Part 5 of 14

The Cause of the Pre-Noahic Flood on the Earth

 

In Isaiah and Ezekiel we read of the fall of the highest ranked cherubim, Lucifer, being consigned to the lower spheres of the heavens, then being over the earth. One-third of the angels, referred to below as “stars” and “saints,” fell with Lucifer. Thus, God says the heavens are “not clean.”

Job 4:18b … HIS (God’s) ANGELS he charged with FOLLY:

Job 15:15 Behold he (God) putteth no trust in his saints (qadosh, holy ones, angels); yea, THE HEAVENS are NOT CLEAN in his sight.

“The heavens” became “not clean” when Lucifer fomented insurrection among the heavenly host. He had been the created “anointed cherub” (Eze 28:14, below), full of beauty and wisdom. Originally, he exclusively served God’s throne in the highest glory of the 3rd heaven. After Lucifer’s plan was exposed, he was cast from access to “the mountain of God ” (Eze 28:16, below).

“How art THOU FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, O LUCIFER, SON OF THE MORNING! how art thou CUT DOWN TO THE GROUND (Heb. eres, earth), which didst weaken (Heb. halash, waste away) the nations (goy, masses).” (Isaiah14:12)

Being “cut down to the ground (earth),” Lucifer and his angels came to rule over the earth from the sphere of the 2nd heaven. Lucifer “weakened the nations (masses)” (v12, above) in the pre-Adamite world that then existed on earth. This was “the world that then was” (2Peter 2:5) at that time. The Devil still rules “the world” he offered to Jesus.

“Then the devil took Him (Jesus) up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [in the twinkling of an eye]. 6And he (the Devil) said to Him (Jesus), To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.  (Luke 4:5-6 (AMP)

Now again we will employ the helpful Biblical study device of “types and antitypes” in our study of the pre-Adamite, age. By this study tool, a historical Biblical happening may at the same time be a “type” or “prefigure” of a later event. The study of typology is wonderfully revealing.

Example: Abraham offered his son Isaac (Genesis 22) ~2,000 years before the cross. This is an actual Biblically historical fact, yet it also is a “type” of “prefigure” of God the Father actually offering His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for the sins of the world.

By this, a Scripture may refer to something that is an actual historical happening and yet be prophetic of, or a metaphor for a similar future event. I view Jeremiah 4:23-26, Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14:12-17, and other key references that will be cited in this series as being both historical of the earth, its characters and its events… and yet be prophetic of later events that have occurred, and/or future events that will yet occur, and of characters such as the Anti-Christ and Lucifer. This is an accepted hermeneutic, a proper method of Biblical interpretation. Having this, let’s now consider Ezekiel 28 piece by piece.

First know that “ Tyre ” (Latin, “Tyrus”) was a port and chief city of ancient Phoenicia ; the site of the modern town of “Sur” on the Mediterranean coast in South Lebanon . Historically, there was an ancient “Prince of Tyre ” (1250BC) and “King of Tyre ” (Hiram, ~950BC). They no doubt had thrones of authority. The “Prince of Tyre ” is a pre-figure of “the son of perdition” – the Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ will actually take “the seat of God” in the rebuilt Jerusalem Temple , claiming to be God. (Compare 2Thes 2:4 and Eze 28:2, below.)

The Anti-Christ will be strongly influenced by, or possessed by, Satan. Anti-Christ’s heart, mouth, and power will be controlled by Satan. Satan will be manifested through the Anti-Christ (Rev 13:4-5). Taken together, the “Prince of Tyrus” - the Anti-Christ; and the so-called “King of Tyrus” represent some sort of incarnation of Satan (see Eze28:12, 14, below). Recall how “the Devil…put into the heart of Judas Iscariot… to betray him (Jesus)” (John 13:2).

In the middle of the 7-year Tribulation period, the Anti-Christ, referred to here as “the Prince of Tyrus,” will be filled with the power of Satan, to make war on the remnant of Israel in the latter half of the 7-year Tribulation period (Rev 12:10-13). Anti-Christ will also become deadly wounded and yet come back to life (Rev 13:12-13), seeming to be Christ-like. This “lying wonder” will deceive many.

Ezekiel’s “Prince of Tyrus” (Eze 28:1-2, below) is described as sitting in “the seat of God in the temple of God .” This is almost exactly as Paul describes “the man of sin… the son of perdition,” the Anti-Christ, doing the very same (2 Thes 2:2-4, below).

2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, THE SON OF PERDITION (Anti-Christ); 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10a (NASB) Then that lawless one (Anti-Christ) will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His (2nd) coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness …

Ezekiel 28:1-2 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man (Ezekiel), say unto the PRINCE (nagid, ruler) OF TYRUS, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a (mere) man (created being), and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

The original “ Eden the garden of God” (v12, below) was in the 3rd heaven, not on earth. Obviously, the historic human “King of Tyrus” was never “in Eden the garden of God” nor was he the “anointed cherub… upon the holy mountain of God ” (v13-14, below) in the 3rd heaven. However, Lucifer was in the 3rd heaven’s Eden . This “King of Tyrus” (v12, below) is clearly figurative for Lucifer.

Ezekiel 28:12-14 Son of man (Ezekiel), take up a lamentation upon the KING OF TYRUS (Satan), 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.

Lucifer’s five “I will” statements seen below define his planned insurrection. (See also Matt 25:12-15)

Isaiah 14:12-17 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground (Heb., eres, earth), which didst weaken the nations! 13 For THOU HAST SAID IN THINE HEART, I WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN (3RD HEAVEN), I WILL EXALT MY THRONE ABOVE THE STARS (ANGELS) 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.

Lucifer’s iniquity became manifested. It was seen by his plan to overthrow the Most High God by a coup d’état. Lucifer “trafficked” and made “merchandise” (Heb. rekoola, peddled, sold) of his plan to the angels. He and his angels were cast from the 3rd heavens to the lower spheres of heaven and earth.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, TILL INIQUITY (Heb. Ola, evil) WAS FOUND IN THEE. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise (Heb. rekoola, the insurrection you peddled) 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 (eres, earth), I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by THE INIQUITY of thy TRAFFICK (rekoola, the insurrection you peddled); therefore will I bring forth a fire (desire) from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

The Devil today remains the overlord of the world, the “kosmos” which is the “present arrangement,” awaiting God’s judgment. At the end of this present age, and after the 7-year Tribulation period, the Devil will be locked away in the bottomless “pit” (v15) for the Millennium (Rev 20:1-2). After that will be “loosed for a short season” (Rev 20:3, 7-9) to foment rebellion among nations. They will be destroyed; then he’ll be cast into “the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41).

15 Yet THOU SHALT BE BROUGHT DOWN TO HELL, TO THE SIDES OF THE PIT. 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; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

When iniquity was found in Lucifer he was first cast down and limited to the 2nd heaven as his sphere over the earth. The record indicates the Devil “(shook) kingdoms… (destroyed) the wilderness, and cities” (v16-17, above) that existed at that time, before the Adamic creation. Perhaps it was the presence of the Evil One, Satan, cast down to the earth, that brought the earth to chaos. God judged the earth with a freeze and flood on earth by darkened sun and volcanic vents. This judgment by flood is clearly seen in Genesis 1:2, due to “the Lord’s fierce anger” (Jer. 4:23). This was the setting for the re-creation of the earth and the creation of Adam as we see accounted in Genesis 1:3-2:25.