#400 - Kyle Thompson // The Anointed Cherub Who Wanted More

A

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

B

Before there was a Garden of Eden, before the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, before dust was ever shaped into a body and the ruach of life breathed into his nostrils, and before a woman was created by a rib from his side, there was a war in heaven. This war wasn't fought with swords or spears or bows and arrows. It wasn't fought on some open ground or in trenches. It was fought in the throne room of heaven by angels. And it started because one creature was tired of being looked through and instead wanted to be looked to. So yesterday we looked at passages from 1st Samuel that revealed that God allowed demonic spirits to torment King Saul. So this caused me to go down a big time rabbit hole as it pertains to the sovereignty of God. And that research took me all the way back to this war in heaven. So we're going to start today in Ezekiel 28. So God instructs the prophet Ezekiel to raise up a lament, which is essentially a funeral song, over the King of Ty. As you Read through Ezekiel 28, on the surface, that's exactly what it looks like. It's an earthly, arrogant and wealthy king. We see verses 1 through 10 examining his extreme pride, his extreme wealth, his extreme blasphemy. And at one point, the King of Tyre actually says, I am a God, I sit in the seat of the gods. And then we see God's judgment against him. You know, foreign nations will tear him down and throw him into a pit. So there's nothing out of the ordinary here. This is seemingly standard prophetic judgment against a corrupt human ruler. But then we get to verse 13 of Ezekiel 28 and the whole passage begins to shift underneath our feet. So let's go to verse 13. You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. Sargis, topaz and diamond, beryl, onyx and Jasper, sapphire, emerald and carbuncle, and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings on the day that you were created. They were prepared. So no earthly king of Ty was ever standing in the Garden of Eden on the day of its creation. This is not some, you know, metaphor for a wealthy, arrogant king. The text has shifted from describing a real human king to describing something or someone far older. And then we see this in verse 14, you were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you. You were on the holy mountain of God. In the midst of the stones of fire, you walked. So it's completely clear now that we're not talking about an earthly king. We are talking about an angel. And this is a very specific anointed angel. And this angel is named Lucifer. Now, verse 15. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was found in you. So what unrighteousness? So in order to see that, we need to head over to Isaiah 14, 12, 15. And you know these verses, spell it out word for word. How you are fallen from heaven, oh day star, son of dawn. How you are cut down to the ground. You who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High. But you brought. You are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. So Lucifer seemingly had it all, right. He was beautiful, he had wisdom. And he was an anointed cherub angel. He was anointed to a position where he was guarding the very throne of God. And it just wasn't enough. He didn't want to be the most magnificent creature pointing all the other creatures to God anymore. He was tired of being looked through. He instead wanted to be looked to. He wanted the throne for himself, not the post next to it. And God's response to this was swift and total. If we go back to Ezekiel 28, we see that Lucifer is cast out as a profane thing from the mountain of God. He's destroyed. His corruption and pride are exposed before kings. He is consumed by fire, turned into ashes. And the text says he experiences and a dreadful end. And then if you go to Revelation 12, it gives us even more detail about how all this went down. Now, war arose in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. So Michael wins Lucifer, and a third of Heaven's angels are lost and cast out. And the anointed cherub gets a new name, Satan the Great Deceiver. And don't miss this. It's a key point. Lucifer's expulsion from heaven demonstrates the sovereignty of God. So Lucifer's rebellion was not a surprise. It was actually foreseen by God. God allowed this rebellion and subsequent war to happen. So Lucifer and the angels that fought with him were then judged by divine action. This was all part of God's plan. And here's a warning for you as we march onto tomorrow's episode. Pride and the desire to be like God took down the most beautiful and most gifted creature that God had ever made up to the point being described. And in these prophetic texts, if Pride could topple an anointed guardian Cherub angel, do you really think that it can't take you out as well? Alright guys, come back here tomorrow where we will look at how the Great Deceiver decided to try and destroy God's most incredible creation, humans made in the image of God.

A

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight. Share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.