The setting for our study this week begins in heaven at the Throne of God. Scriptures give us glimpses of the greatness and awesomeness of it and the Triune God—three Persons in One—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Psalm 90:2 reveals that God is “from everlasting to everlasting.” God has no beginning nor end. He is eternal. (I Timothy 1:17) He alone stretched out the heavens and made the angelic hosts. (Isaiah 45: 12) God is sovereign and exalted above all. (1 Chron. 29:11) God is absolute righteous and holiness. (Ps. 111: 3, 9) God’s holiness includes His justice as well as His righteousness. (Ps. 111: 7-8) God is perfect love—unchanging and eternal. (1 Jn. 4: 18, Ps. 136 repeated 26 times) God is omniscient—all knowing. (Ps. 139:12) God is omnipotent—all powerful, limitless in ability. (Jer. 32: 27) God is omnipresent—not limited by time or space in both heaven and earth. (Jer. 23: 24, Deut. 4: 39) God is faithful, keeps His promises and never lies. (II Tim. 2: 13) God is absolute truth. (Deut. 32:4) The essence of heaven exalts a Holy God surrounded by heavenly beings worshiping and exalting Him. Scripture gives us some insights into the angelic hierarchy in heaven that sets the stage for the original sin that had its roots in pride and rebellion against God. It is especially important that we examine this in light of how its evil roots have manifested in our nation, its impact upon each of us and especially in the month of June.
It is important that we get a heavenly vision of God’s angelic hosts to understand the impact of the original sin. Recently we examined God’s heavenly hosts and defined them as angels in various ranks according to their assignments. We can learn about their appearance and assignments from the heavenly visions in the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation. (1) In Isaiah chapter 6 we have Isaiah’s vision of seraphim that occurs when God prepares him for prophetic ministry during a significant period in Israel’s history. They are shown surrounding God’s throne, emphasizing His holiness and glory. They have six wings, with two wings covering their faces, two covering their feet, and two enabling them to fly. They are known for their role in praising and worshipping God, often repeating the phrase “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” (2) In the Book of Daniel there are several angelic appearances and activities. Gabriel, who is known for making Divine announcements to mankind, appeared to Daniel in Chapters 8 and 9. Michael, described as the guardian angel of Israel, appeared in Chapters 10 and 12. Additionally, the Bible mentions numerous unnamed angels, including thousands and myriads of angels attending to God in heaven. Stars are often used symbolically to represent angels in the Book of Daniel. (3) The Book of Revelation contains numerous mentions of angels, playing significant roles throughout the text. In Revelation 1, the seven stars are identified as angels of the seven churches, and in Revelation 7, four angels are seen holding back the four winds as angels of the seven churches. In Revelation 14 an angel is flying in midheaven, preaching the eternal gospel. Throughout the book, angels are depicted as powerful, mysterious spiritual beings, often serving as intermediaries between God and humanity, and are involved in various Divine actions and judgments. In Revelation 19 an angel instructs John not to worship him, emphasizing that he is merely a fellow servant and brother. Angels are sent from God rather than summoned by humans. The presence and activities of angels in Revelation underscore their importance in Divine affairs and their role in the unfolding of end-time events.
The angels that will be our main focus of our study are cherubim/cherubs. They are first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 3: 24, “After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Cherubim are involved in the worship and praise of God. The Tabernacle and Temple along with their articles contained many representations of cherubim. Chapters 1 and 10 of the Book of Ezekiel describe the “four living creatures (Ezekiel 1:5) as the same beings as the cherubim in Ezekiel 10. Each had four faces—that of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. In Ezekiel 1: 5 we read that the cherubim “had the likeness of a man.” These cherubim used two of their wings for flying and the other two for covering their bodies. Under the wings the cherubim appeared to have the form, or likeness, of a man’s hand. It is in Ezekiel 28: 12-15 that we have the description of Lucifer who was referred to as the anointed cherub who covers the Throne of God, indicating his high status among the angelic beings. According to Ezekiel 28: 14 he was ordained by God to walk on His holy mountain suggesting Lucifer’s privileged position near God’s throne. Ezekiel 28 further elaborates on Lucifer’s original state, stating, “You were in Eden, the Garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, your timbrels and pipes was prepared in you in the day that you was created…You was perfect in your ways from the day that you was created, till iniquity was found in you.” Lucifer in the Hebrew is “shining one” or the “day star.” Ezekiel 28: 17 indicates that Lucifer’s heart became proud due to his beauty, splendor and status that led to corruption of his wisdom and expulsion from the mount of God and ultimately down to Sheol—Hell. God created the angels with freedom of choice that led to Lucifer’s demise. Lucifer’s sin was primarily rooted in pride and rebellion against God—desiring to be like God—to rule in place of God. Lucifer was transformed from a revered angel to Satan, the adversary of God and humanity.
It is important for us to go to Isaiah 14 for the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say. In Isaiah 14: 12-14 we get the details of the overthrow of Lucifer because of pride and rebellion. In these verses we have Lucifer’s “I will” statements leading to the beginning of sin in the universe. When he said “I will” sin began—the original sin! He said: “I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
What is pride? Pride has quite a few appearances in the Bible, which gives it a lot of variety in meaning. The word in Hebrew for pride varies depending on its context. Pride in the Bible can mean two main things. The first is exaltation, majesty and excellence. This definition can refer to two main things. First, the exaltation, majesty and/or excellence of nations, through their wealth, power and/or magnificence of their buildings. On the other hand, it can also refer to God. Exodus 15:7 says, “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.” Aside from this, pride can be used for the usual definition we know for it, “the love of one’s own excellence.” Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
So, we have traced the original sin back to heaven to Lucifer, i.e. Satan, and then to the Garden of Eden. Like the angels, God created mankind with free will and like Lucifer Adam and Eve exalted themselves over God’s wisdom, thinking they knew their own “excellence” and loving it more than God’s holiness. They chose themselves over God and thought they knew best. Pride is a sin that can come in many shapes and forms but is essentially wanting our will instead of God’s will. It is important that we take this matter personally because each of us will give an account to God for our choices.
The proud try to put themselves in God’s place but will lead to their destruction. As babies, we are all born into this world with a “me first” attitude as we cry to have our needs met. Pride cannot hide in the heart of a believer who understands divine mercy. Therefore, we must check our hearts to see if pride is hiding there so let’s do a little self-assessment:
1. We struggle with the sin of pride if we don’t prioritize our relationship with God. If we don’t take the time to read and study the Bible or attend Bible studies that is a symptom of pride. The same goes for not taking the time to pray or attend church. These are ways of saying that we are self-sufficient—that we don’t really need God, His Word, or the Church. When we don’t open up and ask for help, then we experience a lot of unnecessary loneliness and worry. We end up feeling the pressure to do it all on our own.
2. We may struggle with the sin of pride if we value looking good over being real. Instead of reconciling with people who have hurt us, we bury our feelings because we think that bringing them up will make us look unspiritual and weak. The hypocrisy of hiding how we really feel only results in more loneliness and anxiety. We may have people around us but nobody knows us truly, and therefore nobody can love us truly.
3. We may struggle with the sin of pride if we assume we know best. We go back to the words of a song from yesteryear entitled “I Did It My Way.” We can set ourselves as judge over God’s Word, deciding what does and doesn’t set well with our chosen lifestyles. People who assume they always know best don’t pray or seek godly council before making important decisions.
4. We may struggle with the sin of pride if we get mad when people try to teach us or correct us. Prideful people hate correction. Proverbs 9:8 says, “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”
5. We may struggle with the sin of pride if we struggle with entitlement. A sense of entitlement is defined as “an unrealistic, unmerited, or inappropriate expectation of favorable living conditions and favorable treatment at the hands of others.” And not just from other people but also from God. This means expecting others to fix all our problems and cleaning up all our messes. This means not wanting to work at anything but expecting success anyway.
5. We may struggle with the sin of pride if we are judgmental and critical. This is an attitude that poisons relationships. Jesus said in Matthew 7:2 “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This means that the standards and fairness with which we judge others will be applied to us in return. It encourages self-reflection and improvement before criticizing others.
As we go through this checklist on pride, we must remember that we can fool others, we can fool ourselves, but we can’t fool God. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Here are some of the consequences of harboring pride: 1. You will be opposed by God and cuts us off from God’s grace and being able to grow spiritually. If we don’t acknowledge our sins, how can we repent of them? 2. We will experience destruction and disgrace. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 10:17 says, “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads other astray.” God loves us and doesn’t want us to go through the consequences we just read.
Humility is the polar opposite of pride. Humility is meek obedience towards God. However, humility is not something that we can achieve on our own. John has this warning in 1 Jn. 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Over and over in the life of Jesus He said, “I came not to do my will but the will of My Father” and He humbled Himself even unto death on the Cross. (Phil. 2: 6-8) Our sinful nature makes us always inclined to be the prideful one. Paul knew this so he directs us to look to Jesus as the ultimate example of humility. Jesus had every reason to be the most prideful person on earth; He was literally equal to God—He became God in the flesh! I Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” (Luke 11: 2b)