Did you ever wonder exactly what we are up against as mature Christians who want to walk on with God in this life? This article is for those who long to move further into a knowledge and awareness of God; to move into a daily, hourly walk with Him. It is for those to whom simple salvation, accepting Jesus as our Savior, is only a beginning. By understanding what we must overcome as Christians, we can better maintain a deeper, personal walk with God and Jesus Christ, and an understanding and awareness of Him and His purposes.
The answers to knowing the deep attributes of God may seem, at times, to be shrouded in mystery. However, the secrets of the ages are hidden within the Word of God (Matthew 13:34-35; Psalm 78:2). Although the Lord commanded Daniel to seal up the words of the Book, after showing him many secrets regarding events that were to take place in the future (Daniel 12:9), Revelations Chapter 5 promises us that the time would come that the �seals of the Book� would be broken. (v.5-6). To the perceptive Christian, this unsealing of the Book is taking place today. It is the purpose and promise of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all the truth and show us all things (John 16:13). We need only the eyes to see and the ears to hear (Matthew 11:15; Revelation 2:11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
Isaiah chapter 14 reveals some of the answers to these mysteries. On the surface, this chapter seems to be, a discourse taken up against the King of Babylon who was reigning at the time of Isaiah�s prophecy and who ultimately attacked and destroyed Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah may very well have been referring to that king, on one level. However, many Old Testament writings and prophecies, although written long before the birth of Christ, were directed towards the future, to the time of Christ and beyond. (John 5:39, 46-47; Acts 2:16-21, 25-28, 34-36). With that in mind, a deeper and more mystical understanding of Isaiah 14 is indicated.
Isaiah 14 speaks of Babylon and the king of Babylon. Scriptures written later speak of another Babylon, far beyond the scope of the Babylon of Isaiah�s time. Revelation chapters 17-18 describe in some detail the �mystery Babylon�, who was the �harlot� that did battle with the Lamb (the Lord), and deceived the nations. It is likely that even if in chapter 14 Isaiah was referring to the physical king of Babylon of his time, he was revealing a far stronger force behind the king. It is that �force� that we are concerned with here.
We have all heard of Satan, Lucifer or simply �the devil�, referred to as a �fallen angel�. What does that mean to us as Christians? We must first examine what the scriptures say about Satan. First, it was this serpent of old, the devil and Satan (Revelation 20:2), who first deceived man, resulting in man�s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It was he who first questioned the Word of God (see generally Genesis 2-3). Satan is described later as the ruler of this world (John 12:31). Satan tempted Jesus on the mountain saying rightfully that �All the power in this world� was handed over to him and that it was his to give to whom he wished�. (Luke 4:6). Satan has also been described as � he who blinds the minds of the unbelieving� (2 Corinthians 4:4). This �devil� is even described as the �Father of the unbelieving� (John 8:44). Apostle Peter instructs Christians that Satan is �our adversary� and that �we are not to be unaware of his schemes�(1 Peter 5:8).
If we are to become more aware of this �adversary�, what do we actually know about his origins, purposes and methods? We do know that at one time he held a very high place before God. Isaiah 14:12-14 begins with:
�How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn.
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!�
�Star of the morning� (or �morning star�) is defined in the Hebrew as �Lucifer� or �the shining one�. The King James Version literally reads �O Lucifer, son of the morning�. Spiritually, it appears that this �morning star�, the brightest object in the sky, was actually a place that God at one time gave Satan as his very own dominion (Job 38:7). It is also a place that will ultimately be occupied by Christ and His Sons (Revelation 22:16; 2 Peter 1:19).
Isaiah goes on (verse 13):
�But you said in your heart,
I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.�
And in verse 14:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.�
If we accept that Isaiah was not only referring to the king of Babylon of his day, but was also referring to a force much more formidable, we can begin to break down these verses and better understand our enemy Satan. We find that Lucifer (Satan) desired to �ascend above the clouds� and �make [himself] like� God.
How did Satan want to be like God? First, he wanted to �sit on the mount of assembly�. The mount of assembly, in the Hebrew, was the place of honor occupied by God at ordained feasts, worships, and other gatherings of the peoples. Satan further wanted to �sit� on that mount. The word �sit� is synonymous to the word �enthroned� in the Hebrew, which refers to the permanent �seat� of the Lord. Enthroned is used, for example in Psalm 9:11 (God, enthroned in Zion, the mountain of God) and Psalm 22:3 (God enthroned on the praises of his people). Therefore, according to Isaiah, Lucifer desired to inhabit a very high place, as God occupied. Satan did not want to serve God, but desired to sit or be enthroned, like God, in a place of honor, receiving the adoration and worship of the people.
However, it likely became obvious that there was room in �heaven� for only one such high place, and it was permanently occupied by the �Most High�. Not to be daunted, and rather than humble himself to the Most High God, Satan then sought a suitable place to set up his own kingdom. Isaiah says that place was located in the �recesses of the north� (verse 14:13). This reference to the �north� is a key for us in understanding our enemy today.
What are �the recesses of the north�? The obvious indication is that the Babylonian empire attacked Israel from the north. However, the operative word �north�, as used in Isaiah14, is �saphon�, pronounced �saw-fone�� and indicates generally the direction north. However, the word is likely derived from �sapan� (Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 4, page 451) which means a hidden or dark place, gloomy and unknown, to hide, hidden, secretly, secret place, lurk, prively, the hidden ones and laid up (Strongs, 6828, 6845) In other words, Isaiah tells us that Satan wanted to set up his own rule and kingdom, in order to receive adoration and worship, like God, and to call the shots, like God. But he wanted to (or had to) do it as far away from God as he could. The �recesses of the north� is the hidden, �dark�, gloomy and secret place, away from the �light� of God where everything is laid open and bare, and nothing is hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13).
We know that Satan ultimately set up his kingdom on this earth (Ephesians 6:12; John 8:44). By setting up his kingdom in a secret, dark place, here on Earth, away from the presence of God, we begin to get a glimpse of what Christ had to face in bringing our redemption and reconciliation to God, and what we have to face in bringing that redemption and reconciliation to full reality on the earth (�on earth as it is in heaven�, Matt 6:10).
Does it seem strange to you that it is the natural state of being for humanity to be unaware of the presence of God? If God is omnipotent and omnipresent, throughout the universe, why is man not continually, consciously aware of Him? It was not always so. In the Garden of Eden, man walked in the presence of the Lord continually. God brought animals to Adam, and he named them. God walked and talked with Adam in the Garden, in the cool of the night. The presence of God was so prevalent that Adam and Eve actually had to hide themselves from His presence after they were deceived (by the serpent) and ate the forbidden fruit (see generally Genesis 2-3).
From the day man was banished from the Garden of Eden, he had a struggle to obtain an awareness of God; he has had a struggle just living day to day (Genesis 3:14-24). Why? Because Satan had been allowed to set up his own kingdom on this earth, ruling the earth and all that is in it (Luke 4:6; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 6:12; John 8:44, 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). He set up his dominion here on earth, as Isaiah said, in a spiritual location as far away from the light of God as possible (the hidden place, the �recesses of the north�). While man struggles to get closer to God, he is continually hindered by the evil one, who has set up his rule in separation from God. Man, who lives in Satan�s kingdom, was made subject to that separation (2 Corinthians 4:4). Over time, it became completely natural for man to live separated from God. Satan has been so successful in his plan that a large percentage of humanity struggles to believe that God even exists at all. Contemplate the magnitude of this deception; that Satan has been able to convince an entire race of people that the creator of the universe either does not exist or has no power in our lives! Without Christ, and His victory over Satan, we would not even be aware of this deception, let alone be able to overcome it (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Satan is the lie and the Father of it. Jesus went so far as to call him the �Father of the unbeliever� (John 8:44). We were all unbelievers, until we accepted Christ. (Romans 5:19; John 3:16). We have had Satan�s nature inbred in us for thousands of years, so that over time we learned to absolutely accept separation from and unawareness of God as a natural state of being. Although Christ created the provision for us to overcome that deception, we believers still face the challenge of making that provision an absolute reality in out lives (see Romans 7:14-25).
We know that Satan�s end is clearly spelled out in the same chapter of Isaiah, verses 15-20. Satan will be thrown down to the pit and all of humanity will look on him, as he is unveiled before them and exclaim �is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook the Kingdoms�and did not allow the prisoners to go home [to the Lord]?�� who will go down to the pit to be trodden under by foot�.
However, until that day the important challenge we face in walking on with God into maturity is overcoming this unawareness of God, which is such an integral part of Satan�s kingdom. It is Satan who, through his disobedience and refusal to serve God, lives, with us, in separation from God, in the dark place, in the �recesses of the north�. It is readily apparent why an awareness of his strategy is so important to us at this time in the history of the restoration of all things. If we remain separated from God, we will not inherit the full extent of His promises, since His goal is total restoration and oneness of the human race to Him.
What is Christ�s ultimate purpose and how does He mean to accomplish it? One primary purpose is to bring many Sons to maturity (Ephesians 4:11-13; Romans 8:19, 23, 29; Hebrews 2:11), thereby releasing all of creation from divinely imposed futility (Romans 8:20-22). He intends to do this by creating His very nature within us, even within our mortal bodies (Galatians 4:6-7; Romans 8:29-30; Romans 8:11). Only the nature of Christ can inherit the Kingdom of God; those who walk according to the flesh (in a state of unawareness) will not (Romans 8:5-8, 12-14; 1 Corinthians 14:50).
Thus, in order to inherit the Kingdom, our natures must change. We who were born according to the flesh, according to the ways of Satan, in separation from God, must put on the nature of Christ our Lord, who lives not in unawareness but in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). But how do we change? Can a leopard change his own spots? (Jeremiah 13:23). Can we change through our own efforts?
The way we change is by beholding Him, seeing Him, becoming aware of Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). When we fully see Him, we become like him (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12). It is a matter of awareness. Satan knew this. He knew he had to set up his kingdom in separation from God, because if we were allowed to see Christ, high and lifted up, at the right hand of the Father, we would become like Christ. When we become like Christ, Satan�s defeat is fully manifested; Christ�s victory becomes a reality.
The prophet Daniel saw this more than a thousand years before Christ�s birth. He saw that the evil force �would speak out against the Saints of the most high�and "wear down the saints�. He saw that the evil one would �attempt to make alterations in times and in law� and that he would actually succeed for �a time, times and half a time� (Daniel 7:25). One such alteration in law was to block the awareness of the Saints, to blind them to the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 2:11), to make it natural for man to be unaware. However, Daniel saw the end result (verse 26-27). He saw that ��his [Satan�s] dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One��
We as �the people of the saints of the Most High� must strive to become aware of our Lord; to have a greater personal relationship with Him. By seeing Him, we will change, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). We can have this awareness of Him in this lifetime; we don�t have to wait until we die a physical death. We who are here alive on earth at this time can defeat the fallen angel, like Christ did, and foil his plans to maintain his own kingdom, in the recesses of the north, far from the presence (awareness) of God. We can and must manifest, here on earth, the victory won for us by The Lord Jesus Christ. By seeking and cultivating, on a daily basis, a continual awareness of His presence, we make that victory certain.
