The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked: who can know it? ~Jeremiah 17:9
We all have a heart issue. The problem is that our hearts
are deceitful. So deception comes from within and our hearts happen to be
wicked too. This combination cannot help us to overcome self-deceit. The scriptures
have also made us aware that our hearts are unclean and nothing clean can come
from us (Job 14:4; Job 15:14-16).
We need something outside of us to cleanse us from the
wickedness and deception that abides in our own hearts.
The good news is: there is someone who can help us so we
need not to worry and feel defeated. This someone is God. But in order to
understand how we even got here, let’s go back a bit.
12 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. ~Isaiah
14:12-14
12 Son of
man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith
the Lord God; Thou
sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 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.
14 Thou art
the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the
holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones
of fire.
15 Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was
found in thee.
16 By the
multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence,
and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain
of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the
stones of fire.
17 Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason
of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before
kings, that they may behold thee. ~ Ezekiel 28:12-17
From the
following scriptures we can conclude the following about the Devil’s biography:
·
The Devil was created by God
·
His residence was in heaven and he often visited Eden
·
His original name was Lucifer
·
He was referred to as ‘the son of the morning’
·
He was full of wisdom and beauty
·
He has a workmanship of ‘tabrets and pipes’ – musical talent
·
He was an anointed covering cherub
·
He was perfect
Until he had a heart
issue-Pride. We see that he coveted God’s office and was determined to have a
throne too. Thus iniquity was conceived in his heart. He tried to exalt to the
throne and instead war ensued.
7 And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels,
8 And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him. ~Revelation 12:7-9
On the
next article, we will discuss the initiation of Satan’s journey as a Deceiver.
Then we’ll
answer how mankind became deceived up to now and finally discuss the solution
to gaining victory over self-deceit. Stay tuned!
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