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Wanting to Be God
“ ‘ “You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones” ’ ”(Ezek. 28:14, NIV).
Ezekiel used a figure of speech that represents the placement of God’s government or heaven itself. When Ezekiel described Lucifer on the mountain of God, his words showed the high position that God gave to this created being and the privileges that were granted him. Other instances in the Bible indicate that a mountain experience was of great meaning. For instance, Moses ascended a mountain to meet God (Exod. 19:20), and Jesus and three of the disciples met on a high mountain where Jesus experienced the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, 2).
In “Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezek. 28:14), again the prophet Ezekiel uses symbolism to indicate the presence of God: “stones of fire.” The Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders in this way: “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness” (Exod. 24:10).
In spite of all of Lucifer’s privileges, he allowed the wrong thoughts to enter and to fester in his mind, thoughts that eventually led to actions and to his rebellion and ruin.
Read Isaiah 14:12–14, another depiction of Lucifer’s fall. What principles are in play here, and what can we learn from them for ourselves amid our own temptations and struggles?
The ancient Romans often believed that when an emperor died, he became a deity, which explains Vespasian’s dying words, “Oh, my, I think I’m becoming a god.”
The temptation to play God can be more subtle than most of us realize. When we judge people’s motives, when we take for ourselves prerogatives that don’t belong to us, when we seek to control others in ways that are inappropriate—are we not, in our own way, seeking to play God?
Dwell more on the subtle ways we all might be in danger of seeking to put ourselves in the role of God. How might you have done the same thing? What is, really, the only cure for this dangerous but often subtle deception?
| WEDNESDAY | April 6 |
“ ‘ “You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones” ’ ”(Ezek. 28:14, NIV).
Ezekiel used a figure of speech that represents the placement of God’s government or heaven itself. When Ezekiel described Lucifer on the mountain of God, his words showed the high position that God gave to this created being and the privileges that were granted him. Other instances in the Bible indicate that a mountain experience was of great meaning. For instance, Moses ascended a mountain to meet God (Exod. 19:20), and Jesus and three of the disciples met on a high mountain where Jesus experienced the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1, 2).
In “Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezek. 28:14), again the prophet Ezekiel uses symbolism to indicate the presence of God: “stones of fire.” The Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, and the other leaders in this way: “And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness” (Exod. 24:10).
In spite of all of Lucifer’s privileges, he allowed the wrong thoughts to enter and to fester in his mind, thoughts that eventually led to actions and to his rebellion and ruin.
Read Isaiah 14:12–14, another depiction of Lucifer’s fall. What principles are in play here, and what can we learn from them for ourselves amid our own temptations and struggles?
The ancient Romans often believed that when an emperor died, he became a deity, which explains Vespasian’s dying words, “Oh, my, I think I’m becoming a god.”
The temptation to play God can be more subtle than most of us realize. When we judge people’s motives, when we take for ourselves prerogatives that don’t belong to us, when we seek to control others in ways that are inappropriate—are we not, in our own way, seeking to play God?
Dwell more on the subtle ways we all might be in danger of seeking to put ourselves in the role of God. How might you have done the same thing? What is, really, the only cure for this dangerous but often subtle deception?
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