COPYRIGHT WARNING

365 Prophecies: Prophecy 114

The Messiah will be hated for no just cause, even though He is dying for the sins of the world.

Old Testament Prediction:

Psalms 69:4 “Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.”

New Testament Fulfillment:

John 15:23-25 “He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ ”

Application:

The hatred that the world has for Jesus finds its root in satan’s hatred of God.

Before he was known as satan, the Lord created this anointed Cherub as Lucifer, the son of the morning. He is described as a Prince on the earth before man was created, for he is described in his fall as having weakened the nations, (in the past tense) before his fall.

Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!”

We should be clear here: Isaiah is recording the event of Lucifer’s fall—before the fall of Adam. This is confirmed by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 10:18 And Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven…

Therefore, following the context of Isaiah 14:12, the nations that he weakened were also in existence before his fall. Whether this is a reference to a rulership of Lucifer on the earth during the time of Adam, or prior—we cannot be sure. It is certainly postulated that Lucifer was a ruler over the earth before Adam was created and the “nations” which Isaiah speaks of were a creation which existed prior to Adam. This is a highly controversial subject and not widely accepted by many scholars. However disputed, this is a subject that is worthy of consideration, as we do not know when Lucifer fell; except that when Adam was created in the Garden of Eden, Lucifer had already fallen from heaven and was speaking through the serpent to countermand God’s order to not eat of the fruit.

Important and relevant questions

I will put forth a few of the arguments for Lucifer’s rule over a previous creation, so that you might have a balanced view of this subject. In most of the other commentaries that you will read on this topic, you will not find this subject discussed in any detail nor expounded sufficiently. There is a certain amount of fear from scholars that lending credibility to Lucifer as a ruler over a previous creation, could jeopardize their standing in the academic community. Since I am not a part of that establishment, I am at liberty to speak freely and comment on what the Bible actually states, rather than what is popular or traditional. Rather than eliminate the possibility completely, it was my thought that you might like to examine the subject for yourself and give consideration to whether you believe that it is credible, based on the facts of the Bible. I certainly fall on the side of those scholars who have stated that this theory is feasible, based solely on the Bible, not the opinions of men.

Argument one: Adam is the first living human being.

One of the arguments against a pre-Adamic race of beings on the earth, is from the text in 1 Corinthians 15:45:

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit…

What we learn from this verse is that Adam was the first person whom God created among the earth’s current human beings who inhabit the earth. We cannot extract from this verse any confirmation that Adam was the only intelligent being who has existed on the earth prior to his creation. It is doubtful that mankind, in its current form, are the only beings who have ever lived on the earth, based on the evidence from scripture, archeology, and paleontology.

There are millions of fossil remains of non-human beings who lived on the earth millions of years ago. Who are they? When exactly did they live here? Scientists confirm that they are not human beings, and they are not apes. Experts have dated these fossils remains at millions of years ago, demanding a conclusion that they were here on our planet before Adam was created. Scientists have wrongly concluded that these humanoids were the early ancestors of human beings, although they are an entirely different genus. Genetic testing of the DNA of these beings reveals that they are only similar to current Homo Sapiens in about 6% of their Genome.[1] Human beings did not evolve from these earlier life forms; they are different species altogether—directly created by God.

Argument two: Adam’s sin brought death to the earth.

Some scholars have stated that if we believe that there was a creation on the earth that died before man was created, this would mean that sin and death were present before man was placed on the earth. Romans 5:12 states that it was by one man’s sin—that death entered the world.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

This verse declares that by Adam’s sin, death entered the world for all men. It does not affirm that there was no sin or death on the earth before Adam sinned. Romans 5:12 does not assert that death and sin were not present in any other creation—just all men, descended from Adam. Clearly, Lucifer had already sinned and had been cast out of heaven—before Adam was created, for we see him in a fallen state in the garden as the serpent. Consequently, sin was already present before Adam’s sin and spiritual death.

Lucifer is described by Ezekiel as “destroyed,” or killed.

Ezekiel 28:15-18 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. 16 By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. 18 You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

• Verse 14: Lucifer is a cherub, an angel who was on the Holy Mountain of God, before Adam was created and placed on the earth.
• Verse 15: He was perfect from the day he was created.
• Verse 16: Lucifer is described as trading, a description of the work he was doing on the Mountain of God, before God created Adam.[2] As a result the Lord destroyed him. The Hebrew word used here is wā·’ab·beḏ·ḵā, to kill or make perish.[3] It seems that upon his fall Lucifer may have lost his physical body while retaining his eternal spirit. This is perhaps why we see him as satan in the body of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. This is much in the same way that we see the angels who disobedient to God, came to earth and died in the flood of Noah. They are now without physical bodies, being called the demons.

For this reason, death also existed on the earth—prior to the creation of Adam. This means that both sin and death were present, before God created Adam.

A second verse that is used to support the idea that Adam’s sin brought death to the world is from 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive…

The context of these two verses, state once again, sin and death were introduced to the descendants of Adam, by his sin. There is no mention by this text that sin and death did not exist on the earth prior to Adam.

The angels already existed at the creation of the universe.

We know that Lucifer and all of the angels were present when God originally created the earth, by the question that the Lord asks Job regarding his knowledge of how God created the universe: “Where were you, Job, when I created the earth, and the angels who watched, shouted for joy?”

Job 38:4,7 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? …When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Those who do not believe that there was a prior creation of beings on the earth before Adam, state that Lucifer’s sin and fall happened during the six days when God created the universe, as described by Genesis chapter one. If we hold that these are six literal 24-hour days, it seems unlikely that Lucifer could be created and fall during a period of less than six days. If we endorse this theory, we are left with a quandary in understanding precisely when Lucifer was created, and when His fall took place. The obvious answer is that he existed for a very long period of time prior to the creation of Adam. His pride and subsequent fall must have occurred at great distance from Adam’s creation.

Lucifer existed and fell into sin, before Adam was created.

The book of Job chapter 38 establishes the fact that Lucifer and the angels were created before the earth, and we know that they sinned against God before Adam was created; therefore, sin existed before Adam sinned, and Ezekiel corroborates the physical death of Lucifer, in Ezekiel 28:15-18.

It is clear from the evidence presented by the Bible that there could have been a race of beings on the earth prior to the creation of Adam and the fall of Lucifer.

How old is the universe?

The Cosmological record reveals that the age of the universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old. In my opinion, this is not in conflict with the Biblical record. Genesis 1:1 states that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Bible does not tell us when “the beginning” happened. Verse 2 tells us that after God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void. Starting at verse 3 of Genesis chapter 1, God is bringing the earth out of its state of formlessness into an inhabitable environment. This is described by God as taking place over a period of six literal 24 hour days.

Based on the first three verses of Genesis chapter one, there is certainly the possibility of a great period of time that existed between the original creation of the universe, described by verse 1, and the point in time when the earth was ready for human habitation. Scientists tell us that it was about 9 billion years after the universe began that the earth came into existence, and then another 4 billion years before it was inhabitable. Human beings are described by the Bible as being created by God only about 6,000 years ago. This leaves a period of millions of years prior to Adam’s creation when Lucifer could have ruled over some type of creation on the earth.

Some skeptics of this theory believe that this view of creation—defines those who posit this ideas as, “Cosmic Evolutionists.” In other words, they claim that we believe that the universe evolved, instead of being created by God. This is NOT what I believe took place, nor do I assert that this is what the Bible teaches. God’s creative acts can certainly be described as occurring over long periods of time. In the eternal realm, a thousand years, exists as a single day for God.[4] If the universe required billions of years of time in order to develop an environment necessary for earth to exist and maintain a proper environment for man to live upon it, this does not remove God’s creative involvement in that process. To the contrary, if God has been deeply and meticulously involved in creating a universe fit for human life—over billions of years, this would highlight the great love and care of God as He has been deeply involved in even the smallest details of human existence—for a very, very, long period of time.

The development of the universe in making life possible, required extremely detailed care and involvement by God. He did not simply wind it up and allow the Cosmos to develop on its own. God was intricately involved in the pico-seconds of time, during the begging stages—and every subsequent stage of the universe, for the entire existence of the universe.

If the universe is indeed, 14 billions years old, then many questions may be answered intelligently, regarding Lucifer and his fall.

The context of Genesis 1:1-2 does not remove the possibility of a prior creation on earth, it promotes it. If there were billions of years between the time that Lucifer fell and Adam was created, there very well may have been beings on the earth, when Lucifer was destroyed for his desire to be worshipped as God.

When did Lucifer fall?

If the Universe was created by God about 13.7 billion years ago and the earth had a former creation that was destroyed at the fall of Lucifer, then this would give greater clarity to when Lucifer’s fall took place and what happened during that fall. I see no danger to the Christian gospel which declares that Jesus died to redeem the descendants of Adam, if there was a former creation that also fell into sin before Adam was created by God. In fact, this would define the salvation work of Jesus for the descendants of Adam as even more unique and amazing—for no other creation is ever described as having the Son of God die for their sins.

If there were other beings on the earth prior to Adam, it is certain that none of these other fallen beings had a plan of salvation offered to them—only Adam and his descendants. We know that when the angels fell, there was no offer of redemption presented to them by God. If there were other beings who also lived on the earth before man, who fell into sin and were destroyed—without being offered a plan of redemption, this would define the salvation offered to us by Jesus’ death and resurrection as even more wonderful and distinctive than it would have been, if we were the only beings who have ever lived on the earth.

Once more: no other creation has been given the Son of God to die for their sins, except the descendants of Adam.

The hostility of satan for the objects of God’s grace and mercy:

The hatred that satan has for Jesus, began long ago at a place which is not specifically marked out for us in the scriptures. There are several allusions in the Bible as to when this enmity may have begun. One of these places is found in Isaiah Chapter 14, where the prophet describes Lucifer’s desire to elevate his throne above the throne of God and his resulting fall. In reality, this hatred may have begun much earlier when Lucifer ruled a kingdom that was perhaps on the earth—before Adam. The reason that the Bible does not speak in any greater detail about this subject is that this event is not important to our story of redemption as the descendants of Adam. All we need to know is that Lucifer was created by God, and he may have had some prior rulership on the earth before Adam was created. The fall of satan occurred before Adam’s fall—at a time that appears to be at great distance from Adam’s creation.

Since the creation of Adam, the Biblical narrative describes a constant enmity between satan and God, and the devil’s ongoing attempts at thwarting God’s plan of salvation through the Messiah.

The sin that formed in the heart of Lucifer, which caused his fall, was pride. He was created as the wisest and most beautiful of all God’s creation. As a result, he believed that he was worthy of the same worship and adoration that God Himself received. Because of his pride and vanity, Lucifer sought to elevate his throne above the throne of God.

Isaiah 14:13-14 For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

Similarities between Lucifer’s lust to be God, and the desire of the antichrist—who seeks the worship of human beings.

When the antichrist arrives on the earth, just after the Rapture of the church occurs, he will institute a seven-year peace plan over the nations of the world. In the midst of these seven years, he will announce that he is “God” and command the world to worship him. This event is described by Daniel and Jesus as the Abomination of Desolation.

Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week (seven-year peace plan); But in the middle of the week (three and one half years) He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days (forty-two months/3 ½ years).

Mark 13:14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Paul informed the church at Thessalonica that when the antichrist comes to the earth during the seven-year Tribulation, he will sit on a throne as God, in the newly constructed Temple at Jerusalem.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Once again, satan reveals his true desire to be worshipped as God, by the descendants of Adam. This has been his long-standing desire and is apparently the reason that Lucifer was cast out of heaven in the first place. During the seven-year Tribulation, the world will worship satan through his son, the antichrist, achieving his ultimate goal: to be worshiped as God. The event that will cause the people of the world to worship the beast, will take place at the midway point of the seven-year Tribulation. When the antichrist takes the throne as God in the new Temple at Jerusalem, the Lord will pour out His wrath on his kingdom and all those who worship him. This judgement will arrive in the form of 21 judgements, as described in the Book of Revelation, chapters 6 through 18.

These judgements will cause the antichrist to focus his fury on those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and refuse to worship him.

The hatred that satan has for God’s Messiah is well documented throughout the Old and New Testaments. It has been the plan of satan to circumvent and destroy every generation from Adam through Abraham, David, Mary and Joseph, in order to thwart the plan of God. It was the purpose of Jesus that He came to destroy the works of the devil and save all those who would receive Him as their Savior.

1 John 3:8 …For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Those who brought Jesus to trial and falsely charged Him with crimes He did not commit, were inspired by satan’s continuing hatred of the Messiah. The Roman government and the leaders of the Sanhedrin who nailed Jesus to the cross—those who spit, cursed, and mocked Jesus, while He died—were all puppets of satan, as he carried out his evil plan to kill the Messiah.

Why the world hates Jesus:

Jesus said that the world hates Him because He exposes its sin and describes all our works as “evil.”

John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.”

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Why is Jesus hated so vehemently? Because He reminds men that they are sinners, in need of a Savior. People would rather be left alone in the lives they have chosen and not be told that they are accountable to God, to whom they owe their existence. This is the real reason that men do not repent and submit their lives to Jesus: They love their sins.

John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

There is no lack of evidence for the existence of God, only the absence of human will to believe in Him. People love their sins more than they love God. This is the true reason that the whole world does not bow in humble adoration to the Lord and receive Jesus as the Messiah.

The purpose for the world’s hatred of Jesus Christ is because of His claim upon all our lives as our Creator. Men do not want to be subjected to the authority of God; they desire control over their own lives. God created us with the privilege of choosing our own destiny. He will allow men the choice of submission to Him, or rejection of His authority. Though He is worthy of our submission and total obedience, He will force no one to submit to Him during this time of Grace that He has allowed us. God has given us one life to make our choice, whether we will love and obey Him or rebel and reject Him. Although the Lord will not compel us to serve Him at this time, He works hard to influence our decision, by His great love and patience.

When this period of grace comes to an end, no person will have the option of submitting themselves to God’s authority. He will rule finally as the Lord over all His creation, and every person will be compelled to follow His righteous law.

The fulfillment of this 114th prophecy is seen in the world’s continuing hatred of Jesus, though He came to give His life for each one of us.

See also: Prophecy 73, Prophecy 74, Prophecy 79, Prophecy 236, Prophecy 344, Prophecy 345

NOTES:
[1] 1. Noonan J. P (May 2010). “Neanderthal genomics and the evolution of modern humans”. Genome Res. 20 (5): 547–53. doi:10.1101/gr.076000.108. PMC 2860157. PMID 20439435.
2. Reich D, Green RE, Kircher M, et al. (December 2010). “Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia”. Nature 468 (7327): 1053–60. Bibcode:2010Natur.468.1053R. doi:10.1038/nature09710. PMID 21179161.
3. Abi-Rached, L; Jobin, M. J.; Kulkarni, S.; McWhinnie, A.; Dalva, K.; Gragert, L.; Babrzadeh, F.; Gharizadeh, B. et al. (2011-08-25.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew #7404, Merchandising, or Trading.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew #6, to Destroy, cause the death or perish.
[4] Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.