Lucifer sins - World under Water #1 Lucifer's Rebellion
REBELLION AND OVERTHROW OF PRE-ADAMITE WORLD
by
Finis Dake (1949)
FOREWORD by Keith Hunt:
On this issue of the pre-Adamite world and the rebellion of Lucifer and one third of the angels, I am 95% in agreement with Finis Dake. I will not attempt to re-invent the wheel, so I will present to you 95% of Dake's study on this Biblical topic.
(Gen 1:2; Isa 14:12-14; Jer 4:23-26; Ezek 28:11-17;2 Pet 3:5-6)
Earth's First Sinless Career (Gen 1:1; Ezek 28:15)
1. THE ANTE-CHAOTIC AGE - RULE OF ANGELS
The Ante-chaotic Age extended from the original creation of the heavens and the Earth and all things therein to the rebellion and overthrow of the first kosmos, or social order on the Earth. It was the dateless period between Gen.1:1 when the Earth was finished and inhabited in the beginning and Gen.1:2 when the Earth was first flooded, destroying all life therein. It takes in that unknown time during which Earth was in its first perfect state and ruled
by Lucifer before he rebelled and caused the Earth to be flooded, as in Gen. 1:2.
In Ezek.28:11-17 it is stated of Lucifer: "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." This teaches that there was a period of perfection and sinlessness on the Earth before its curse and chaotic state as in Gen.1:2; so we call this period, "The Ante-chaotic Age." During this age spirit beings ruled the Earth and other planets, and it might be called "The Dispensation of Angels." This administration of angels was evidently a moral or probationary period designed to test the angels before trusting them in an eternal. So we call it a "dispensation," which means a moral or probationary period which God tests free moral agents according to a fixed standard of conduct. All spirit beings must of necessity be tested like human free moral agents to see if they will obey God before they are trusted with higher and eternal responsibility. Angels were fresh from the hand of God in creation and had been created with free wills; so they were capable of making their own choice as to whether they wanted to obey or not. They had to learn by the experience of being tested whether they would or would not obey God. They had to learn obedience. They also had to learn that God was just and holy in all His ways and that He could and should be trusted in all things that could not be made known to free moral agents at one time. They had to learn that God was the Supreme Moral Governor of the universe and that all creatures should consecrate themselves to the same end to which God Himself was consecrated - the highest good of the universe and all creatures therein. They had to prove themselves true to God in order to get the rewards for obedience. They had to earn that God's Word was true concerning penalties for disobedience.
God's dispensational dealings were for the same purpose with the spirit beings as they are with human beings....
If Lucifer and many other spirit beings had remained true to God, there would have been no universal curse on the Earth and no need for a re-creation of the atmospheric heavens and the Earth and life on the planet Earth, as recorded in Gen.1:3-2:25. The Bible record of the first curse on Earth and the cancellation of the administration of angels over the Earth should make the present administrators fear God because of their rebellion. Peter warns the present human rebels on Earth thus: "Whose judgment now for a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked .... The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" (2 Pet.2:4-9). Jude also speaks of the judgment of God upon both angels and men in the past for rebellion (Jude 5-7).
Paul gives the example of how God cut off Israel because of rebellion and unbelief and warned the Gentiles to "take heed lest He spare not thee" (Rom.11:1-26). He also gives the example of the Gentile world that did not appreciate the knowledge of God but became vain in their imaginations and hard and stubborn in their rebellion until God gave them over to vile affections to destroy themselves (Rom.1:16-32). Many other examples could be given of God's judgment upon men in various ages, as we shall later note in our study of the ages and dispensations, but these are sufficient here to show why God had to deal with the angelic administrators of the Earth long before the days of Adam.
The "ways" in which Lucifer was perfect until iniquity was foundin him prove that angels were placed under certain restrictions for the purpose of testing them. Tests are absolutely necessary for any material thing that is made to discover if it will do what it was designed and made for. The same thing is especially true of free moral agents who are capable of voluntary choices concerning moral tests.... There would be no object in creating free wills if there were not laws for them to obey and to restrict and guide them in their association with all other creatures in society. There would be no need in creating creatures capable of voluntary obedience without also stating the right and wrong ways so they can make their choice as to which way they will go. It is written even of the Sinless One, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb.5:7-10).
It can be seen, therefore, that sinless creatures can learn obedience to the right ways without committing sin. They can learn by experience how to know God and walk in His ways without going through any degree of experience in sin, for it is written of the tested and tried Son of God, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Pet.2:21-25; Heb.2:14-18; 4:14-16;5:7-10).
Neither angels nor men would have had to sin in order to learn obedience and be tried by moral tests; so the old theory that sin is necessary in order for free moral agents to learn obedience is not true. In the eternal future when men will multiply forever in the New Earth.... If it was necessary to test human free wills and even the Son of God, it certainly would be necessary to test the spirit beings for the same purpose. How was God to know which of the spirit beings would remain true and which ones would not, until they were all
tested and either proved faithful or unfaithful? They could not have been tested without definite tests and laws to obey. Naturally all free wills would not choose the same things and exercise their creative free-choice powers in the same way and in the same degree of wilful obedience or disobedience. This has been demonstrated by free wills ever since they were created. This certainly is clear to all present free moral agents who know of themselves that they can make free and voluntary choice concerning any detail of life.
It was not until Adam and Eve actually sinned that God knew the full results of their test (Gen.3). It was not until man had proved such a failure before the flood that God regretted having made him (Gen.6:5-7). It was not until God came down to see the rebellion of the post-diluvians, Sodom and Gomorrah and others, that God took action (Gen.11:1-9; Gen.18:21). So it is with every free moral agent of any period. Each has to be tried and purged of any possibility of falling before God places him in an eternal state and gives him eternal responsibility.
In God's moral government there must be laws for all creatures, and each creature must be assigned some particular responsibility so that the universe will run in perfect harmony. God could not rule free wills if each was free to do as he pleased. No government could long endure with such a plan. This is plainly evident to anyone who lives in any kind of society. If all were free to do as they pleased God could not depend upon them to carry out His eternal plan. It is even necessary in human affairs that each person do something and be responsible for something if anything is to be accomplished in human activity. This is true of the smallest to the greatest project undertaken by free wills. The greater the project, the greater the responsibility for those who are trusted for its completion. The greater the project, the greater the need for many persons to be responsible for some part of the plan. How much more true would it be in the running of the vast universe?
God is methodical in everything and has fixed laws that govern every detail of the vast universe. Each free will is given a part in the carrying out of the mutual plan for all concerned. God has a plan for the life and work of each creature and has a purpose for each material thing created. Every planet, every sun, and every moon, and every star must run in its own creative orbit. Each one of them must run on time, or there would soon be nothing dependable in the planetary system. Times and seasons would be thrown out of order, and all life on all planets would soon be destroyed. So it is with the moral creation. God did not make it to be chaos and ruin and each person to be a lawless, irresponsible creature, to cause governmental function to cease, or to do as he pleases. There must be some order and someone to keep order. There must be one law for all in order assure justice to all. There must be voluntary and mutual co-operation on the part of each free will for all to fit into and carry out the plan for the best good of all.
Each creature must be held responsible for his own acts. He must be rewarded for obedience or punished for disobedience, or no government can properly function for the best good of all. If God is to hold the respect and wilful obedience of all creatures, then He must be fair and just to all - delivering out punishments for sin and distributing rewards for obedience.
Government by rewards and penalties for all alike is the only just form of government and the only one that can continue forever. When government becomes corrupt and shows respect of persons, and injustice to some and special favors to others, then it ceases to carry out its purpose. This would soon lead to rebellion and eventual overthrow. If rebels against proper and just government were permitted to continue to openly rebel without punishment, there would be no incentive for others to remain true
and support the government. It would soon fall. So to be just, God is forced by circumstances to deal with rebels against His government and put down such rebellion if He is to continue His government for the best good of all. He is likewise obligated to reward the faithful and preserve proper and just government for them.
On these grounds every child of God can claim rewards and benefits that are promised to them by God in the many promises of Scripture.....
The Bible teaches that one-third of the angels proved untrue as did all the subjects of the first social order on the Earth over whom Lucifer ruled before the days of Adam. Just how many rulers and subjects of other planets rebelled is not definitely stated, but we do learn from Scripture that there are thrones and kingdoms in the heavens as well as on the Earth, visible and invisible (Col.1:15-18); that God charged some of His angels with folly (Job 4:18); that over one-third of God's angels rebelled with Lucifer (Rev.12:3-12; Matt.24:41); that redeemed human beings are to judge (rule) angels (1 Cor.6:3 ); that women are not to cut their hair but keep it long as a sign of subjection to their own husbands so that angels will have good examples to be in subjection to God (1 Cor.11:10); that the purpose of the Millennial reign of Christ is to "gather in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him" (Eph.1:10), and to rid the Earth of all rebels (1 Cor. 15:24-28); that all rebels of every kind and every realm will have to finally acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil.2:9-11); that it is Christ's work to reconcile both the things in Heaven and the things in Earth (Eph.1:10; Col.1:20); that Christ has already triumphed over the rebels and is exalted above all other angelic rulers and powers far above all heavens (Eph.1:21; 6:10-18; Col.2:14-17; 1 Pet. 3:22); that Christ is waiting now until the completion of man's probationary test in this age before He comes down from Heaven to put down all rebellion on Earth (Acts 3:19-21; 1 Cor.15:24-28; 2
Thess.1:7-10; Rev.19:11-20:3; Zech.14:1-21); that God is now schooling the principalities and powers in heavenly places in His manifold wisdom by making an example of submission by an actual demonstration of the church (Eph.3:1-11; 1 Cor.4:9; 11:10); that some rebel angels are now bound in Hell awaiting judgment (2 Pet.2:4; Jude 6-7); that one-third of God's angels who rebelled are now still loose with Satan carrying on rebellion against God (Rev.12:3-12; Dan.10:13-21; Eph.6:10-18); that they will be defeated ... and ... and then they will be cast into the pit for a thousand years (Rev.12:3-14; 20:1-3; Isa.24:21-23); and that they will be liberated for a little season at the end of the Millennium to deceive men living then on Earth, and then they will meet their final defeat and will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for them (Rev.20:7-10; Matt.25:41; Isa.24:21-23).
These simple Biblical facts go far in helping us understand the outcome of the angelic administration of the Earth and the probationary period of Earth creatures before the flood of Gen. 1:2.
What means of reconciliation God gave the spirit beings and the first rebels on the Earth is not known, but there must have been such means, for God has always dealt with rebels in mercy and longsuffering. This is His nature, and it would be contrary to His own Being to have cut them off without some means of reconciliation and without giving them a chance to lay down their arms of rebellion. It must be remembered that spirit beings are immortal in body, soul, and spirit and are not subject to physical death ... so the result of their penalty could not have been the same as was that of man in this respect. They will, however, be tormented ... forever ...
It must also be remembered that the Bible is not a book that deals specifically with the administration of the angels, their rebellion, the means of their reconciliation, if any, and
all about their former relation to God, or with the extent to which they will suffer degrees of punishment. The Bible is a book revealing the origin of all things, including the angels and man, but it primarily deals with man and his rebellion and his future in the plan of God. In the Bible, as we have seen above there are hundreds of references to spirit beings, their origin, fall, present work, future destiny, and many other things. These things are made clear concerning spirit beings because of their part in furthering the plan of God for man.
11. THE KINGDOM OF GOD OVER ALL - GOD ALL-IN-ALL
After the original creation of the heavens and the Earth and all things therein ... the Kingdom of God was universal, and God was all-in-all without one creature lifting up a finger of rebellion against Him. Everyone was willingly subject to His sovereign will and was walking in perfect obedience to God and His moral law. Each ruler and each of his subjects of every kingdom in the universe was faithful in his personal responsibility and consecrated to the highest good of being and of the universe. No free moral agent acted from his own will in selfishness or apart from the will of the Creator, and everything was in harmony and perfection.
How long this condition remained is not known, and all speculation is valueless. In the following points we shall provethat rebellion started by the angelic ruler of the Earth who conceived the idea and boldly attempted to carry out his plan to dethrone God and become the supreme ruler of the universe. From here on, the Bible reveals that the Earth has been made perfect and inhabited two times; that, there have been two universal rebellions on the Earth; and that the Earth has had two sinful careers. It records two past curses on the Earth and reveals that the Earth will be made new one more time;
that righteousness will dwell on Earth forever; and that God will become all-in-all again, as he was before rebellion was started by Lucifer and Adam (1 Cor.15:24-28; Rev.21-22; 2 Pet.3:13; Isa.65:17; 66:22-24).
EARTH'S FIRST SINFUL CAREER (Gen 1:2; Isa 14:1-14; Jer. 4:23-26; Ezek. 28:11-17; 2 Pet. 3:5-6)
III. MOSES' TEACHING ON THE OVERTHROW OF THE PRE-ADAMIC WORLD
In Gen.1:2 we have the fact that the Earth was in existence before the Spirit of God began to move (brood) upon the face of the waters which covered the Earth. The conjunction "and" is used to connect about 200 separate acts of God in Gen. 1 and 2. These acts are all equally independent and important. Verse 2 is as independent verse 1 as are all other separate acts of God in these two chapters. In verse 1 we have the original creation of the heavens and the Earth, and in verse 2, we have the original perfect Earth made chaos and flooded with water which destroyed all life n the Earth.
The word 'was' in verse 2 is from the Hebrew 'hayah,' which is a verb 'to become,' not the verb 'to be.' It is translated became 67 times (Gen.2:7; 19:26; 20:12; 24:67; Ex.4:34; Num.12:10; etc.), 'becamest' (1 Chron.17:22; Ezek.16:8); 'came' and 'came to pass' 505 times (Gen.4:3; 6:1,4; 11:2,5; etc.); 'become' 66 times (Gen.3:22; 18:18; 48:19; etc.); 'come' and 'come to pass' 131 times (Gen.4:14; 6:13; 18:20; 27:40; etc.); and many times 'be 'in the sense of 'become' (Gen.1:3,6,9,14; 3:5; etc.).
The phrase 'without form' is from the Hebrew 'tohu' which means waste, desolation, or confusion. It is translated 'waste' (Deut. 32:10); 'without form' (Gen.1:3, Jer.4:23); 'vain' (Isa.45:18; 1 Sam.12:21); 'confusion' (Isa.24:10; 34:11; 41:29); 'empty' (Job 26:7);
'vanity' (Isa.40:17,23; 44:9; 59:4); 'nothing' (Job 6:18;Isa.40:17); and 'wilderness' (Job 12:24; Ps.107:40).
It can be seen from these passages what the word really means and what the condition of the Earth was in Gen.1:2. God did not originally create the Earth in such a waste and ruined state. It is definitely stated in Isa.45:18 that God did not create the Earth 'tohu' (vain, or desolate), yet in Gen.1:2 the Earth was 'tohu.' If the Earth was not originally created desolate, then it must have been created, inhabited, and later became desolate. Even the English verb 'was' proves that it had to become desolate before it could be desolate.
The Hebrew word for 'void' is 'bohu' which means empty, ruin or void. It is translated 'void' (Gen.1:2; Jer.4:23) and emptiness (Isa.34:11). The Hebrew phrase 'tohu va bohu' (waste and ruin, or desolate and empty) describes the chaotic condition of the Earth since "the beginning" and before the six days of the reconstruction of Gen.1:3-2:25. God did not create the Earth a ruin or a waste. It became so because of sin, as we shall see.
We can read Gen.1:1-2 literally thus: "In the beginning [by periods, ages] God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth became waste and ruin [desolate and empty]; and darkness was upon the face of the deep [the flood]. And the Spirit of God moved [brooded] upon the face of the waters."
In these verses we have the whole span of the creative ages taking in all the original creation of the heavens and the Earth and all things therein to the six days of restoration of the Earth to a habitable state. The original creations include the sun, moon, and stars ....
In these two verses alone we have the facts that in the dateless past God created the heavens, including the sun, moon, and stars, and then the Earth; that the heavens were created before the Earth; that the heavens, the Earth, the waters, and the darkness were all created before the Spirit began to brood over the waters; and that these things were already in existence before the first of the six days, proving that they were not created in any one of those days. How long the Earth was a waste and a ruin or desolate and empty since its original habitation is not known. How long it was in existence and inhabited before it became desolate and empty is not known, but why and when it was cursed and became desolate and empty is known and clearly revealed in Scripture, as we shall see below. In Scripture all cases of obscuring the sun and bringing consequent darkness, and all cases of floods are a result of judgment and never of an act of creation, unless it be Gen.1:2; and we have no authority on which to believe that this is an exception. Why could not Gen.1:2 be a result of a curse, as is clear of all other floods and darkness on the Earth as revealed in Gen.6-8; Ex.10:21-23; Isa.5:30; 13:10; Jer.4:23-26; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph.1:15; Joel 2:30-3:16; Matt 8:12; 9:2; 16:10).
The fact that Moses by inspiration said that God told Adam to multiply and replenish the Earth proves that there was a social system on the Earth before Adam, for he could not replenish something that had not been plenished before. Some argue that the Hebrew word for 'replenish' means fill and not refill, but this proves nothing. An examination of all places where the word replenish is used disproves this. Suppose we make the word replenish mean plenish in Gen.9:1; Isa.2:6; 23:2; Jer. 31:25;Ezek.26:2; 27:25, and note the results. Where the Hebrew 'mala' is translated 'fill,' it does not mean that the thing referred to had never been filled before. For example, when Joseph commanded his brethren to "fill their sacks," does this mean that those sacks had
never been filled before? They had no doubt been filled many times. See Gen.42:25; 44:1; 1 Kings 18:33; Hag. 2:7; etc. To say, "Fill that glass with water," does not prove that it had never been filled before, but to say, "Refill that glass with water" proves that it had been filled before. When God said to Noah, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen.9:1), it is clear that the Earth had been plenished before, so why not believe that God meant the same thing when He said it to Adam? The same Hebrew statement is found in both passages (Gen.1:28; 9:1), and it is translated exactly the same in English, so would it be wrong to believe that it means the same thing? If the Earth had been plenished before Adam, then it was overthrown by judgment before the six days, as is shown in Gen. 1:2.
