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The Snake in Eden is Probably Not the Devil

Dale

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The one who falls in Isaiah 14 can only be a mortal man, a mortal king.


18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.
19 But you are cast out of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,
with those pierced by the sword,
those who descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring of the wicked
never be mentioned again.
Isaiah 14:18-20 NIV


This passage is talking about Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon. It could not possibly refer to an angel or a former angel. Isaiah says of this person "you are cast out of your tomb" and "you will not join them in burial." The "offspring of the wicked" is also mentioned. This person has offspring and has a tomb prepared but after being "pierced by the sword" is never placed in his ornate tomb. Instead, his corpse is left exposed. This is not a spiritual being, it is not Satan.
 
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Bro.T--2

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Isaiah 14 is the restoration of Israel its talking about the future. Lets take a look
1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. 2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

Let's do background work on Babylon and Israel...Israel have to serve Nebuchadnezzar for their transgressions, but also all nations had to serve him, and his son, and his son's son. As Israel goes, so goes the whole world. Who is Nebuchadnezzar and his sons? Nebuchadnezzar was the first Gentile world ruler and his kingdom was Babylon, which was represented by a Lion. Then followed the Medes and Persians (modern day Russia and Iran) which was represented by a Bear. Then followed the Greeks, which is represented by the Leopard. Then finally came Rome, which is currently in control of the world now and is represented as the wild beast or terrible beast. "Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.” (Hosea 13: 7-11)

So moving forward in Isaiah verse 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! This is happen in the past before man was created.

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: This always been Satan desire to go back to the third heaven. Every funeral Satan have people believing they go to heaven when they die.

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Never gonna happen

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Let's go and see this in Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Notice the false prophet and the beast were in the lake of Fire before Satan, and here they meet face to face for the first time. So the rest of Isaiah is still talking cleaning of nation, the earth is a rest. The Lord tell us those evil nation done, he will deal with all that.
22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.
23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts. I believe this is the last little battle, its a lot detail, we could of read that Satan was chain up before going in the Lake of Fire. But Satan is one who stir madness on the Earth.

Hope you got some understanding.
 
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Bro.T--2

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Pay close attention and you will see that they operate through men in this case.
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. (Revelation 13:1-2)

This beast isn't Satan. This beast represents the entire Gentile dynasty. From Nebuchadnezzar to the ten nations that will make up the European Economic Community, which now I believe is call The Ten, that is gaining power at this very moment. Notice where the beast gets it power? The dragon which is Satan the devil gives this system its power.

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (Revelation 12:1)

This women represents Israel, this can be found in Genesis the 37th chapter verses 9-10.

"And she is with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." (Revelation 12:2-4)

Note what's being said. "And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." In the 13th chapter of Revelation it stated the dragon gave the beast its power. This simply means Satan which is the dragon runs the Gentile dynasty or in other words he gave the beast his power.

In Daniel chapter 9 verse 26 you will see the children of the prince destroyed Jerusalem. Satan is the prince and the Gentiles are the children. The Gentiles destroyed Jerusalem in 70 a.d. headed up by the Roman General Titus.

Take another look at part of the verses above, this is Satan hard at work. "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." This is what Satan is all about destruction. The child is Jesus; remember when He was born and the angel told Joseph to flee into Egypt because Herod sought the child's life? It wasn't Satan standing there himself; he tried to kill Jesus by the hand of Herod. Herod had no idea that Satan was behind this, his concern was his kingship. This is one reason you must try the spirits. How do you try the spirits? With the word of God. (EXAMPLE- Matthew 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,) so, what was Herod about to do? Commit murder.
 
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chad kincham

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You do know, that the serpent on the pole represents Jesus on the cross “being made sin FOR us”, don’t you?

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
 
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chad kincham

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That passage establishes that Lucifer, who became Satan, was present in the garden of Eden, and in a position to tempt Eve by possessing a snake, and using it to talk to her.
 
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Bro.T--2

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That passage establishes that Lucifer, who became Satan, was present in the garden of Eden, and in a position to tempt Eve by possessing a snake, and using it to talk to her.

I agree with you up to the point of you believing that's snakes could talk. Let's take another look at Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Pay attention to verse 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Adam should of said she gave me to the snake or serpent, but he said tree. Because the tree of knowledge of good and evil is just another title of Satan.

Lets look a some other titles in Revelation 12: 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.

Now there's movies where they have dragons talking now, maybe this is where they got that idea. Since a lot people think snakes can talk, I guess they threw dragon in there as well. Nonetheless they are all just names. Notice, Satan, that old serpent is a angel, and have a gang of angels fighting with him, and not snakes.










 
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chad kincham

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BobRyan

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True we were taught that because in Rev 12 we are told that Satan is that "serpent of old"
and in Ezek 28 we are told that the fallen angel who was the "covering cherub" was "in Eden" and "Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God".


If I ask why Christians believe that the snake is the Devil, people point me to Revelation.

Funny how that works out.

If the snake in Genesis is supposed to be the Devil, why do we have to wait until Revelation, the last book of the Bible, to find that out?

Ezekiel 28 is in the OT.

1 Peter 1 says
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow

we find out in the NT about the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow --- yet they already knew about it in the OT.
 
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BobRyan

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That passage establishes that Lucifer, who became Satan, was present in the garden of Eden, and in a position to tempt Eve by possessing a snake, and using it to talk to her.

true. Good point.
 
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Dale

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That passage establishes that Lucifer, who became Satan, was present in the garden of Eden, and in a position to tempt Eve by possessing a snake, and using it to talk to her.


Are you saying that Satan was still Lucifer in the Garden of Eden?
Then you are saying that the Fall of the Rebel Angels had not happened yet.
I'm having trouble digesting that.
 
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Dale

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Psalm 104 recapitulates the creation, or you could call it a third creation story.

While the first creation story in Genesis divides the creation into days, there are no days here. The second creation story tells us bout Adam and Eve. There is no Garden of Eden, no Adam and Eve, and no expulsion from paradise here. The first creation story tells us that people are made in the image of God and the second creation story tells of God breathing the breath of life into Adam. Neither idea is found in Psalm 104.

As in Genesis, the Lord creates the heavens and the earth.

2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
Psalm 104: 2-3 NIV

5 He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
Psalm 104: 5 NIV

Psalm 104 agrees with Genesis that one function of heavenly bodies is to mark time and seasons, as in Genesis 1:14.

19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
Psalm 104: 19 NIV

In a view similar to the second creation story, God provides for His creation.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
Psalm 104: 10-12 NIV

The Psalmist gives God credit for the cedars of Lebanon.

14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
Pslam 104: 14-16 NIV

Also,

21 The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
Psalm 104:24 NIV

Psalm 104 gives us a God who is Provider and Sustainer, a God who is involved in His creation.
 
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BobRyan

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Are you saying that Satan was still Lucifer in the Garden of Eden?

I did not see that in Chad's post - I think he made the point from Rev 12 that Lucifer had already become Satan by the time he was tempting Eve in the garden.
 
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Dale

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That passage establishes that Lucifer, who became Satan, was present in the garden of Eden, and in a position to tempt Eve by possessing a snake, and using it to talk to her.





I'm not sure why the snake in Eden leads to the Fall of the Rebel Angels in your mind, but here goes.

Even if we overlook all the problems with Ezekiel 28 being the Fall of Satan, only one individual fell. According to the Catholic legend of the Fall of the Rebel Angels, tens of thousands, probably millions of them must have fallen. There is no mention of that here.

I've already said that I think you are taking the mention of "cherub" in Ezekiel 28 too literally and drawing the wrong conclusion. Take a look at the Revised Standard, RSV, and the New English Translation, NET, in the same passage. In both, the King of Tyre, the subject of the prophecy, is said to be "with" a cherub in verse 14. He isn't a cherub, there is just one nearby. In both translations, the "guardian cherub" expels the King of Tyre. Again, he isn't a cherub.

The "stones of fire" are probably flashy gems that a king would wear.

14 With 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.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till iniquity was found in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out
from the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezekiel 28: 14-16 RSV


14 I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub;
you were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked about amidst fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created,
until sin was discovered in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned;
so I defiled you and banished you[ from the mountain of God—
the guardian cherub expelled you from the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezekiel 28: 14-16 NET

The use of "cherub" does not necessarily mean an angel in the Christian or Jewish sense.

<< ... the king’s being “with the cherub” could mean that he was under the protection of the principal deity of Tyre, Melqart (Melkart, Melkarth). >>

and

<< The expression “mountain of God” could mean “great mountain,” a mountain that the worshipers of Melqart would have regarded as holy. >>

Link
Ezekiel 28:1-26 | Werner Bible Commentary
 
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