Know Your Enemy! Beauty Turned to Ashes

Your Heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Ezekiel 28:17

The 28^th chapter of Ezekiel is very interesting. Ezekiel speaks for the Lord and prophesies against the wicked King of Tyre in the first ten verses. 

Then Ezekiel speaks for the Lord and prophesies against Satan. Although it is written as a lament against the King of Tyre, it obviously talking about Satan. After all, the King of Tyre was never in Eden and he certainly wasn’t appointed as a guardian cherub. Let’s look at the description the Lord gives of Satan. 

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you (Ezekiel 28:12-13). 

The Lord described him as a thing of beauty. He declared that Satan had been anointed as a guardian cherub. He even said that Satan’s ways were blameless from the day he was created till wickedness was found in him.

That is not the way I picture Satan at all. How could an angel, perfect in beauty and full of wisdom, fall so fast and so far? One word tells it all: PRIDE.

What lesson can we learn from Satan’s fall? First, we need to be alert and guard ourselves against our own pride. Satan and his demons love to see prideful Christians. Our testimony is damaged and we are hurt in the long run.

Secondly, we need to use the weapons God gives us to ward off Satan’s arrows when he hurls them at us. Let’s look at some of the wise sayings concerning pride:

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 13:10 Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Proverbs 14:3 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them.

Proverbs 16:18 says, Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Ammunition for today: Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Ephesians 6:13).

Dear Father, Teach us not to fear Satan, but to learn a lesson from his prideful fall.

Janice Yandell