Perfect in Beauty

It is no great revelation to realize that the secret of Satan's success, is the secrecy of his moves. Our Lord warned his followers to "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (MATTHEW 7:15). And the Apostle Paul declared, "...such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness..." (2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-15). Knowing that they are among us, that there are "false prophets and apostles", "deceitful workers" and false "ministers of righteousness" within our ranks, how are we to know them? How can we avoid being led by them? How do we resist their "enlightenment"?

A wolf puts on sheep's clothing for no other reason then to be able to go in unto the sheep, to gain their trust so as to slay and eat them. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." Only one thing can unmask the thief. Only one thing can uncloak the false apostle. Only one thing can unclothe the wolf. The Word of GOD.

Satan was not born yesterday. He has had many centuries to refine his techniques. He has had time to construct his snare with great care. He has meticulously erected it within the Church, and bated it with religion. The unwary are as blind as Eve was to the Serpent's masquerade. The proof of his cleverness, the evidence of his ability to conceal himself can be first seen there, with Eve in GENESIS chapter three. This should be his unveiling, but he has so deceitfully "reshaped" the event with tradition, that few believers ever find the treasure of understanding buried within. 

Of course nearly all religious people have heard the story where a snake offered Eve an apple off of the forbidden tree, and when she took it mankind's fall ensued. Few can make sense of it, but most accept it anyway, as what they think the Bible says. The story arouses great laughter from the critics of the Bible and causes many a young believer to stumble. This is precisely the result Satan was striving for when he crafted this fable and inserted it into the Church by way of "tradition".

But as we read what we believe to be the words of GOD, we pause and give thought to the unusual sentence, "he [the Serpent] said unto the woman" (GENESIS 3:1). Serpents have not the ability to speak, yet GOD's word plainly says that this Serpent spoke. How are we to understand this? All Scripture is literally true, unless GOD desires to call our attention to some special point and HE inserts what is called a "Figure of Speech". These figures are always inserted to bring attention to or add special emphasis to some point. 

In chapter three of GENESIS, GOD must have some special revelation to impart unto us, or HE would have simply said, "Satan said unto the woman". But instead, it was the "Serpent" that spoke. This account is masterfully handled in the nineteenth Appendix of the Companion Bible, so we will just link it here. Our interest at present is on the secrecy of his moves, so we should digress no further.

Tradition gives us a picture of the Devil as one who has horns, a pointed tail and normally the head of some wild beast.  Quite a fearful looking sight.  These images were popularized during the middle ages yet stem back to the time of Nimrod, the Babylonian man hunter, who took the horns of a bull and made a headdress.  Soon was added the pointed tail, hooves and a pitch fork. The Bible however gives us quite a different view of the evil one. Ezekiel gives us this description.

EZEKIEL 28:12, 13, 17  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus [most likely a reference to Satan, due to the context], and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty . 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... Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness...

According to Scripture, Satan was "perfect in beauty", masquerading as an "angel of light". Quite a different picture then what tradition paints for us. This is how he charmed Eve into arousing within her a discussion. He was brilliant in beauty. But what of our Lord? Tradition paints Him as a handsome European with long flowing hair. What does Scripture have to say of Him?

ISAIAH 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Of course in His resurrected body, we expect our Lord to be the epitome of beauty. But in the Gospel period, during His ministry, He looked pretty much like you and me. Tradition however, paints Satan as a very grotesque looking creature and our Lord as a graceful glowing shepherd with outstretched arms. Are we being set up for the great Messiah impersonation? When Satan comes and deceives the nations, will they mistake "the son of perdition" to be the "Son of GOD"? Will they be deceived by all his "power and signs and lying wonders" when he "as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God"? Scripture assures us that they will be deceived. And why? "Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 THESSALONIANS 2:10).

MATTHEW 24:4-5,24  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.