We have seen already that God’s original creation is fully covered in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” We have also seen that something happened between verse 1 and verse 2: God’s original creation was damaged, the earth became waste and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. This was the result of God’s judgment on the earth due to Satan’s rebellion. Now let us look at Satan’s origin and rebellion.
Satan means adversary. Satan is not only God’s enemy outside of God’s kingdom, but also God’s adversary from within God’s kingdom, rebelling against God. Enemy refers to the foe outside of God’s kingdom, whereas adversary refers to the foe from within God’s kingdom. Satan, who had been under God’s ruling, is not an outsider. Therefore, he has been God’s adversary right up to now.
Satan was an angel created by God before God created the earth. The book of Job tells us that when God laid the foundation of the earth, the sons of God (the angels) shouted for joy (Job 38:4-7). This proves that God created the angels before He created the earth. From Ezekiel 28 we see that Satan was not only one of the angels, but the highest archangel, the head of all the angels.
Ezekiel 28:12-14 says, “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. 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.”
This portion of the Scriptures describes Satan’s position in the universe before his rebellion and corruption. Verse 13 says, “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God.” According to the context, this was not the Eden in which Adam was placed. This Eden was not on the earth, but in the heavens, on the holy mountain of God.
“Every precious stone was thy covering.” G. H. Pember said that this indicates Satan’s dwelling place. His dwelling was of precious stones. “The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” In the ancient times, musical instruments such as tambourines and pipes were for kings. This indicates that Satan was a king, holding the highest position in the universe. This was why even the Lord Jesus called him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). The apostle also called him “the ruler of the authority of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Luke 4:5-6 also confirms this. “He [the Devil] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time. And the Devil said to Him, To You I will give all this authority and their glory, because to me it has been delivered, and to whomever I want I give it.” This must be a fact, since the Lord did not deny it. When did God deliver all of this to Satan? This was definitely something pre-Adamic, before the world of Adam. According to the revelation of the Bible, God appointed Satan the head of that universe, and God delivered all created things in the heaven and on the earth into his hand. So he became the ruler of this world. His position and rank were so high that even Michael the archangel did not dare to bring a reviling judgment against him (Jude 9). Michael was one of the archangels (Dan. 10:13). His daring not to rebuke Satan proves that Satan’s rank must be even higher than his. Thus, we can infer that Satan must be the highest archangel.
Ezekiel 28:14 says, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth.” This probably means that he covered the ark of God in the heavens (Exo. 25:20; Rev. 11:19). It also says, “And I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God.” Thus, we can see that his position was ordained by God. God anointed and appointed the archangel to cover His ark. Ezekiel tells us that the cherubim bear God’s glory (Ezek. 9:3; 10:18) and that they are very close to God’s throne (Ezek. 10:1; 1:26). This shows that Satan, before his rebellion, when he was the anointed cherub covering God’s ark, must have been very close to God, bearing God’s glory. Ezekiel also tells us that the cherubim are the four living creatures which are of special use to God (Ezek. 10:20). Also the four living creatures in Ezekiel are similar to the four in Revelation (Ezek. 1:10; Rev. 4:7) which took the lead among the creatures in worshipping God. This reveals that today’s Satan, God’s adversary, originally the anointed cherub, must have been specially appointed by God to be the head among His creatures, bearing His glory and leading them to worship Him. This may indicate that the anointed archangel also had the priesthood. He might have been the high priest in the universal worship of God.
“Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God...Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.” According to Exodus 24:10 and 17 Moses, Aaron, and many others saw under God’s throne some precious stones with the glory of God like burning fire. Those must be the stones of fire. From this we may infer that the anointed cherub was also specially privileged to move in the realm where God’s glory was.