The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Isaiah 14:13-20, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!
13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities, who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’
18 “All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb.
19 “But you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch, clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit Like a trampled corpse.
20 “You will not be united with them in burial, because you have ruined your country, you have slain your people. May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.”

There’s an old children’s song that says,

“Be careful little feet where you go;
Be careful little feet where you go;
For the Father up Above,
Is looking down in love;
Be careful little feet where you go.”

Satan was once the most exalted angel in the heavens. He would have done well to have learned that little children’s song. Instead, he exalted himself in pride and was defaulted from his position.

The prophet Isaiah cites five turbulent attitudes that occasioned his fall –attitudes that we would do well to avoid, lest we fall as he did. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer expands on each of them in in Dr. Dwight Pentecost’s invaluable work, THINGS TO COME.

1. “I Will Ascend into Heaven” (Isaiah 14:13). In this, the first aspect of Satan’s sin, he apparently proposed to take up his abode in the third or highest heaven where God and the redeemed abide (2 Cor. 12:1-4)… Satan has no right either by position or redemption to claim that sphere as the place of his abode. His self-seeking intention as disclosed in this declaration is an outrage against the Creator’s plan and purpose.

2. “I Will Exalt My Throne above the Stars of God.” By this statement it is revealed that Satan, though appointed to the guardianship of the throne of God, aspired to the possession of a throne of his own and to rule over the ‘stars of God’. The angelic beings…are obviously in view…The sinful character of Satan’s purpose to secure a throne is quite apparent.

3. “I Will Sit Also upon the Mount of the Congregation, in the Sides of the North.”…“the mount” is a phrase which evidently refers to the seat
of divine government in the earth (Isa. 2:1-4), and the reference to “the congregation” is as clearly of Israel. Thus, this specific assumption seems to aim at a share at least (note the word also) in the earthly Messianic rule…

4. “I Will Ascend above the Heights of the Clouds.”…Of upwards to one hundred and fifty references in the Bible to clouds, fully one hundred are related to the divine presence and glory… Satan is evidently seeking to secure for himself some of the glory which belongs to God alone.

5. “I Will be Like the Most High.” This…may be considered as a key to the understanding and tracing of his motives and methods. In spite of an almost universal impression that Satan’s ideal for himself is to be unlike God, he is here revealed as being actuated with the purpose to be like God.”

May the LORD aid us with His divine power in our effort to avoid human pride! He alone is the One worthy of praise and glory!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom