The Setup for theDownfallPg2

The Setup For The Downfall cont.

Continued…

…a very telling passage in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 28:12-15

You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. ¹⁴“You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. ¹⁵You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

So, was Satan really a literal serpent? Or did God call him a serpent, because He knew Satan’s heart?

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Also, the Bible tells us that Satan is a master deceiver.

2 Corinthians 11:14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It is interesting that Ezekiel 28: 12 – 15 describes a very beautiful and wise creature that was “perfect in your ways.”

From that description, it sounds like Eve was actually deceived by Satan who was disguised as an angel of light. We have to remember Satan will tempt us with what seems good, what feels good, and what appears good. We must be so tuned in to God that we can recognize the temptation of Satan and his attempts to set us up.

Three Ways to Keep From Getting Set Up

1. Know our weaknesses.

Do we have a sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1)? Is there something we so desire so much that it consumes us and does not line up with God’s Word or His plan for us?

Remember just as the tree in the garden was good and pleasant to look at, Satan will tempt us with things that are pleasing to the eye, or even good but maybe not right for us.

2. Satan will come to us as an angel of light.

He may appear as a friend (God is lying to you, I’m telling you the truth). He will use his intelligence to trick us (you will not die, but you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil).

3. Accessing the power of God.

Satan is a tremendous adversary. He is highly intelligent, so he can appeal to our senses, and he also knows the Word of God better than we do.

But we serve a God so much bigger and more powerful than Satan. And we have the power of the living God inside us. The key is to access it.

In the Old Testament, there is a story about the prophet Elijah whose life had been threatened by Jezebel. Elijah was so scared that he ran into the wilderness and literally asked God to take his life. This passage is God’s revelation to Elijah.

1 Kings 19:5-13

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ⁶Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” ⁸So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

⁹And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?

10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

¹¹Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Through the blood of Jesus, we already have the victory over Satan. The key is to guard our heart, not be fooled by what appears to be good, read the Word of God, pray, get quiet and listen for that still small voice inside you (the Holy Spirit). He will guide in the way that is good and will protect you from Satan’s traps!