THE FALL OF LUCIFER.
Chapter 1—The Fall of Lucifer
[12]
[13] Lucifer in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted
angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son. His countenance, like those
of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His
forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect. His
form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. A special light
beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more
beautiful than around the other angels; yet Christ, God’s dear Son,
had the pre-eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with
the Father before the angels were created. Lucifer was envious of
Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ
alone.
The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might
in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son.
The Son was seated on the throne with the Father, and the heavenly
throng of holy angels was gathered around them. The Father then
made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ, His Son,
should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of
His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be
obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested
with authority to command the heavenly host. Especially was His
Son to work in union with Himself in the anticipated creation of the
[14] earth and every living thing that should exist upon the earth. His Son
would carry out His will and His purposes but would do nothing of
Himself alone. The Father’s will would be fulfilled in Him.
Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the
angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority
and rightful rule, he bowed with them; but his heart was filled
with envy and hatred. Christ had been taken into the special counsel
of God in regard to His plans, while Lucifer was unacquainted with
them. He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the
purposes of God. But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of heaven,
His power and authority to be the same as that of God Himself. Luifer thought that he was himself a favorite in heaven among the
angels. He had been highly exalted, but this did not call forth from
him gratitude and praise to his Creator. He aspired to the height
of God Himself. He gloried in his loftiness. He knew that he was
honored by the angels. He had a special mission to execute. He
had been near the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious
light enshrouding the eternal God had shone especially upon him.
He thought how angels had obeyed his command with pleasurable
alacrity. Were not his garments light and beautiful? Why should
Christ thus be honored before himself?
He left the immediate presence of the Father, dissatisfied and
filled with envy against Jesus Christ. Concealing his real purposes,
he assembled the angelic host. He introduced his subject, which
was himself. As one aggrieved, he related the preference God had
given Jesus to the neglect of himself. He told them that henceforth
all the sweet liberty the angels had enjoyed was at an end. For had
not a ruler been appointed over them, to whom they from henceforth [15]
must yield servile honor? He stated to them that he had called
them together to assure them that he no longer would submit to this
invasion of his rights and theirs; that never would he again bow down
to Christ; that he would take the honor upon himself which should
have been conferred upon him, and would be the commander of all
who would submit to follow him and obey his voice.
There was contention among the angels. Lucifer and his sympathizers
were striving to reform the government of God. They
were discontented and unhappy because they could not look into
His unsearchable wisdom and ascertain His purposes in exalting His
Son, and endowing Him with such unlimited power and command.
They rebelled against the authority of the Son.
Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty,
rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act of
God in conferring honor upon Christ, and with forcible reasoning
sought to convince Lucifer that no less honor was his now than
before the Father had proclaimed the honor which He had conferred
upon His Son. They clearly set forth that Christ was the Son of
God, existing with Him before the angels were created; and that
He had ever stood at the right hand of God, and His mild, loving
authority had not heretofore been questioned; and that He had given no commands but what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute.
They urged that Christ’s receiving special honor from the Father, in
the presence of the angels, did not detract from the honor that Lucifer
had heretofore received. The angels wept. They anxiously sought to
move him to renounce his wicked design and yield submission to
[16] their Creator; for all had heretofore been peace and harmony, and
what could occasion this dissenting, rebellious voice?
Lucifer refused to listen. And then he turned from the loyal
and true angels, denouncing them as slaves. These angels, true to
God, stood in amazement as they saw that Lucifer was successful
in his effort to incite rebellion. He promised them a new and better
government than they then had, in which all would be freedom. Great
numbers signified their purpose to accept him as their leader and
chief commander. As he saw his advances were met with success,
he flattered himself that he should yet have all the angels on his
side, and that he would be equal with God Himself, and his voice of
authority would be heard in commanding the entire host of heaven.
Again the loyal angels warned him, and assured him what must be
the consequences if he persisted; that He who could create the angels
could by His power overturn all their authority and in some signal
manner punish their audacity and terrible rebellion. To think that an
angel should resist the law of God which was as sacred as Himself!
They warned the rebellious to close their ears to Lucifer’s deceptive
reasonings, and advised him and all who had been affected by him
to go to God and confess their wrong for even admitting a thought
of questioning His authority.
Many of Lucifer’s sympathizers were inclined to heed the counsel
of the loyal angels and repent of their dissatisfaction and be again
received to the confidence of the Father and His dear Son. The
mighty revolter then declared that he was acquainted with God’s
law, and if he should submit to servile obedience, his honor would
be taken from him. No more would he be intrusted with his exalted
[17] mission. He told them that himself and they also had now gone too
far to go back, and he would brave the consequences, for to bow in
servile worship to the Son of God he never would; that God would
not forgive, and now they must assert their liberty and gain by force
the position and authority which was not willingly accorded to them.
[Thus it was that Lucifer, “the light-bearer,” the sharer of God’s glory, the attendant of his throne, by transgression became Satan,
“the adversary.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 40.]
The loyal angels hastened speedily to the Son of God and acquainted
Him with what was taking place among the angels. They
found the Father in conference with His beloved Son, to determine
the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the assumed
authority of Satan could be forever put down. The great God
could at once have hurled this archdeceiver from heaven; but this was
not His purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to
measure strength and might with His own Son and His loyal angels.
In this battle every angel would choose his own side and be manifested
to all. It would not have been safe to suffer any who united
with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy heaven. They had
learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against the unchangeable
law of God, and this is incurable. If God had exercised His power
to punish this chief rebel, disaffected angels would not have been
manifested; hence, God took another course, for He would manifest
distinctly to all the heavenly host His justice and His judgment.
War in Heaven
It was the highest crime to rebel against the government of God.
All heaven seemed in commotion. The angels were marshaled in
companies, each division with a higher commanding angel at its
head. Satan was warring against the law of God, because ambitious [18]
to exalt himself and unwilling to submit to the authority of God’s
Son, heaven’s great commander.
All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father,
to have each case determined. Satan unblushingly made known
his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before him. He
stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God and
should be taken into conference with the Father and understand His
purposes. God informed Satan that to His Son alone He would reveal
His secret purposes, and He required all the family in heaven, even
Satan, to yield Him implicit, unquestioned obedience; but that he
(Satan) had proved himself unworthy of a place in heaven. Then
Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one
half of all the angels, and exclaimed, “These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?” He then declared
that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ and to defend
his place in heaven by force of might, strength against strength.
Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan and his exulting
boasts. God declared that the rebellious should remain in heaven no
longer. Their high and happy state had been held upon condition
of obedience to the law which God had given to govern the high
order of intelligences. But no provision had been made to save those
who should venture to transgress His law. Satan grew bold in his
rebellion, and expressed his contempt of the Creator’s law. This
Satan could not bear. He claimed that angels needed no law but
should be left free to follow their own will, which would ever guide
them right; that law was a restriction of their liberty; and that to
[19] abolish law was one great object of his standing as he did. The
condition of the angels, he thought, needed improvement. Not so
the mind of God, who had made laws and exalted them equal to
Himself. The happiness of the angelic host consisted in their perfect
obedience to law. Each had his special work assigned him, and until
Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmonious action
in heaven.
Then there was war in heaven. The Son of God, the Prince of
heaven, and His loyal angels engaged in conflict with the archrebel
and those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal
angels prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from
heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of
justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in heaven. All was again
peaceful and harmonious as before. Angels in heaven mourned the
fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss.
Their loss was felt in heaven.
The Father consulted His Son in regard to at once carrying out
their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth. He would place
man upon probation to test his loyalty before he could be rendered
eternally secure. If he endured the test wherewith God saw fit to
prove him, he should eventually be equal with the angels. He was
to have the favor of God, and he was to converse with angels, and
they with him. He did not see fit to place them beyond the power of
disobedience.