SATAN DID NOT KNOW
In Ezekiel 28:12 -17 a remarkable created being is described. This beautiful being was apparently created before the world that we live in today. He is described as walking in the midst of the fiery stones (verse 14). This being was perfect and marvelous . . . until iniquity was found in him (verse 15). This iniquity is described in Isaiah 14:13-14. This beautiful being sought to usurp the position of God. This being is Satan.
When Adam and Eve showed their human imperfection and sinned in the Garden of Eden, it was not a mistake. The Lord did not say to Himself, “I never thought of that!” The Creator God knew that man would sin, and that His Plan to redeem man from the consequences of that sin would be the downfall of Satan. It was at that time that the Lord gave the prophecy that the “seed of the woman” (Jesus) would strike Satan’s head, and Satan would bruise his heel.1 Jesus would inflict a serious, or fatal, wound upon Satan, but Satan would only bruise the heel of Jesus.
We just celebrated Resurrection Sunday which memorializes the victory of Jesus over Satan. Because of Jesus we all have the opportunity to obtain the blessing of victory over death and the grave. Jesus was the Firstfruits, and we will follow Him in like manner.2
Aware of the meaning of the prophecy against him that involved Eve’s descendants, Satan attempted several ways of stopping the Plan. Probably, causing Cain to kill Abel was his first attempt. The just punishment on Cain would not allow the line of the Messiah to come through him. Sending “fallen angels” to corrupt the lineage of man was another attempt.3 This is why the Lord destroyed all mankind except for Noah and his family. The genes of Noah apparently had not been corrupted. He was “perfect in his generations.” 4 When none of this kworked and Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Messiah, Satan used the jealously of Herod to slaughter all of the male children under the age of two in and around Bethlehem. Of course, the Lord was prepared and sent His Son to Egypt to protect Him.
I find it interesting that Satan does not have all knowledge. He is a created spiritual being. He knows of the prophecy against him, and has attempted to stop it many times. When Jesus was going to die on Calvary, Satan must have thought that he had finally stopped the prophecy. God in the form of man was going to die. The Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ, was going to die.
The Apostle Paul speaks of God’s secret wisdom in First Corinthians. Just as He had a Plan for the sin of Adam and Eve, He had a plan to complete His prophecy against Satan. Just as Satan did not see the ultimate result of his deception of Adam and Eve, he did not see the ultimate result of the crucifixion of Jesus. Paul tells us that the spiritual “rulers of this age” did not know of the Plan of God, and if they had “they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.” 5
Satan is a powerful being, but he is a created being. God is the Creator. He is supreme and He is in control. The events at Passover almost two thousand years ago demonstrate that fact. The victory of Jesus over death is for all men, not just the descendants of Abraham. Praise the Lord for being in control and for being so gracious to us.
Endnotes:
1 - Genesis 3:15
2 - First Corinthians 15:20-26
3 - Genesis 6:1-4
4 - Genesis 6:9
5 - First Corinthians 2:8