THE SOURCE OF THE WORLD’S CHAOS

Genesis 3:1-7; Ez. 28:14-19; Is. 14:12-15
Bob Bonner
March 7, 2004

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” reminds us that for millenium we have lived in a world filled with chaos. Everything ranging from major wars to all sorts of minor conflicts take place all over the globe, such as political conflicts, religious conflicts, church battles, family strife and economic trade wars. These conflicts disrupt lives and loving relationships. The bitterness and hurt that results from such conflicts birth more divisive terrorists. The Apostle James, who lived during the period of the Passion of Christ, saw it all. In his epistle, he asks and answers the questions “How come? What’s the source of all this human unrest?” He writes in James 4:1-3, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

That’s a pretty accurate description of what is going on around us today. But has it always been this way? No. There was a relatively brief period of time after man and woman were first created that there were no conflicts, quarrels or wars. We know that it was a relatively brief period of time because of God’s command given to the man and woman in Genesis 1:28 and the failure to even begin to obey that command. They were commanded to be “fruitful and multiply” or in other words, to have children. But that never happened in the perfect world. Something else took place before they had children. Someone came on the scene to disrupt God’s perfect harmony on the earth, and God’s plan for man and woman. That person is none other than Satan himself.

This morning, we come to our first look at Satan’s impact upon our world, as we begin our study of Genesis 3 and the Fall of the human race. This morning, we want to get to know our adversary: when he was created, how he fell, and his present identity and workings in our world. Next time we will examine more closely woman and man’s first contact and response to Satan. This third chapter of Genesis is important for us to understand because in it we will see ourselves and better understand why it is that we do some of the foolish things we do.

It is important to the overall study of Genesis that we step back and look at the setting of the passage we are about to study. Genesis 3 divides into two parts. Verses 1-7 form a unit on the temptation and fall of the human race into sin. The rest of the chapter, verses 8-24, deals with the results of the Fall.

Let’s read Genesis 3:1-7. It says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it lest you die.”’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

If we are going to capture the full impact of this passage we must note that Genesis 3:1-7 does not stand alone or in isolation. Because of a play on Hebrew words, this passage is connected to and stands in contrast to Genesis 2:25. In Genesis 2:25, we are told that man and woman were “naked” (arummim). In Genesis 3:1, Satan is described as “crafty” or “shrewd” (arum). Then in verse 7, man and woman for the first time realized that they were naked. Until then, they were oblivious to that fact. Their previous nakedness also revealed that they had no understanding of evil or where the traps lay, but Satan did and he took full advantage of their innocence and integrity. As of 3:7 and their sin, they now know “nakedness.”

Therefore, in between Genesis 2:25 and Genesis 3:7, we see the explanation of how man and woman moved from innocent nakedness to shameful nakedness, from integrity to guilt. Furthermore, this context underscores the fact that the integrity of the human race, the right to rule over the human race, was the target of the enemy’s attack.

Anyone who has ever fought a war or who has competed at a high level of athletics will tell you that you won’t be as successful or successful at all if you do not know your enemy or your opponent. You need to become somewhat of a student of your opponent. You should know their weaknesses, tendencies, their strategies and even, sometimes, things about their past. This couldn’t be truer when we consider our enemy in the spiritual realm, Satan. We are not to be consumed with studying him, but neither are we to be ignorant of him. God did not include so much about Satan in our Bible if He didn’t want us to be aware of these things.

There are two passages in the Bible that I am convinced give us some understanding of who Satan is and why he is our rival, opponent and enemy. One is found in Isaiah 14:12-20 and the other is found in Ezekial 28:11-19. The Isaiah passage is in the context of a prophetic warning about the wicked “king of Babylon,” but the prophet seems to go far beyond his denunciation of a mere earthly monarch to a uniquely evil spirit who had possessed and utilized the king’s body and powers. The Ezekiel passage is directed at another later earthly ruler, similarly possessed, the King of Tyre. Likewise, he too is addressed in terms that cannot be attached to a mere mortal. The statements made in both of these passages could never be true of a mere earthly king.

Furthermore, it is quite common for prophetic messages recorded in the Old Testament to point to a double fulfillment or application. So to have some of these words be addressed to an earthly king as well as Satan is not an uncommon prophetic practice. I am convinced these passages speak to the rise and fall of Satan.

I’d like us to look at these two passages in the following manner: First, in Ezekial 28:11-15 we will note those words that point to the uniqueness of and the privileged position of Satan before his fall.

Then we will turn over to Isaiah 14, where we will concentrate on Satan’s problem: his sin that caused him to be cast out of heaven, and his right to rule part of God’s creation removed.

Finally, we will come back to Ezekial 28 and look at Satan’s punishments, the consequences of his rebellion against God.

Look with me at Ezekial 28:11-15. The passage reads, “Again the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God. You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. [in other words, you were the consumation of all that is perfect in your original wisdom and 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. [Note: he is a creation of God, perfect in his ways as everything else was perfect that God created] You were the anointed cherub [or the head angel] 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. [Satan was given the prominent responsibility to guard the throne of God.] You were blameless in your ways, from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” [Until Satan rebelled, he was without sin. He was blameless.]

But not long after Satan was created, he became too big for his britches.“Unrighteousness was found” in him. Being very intelligent, as well as beautiful, He looked in the mirror one day, and full of himself, he thought he would compete with God over the control of God’s creation. We read about his self adulation and subsequent fall from God’s grace in Isaiah 14: 12-15. It says, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! [Jesus uses a similar name for Satan in Luke 10:18] You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! [Satan was cast out of heaven, but given permission to live on the earth that God had just created, and on which God had just placed man and woman in charge.] But you said in your heart, [Here is where we see how his sinful arrogance got him in trouble. From here down, five times we have repeated the arrogant words, “I will...” that detail Satan’s sin.] ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ [and then God says] Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, [the place of the dead] to the recesses of the pit [hell].” Jesus also speaks of Satan’s ultimate demise to come, in His last great sermon, the Olivet Discourse, found in Matthew 25:41.

We read more about Satan’s punishment by God back in Ezekial 28:16-19. It says there, “By the abundance of your trade 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 lifted up 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. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; it has consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have become terrified and you will cease to be forever.”

From that moment on, Satan went from being the privileged angel to being the “serpent” of Genesis 3:1, the “devil” we read about in Revelation 12:9.

Let’s consider a little more Satan’s personhood. What does the Scripture tell us about him? We don’t have the time to do a full blown study of Satan this morning, so let me limit this to looking at a few of Satan’s names and then his character qualities.

Satan’s names tell us much about him, what drives him and how he functions. The following is a quick and brief list of some of Satan’s names and their meanings in English.

1. Satan = ADVERSARY

This tells us that as far as humans are concerned, we are his enemies. He cares nothing for us. He stands against us, opposes us.

2. Devil = SLANDERER

As it concerns our reputations, he spreads lies about us to any and all who will listen, including God. However, thankfully, God knows the truth. But often times our friends don’t. Satan, the Slanderer typically takes just enough of the truth and mixes it with falsehood, that even your closest and dearest friend will think ill of you, when you are innocent.

3. “EVIL One ”

This name stands in stark contrast to God’s attribute of complete goodness. There is no good thing about Satan. He is the author and cultivator of evil. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, when we find ourselves dealing with the evil of other people, our spiritual battle ultimately is not against “flesh and blood” but against the Devil’s schemes, and against his allied evil partners, the demons. Other human beings are not really our enemy, but they are often times unwitting pawns of the enemy.

4. “TEMPTER”

These next two names really go together; they are two sides of the same sword. On one hand, Satan is called the “TEMPTER” who deliberately tries to motivate us to do that which when we are clothed and in our right minds, we know is wrong. We may be fighting him hard, and then we give in. But no sooner do we give in, thinking that, “Okay, the outcome of giving in will get Satan off my back and I will find relief!” then we find out the other side of Satan’s sharp sword.

5. “ACCUSER of the brethren”

We then discover that Satan is the “ACCUSER of the brethren.” He is jealous of the love, acceptance and forgiveness and the right to rule in the future that God has promised us. Hence, this Accuser not only accuses you and puts the thoughts in your head that you are a failure and don’t deserve to be saved, etc., but he puts those same thoughts out there with other human beings and he even tries to convince God that we are not worth saving. However, God never falls for Satan’s accusations.

As you probably realize, just because we are saved and called “saints” by God, we can and still do sin. But even when we do, Jesus stands up for us, even against the Accuser, Satan himself. His shed blood and love protects us from any accusation, true or false, by Satan.

We read these words about Christians, those who have genuinely committed their lives to Christ as their Lord and Savior, in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present , nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Once we are saved, nothing Satan says or does to us can cause God to reject us. We are secure in His love, acceptance and approval.

In our passage of Genesis 3:1, we see the first character or attribute of Satan revealed in Scripture. He is called “SHREWD” or “crafty.”

1. “SHREWD.” Genesis 3:1

This word “shrewd” carries the idea of being wary; of knowing where the traps lay and the dangers that lurk. This quality of shrewdness is not evil in itself, for according to Proverbs 1:4, we are told that the naive person and the simpleton need to cultivate shrewdness. But in Genesis 3:1, this shrewdness is used for an evil purpose.

With its play on words, with the similar word for “naked”, we can understand why the term “naked” implies that man and woman were oblivious to the evil intentions behind Satan’s temptation. They were both simpletons when it came to knowing where the dangers lay and the schemes of the Devil.

Satan is seldom obvious in his moves. Here, in Genesis, he comes to them in a disguise of a serpent. Other times, he comes in the disguise of a bright and shining light, as one who appears to want to help, but ultimately wants to destroy.

Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that Satan is a murderer and the father or originator of lies. In Revelation 12:9, we are told that he is a deceiver.

Bottom line, Satan is never your friend, regardless of what temporary powers or other promises he may make you. Furthermore, you are not in his league. Don’t do battle with him. Allow Jesus to do it for you.

After Satan’s fall from heaven to earth, he had one mission: to usurp man’s authority over the earth and to bring destruction to the human race. Take a quick stroll with me through the first eleven chapters of Genesis and you will see how this plays out.

In Genesis 1:1-2, we learned that when God began His creative work on our planet as we know it, He began with a chaotic state. Presumably, God was working with what was left over of a realm or domain that once belonged to Satan. From that, God created our planet, a marvelous world, one in which, according to Genesis 2, Adam and Eve were put in authority. From Satan’s perspective, this should have been his world. These human beings were invaders into what once was his world. He wanted it back. He, the murderer, deceiver, liar, destroyer, the “Evil One” would do anything and everything in his power to get it. Because they were invaders, Satan had to attack them and subvert them. He had to attempt to win them back under his control.

Go back with me to Genesis 1:28, and look with me at God’s original assignment for Adam and Eve. You will see that God had a five-fold command He gave to the couple, the rulers of the earth. First they were to be “fruitful,” meaning to have children; not just one child, but multiple children if they could. That’s the idea behind the second command, “multiply.”

But when do you know that you have multiplied enough? The third command explains it: until you have “filled the earth”, meaning spread out all over the globe, multiplying as you go.

Then God adds two more commands: He orders them to “subdue” or bring order to, steward, manage or to take the world to its maximum fruitfulness; and finally, “rule” or remain in ultimate control over the earth. Rule refers to sovereignty, whereas subdue refers to management. They are not the same thing. But here, God instructs the original pair that they are to rule, be coed kings, who are to work in harmony as rulers of the earth.

But then in Genesis 3, the Fall takes places. What happens? Satan steps in and takes over the ruling of this earth. After the Fall, God did not renew this commission to rule with Adam and Eve.

Did God nullify all of the other commands He gave them in Genesis 1:28? No. In Genesis 9:1-2, we read this: “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” How many of the original commands has God so far repeated from Genesis 1:28? He is three for three. God repeats this command a second time in 9:7.

Look at 9:2: “And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.” This verse and the next that explains that they can eat the plants and animals as they wish, explains the fourth command, that of being the steward or manager over the creation.

The command that is obviously absent and has never been repeated to mankind is the command “to rule” the earth. It is the only command that is absent. Why? Because until some time in the future, when Satan is permanently cast into hell, this world is his domain to rule. Furthermore, he wants nothing more than to destroy you and this world, because he knows he can’t keep it forever. He knows he is doomed and if he can’t have it, he doesn’t want anyone to have it.

You would have thought that after the Fall and the destruction of the Flood, that the people would get the message and do what God told them to do. But sinful and stubborn hearts of men and women said “No!” again to God.

In Genesis 10-11, we see the people disobeying God’s command “to fill the earth.” Instead, they didn’t want to fill the earth. They wanted to stay put. They rebelled, and built the Tower of Babel to lay claim to that territory, refusing to spread out and fill the earth. So, what does God do? He confuses their languages and forces them to scatter to the four corners of the earth, so as “to fill the earth.”

The first four commands are still in tact. Only the fifth is not. As a result of our loss of the right to rule, Satan now rules this planet, temporarily. And unwittingly, many of us have become Satan’s agents. He is out to use, abuse and destroy our lives.

When will this stop? The end is in sight. When Jesus Christ was crucified and conquered death through his resurrection, He simultaneously conquered Satan and proved Himself to be the King over God’s creation. The only way that we can escape Satan’s grasp is to be reconciled to God and to join God’s winning team. That’s done by submitting our lives to Jesus Christ, as our Savior and Lord.

When Jesus Christ becomes our Lord and Savior, Satan no longer has power over us. He can still deceive and tempt us, but he can never ultimately win over our lives. For we read in 1 John 4:4, “...greater is He who is in You (meaning Jesus), than he (meaning Satan) who is in the world.”

Notice the contrast to what we have learned about Satan this morning and what is spelled out about Jesus in John 14:6, in which Jesus said, “I am the way (up and out of here, not down and out), the truth (no lies or deceiving) and the life (not death, shame or nakedness), no one comes to the Father but by Me.” Jesus is God’s only solution for our sin and rebellion. He is the only one who can rescue us from Satan’s grasp, solve our sin problem and begin the work of transforming our lives.

Once we commit our lives to Him, Paul tells us we can rejoice and be thankful. He writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “But thanks be to God who leads us in His triumph through Christ...” We have already won. We are on the winning side. Satan has already lost.

Our purpose for being saved and left here on this earth should be obvious. It is to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ. To spread the Good News that Jesus can rescue others from their sins and from the control of Satan over their lives. We are to obey God’s directives, not to just evangelize, but something more than that. Jesus commands us to “make disciples” in Matthew 28:19-20, which is a deeper, more life- demanding process. It requires relationships with others, reaching out to the unlovely, coming alongside and showing them what Christ has done and how He empowers them to live and reign on earth right now. Once a person comes to Christ, that person has Christ’s authority and power to rule over Satan and sin. And one day, we will rule perfectly with Christ in His new heaven and new earth, never to be separated from God again.

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