Leo
and the Angelic Creation
(Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28)
In the star
chart drawings of the stellar sign of Leo is a magnificent and majestic lion
pouncing on the head of a very large serpent that is fleeing for its life -
fleeing from the wrath of the lion.
This
constellation introduces the serpent in the eternal covenant. According to the scripture the serpent is the
acknowledged adversary of the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). Who is the serpent? Where did he come from? What is his purpose and why is he the
adversary of the Seed of the woman?
This
lesson will address these questions and the next lesson will discuss the
stellar sign of Leo.
Before
God created the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and before He
created man, He created the angelic beings.
The scripture refers to the angelic host as “morning stars, the sons of
God” (Job 38:7). Morning is the dawn of
daybreak, a new beginning. The first
mention of morning in the scripture is in Genesis 1:5. The morning stars, the angelic host, sang and
shouted for joy as they witnessed the handiwork of their Creator in the work of
His creation (Job 38:4-7).
On the
fourth day of creation, God placed prophetic revelation in the covenant
luminaries. In the message of the light
holders in the heavens God declares His glory “…to give light upon the earth”
(Genesis 1:17). The number four speaks of the four corners of the
earth. The light holders in the heavens shine
to the four corners of the earth for signs and for seasons, and for days and
years.
In the
Hebrew, the word “signs” means “a mark.” A sign is a mark of something other than
itself. “Signs and seasons” were
ordained of God to indicate events in the life of the covenant Son, the coming
Redeemer-Deliverer. With “days and
years,” the astronomical bodies measure time.
The
signs and the appointed events are not seen in the configurations of the stars.
The figures on the star charts were
drawn around the meaning given the constellation. Words give a picture. Pictures tell a story. Colors add life to the words and pictures that
tell a story. A picture is a vivid way
to express a truth. The stellar signs
are pictorials.
The
twelve covenant luminaires are clustered in easily recognized groupings. God reveals the message of the covenant Son
and the kingdom He ordained in the star names.
Add the covenant colors and numbers to the message and the imprint
stamped in the mind is engraved in the thinking.
God reveals Himself and makes His will known
in different methods; one of the most prominent methods is through pictures. When He communicates His plan, He gives an
overview and then fills in the details.
With
the placement of the covenant luminaries on the fourth day of creation, the
signs and the appointed events of the covenant Son and His government on earth
were pictured to the angelic creation.
The message in the picture provided the angelic creation the purpose of
their being, which includes ministering to the heirs of salvation.
The
scriptures provide little detail concerning the image of these winged beings; the
Hebrew word “cherubim” is a masculine
noun of uncertain derivation and means an angelic being and is commonly
translated cherub. The verb seraph literally means burning; fiery
(plural, seraphim) is used only in Isaiah 6:2, 6. The angelic host is described as “ministers a
flaming fire” (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7).
The created
ministers of flaming fire are personal beings with a mind, will and emotions. They are personal beings of spirit. They are messengers of God, and their
ministry is to serve in His government on earth. The angelic host of spirit beings is set
apart unto God and lives with the otherness of God – His beauty, His holiness. The movement of these spirit beings is musical;
their movement expresses joy and praise in times of festivity and triumph
(Ezekiel 28:13).
In the
scriptures, names and titles are important.
The person or persons bestowing the name consider the moniker. Names have meaning and intimacy attached to
them. God named the stars, His garden, the
first man, and His angelic host.
Frequently the name given or changed by God reflected the character of
the person named and/or an attribute of God.
The three angelic beings mentioned by name in the scripture (Michael,
Gabriel and Lucifer) were given names with prophetic reminders of the
righteousness and justice of God.
Michael,
who has the honor of archangel, is a prince
among the angelic host. He is
specifically the minister of God to the people Israel (Jude 9, Daniel 10, and
Revelation 12). His name means “Who is
as God?” Every time the nation Israel
heard Michael’s name, it would be a perpetual reminder that Israel’s God is the
only God.
The angel
Gabriel’s name means “man of God” (his name is in reference to the Man who prevails). Who is the Man who prevails but the begotten
Son, the Seed of the woman? God gave Gabriel
the privilege of delivering the good news to the Virgin Mary (a daughter of
Israel) that she was highly favored of God (Luke 1:26-33).
Lucifer
(Isaiah 14) is named only once and is given the title “anointed cherub”
(Ezekiel 28:14). However, clear
references are made of him in Ezekiel 28 and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The term “anointed” likely expresses the
sense of sanctification for divine service.
Lucifer’s
name means “shining one” and “howling” – these names reveal the purpose of his
creation and his destiny. “Shining one”
is a description of the perfection of his ways from the day of his creation
until iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15). The name of “howling” implies rage for not
obtaining that which is desired. “Howling”
also implies desolation and violence, weeping and wailing.
It is
thought-provoking to consider there is no reference to God or to those to whom
Lucifer is to minister. These facts reveal
God’s foreknowledge.
God
knew that a creation other than Himself would be lawless; any creation other than Himself would be
lawless. Lawlessness is a state of being,
and it manifests itself by setting one’s will above the will of his Creator and
everyone else.
Lucifer,
as a created being, is neither God’s colleague nor his equal; he is a created being with the freedom of choice
to set his will above the will of his Creator.
He is not the source of lawlessness, nor is he the initiator of
lawlessness. As a ministering spirit of
the holiness of God, Lucifer was to do the commandments of the LORD and hearken
to the voice of His word to do His pleasure.
In so doing, Lucifer would fulfill the purpose of his creation. As a personal spirit being and a creation of
the Creator, God gave Lucifer freedom of choice to believe Him and obey or
not. God instructed Lucifer along with
the rest of the angelic creation as to the purpose of their being through the
prophetic revelation of the covenant light holders.
The
ways of God’s works are unchangeable; the order is always the same. First God reveals Himself and His plan; then
is the test of obedience, which is to believe the truth revealed and submit to
the purpose of the Creator or not?
The
record of the test of obedience is in the precious stones of covering, the
stones of fire in Ezekiel 28. These
stones of fire are symbolic and are a memorial of the person and work of
Christ; primarily, they are linked with the angelic host’s connection to their
Creator’s established government and the host’s ministry on the behalf of God’s
government − the heirs of salvation, Israel.
At
creation, God brought the angelic host into His presence in His heavenly
dwelling. There they walked up and down
among stones of fire (Ezekiel 28:14). The
stones are arranged to be melodic in design.
The harmonious “music” of the stones begins softly until the last strain
is heard in a resounding crescendo; the climax of which is portrayed in the
colors and meaning of the stones.
“Walking”
is a symbol of conduct. Walking among
the stones represents the test of the angelic host. First God reveals Himself and His plans; then
is the test of obedience; will they believe the truth and submit themselves to
minister in His government to the praise of His glory in their freedom of
choice or will they act in lawlessness and rebel?
The
stones of fire warn the angelic host of judgment for their conduct. “Fire” is a symbol of a “consuming
judgment.” Fire consumes, destroys, and
transmutes into its likeness.
In the
covering, the nine stones are identified as sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle. The beautiful covenant colors in the stones of
fire are revealed in the luminaires of the heavens and they speak of the
majesty and holiness of the covenant-keeping God in the eternal covenant.
The
number nine is a remarkable number. In
mathematical science, it possesses properties and powers that are found in no
other number. It is the last of the
digits, and thus marks the end and is the conclusion of a matter. That there should be nine stones directly
related to the angelic host, Lucifer in particular, is no small coincidence −
but a divine revelation.
Verses
11-19 of Ezekiel 28 speak of Lucifer and the stones of fire.
The
pattern of the stones is significant.
The first two stones are paired together with the third stone connecting
them with the word “and.” Thus, there
are three groupings of three with the covering of the stones “set” in gold
(vs.13).
The
first stone is Sardius. The blood-red sardius speaks of the shed
blood of the promised Prince of Glory
(the Last Adam), the One whose glory the heavens declare (Psalm 19,
1Corinthians 2; 2Corinthians 4). Everything
in His kingdom will be His doing through His obedience to the death on the
Cross. His blood is shed for the
cleansing of all unrighteousness. All is
to be to the praise of His glory - to Him be the glory.
The
second stone, the golden yellow Topaz,
shows the glory of the Prince. The glory
of the Prince is the absolute divine essence “Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a
servant …” (Philippians 2:6-7) – clothed in the flesh of humanity as the Servant of Jehovah. He will bring reward to those who willingly
choose to believe Jehovah and serve Him.
The
third stone follows with the connecting “and.”
The third stone of fire is the Diamond;
the diamond speaks of victory and portrays the Prince of Glory as the Captain
of Salvation. The diamond is a clear
stone. It is crystal clear that the
Prince of Glory willingly comes to earth in the likeness of man, the Servant of
Jehovah in a mortal body, yet without sin.
He is the first Son of many sons of glory, the Captain of Salvation. When
the life-blood is shed, the lifeless body, which has seen no corruption, can be
raised up out from the dead. The Captain
alone won the victory over sin and death.
The victory is assured. He will
be coming again to judge the earth. When
He comes to judge all nations, His heavenly host, His troops, will be with Him
(Matthew 25:31-46).
The
next set of three stones begins with the Beryl. The beryl stone is a greenish blue stone and
in the pictorial of the stones portrays the Prince of Glory as the Judge of all the earth, who will do
right - He will give a just retribution.
Having laid down His Life, the Prince of Glory will, at the end of the
indignation of God for a lawless creation, send His ministers, the angelic
host, to gather His people out of nations; they will minister judgment on the
wicked (Matthew 24:29-31; 2Thessalonians 1:7-8; Jude 14-15).
The
stone paired with the beryl is the Onyx stone. Many people preface onyx with the word
“black”; however, this is misleading.
The onyx is a light colored stone.
In the gemological world, the term onyx refers to layered stones that
exhibit different colors in multiple layers.
These varied colors include white, red, brown, black and banded –
variegated, giving the appearance of colors woven together. From the Greek, the word onyx means “claw” or
“fingernail.” With its flesh color, the
onyx can be said to resemble a fingernail and is not considered to be
particularly beautiful.
The
onyx stone is the fifth stone in the list of nine; the number five in the
numerology of scripture speaks of grace.
The onyx stone therefore portrays the Prince of Glory, the Servant of
Jehovah, the Captain of Salvation, and the Judge as Blessedness (“happy”) -
Sanctification of God.
The
Hebrew word for onyx comes from the root to “flash forth splendor.” In the onyx stone God pictures the
blessedness and splendor and grace of God in sending the stone of Israel, the
last Adam, clothed in a body of flesh woven in the womb of the virgin (Psalm
139:13). He had no form or comeliness,
no outward beauty that should be desired (Isaiah 53:2), but He held within the
seed coat the pure white essence of deity to bring forth all the variegated
colors of the beauty and glory of God.
The
third stone of this three-some that follows the “and” is the Jasper stone. The jasper stone like the diamond is a clear
colored stone and clearly portrays the Prince of Glory as the Prince of princes, the Ruler of
rulers. He is a Prince with God and
man.
Happy
and blessed is the one who serves Him in obedience to the truth, that is,
believes what God says. Having wrestled
against principalities and powers of wickedness in high places and having
conquered them through the resurrection, there will be no more war. His kingdom will be a kingdom of peace and
righteousness. In the end, the Prince of
Glory will be Ruler over all.
The
last three stones of fire are the sapphire, emerald and the carbuncle. The Sapphire
stone is the most precious and valuable of blue gemstones. The stone is desirable because of its color
and durability. In the pictorial of the
stones, the sapphire portrays the Prince of Glory as the Prophet sent from God.
Jesus,
the absolute divine essence of deity, became flesh and sojourned on earth in
the flesh of humanity, the Prophet sent from God. Speaking the words of His Father and doing
the works of His Father bear true testimony to the truth that the Father sent
Jesus as His Prophet (John 5). Paired
with the testimony of the “heavenly” blue sapphire is the witness of the green Emerald. The emerald portrays the Prince of Glory as
the Son of Man, the Child born as
the Son given to His people Israel (Isaiah 9:6-7). God’s people, seeing the Son in the flesh,
saw God.
The
last stone is the Carbuncle. Like the third stone of the first two
groupings, the carbuncle is a clear stone. The carbuncle shows forth that the Prince of
Glory is portrayed as the Son of Man (birthed Son of God) - Son of God
(begotten Son of God). He is the meeting
place between God and man. He is the
Rock - a Refuge for whomever comes to Him to dwell in safety from the storm of destruction (Psalm 18:2;
62:7).
The
portrayal of the Prince of Glory, as told in the stones of fire, is true of the
One for whom the angelic ministers were brought into being. The heavenly host heard the truth and was
given the choice to believe the One who would send the Prince of Glory to
earth.
With
the naming of the last stone is the “and” of the final touché, the naming of
the element of gold. Gold is an element –
a class of substances that cannot be separated and is therefore not made from
any other element. Consequently, gold is
perfect in its type to symbolize deity.
Gold marks the end and conclusion of the matter. The doxology so to speak of the music
introduced softly builds toward the resounding crescendo – the climax of that
portrayed in the pictorial. The doxology
is the Amen of music. The so be it! All the stones of covering are set in gold,
sealed with the stamp of indestructible deity.
All is God’s doing; the gold is the outshining of all the glory; all is
for His glory.
Coveting
is the lust of desire of something seen.
Having witnessed the purpose of God in the luminaires and brought into
the otherness of God – His beauty, His holiness to live with His presence,
Lucifer imagines himself other than he is.
Through the deceitfulness of his lawlessness, Lucifer imagines he can be
“like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14).
Lucifer’s
desire to contend for God’s glory – God’s desire for him caused him to be
unwilling to be satisfied with the will of God for him. Lucifer, the “shining one,” in his refusal of
the love of God refused the high purpose of His creation. He refused to be a minister in God’s government. He became the adversary of God coveting that
which could not justly be his; thus, he fulfilled the prophetic meaning of his
name “howling.”
Each
angelic being that believed the truth and submitted himself to His Creator as a
son of Elohim fulfilled his purpose
for being. If he chose not to believe
the truth, he rebelled against the Creator and His creation and did not fulfill
his purpose of being.
Leaving
the presence of his Sovereign, Lucifer led a third of the innumerable company
of the angelic host with him in his rebellion. Valuing the creation of God and desiring it
for himself, Lucifer and those of the angelic host willing to follow him made
their choice.
Because
the holy angels of God had understanding of the symbolism of the precious
stones of covering, the stones of fire, they understood this test. Theirs was a onetime decision to continue as
a creation of God or be at enmity with God in their mind, be of no profit to
God and be destroyed in the end.
God’s
strange work is to turn aside from His creation (Isaiah 28:21). He is not an indifferent Creator who is
uncaring or disinterested. God loves His
angelic creation of personal beings. He
did not think of them as indentured servants but as personal beings created
with freedom of choice. To allocate
judgment to them is contrary to the personal being of Spirit Deity who is Love,
Life and Light.
Lucifer’s
plan to overpower and overthrow God is through a city - a kingdom built through
merchandising, a city where the creature is served rather than the
Creator. This city built through
merchandising is a system of politics, economics and religion. Because Lucifer is a spirit being, he must use
a medium to achieve his desire to have the kingdom that belongs to God. He set his plan to build a city in motion
using a creation of God with a flesh body of the earth. What creature of the earth did he choose? He choose the first-born son of the man and
woman, Cain, who was willing to cooperate and be mentored by him (Genesis 4,
5).
Isaiah14:12-14
says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! ...for
you have said in your heart, 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 (of Israel) in the sides of the north (city of the King), I will ascend above the heights of
the clouds; I will be like the most
High.”
Lucifer, the deceiver of men, embraced the symbol
of the serpent pictured in the luminaries; the serpent is the symbol of the
pride of self will. Lucifer took the
symbol as his symbol of power.
This
understanding of the “serpent” – who he is – where he came from – what his
purpose was – and why he is the adversary of the “Seed” of the woman brings us
to the stellar sign of Leo. In the sign
Leo, the serpent’s strategy for overthrowing God’s government and the folly of
that plan is seen as foiled. Leo
displays the just recompense of the righteous King – the Loving Creator of His
creation.
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No
Glossary for Leo and the Angelic Creation
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