#1165 Ezekiel 28 Part 3 Till Unrighteousness Was Found In You

 

You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created,

till unrighteousness was found in you.

16 In the abundance of your trade

you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;

so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,

and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,

from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I exposed you before kings,

to feast their eyes on you.

18 By the multitude of your iniquities,

in the unrighteousness of your trade

you profaned your sanctuaries;

so I brought fire out from your midst;

it consumed you,

and I turned you to ashes on the earth

in the sight of all who saw you.

19 All who know you among the peoples

are appalled at you;

you have come to a dreadful end

and shall be no more forever.” Ezekiel 28: 15-19 ESV

Ezekiel 28:15 

15 From the day you were created - We don't know how long angels were created before men, but we can see them called the morning stars and sons of God in the book of Job, and the context of this dialogue in Job is also very important, for Job has wanted a meeting with God to present his case, and he has also noted that he may just need a mediator. The case he would want to present though is based upon human reason, from a fallen mind, in a fallen world, and would question God's fairness. God answers him from the whirl wind and makes no apologies, yet He questions Job, who then realizes the void, but does not curse God. He learns a lot through this process, much error is removed, his idea of God is greatly magnified, the creature is humbled, which brings him to the ultimate reality, "You are God, and I am not. Thou art the Potter and I am the clay." 

But, verse 7, “Where were you when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Now here – watch this – God identifies the morning stars singing together, and all the sons of God shouting for joy with the time of creation. Do you see it?

“Where were you when I created? Where were you when the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy?” Then the morning stars can’t be real stars. What are they? They’re the same as the sons of God. What are they? None other than angels. Angels were already made when God made the world. That’s the implication of this text. Angels are called bene ha elohim in Job 1:6 – that means sons of God – Job 2:1, and here in Job 38, verse 7. And as we saw this morning, the term “sons of God” is reserved for those who were created by a direct act of God.

Now we do not know when angels were created, but I think it’s safe to say they were around when the world was made. We don’t know just how long they’d been around, because there is no revelation on that. But the important thing is they were around. - J Mac on Satan: Is He? Who is He?

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2“Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? 3Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.… Job 38: 1-3

…4“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. 5I have spoken once, but I have no answer— twice, but I have nothing to add.” 6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:…

…7“Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. 8Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? 9Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?… Job 40: 4-9

Job 38

job 39

job 40

Till unrighteousness was found in you - "You were blameless in your ways", and then not so much. He was made perfect in wisdom and beauty, and here comes the question, what happened? I remember growing up in church, and it was at a time when the Baptist churches, most evangelical churches for that matter, had moved from a God centered theology to a man centered one, where if I asked you if God was sovereign you would say, "yes, of course", as R.C. Sproul says, paraphrased, "the church now gives a nod to God's sovereignty", but and yet limits Him by human will. I hit a point in my life where I left the church, and I tried to be an atheist, I mean I lived my life as if there was no eternal, holy Being, Creator of the universe as described by the Bible. I read David Hume, Aquinas, Descartes, and more recent philosophers like Dawkins, along with Augustine. For or against, they were all obsessed with this particular God of the Bible, the one I thought we learned about in Sunday School and vacation Bible School, but the one we were peddled between coloring and cookies and Kool-Aid, he seemed more like a nice Santa Klaus, who built this little world, like a vivarium, and as good intentioned and sweet as he was, it somehow got out of his control, and all he could do now was react and wait for men to accept him. That is not the God that Job met, that is an idol that men use to fill seats, and when the hardened, unrighteous heart, gets a glimpse of the real God, he runs the other way, and so I ran, not wanting to let go of my sin and ego. I ran till He knocked me down, and then one day I listened, and that is a blessed gift, which I now believe faith to be, and repentance as well, for you will not see a need to repent until you are convinced. I must say, I thought I knew a lot about God already, or at least enough, more than most people, but I was more than a little arrogant, and any pride at all would be less than righteousness, but that didn't yet trouble me. One day I found myself in the pew of one of the very churches that I grew up in, a mega church, but it had been rented out for a conference, and instead of the usual pastor, I had two days, morning and evening of R.C. Sproul, my nemesis J Mac, Erwin Lutzer, and there were more, but those three alone were enough to make me wish that I had brought a ball of string, something I could have tied the end of to somewhere safe before I let these men take me spelunking into this cavern of Sola Scriptura, searching the Scriptures to find out Who God is. I was devastated, and what a shock to my pride, because even though I learned a lot, I never realized what a deficit of knowledge I owned. I thought I was wise, but I was a fool. My problem with evil, and how God could be good if He created a world where evil existed, that changed drastically, to realizing that the biggest problem with evil for me, was that I thought I wasn't, or that I could see the bar, even touch it, that righteousness wasn't outside my grasp. 

It's still an interesting question to me to this day, since Lucifer was created good, then where did this iniquity come from that was found in him? Well, Job was not the first person to question God, let's go back to the garden, when Adam and Eve fell, they were not alone. Satan was there in the garden.

…5“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.… Genesis 3: 5-7

So, God had told them that they could eat of any tree of the garden, except this one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they both knew, that according to God, if they did this they would surely die. As long as they believed God then they would live in the paradise that He created for them. So now there is, in a way, for us now, a temptation, because we are all fallen in Adam, all God has to do is say, "don't do this", and we will question why and want to do it, and then justify it in our minds, because we are sinners, rebels. But, for Adam and Eve, this is outside of them, they don't know sin yet like we do, for they are not yet sinners until they what? If you say, "eat the fruit", then you are too late. Satan sewed doubt, questioning God's word and motives, but it is still outside of them, until they contemplated the idea of being like God, Eve wanted wisdom, and Satan said the fruit wouldn't kill them, so "God is not going to slight me of the chance of being wise and like God." She doubted God, and then Adam, who was made as her head, her covering, he watched the whole thing, but he didn't stop it, he followed, and I think in his heart it was the question of being without Eve, and he wanted to be with her. Some huge problems here, Satan called the Creator that made you, a liar, and you went along with him in this. You doubted the word of the God that spoke the universe into being. So what do you have to say for yourselves?

…10“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”…

13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  Genesis 3: 10-15

So immediately there is a void between them and God, now they are afraid and ashamed. When he ask if they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam not only shifts the light over to Eve, but he outright, blatantly, blames God. You made this woman, You gave her to me as a helper, some help, look what Your gift has caused. So then God goes to Eve, and she says, "the devil made me do it." Now Satan is already fallen from perfection, God is good and holy, and He requires holiness from His creatures, but the devil is void of this. He is dark, and darkness is the absence of light. Evil is not just the opposite of good, but it is parasitic to good, good can exist without evil, but evil needs good to exist, to fall from it, as God is eternal, infinite, and so He exists this way in all of His attributes, and in His word He says that He alone is good. God existed before time, holy and unchanging. 

17As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus replied. “No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’ ”… Mark 10: 17-19

4We write these things so that our joy may be complete. 5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.… 1 John 1: 4-6

Satan was the covering cherub, the highest honor among angels, but he tried to usurp God's throne, and here he is, in the abundance of his trade, trying to deceive. Now God shifts to him, and he is probably pretty proud of himself right now, he can't get to the elect angels, but he came here hoping that he could get Adam and Eve to turn on God, just like he hoped he could get Job to curse God, and just like in Jobs case, Satan has to get permission from God. Yes, God is sovereign even here, and He doesn't apologize to Adam for making Eve, nor does He apologize to Eve for allowing the devil to be in the garden, but instead, He curses them, and once again the devil has to be in shock, for now he learns of one of God's other attributes, He is a Redeemer. Satan has to be enraged beyond human comprehension, he thought he beat God, and he thought that this sealed the fate of all of humanity, it died right here in the garden, and the accuser is going to demand justice. God curses him too, and then adds to it the most devastating of blows, "between your seed and her seed, He will crush your head and you will strike His heel." God promises His Son, redemption for the elect of mankind, and since God is eternal and so infinitely good, He will destroy evil, placing it far away. They all doubted God, all fell into unbelief and pride, just like I did when I doubted God's goodness. He said:

12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. 13When tempted, no one should say, “ God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. 14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.… James 1: 12-14

…20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use? 22What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?… Romans 9: 20-22

…3Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved. 4The LORD has made everything for His purpose— even the wicked for the day of disaster. 5Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured that he will not go unpunished.… Proverbs 16: 3-5

Now once he fell, the world wasn’t yet in sin; even if it was yet created, we don’t know. We don’t know when the fall happened, either before Genesis 1 or after. But God had two choices. Once Satan fell and all those demons, He could have just spoken the word and they all would have immediately gone out of existence. He could have destroyed Lucifer with a word. He could have halted the rebellion and that was it. And then He maybe could have waited until it happened again.

But God didn’t choose to do that. God chose to give the rebel his full opportunity to exploit every avenue of his power, to follow every possible angle. He gave him all of time, from Genesis 3 until the kingdom; all of that time He gave him to run his rebellion to its limits. Why? Why did God do it? Why did He allow it?

Well, it doesn’t say in the Bible. But one good reason I believe God allowed this was to let rebellion run right out to the end, until it ran out of gas, and showed all beings and all creatures for all time that all avenues put together could never dethrone God. And when it is done, my friend, it will be done, and no one will ever doubt again that God’s authority could ever be usurped. - J Mac

I think Satan and the fall showed evil, that it became a reality, but it also showed, much to the chagrin of proud sinners, the Holiness of God, and much to the delight of  broken sinners, we found in Him a Redeemer, and the answer to the problem of evil, for man, God the Father made a body for God the Son. Holy Spirit, please guide us in humility, never forgetting the grace of God.

…19But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this— to preserve the lives of many people. 21Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them.… Genesis 50: 19-21