the punishment he meted out to them for getting the knowledge of their humanity – for they knew that they were naked and sewed fig leaves for a covering.
Let’s continue the conversation in the next article – there is so much to talk about in the Genesis account of man’s creation, life in the garden, and life outside the garden.
Light is here!
Dr. Destiny Kingston
Destiny Kingston Ministries
#thegodconflict