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The Fall of a Perfect Being
However hard it might be for us, with our limited view of reality, to envision it, Lucifer must have been an incredible-looking being. Look at the description of him again in Ezekiel 28: wise, beautiful, dressed in all these majestic stones. He must have been something!
If we look carefully at Ezekiel 28:13, we can notice an interesting point. After talking about all these precious jewels that were his covering, the text says, “ ‘ “on the day you were created they were prepared” ’” (NIV). Lucifer’s coverings, his garments, as they were, simply reflected his exalted position. As we’ll see throughout this quarter, garments can reveal a great deal about our station and position. Thus, if garments hint at anything, it was that Lucifer was an exalted and lovely being, one with power and influence.
Read Ezekiel 28:17. According to this text, what helped bring Lucifer’s downfall? What important message should we take from this for ourselves?
The irony in all this is that however wonderful Lucifer’s coverings, however beautiful his person, however wise he was, where did it all come from? Of course, whatever Lucifer had, whatever he achieved, whatever the wonderful “garment” that covered him, it all was only from God. Again, we are dealing with a created being: his covering, his beauty, his wisdom were all gifts from God. Without the Lord, he would have had nothing and been nothing.
And yet, somehow, a being who lived closest to God forgot that important point.
Read Deuteronomy 8:1–18. What principle is found here that is reflected in what happened to Lucifer?
How easy, especially in times of prosperity and wealth, to forget just how dependent we are upon the Lord for everything. What daily and practical things can we do to help us keep from falling into the trap of looking at our “beautiful garments”—our wisdom, our success, our prosperity, in whatever form these come—and forgetting just how dependent we are on the Lord for it all?
| TUESDAY | April 5 |
However hard it might be for us, with our limited view of reality, to envision it, Lucifer must have been an incredible-looking being. Look at the description of him again in Ezekiel 28: wise, beautiful, dressed in all these majestic stones. He must have been something!
If we look carefully at Ezekiel 28:13, we can notice an interesting point. After talking about all these precious jewels that were his covering, the text says, “ ‘ “on the day you were created they were prepared” ’” (NIV). Lucifer’s coverings, his garments, as they were, simply reflected his exalted position. As we’ll see throughout this quarter, garments can reveal a great deal about our station and position. Thus, if garments hint at anything, it was that Lucifer was an exalted and lovely being, one with power and influence.
Read Ezekiel 28:17. According to this text, what helped bring Lucifer’s downfall? What important message should we take from this for ourselves?
The irony in all this is that however wonderful Lucifer’s coverings, however beautiful his person, however wise he was, where did it all come from? Of course, whatever Lucifer had, whatever he achieved, whatever the wonderful “garment” that covered him, it all was only from God. Again, we are dealing with a created being: his covering, his beauty, his wisdom were all gifts from God. Without the Lord, he would have had nothing and been nothing.
And yet, somehow, a being who lived closest to God forgot that important point.
Read Deuteronomy 8:1–18. What principle is found here that is reflected in what happened to Lucifer?
How easy, especially in times of prosperity and wealth, to forget just how dependent we are upon the Lord for everything. What daily and practical things can we do to help us keep from falling into the trap of looking at our “beautiful garments”—our wisdom, our success, our prosperity, in whatever form these come—and forgetting just how dependent we are on the Lord for it all?
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