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Holy God, angels, demons

https://www.RestoreMBI.com/Gods-Holy-Mount.htm

https://www.RestoreMBI.com/Gods-Holy-Mount.pdf

 

A dear brother recently asked me about the older and newer angels. Pastors never talk about Lucifer's fall, or demons. God's Word tells us God made all of the angels perfect, and God tells us why the devil decided to become evil. God also gave us many details about His home we call Heaven. So those are the topics of this Bible study. We Christians know we must stand strong against the devil, even if we don't understand all of it. But there is great value for our faith to know and understand what started all of those problems. Please allow me to prove all of these things with Scripture.

 

    Heaven, let's talk about Heaven for a few minutes. I capitalize Heaven because it's an actual place, as compared to the heavens which are millions of stars and planets. For many years I wondered what God did for millions of years before He made earth 6,000 years ago. That answer is hidden in Isaiah 14:13 in one of the five “I will” boasts of Lucifer as he started his rebellion; “I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north.” You can find all of these phrases in the two paragraphs called Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 a little farther down in this Bible study.

 

    What we call Heaven is the top half of  “the holy mountain of God” It is made of “fiery stones”. That mountain has a lower half and a higher half, and the middle is covered in “clouds”. The “clouds” form a social barrier and privacy barrier. The top half of the mountain is called “the mount of the congregation” God has two thrones on the top half. God's highest throne and large court yard is at the top of the “mount of the congregation”. And God has a throne among the “mount of the congregation”, among the older angels. But who is that “congregation”? And why did Lucifer want to sit up there? It can't be Adam and Eve because they live on the earth. It can't be the new angels because Lucifer and the new angels live below the “cloud” barrier. The “congregation” are the older angels. We get to know those older angels in Revelation, during the 7 year tribulation/great tribulation, when God takes the earth back from the devil, because the devil tried to steal the earth. Those older angels are so powerful that they can deliver God's judgments to destroy everything the devil built, and the devil can't stop them. They will deliver God's judgments to destroy the devil's last and final government.

 

    God has a loving and beautiful personality; “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” How could anyone think that God remained alone floating in space for millions of years, by Himself until He made earth? He did not. God was not alone. God made a “congregation” of strong angels living very close to Him near the top of the “mount of the congregation”. Their social friendship has continued for millions of years. That “congregation” explains why God didn't need to make a new heavens and earth. God didn't need billions of new angels & humans. But 6,000 years ago God decided it was time to make a forever expanding kingdom, with billions more angels and also humans. The new angels had most of the same quality of fellowship with God. Lucifer had every good thing a new angel could have, but he decided to become evil because he/they thought and planned they could get more of everything for themselves. But “Godliness with contentment is great gain” that was his best option, but he rejected everything good and took a third of the new angels with him.

 

    These two Passages from Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 are similar. Both Passages start by condemning an evil king. Then God directs His judgments at the devil, as the god of those evil kings. Those kings are long gone, so I only quote God's judgments against the devil. 

 

    Ezekiel 28:12b-18 “Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who protects; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of  your trading secrets you became filled with jealous violence within, and you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing, out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you from the midst of the fiery stones, O protecting cherub. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I humiliated you before kings, that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading secrets  therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth. In the sight of all who saw you...”  

 

    Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you are fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the first morning.! How you are cut to the ground, you who weakened the nations.! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit...”

 

    6,000 years ago when God was planning the new earth there was a decision made; should God make the new angels and humans as robots or free-will persons. Robots will never think about sinning. Robots can't decide if they love God or prefer sinning.  Neither can they notice the goodness of God. Robots will only do as they are instructed, but they cannot be God's friends or real partners. But the free-will option has so many problems; what if any of the new angels or humans decide to sin. If the angels sin, God will have to judge and punish them. If the humans sin, God can redeem them, but He must pay for their sins. If they reject redemption, they must be punished. A short term punishment can't solve it, the punishment must be forever. If God ignores any sin, then God becomes guilty as an accomplice, because He created them. God decided on the free-will plan.

 

    Another alternative is God could have nagged each new angel and person forever; Saying be careful not to sin, or maybe God could have kept giving serious warnings like 'I Am watching you.' Maybe that could have worked, maybe that could have prevented sin. But if it worked, God was going to have to spend eternity cautioning and nagging everyone to avoid sin. No, God didn't want that headache forever. Instead, God warned them once, and then let any angels sin if they wanted, also let humans sin if they wanted. Then God came and dealt with the rebellion.

 

     The new earth was planned to be always growing in numbers and expanding forever, something new constantly. We see that started in Genesis 1:28-31 After God made everything; “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” Including that God made Adam and Eve, then God blessed them and saying “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...” If they never sinned they would have been forever growing in numbers and expanding. We see that forever expanding kingdom mentioned in Isaiah 9:7 Jesus is called Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, and “There will be no end of the increase of His government and peace.” That eternal plan will be fulfilled later with the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21-22. I’m expecting that the believers who prove faithful in the Millennium will be promoted to become sinless, and they will live holy. They will keep having babies, and will be building an ever expanding kingdom. I believe that means building construction in some form forever. Sometimes there will be accidents that will need a leaf from one of the trees of life for healing. Rev.22:2-3 Do you remember the tree of life from Genesis 3? It has become many trees “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.” Did you see that? We will get that great friendship and fellowship with God like the older angels had for millions of years, before the earth was formed. The nations outside New Jerusalem will be a forever expanding population of people, and the nations will bring their praise offerings into the New Jerusalem, to the King of Kings. “And they shall bring the glory and the honor into it.” Rev. 21:24

 

    That New Jerusalem kingdom will only have angels and people that hate sin. God's Word explains the many steps until that plan is successful. God made the new earth and new angels to protect the earth. But if any angels wanted to sin, God let them do it. When Adam and Eve didn't oppose evil with a strong  'No', God let them fall into sin. Each of us have seen sin and we hate it. When God offered us an opportunity to get saved from our sins we received it. Each of us made a life and death decision to give our lives to Jesus, and live for Jesus. We see what Jesus said to His disciples after they traveled together and preached the gospel together for three years; “I have called you friends” in John 15:15. The holy angels around us and each of us who are born again into God's kingdom have seen sin. When we get to Heaven, each of us will oppose sin and evil forever. God stretched His patience to allow the humans to see sin, feel the pains of sin, and learn that we absolutely hate evil. Each of us will say 'never again'. We will be God's partners forever. God will build an ever expanding kingdom and all of us will make sure there will not be any sin ever again.

 

    But how did sins get started among the angels and humans? Let's look at Ezekiel 28:12b-18 and Isaiah 14:12-15 . 

 

    (A) Of Lucifer, God said “you were the seal of protection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” God made all of the new angels perfect. And God gave them great wisdom so they could do a good job of watching over the earth. They had great fellowship with God. Job 38:7 and they sang praises to God because of the fascinating greatness of His creation “...the morning stars sang together, and all of the sons of God shouted for joy.” Lucifer used his

 

“workmanship of your pipes” to lead the music praising God.

 

    (B) Lucifer “you were in Eden, the garden of God” We know he was there to protect them from dumb errors, instead he used his position of authority as an opportunity to tempt  Adam and Eve

 

    (C) “every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.” Lucifer was a cherub , they are among the highest of the new angels, he was given a beautiful covering, The beauty of his colors are part of how God indicates his God given authority to angels on him. We get back to the description of the cherub classification later.

 

    (D) “The workmanship of your pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.”. Lucifer was given that musical equipment along with the wisdom and authority to lead praise and worship to God. We got vocal chords, he got pipes. Worship music was a part of his assignment. We know the devil still has great musical talent. Listen to how appealing evil music sounds. The devil can make evil sound appealing, including fake Christian music with false teaching.

 

    (E) “You were the anointed cherub who protects. I established you.” Lucifer's assignment was to protect them from dumb errors and God established his authority, he used that authority to do evil, he violated that authority when he tempted them to sin.

 

    (F) “you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways...” Lucifer and the new angels were given a dwelling place to stay on “the holy mountain of God”. It was on the lower half, below the cloud line. But his dwelling place was still called a “sanctuary” They had God's protection from the “fiery stones” until they sinned. The holy angels still enjoy that protection.

 

    (G) “till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of  your trading secrets you became filled with jealous violence within, and you sinned... You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading secrets ” Lucifer and some of the greatest new angels planned their rebellion by traded secrets at Lucifer's place. They couldn't look up and see God from below the clouds, so they thought God couldn't see them because of the cloud barrier. God is telling the devil that He saw them trading secrets, God heard all of it. And “you defiled your sanctuary”

 

    (G continued) I believe they knew holy God is “love, joy, peace...” and could not picture God would fight against evil. During their last planning meeting, Lucifer decided on what he/they thought they could take from God. And he summarized his plan with five “I will” boasts. Lucifer didn't get the opportunity to go up to God and say them to God's Face. But he said those boasts in his heart and God hears everything, Isaiah said it “For you have said it in your heart I will...”

 

    -1- “I will ascend into Heaven” That means he wanted to move his dwelling up there, above the clouds. That proves that he didn't live in Heaven but slightly below Heaven.

 

    -2- “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God”. The “stars of God” are angels. That particular “stars of God” are the older angels also called “congregation”. He didn't know much about them, but he said that he wanted to move his throne up where God's throne is. Those clouds half way up the mountain of God were a barrier that he couldn't see past. This “I will” boast proves  that he didn't know much about those older angels. And he still doesn't know much about those older angels. They would not ever worship him. The devil is a punk rebel to them. There are about 36 older angels described in Revelation that are stronger than the devil, and there may be many more of the older angels who are more powerful than him. The devil will not meet them until the tribulation when God sends them to destroy the devil's one world government. You can find them in Revelation 7:1 & 7:3 & 8:2-5 & 10:1 & 14:6-11 &  14:15-18 & 15:1 & 20:1-2.

 

    -3- “I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north” That is God's second throne. That verse indicates that God has a throne down in the “congregation” for when He comes and visits them. Remember the Father came down every evening “in the cool of the day” to visit with Adam and Eve Gen 3:8. That in “the cool of the day” supports my theory that God has an additional throne among the older angels for fellowship. I believe it is another indicator of God's closeness to the older angels for millions of years  I’m sure we will have a similar type of closeness with God in New Jerusalem. That phrase “the farthest sides of the north” is why many Bible teachers believe that God's throne is straight above the north pole millions of miles. I’m not sure if I agree with that view. Are you surprised about how much God tells us in the Scriptures? But honest Christians have to study God's Word to find it. We need to quit relying on the professional messages on Sunday morning, they are paid entertainers, Church people pay them for religious messages to help them feel good.

 

    -4- “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds” The devil believed his “I will” rebellion would move him above the clouds, because he hated the humility of living below those clouds. That indicated that he was lower than the older angels.

 

    -5- “I will be like the Most High.” That is totally impossible. Before he sinned he was only an angel. Angels do not have the power to create. Only God has the power to create. Angels can only be in one place at a time, and they have limited vision. But God does see everything everywhere all at the same time. That is what Silas explained in Hebrews 4:13. There is an extreme IQ difference between the All Knowing God and an angel. God holds all of the molecules together. That statement proves he had a diminished and insulting view of God and God's work; “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” John 5:17. God's wisdom planned everything that is why it all works. God's power holds it all together. And some day God will quit holding the heavens and earth together “and the elements will melt with a fervent heat.... it will be burned up... all these things will be dissolved” 2Peter 3:10-11

 

    -Point 5 continued; Evolution scientists are afraid, because they can't figure what hold everything together. Every time they build a better atom smasher, they freak out that day or the next day. Scientists tried a theory that there is lots of dark matter inside each atom that holds those electrons in place. But each atom smasher proves there is no dark matter inside, none. So each experiment proves that there is nothing holding every atom and  molecule together, or only God is holding everything together. Those are frightful thoughts for rebels. There is nothing inside an atom or molecule that keeps those electrons in their tight orbit. That is also confirmed in Scripture. Silas talks about it in Hebrews 1:3 Jesus “upholds all things by the Word of His power.” and 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were made of things not visible.” Look at 2 Peter 3:10 “...the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with a fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it... since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons we ought to be in holy conduct and godliness... the heavens will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat”. God holds everything together, and some day God will quit holding it together. So it was extremely stupid for the devil to say he will become “like the Most High God”. Furthermore, when God punishes him forever in the Lake of Fire, the devil cannot dissolve himself to stop the pain forever.

 

    (H) “You became filled with violence within, and you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing, out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you from the midst of the fiery stones” It sounds like the devil and his strong demons planned to kill God. Jesus said he was a murder from the beginning. That was stupid because holy God can't die. The only thing that died with Jesus is His human body, and that body couldn't rot because His new human body was still holy, because Jesus never sinned. How did God cast them out? Right after they had their final secret meeting in their sanctuary and Lucifer said those five I wills in his heart, then God brought fire from the fiery stones in his sanctuary to chase them out. As they were flying away fast, then God “brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth.” Jesus said in Luke 10:18 “I saw satan fall like lightning from Heaven.” Silas said in Hebrews 1:7 God “makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” There is some type of spiritual fire in all angels and demons. When devil worshipers paint pictures of the devil, he looks scorched.

 

     (I) “O protecting cherub, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” Lucifer's God given beauty proved his God given authority. They used that authority as their platform of their rebellion. They thought they could use what God gave him in authority, to win a war against God. And they corrupted the wisdom God gave them. They used that wisdom to plan their rebellion.

 

    (J) Right after the devil fell and his angel friends fell into sin and the devil decided those five I will boasts, then God made the pit of fire. It was after the devil and his angels rebelled, but before the humans sinned. And said “you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit...” Jesus described it in Matt. 25:41 “... into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

 

     When God made Adam and Eve He gave them a spiritual test for obedience or failure. That test came with God's command do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know God gave the angels an equal spiritual test, but we are not told what their test was. But we are told the consequences part of their test because several demons argued with Jesus; “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come to destroy us before the time?” Matt. 8:29. See also Luke 4:34 and Mark 5:10. All the demons were told about a time coming for their judgment. They know there is a judgment coming in the future, and they didn't understand why Jesus was locking up some of the two lowest ranking demons “before the time”.

 

    Lucifer and the new angels could have passed their spiritual test. God made everything perfect; “indeed it was very good” Genesis 1:31. That proves God didn't build anything ready to fall. God made every thing  ready to last forever. God would never push them to do evil. Instead God gave them a warning not to sin, just like God did for Adam. God did not push them to sin. James 1:13-14 says “Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God.' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when want is conceived it brings forth sin ...” But if any of the new angels wanted to sin, God would not stop them. After Lucifer fell and tricked several billion angels to join his rebellion, then he got the humans to sin. We humans had very little ability to resist that strong of an evil influence and avoid falling into sin.

 

    I’m sure that Lucifer wanted to get rid of the fear of the Lord, get it off of him. In his temptation to Eve the devil hints at what he thought his falling away did for him in Gen. 3:5 “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” When sinners totally reject God, they feel so much better about their rebellion, because they lost the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is one of the most valuable thing you will ever have. I’m sure Lucifer felt the same freedom similar to human rebels who reject God. They feel relief after rejecting and getting rid of the fear of the Lord for a while, but a more frightful comes on them later and they get meaner, and even dangerous. When Lucifer sinned, God took holy truth from him, because he corrupted the use of God's wisdom. That was OK to him because the devil decided he likes evil much more than God's holy truth. Jesus taught about the devil's lies in John 8:44 “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” But shortly after the devil's fall and many of the new angels fell with him, then God made “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:41. Then God added more fear onto the devil, because he was facing a guaranteed judgment with eternal punishment. “Even the demons believe and tremble” James 2:19

 

    God didn't make the knowledge of evil, that knowledge is self existing. God didn't make the knowledge of righteousness or the knowledge of evil. The knowledge of righteousness is self existing. But holy God personifies righteousness, that is who He is from eternity part to eternity future; “He cannot deny Himself” 2 Tim 2:13. God did capture some of the knowledge of good and evil and inserted that spiritual knowledge into a tree that was forbidden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Holy Spirit is still prompting me to explain that tree. When humans entered the realm of sinners, we would have been even more ignorant and stupid without the additional knowledge of good and evil. God wanted all humans  to have the ability to understand the pains and troubles we bring upon ourselves when we sin. That helps all humans learn from evil and its pains. But evil had never happened, evil was never acted out until the devil decided to become evil. The knowledge existed, but evil didn't exist until the devil decided to become evil.

 

    At the end of earth's time, the sinners and rebels who reject Jesus' mercy, will be judged by God, God will judge all rebels according to those eternal truths. But when the rebels find out about eternal truths those rebels will try to judge God at their judgment.  Romans 3:4 describes that scene “That God may be justified in His judgments, and may overcome when You are judged.” But God will be proven righteous, and the only danger they will find against God when they try to judge God; is God put Himself out on the edge, to let humans try sin and evil so we can learn to hate evil. But God will “overcome” when He is judged back by those rebels, and we saints will love God even more, because we will realize even more of what God did for us. Forever we will be God's partners that hate evil. No saints will ever wish for evil again. 

 

    Lucifer thought that if he could get humans to sin, they would all immediately become devil worshipers, and there is nothing holy God could do about it. Wrong, each human became a self serving egotist for themselves. Before their fall, Lucifer and those evil angels thought there were many things they would gain from becoming evil, but nothing went as they planned. It is the principal of unintended consequences. I’m sure that Lucifer could not imagine holy God humiliating Himself to become One of us to die for us. And how could holy God add a human body to Himself, that would taint His holiness. We know the wisdom of God, it was God's wisdom to be born through a young virgin.

 

     We should all ask; Didn't God know what they would do before they did it? Do you ever start making something in the shop or kitchen without planning it first. If dumb humans know they need to plan it out, then of course, Brilliant Holy God knew how to plan it all out before He made the new angels, earth and humans. Yes, God foreknew everything, Romans 8:29 “For whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” So God preplanned the good works He had for the elect to do in their lives, but we all miss and fail some of it. And God planned what He would allow the rebels to do in their lifetime. God will reward His children for opposing what those evil rebels do, and God will reward us for obeying His leadership. Also Romans 9:22 “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepare beforehand for glory...”. So God had to let it happen, that is part of the package called 'free-will'. When God decided to give free-will, that also includes the problems that go with it. And God will use all of those things to amplify the beauty of His righteousness and love.

 

   The highest ranking among the new angels was the “cherub” class. Lucifer was in the class of  cherubs, and he was the only cherub to fall away to sin. We see cherubs mentioned in a few places. When God delivered David from Saul, David wrote his praise to God and mentioned angels in 2 Sam. 22:11and Psalm 18:10 “God rode upon a cherub, and flew, and He was seen upon the wings of the wind.” We get more details from Ezekiel. He saw both cherubs and cherubim working together in Ezekiel 10:8-17 to provide God's transportation to earth, and back to Heaven. “The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings... there were 4 wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone. .. all 4 looked alike … a wheel in the middle of a wheel... they did not turn when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing... And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the four wheels, were full of eyes all around, the wheels were called 'Wheel' in my hearing. Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third face of a lion, and the fourth face of an eagle... When the cherubim went up, the wheels went beside them, and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them... for the spirit of the living creature was in them...” that description sounds similar to what John saw at God's throne in Rev.4:7-8. Maybe King David saw the same combination of cherub and cherubim, but he didn't get a close enough view to give that much description like what Ezekiel saw.

 

    The Bible gives us a few more notes about God's throne and the large courtyard, “on the farthest sides of the north”. Because Revelation 4 teaches us there is a large court area around God's throne with “a sea of glass, like crystal”. And there is “a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”  The Father is sitting on that throne, He looks “like a jasper and sardius stone”. Sardius is a red colored stone, and jasper comes in several colors including clear like diamond. Wow that must be awesome to see. Around God's throne are 24 thrones with 24 elders with gold crowns on their heads. That would include the 12 apostles, and 12 more great heroes like Paul, Abraham, Moses, Enoch, Elijah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and/or others like them.) From God's throne proceeds lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Jesus has His throne there too. God gave that piece to Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10 Jesus' throne is called “the judgment seat of Christ”, that each believer may receive rewards for the things done in the body on earth.” 2 Cor. 5:10. that is where we get our rewards. 

 

    Bible prophecies are the highest prize God gave to His apostles and prophets. God gave prophecies to the most honorable, which are also the best of the best. And if God gave the knowledge to one apostle or prophet, God probably did not repeat that prophecy to another. God gave the info about Jesus' throne to Paul, and God didn't repeat it to John in Revelation 4.  Back to Revelation 4:5; there are seven torches at the Father's throne, which represent the Holy Spirit. We know the Holy Spirit is so extremely large that those torches are just a small representative of the Holy Spirit.

 

    More info about that “sea of glass, like crystal” in Rev 15:2 John “saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire” and the saints also have God's protection from the fire. We get one more note from Rev. 14:2, The father's voice is “like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder.” Revelation 15:2 and 14:2 describe two great celebrations with music from “harps”, and they are protected from that holy fire. These Heaven notes help us understand Silas' comment in Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.” God's throne room is the most fascinating place anywhere. You want to be alive and actively living for God here, because you will want to be as close as possible to that throne room, so you can watch all of the exciting things happening constantly.

 

    The apostle Paul tells us there are multiple ranks among the demons in Romans 8:38 demons, principalities and powers. Also in Colossians 2:15. When Lucifer had secret meetings where they traded secrets, only the highest ranking angels were allowed to conspire against God, and they probably whispered so they wouldn't get caught. But when those high ranking commanders turned evil, they took the lower angels under their control with them. But those lower angels were not leaders, they were followers. They didn't make a deliberate decision to become evil. Many were forced into the rebellion because they didn't know how to fight their way out of the trap. Jesus knows that. That is why Jesus was sending demons out of the country, that is why Jesus locked up billions of demons. They are the same demons who got sent into the pit as Jesus wanted, and some demons who begged that they wouldn't have to go out of the country, because they couldn't believe that Jesus would do anything good for them. They missed out on some type of secret rescue.

 

    We see those demons who got locked into the pit in Revelation 9:1-11. They will demon possess locusts that torment human rebels for five months, and many of those human rebels will get saved because of their extreme pains when humans are not allowed to die. Those people will have five months to do nothing but think about their pain and rebellion, and they know they will have a very bad ending forever. Amazingly many of them will get saved. They are the worst of the worst humans, but many of them will get saved under extreme circumstances. In that process there is a second spiritual test for those demons. They will possess locusts, they will feel a natural urge to eat green things, but God “commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree.” God also commanded “they were not given authority to kill them but to torment them for five months” God doesn't tell us what He will do for those demons who obey God's commands, but we can guess they will get a lesser punishment. Also the next meaner demons will get some type of second chance too, as mentioned in Rev. 9:13-19. they will possess horses that kill humans, that will be their God given assignment. They will obey God's commands to kill people. I believe they will get some type of lesser punishment, because they obeyed God's command to them. I know that I’m probably the only Bible teacher who says anything about this subject, but what I’m saying has many verses to make the point, more verses than I quote here, and it's defensible.  

 

    The devil wants to do more evil to the Christians right now, but he can't. Every time he boasted or sinned, he brought more trouble on himself. All of the things the devil has said have brought judgments against himself like James 3:6 warns about. Those sins prevent many evil things the devil wants to do now.

 

    The devil sold his soul to be worshiped by humans as their god. And he will get parts of what he sold his soul for. The last 7 years are called the tribulation/great tribulation. At the end of human governments the devil will be the god of his one world government for 7 years. But the devil is an angel, he can only be in one place at a time. The devil will need a massive amount of spy equipment, the devil is the spiritual force behind so many spy cameras and microphones in your home, especially your phone, and in the stores, and on the tables in restaurants, and along the highways. Most of the things in your home that use any electricity, also spy on you and report their recordings to your smart meter and smart phone. Those things are digitally registered to your identity, and the files on you.

 

    At the middle of the 7 years the devil will enter God's tribulation temple, and enter the holy of holies, and sets himself up as god in the tribulation temple, then the devil will have destroyed and lost the last parts of everything God assigned to him at creation. Then “Michael and his angels” will fight against “the dragon and his angels” That teaches us that Michael and the devil are about equally matched in strength, but the devil will lose that war, and everything his rebellion tried to achieve through evil will be lost and failed.

 

    Nothing went the way the devil planned it with his evil angel friends. They were the first think-tank. There are many evil think-tanks these days, they work with the greatest money criminals in the world, and their military. At the end of human governments, during the 7 years tribulation/great tribulation the devil will not role play himself because the world will not follow him. The devil will use an evil human called the anti-Christ to rule the world; he will pretend he is like Jesus, that he is a good messiah,  “The dragon gave  him his power, his throne, and great authority.” Rev. 13:2 because he can't do it himself. The Catholic Church will kill him right about the middle of the 7 years, probably in an argument over what to do next. The anti-Christ will be restored back to life. The devil will use that to promote the anti-Christ as another Jesus and require all the world to worship that devil possessed anti-Christ. Everything the devil sold his soul for will be lost after a short try. Everything their evil think tank planned will fail. But they will get the eternal torment they earned.

 

    Jesus “has made us kings and priests to His God and Father..” forever in Revelation 1:5-6. And Jesus “made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” forever in Revelation 5:10. Keep serving the Lord and be of good cheer, the best days of your life are in Heaven, not here. Serve God as much as you can. When you get to the other side and when you see all the things God had for you, but you missed them. Then you will wish you had been more diligent for God. And you will wish you had rejected more of the glittery trinkets of this life.

 

    We hope to write a part 2 of this Bible study. That would be to get a closer look at prayer in spiritual warfare. Another Bible study you might like is the Revelation Bible study. God allowed us to assemble many verses to get the big picture. God allowed us to show who killed the anti-Christ and when. Another Bible study you might like is our study on who wrote Hebrews. You would be surprised how many verses point to Silas, one of Paul's companions. And Peters last missionary journey “to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

 

    Some false teachers see the verses showing that we will worship God forever, then they accuse God of being an egotist. They don't understand the great fellowship described in 1 John 1:3 “that which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."

 

    There is an evil group of high level religious leaders in this country, we call the spiritual mafia. They secretly control the political system, and the money systems. They try to accuse God of forcing the devil into sin. And they believe in Hitler's religion. They keep trying to plan mass murder of Christians in America. This Bible study showed you from many verses that God didn't force the devil to become evil. There are millions of well meaning Catholics in the world they have no idea how bad the top leadership is in their religion, and all of the big brand name churches, all of the big box churches. There is a Jesuit movement to control America through the president and the supreme court, with senators and representatives. Oppose anything you see they do. Please pray for America. This world will come to an end, so live your life for Jesus.