GOD's PLAN: A Birdseye View

[Davy]

Because of so much materialistic type "can't see the forest for the trees" thinking of this present world, brethren in Christ also need to step back, and look at God's Plan revealed in His Word through the time of 3 world earth ages. Some of what I reveal here will be new to many of you. It shouldn't be though, because it is God's Word.

(This Bible study is going to be long, probably with more than a couple of posts.)

UNDERSTANDING THE 3 WORLD EARTH AGES:
According to Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3, there are 3 world earth ages:
1. "the world that then was" - 2 Peter 3:5-6
2. "the heavens and the earth, which are now" -- 2 Peter 3:7
3. "new heavens and a new earth" -- 2 Peter 3:13

The 1st world earth age which Peter said perished by water was about God ending His original perfect creation in the beginning that He had created at Genesis 1:1. At Genesis 1:2, the earth sat in a waste and a ruin from God having ended that 1st world because of Satan's rebellion against him. Many think Peter was pointing to the time of Noah's flood, but he was not. Peter's idea of the earth standing in the water, and out of the water, is about the earth being in a waste and ruin state at Genesis 1:2, and then with God moving the waters upon it to form today's sky and oceans and seas.

This event of God's creation in the beginning with a 'perfect' world, and... a time when Satan actually was perfect in his ways in following God, is... HINTED at in God's written Word. God put the information in a type of parable format, as it is obvious that He hid this from those who profane His Word, and try to create their own word, especially the devil's servants, because the devil fervently does not want those in Christ to understand these things.

One of the advantages of Old Testament Book study for those in Christ Jesus is how He has put information there which points to what happened in the 1st world earth age regarding Lucifer, and just what original SIN Lucifer did against Him in that old world.


UNDERSTANDING TYPES IN GOD'S WORD:

One of the ways God partially hid this information in His Word from the profane is by the use of 'types'. One of the places God uses the title of "the Assyrian" as a 'type' for Lucifer is at the end of Isaiah 30...

Isa 30:30-33
30 And the LORD shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will He fight with it.

33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
KJV

God is using the flesh king of Assyria, "the Assyrian", as a type for Satan himself. We know the flesh king of Assyria has NOT been judged nor sentenced yet to perish in the future "lake of fire" after Christ's future coming. No flesh born man has been judged and sentenced to perish just yet today. That is one way we know God is using the flesh king "the Assyrian" there as a 'type' for Satan himself, who IS... already judged and sentenced to perish in that "Tophet", a symbol about the 'valley of Hinnom' put for the future "lake of fire". Below in Ezekiel 28, God gives another example of 'types' used to point to Satan.


UNDERSTANDING ABOUT SATAN'S REBELLION IN EZEKIEL 28:

Ezek 28:2-10
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, "I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas"; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

God is using that "prince of Tyrus" as a 'type' to point to Satan. The SIN which Satan did in that 1st world earth age was in coveting God's Throne, wanting to be GOD. That is what our Heavenly Father is declaring that Satan said in that above quote in Italics. Yet God calls him as just "a man, and not God". Is God pointing to the flesh prince of Tyrus, or to Satan? You really can't be sure at this point, not until you continue later into this Ezekiel chapter.

It's important to note that word "Tyrus" also. That name Tyrus is put for the old Biblical nation of Tyre. This is to the prince of Tyre. That word itself means 'rock' or 'stone'. Do you recall Deuteronomy 32:31 that says "For their rock is not as our Rock, ..."? That lower case "rock" is put for Satan. Upper case "Rock" is put for our Heavenly Father and His Son. Therefore......... prince of Tyrus, or prince of the 'rock', or 'prince of Satan'. You choose. You may see that just as speculation right now, but wait till we get to the juicy parts of this chapter.


Ezekiel 28:3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

God's prophet Daniel was very, very wise, by the wisdom God had given him. So could a flesh prince of Tyre really be compared to Daniel's wisdom? I think not; something else is going on here; God is trying to tell us something deeper here.

4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

The rock island of Tyre at one time in ancient history was a center of world wealth and global commerce, like New York city. Ships traveled there from afar to do commerce. The island rock of Tyre was completely isolated by the sea, and had double 150 foot high walls around it. It could not be approached by the land. God gave Alexander the Great to conquer it, and the only way Alexander did it was to move dirt out to create a land bridge to reach it, which land bridge still exists today.


Ezekiel 28:6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

And that happened to the flesh king and island rock of Tyre, by Alexander.

9 Wilt thou yet say before Him That slayeth thee, "I am God?" but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of Him That slayeth thee.
10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
KJV

Once again, is God also pointing also to Satan with his claim, "I am God"? and God then says to him, "but thou shalt be a man"? Yes, I think so, definitely so, based on what follows.

 

[Davy]

(Cont...)

Ezek 28:11-15
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

That "Thou sealest up the sum" phrase in the Hebrew means 'the finished pattern'. This "king of Tyrus" God says He made the full pattern of beauty, perfect. Can that really be about a flesh born man? This is hinting towards the supernatural as we will see.


13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

There it is. NO flesh born man beside Adam was ever in God's Garden of Eden, and this certainly ain't about the man Adam, nor just some garden in Tyre.

God is using that "king of Tyrus" title as a 'type' for Satan himself. Satan was... in God's Garden of Eden. And all those jewels for a covering and tabrets and pipes refer to his having been highly exalted in God's Garden of Eden in that 1st world earth age.


14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
KJV

That leaves no doubt at all just who God is pointing to here, i.e. Satan PRIOR to his rebellion against God. He is pointing directly to Satan himself whom He created as a covering cherub to guard God's Throne. Instead, Satan coveted God's Throne, and wanted to be GOD. That was the "iniquity" that was found in Satan. And the idea of a "cherub" is about a heavenly created being. If you recall the two winged cherubs on top of the ark of the covenant, Satan was originally one of them guarding God's Throne.


Ezek 28:16-19
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

God still pointing to Satan in the above. When Christ comes to end Satan's reign at the end of this world, Satan will be laid before kings so they in shame may see the one they followed has been defeated and is weak. This idea is repeated in the Isaiah 14:15-16 verses, with those who see him then saying, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms: ...."


18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
KJV

"Traffick"? "Merchandise"? Yes, the whole idea of Satan's control over the earth involves the idea of world or global commerce. This idea here about it is actually pointing to that world commerce that went on in his pseudo-kingdom he setup in that 1st world earth age that he rebelled with. Do you think I'm just making that idea up? I am not. Revelation 12:3-4 reveals that Satan rebelled with a previous 'beast' kingdom of ten horns, seven heads, but only seven crowns, and that is linked there with his drawing of a third of the angels ("stars") to earth in rebellion with him. That happened back in that old world, the 1st world earth age which God ended with waters of a flood, a time even before Adam and Eve that Peter called "the world that then was".

Note that passage above in red is about how God is going to destroy Satan in final, bringing a fire within himself (spontaneous combustion?), upon the earth, in sight of all that behold him. That is the future event of Satan's destruction at the end of Revelation 20. That it will happen upon this earth as written there is also a confirmation of his being cast out of the Heavenly dimension in the last days with his angels down to this earth, in our earthly dimension, literally.

 

[Davy]

UNDERSTANDING ABOUT SATAN IN THE 1ST WORLD EARTH AGE PER EZEKIEL 31:

The Ezekiel 31 chapter is another example of God using 'types' about how Satan was originally exalted in His Garden of Eden. God begins by commanding Ezekiel to speak to Pharaoh, but then immediately uses "the Assyrian" as a type for Satan. One has to really... pay attention, because God uses symbolic metaphor about Satan as the exalted one in His Garden, the idea of the high cedar, which is often used as a symbol for royalty in God's Word...

Ezek 31:6-9
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
KJV

Those phrases in red all point to Satan having been once exalted in God's Garden of Eden. Even though God is using trees as symbols, He is pointing to how Satan was once exalted over all the other trees in God's Garden of Eden. And we know for certain, no flesh king of Assyria was ever in God's Garden of Eden, so grasping this should be easy. Furthermore, this had to be at a time long before Adam and Eve, because Satan was actually exalted by God per this Ezekiel 31 example, so far.

Take special note with that phrase, "and under his shadow dwelt all great nations". Did you know that Satan's original beast kingdom of that 1st world earth age that he rebelled against God with involved "great nations"?? Dr. Larry Ollison does a pretty good job of describing that time when Satan first rebelled in that 1st world earth age, and the nations that existed on earth back then under Satan's control. Actually, the Revelation 12:3-4 description with Satan drawing a third of the angels to earth in rebellion with him, and that beast system of only seven crowns, is pointing directly back to that ancient rebellion by Satan and these "great nations". (The latter day beast kingdom of Rev.13:1 is to have "ten crowns", instead of seven.)

Those who read Ezekiel 31 with not recognizing God is giving a parable about Satan will miss this point, because they will likely think those "great nations" have to refer to this present world and flesh kings. Good way to hide this mystery of Satan in the 1st world earth age out in the open by how God presented this parable with key phrases that can only apply to Satan, and not to Pharaoh nor the kings of Assyria.


Later in Ezekiel 31, God begins speaking of Satan's fall from that rebellion of old...

Ezek 31:14-17
14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

Still pointing to Satan, this is about Satan's original fall. God ended that old 1st world earth age when Satan rebelled with a flood of waters. That is actually what those waters covering the earth at Genesis 1:2 is about. At some time in between the Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 Satan rebelled. And the earth sitting covered with waters of a flood is what the true idea of "without form, and void" is about, even confirmed in the Jeremiah 4:23-28 Scripture about God's fierce anger ending that ancient world.


16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
KJV

Make no mistake, that really is not about Pharaoh, nor the flesh king of Assyria. Pharaoh and the flesh king of Assyria are only used as 'types' for Satan above. It is about Lucifer when God had exalted him in His Garden of Eden over all great nations of that 1st world earth age, and then Lucifer rebelled in wanting to be GOD, then GOD ended that old world with waters of a flood, and then brought this 2nd world earth age we are still in today. This is about Satan's original fall and the fall of those "great nations" he was then over, and then God cast him down to hell in that pit.

The Isaiah 14 chapter does this again, God starting by pointing to a proverb to Pharaoh, but then specifically revealing about Lucifer. You can cover that for yourselves.

 

[Davy]

A BIRDSEYE VIEW of GOD'S PLAN:

If you understood those Bible Scriptures about the 3 world earth ages, and about Satan's original rebellion in coveting God's Throne in that 1st world earth age, prior to the time of Adam and Eve, when Satan originally fell, then you might began to grasp this overall Birdseye View of God's Salvation Plan through His Son Jesus Christ.

God's creation being only 6,000 years old is a myth, a tradition started by man. We do not know how old this earth actually is, nor when God originally created it. Agreeing that God created all things should be enough at this point.

God's Word does point to a previous world earth age prior to this 2nd one we are in today, which began not with Noah's flood, but at the flood of Genesis 1:2. Apostle Peter was pointing to God's destruction of that 1st world earth age with a flood of waters, calling that time, "Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:" (2 Peter 3:6).

Apostle Paul confirms that destruction of the old 1st world earth age also in his Epistle to the Romans. In Romans 8:18-25, Apostle Paul reveals that God placed this 2nd world earth age creation in bondage to corruption, in vanity. The idea is this 2nd world earth age is an IMPERFECT creation, or actually just an imperfect renewal. God's original PERFECT CREATION was at Genesis 1:1, then Satan rebelled, and God ended Satan's rebellion with a flood of waters over all the earth, which is the condition revealed at Genesis 1:2. Past that is God's re-furbishing to this present imperfect 2nd world earth age.

Thus for this present 2nd world earth age, it has always been doomed in 'imperfection'. Everyone wants perfection today, but it just cannot be reached during this present world. Everything decays, perishes and dies. Death... is a constant for this 2nd world earth age, and Satan was given the power of death for this present world because of the very first sin he committed in that 1st world earth age (see Hebrews 2:14). Satan is who actually brought in sin and death, of which this present world is ever a part of. This is why God has ordained this 2nd world earth age to eventually perish by His consuming fire.

While those in Christ are 'in' this world, we are not to be 'of' this world, meaning not allowing ourselves to be trapped by its fleshy desires and hopes. We are to keep in mind that this present 2nd world earth age is temporary, and not our true home. Understanding this also means not being deceived into thinking Lord Jesus meant for us to create His Kingdom here on earth for Him. He will do that Himself when He returns for the world to come. Preach The Gospel to those who haven't heard, keep His commandments, and stay in His Word.


What was God's Plan then, for this 2nd world earth age? Why didn't He simply destroy Satan and the angels that rebelled back in that 1st world earth age when Satan first rebelled?

It's a matter called 'real love' and 'free will'. Would you want your own children to love you only by your forcing them? No, you want your children to come to you out of love of their own will. Only then would be it 'real love'. Otherwise your child would be a controlled robot. God doesn't want us to love Him like robots. He wants us to come to Him in love of our own free will. This is how Satan and those with him could make the choice to rebel.


How did God come up with a Plan to repair all this rebellion against Him?

God ended that old 1st world earth age when Satan and his rebelled. Then God foreordained this 2nd world earth age for His Son Jesus Christ to be born of woman like us, and die on the cross for the remission of the sins of those who believe, and by that defeating death and the devil for us. This Plan of Salvation through the Blood of Jesus Christ shed upon His cross and His resurrection is not for Satan and his angels. They were judged and sentenced to perish in the future "lake of fire" when God ended their rebellion back in that 1st world earth age (Jude 6; Matthew 25:41; Isaiah 30:33). But no one born in the flesh to this day has been judged to perish just yet.

The end of days is to culminate the idea of 'rebellion' against God, as the time of "great tribulation" for the end is to manifest Satan's 1st world earth age rebellion attempt in wanting to be The GOD once again, in Jerusalem, on earth. This coming event on earth is going to divide peoples into 2 factions, those who remain in Christ Jesus that listen to Him in His Word of Truth that are sealed by The Holy Spirit, and those who do not heed Christ in His Word and instead follow this world which is doomed to destruction on the day of Christ's future return.

On the day of Christ's coming to end this world, God's consuming fire is going to burn man's works off the surface of this earth, ending this flesh time on earth. The Heavenly dimension will be opened up to all, as all eyes on earth will see Christ coming in the clouds. We all will then be in spirit bodies and continue through Christ's "thousand years" reign with His elect. Only Christ's elect will then put on immortality. The unsaved at that time will still have souls that are liable to perish at the "second death" (i.e., casting into the "lake of fire").

As Apostle Paul said in 1 Cor.15:23-28, Christ must reign over all His enemies until they are made His footstool. Those of the "first resurrection" will reign with Him over the unsaved nations, on earth, as written. After that 1,000 years period will come God's Great White Throne Judgment, which will check the book of life one more time to see if names of the unsaved are found in it. That means the 1,000 years is going to be a time when those who were blinded away from The Gospel will have their FIRST OPPORTUNITY to hear The Gospel Truth, and make their choice to believe on The Father and His Son, or not. This is what the actual hinted at 2nd resurrection will be about. It will be another like the "first resurrection" of those who come to Jesus Christ during that 1,000 years.

But the wicked who worship the devil, and refuse Christ, and those who'd rather follow this world, they will go into the "lake of fire". Then the abode of hell, the wicked, and death, will all go into that "lake of fire".

Then God will bring the new heavens and a new earth time, a 3rd world earth age. There will be no more death, no more sin, no more pain or crying, no hunger or thirst, and no more sea. The whole earth will be made like the Garden of Eden again, with God's River flowing throughout to feed all other rivers upon the earth. The waters of the seas and oceans will return... up into the sky atmosphere, filling all the holes in today's sky, and create a greenhouse effect with even temperatures around the whole earth. There will be an abundance of fish in the rivers and lakes, and we will plant vineyards and build houses, and reap the fruits of our own labors with none taking it away.