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One of the more interesting themes running through the Bible is what I call the great chess match between God and Satan. While I'm not proposing that it was an even-sided match or one that was ever in doubt, it is still interesting to read of Satan's attempts to get and keep dominion. It began in Genesis, chapter 1, and ends in Revelation 20:10. Satan has been tireless in his attempt to defeat God's decree that he would be destroyed.
One might ask why Satan was ever here to begin with. Why, when God knew that man would be created on this earth, would he place Satan here? This is worthy of a separate article but I will lay a little groundwork as to my position. My belief is that Satan was the initial ruler of the earth and, thus, had dominion and authority long before Adam came along. How could that be, you may ask, since Adam and the earth were created at the same time? Well, the belief that Adam was created when the earth was created is not stated in scripture, although it is widely believed among Christians. Many that hold this position believe that Satan and God's holy angels were also created at the same time that Adam and the earth were created. Yet, they profess that Satan and a third of the angels had already fallen when Adam was created. If true, this means that God's angelic creation fell apart in just a day or two after being created. (This belief was confirmed to me, personally, by Dr. Ken Ham, director of Answers in Genesis.) This would mean that the angels were created and fell immediately, during the time that God was creating the earth and man. This position is difficult for me since God is perfect (Matt. 5:48), His way is perfect (2 Sam. 22:31), and His work is perfect (Deut. 32:4) . To have it fall apart in just a couple days after creation is, for me, a stretch beyond credibility.
Isaiah 14:12-14 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
In the above passage, the Bible states that Satan was a ruler for had a throne, he was below heaven else he couldn't have ascended into heaven, and he was below the clouds else he couldn't have ascended above the clouds. It is my position that this places him on the earth. Many believe that Satan lived in heaven but it wouldn't make sense that he had to ascend into heaven if he were already there. It also wouldn't make sense that he had to ascend above the clouds if he were already above the clouds. No, he was created and fell long before Adam was created. He was a ruler of the earth long before Adam was made ruler of the earth. Ezekiel 28:13 places him in the garden of Eden before his fall and before Adam: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."
When he invaded heaven in his attempt to overthrow God, he was cut down to the ground as stated in Isaiah 14:12, above, and in Luke 10:18 "And he (Jesus) said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." As I said, above, this is a big enough topic for another article. Though it is not the purpose of this article, I thought I'd give you a little groundwork for the position that Satan was an earthly ruler before Adam. In other words, He had dominion, lost it, and wanted it back!
God creates man.
God cleaned up the mess that the earth had become after Satan's invasion and fall (Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.). He, then, created man (Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.) and gave him dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28 ...and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, Psalm 8:4-6 What is man...Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands...).
Satan wanted this dominion that God had given man. In Genesis 3, Satan sets out on a plan to cause Adam to fall and surrender his position. The plan worked. Adam surrenders his dominion to Satan by submitting to him rather than God. Adam, now is a servant to Satan and sin (Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey…, John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.).
God predicts Satan's defeat.
Not willing to let this stand, God has a plan to undo what Satan had accomplished by bringing a man into the world who would defeat Satan. This was prophesied in Genesis 3:14-15 - And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: [15] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The above verses contain what we consider the law of double reference. While addressing the literal and physical serpent, God is, also, addressing the spiritual, invisible, and powerful force behind the serpent. Satan is called a serpent in Rev. 12:9 (And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.…). (The law of double reference also occurs in Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Matthew 16:23.) This Genesis 3:15 prophecy is true on several counts. There is a natural enmity or hostility between serpents (snakes) and humans and between the seed of serpents and the seed of humans. There is, also, a natural enmity between the children of Satan and the children of God (John 15:19). There is more to this, though, than what meets the eye. This is a prediction that, as literal man will bruise the head of the literal serpent that crawls on its belly, there will come a seed of man that will bruise the head of Satan. A head wound is much more serious than a wound to the heel. This coming seed that will bruise Satan's heel is none other than Jesus the Christ. While Satan would bruise the heel of Christ by wounding him, Christ would bruise the head of Satan on the cross, utterly defeating him.
Well…..now that Satan knows that a seed is coming that will destroy him, he must do something! He must see to it that this coming seed never comes. He will attempt to accomplish this in a number of ways….but God will foil each and every plan. Keep in mind that Satan does not know everything. He has to figure out God's plan in order to stop it.
Satan attempts to corrupt the seed of man.
God decreed that man, was to have dominion (Genesis 1:28). He prophesied that the seed of the woman would bruise Satan's head. The coming seed, Jesus, must truly be a human seed of the woman to fulfill Genesis 3:15. He must be of pure human stock. He is to restore humans to their original position of having dominion (See Do Christians Have the Sin Nature?). Since man cannot assume his dominant position if he is eternally dead, Jesus must also sacrifice himself and pay the human penalty for the broken law (See How Did Adam Die?), giving man eternal life. To be a legitimate sacrifice for man, Jesus must pay man's penalty as a man for only man can pay man's penalty. He must bruise Satan's head as a man in order to restore man to his rightful position of dominion over Satan. He must be a true man in order to restore man, redeem man, and fulfill scripture that he would be a man. He is called the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45 ...The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.)
In Genesis 6, Satan attempts to corrupt the seed of man by using his fallen angels to procreate with human women. Their offspring were giants (Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God (angels) came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them.…). Go here if you'd like to see further evidence that these sons of God were angels. The offspring of angels and humans were not pure human stock. Naturally, these giants continued to produce offspring that were not pure human stock. Of course, the desire of Satan was to totally corrupt man's seed and render the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 impossible to be fulfilled. He must stop the seed of the woman from being a true human seed.
God foils Satan's attempt to corrupt the seed of man.
According to Genesis 6, God saw that man had become exceedingly wicked. He also saw the giants and the corrupted seed of man. He repented for ever creating man on the earth and determined that complete destruction of man was necessary in order to eradicate the evil from the earth and destroy the corrupted seed. If He had destroyed all men from the earth, of course, the seed of woman could never come. But God found a man that was not wicked and by whom He could save the human race from total extinction. That man's name was Noah.
God destroyed all mankind with a flood but saved Noah, his family, and a male and female of the beasts that He had created. This flood also destroyed all of the giants along with any offspring they had sired. So, Satan's attempt to corrupt man's seed had been foiled. Through Noah, the seed of the woman would come.
Satan must have attempted the same plan after the flood for the Bible states that there were giants in the land before the flood and after the flood (Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that….). Rather than destroy them with a flood, which God promised He'd never again do (Genesis 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.), God opted to use war to destroy these giants and their offspring. However He chose to eradicate these beings, they were eradicated. One can find several places in scripture where God instructed the Israelites to completely wipe out whole cities, to kill all men, women, and children. Though many have had some difficulty with these instructions, this may help to explain why whole races had to be destroyed. If God were to preserve pure Adamite stock and redeem mankind, He had no choice but to eliminate impure stock.
So, once again, God foils Satan's attempt to corrupt man's seed. It is never recorded that Satan ever again attempted to corrupt human stock. But, there are other ways that Satan could stop the seed of the woman from ever being born.
Go here to continue: Satan attempts to cut off the line through which the seed of woman is to come.
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