What does God reveal to us about our principal enemy, Satan: “Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” Ezekiel 28: 12

Because the passage is about Satan, what God has to say about the anointed cherub is all the more significant. In just six Hebrew words, Satan was revealed to be the “seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” This description, coupled with the word measurement/proportion [תכנית tochnit], means Satan was the absolute greatest of God’s creatures. His proportions were pristine, sublime, and impeccable. His form was exquisite in every capacity. It is hard to imagine what this truly means in real terms. But he was absolutely it: the seal of perfection.

To fully understand Satan’s Origin, Fall and his goals get Douglas Hamps’s three books: Corrupting the Image series. The information in this and my next post is extracted from these books.

God also created Satan completely full of wisdom [maleh chochma מלא חכמה]. Satan was not lacking in any area of understanding. Satan perfectly understood the workings of God’s creation. He understood the laws governing the Earth, the stars, and life itself. He understood the process of photosynthesis, cellular biology, quantum physics, and science beyond our grasp.

While God gave him perfect wisdom, Satan has always lacked a complete perspective because he does not know the future as God does.

“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” Isaiah 46:9-10

Lastly, God created him “perfect in beauty” [kalil yofi כליל יפי]. The Hebrew kalal means “entire, full, all.”[ 62] Thus, Satan was lacking nothing in his appearance. God withheld no aesthetic quality when He created him;[ 63] He endowed Satan with phenomenal and outstanding beauty that equaled Him in splendor. These descriptions give us insight into why Satan thought he was on equal footing with his Maker. These qualities would eventually spark his rebellion and lead to the Beast’s creation.

Satan belonged to a special class of beings known as the cherubim. Judging from his vesture, Satan had the role of high priest. He was covered with an array of precious stones, inlaid in sockets of gold and silver. Satan’s stones were in a breastplate like that of Israel’s high priest. Satan’s role as priest was to serve as the leader to communicate God’s instructions, directives, and will to others. Just as priests taught and interpreted God’s commands.

Satan had been given everything, why spoil it? God gives us the answer: “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor” Ezekiel 28: 17

He was the one who caused the decay of his endowment of wisdom due to his arrogant confidence in his own beauty. This means that he made a conscious choice. He was not preprogrammed to be bad or to fall from God’s grace. He mindfully chose to stage a coup against his Creator and rightful King.

Satan thought that creation should serve him because; “Look at all I have. Look at all that I am.”

The path to truly being like God required Satan and the other angels to sacrificially serve others, especially those lower than themselves; This feat is perfectly demonstrated by Jesus going to the cross. Satan was unwilling to do this. Satan boasted in the attributes he shared with God, but the one that he was required to demonstrate himself, which was to sacrificially love and serve; he refused. He set the example that rulers of the nations would later practice, as Jesus said: “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them” (Matthew 20: 25).

My next post will be on the timing of Satan’s rebellion: Rebellion first in the Spiritual Realm.