Did God Create a Devil?
By Herbert W. Armstrong
The Bible pictures the whole world under
the sway of an invisible devil. Where did he come from? Did God create a devil
to tempt us and to lead us astray? Here are the answers from God's Word!
IS THERE a devil? Many people talk about
the devil and Satan. Others scoff and say it's just superstition and
imagination.
But is there a devil? According to
most Christians the Bible is supposed to teach that the devil is "the god
of this world."
Did God create a devil? What does the
Bible actually teach?
To find out, let's look back to the very
beginning. Open your Bible to Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning God. . .
." God was before all. The next word in the King James version
is "created." "God created." He created the heaven and the
earth.
But the very next verse says this:
"The earth was without form, and void." The Hebrew words for
"without form, and void" are tohu and
bohu. Translated into English they mean chaotic, in confusion, waste,
and empty.
When God created the heaven and the earth,
did He create this earth originally in a state of confusion? Did He create it
all topsy-turvy and chaotic?
World NOT Created in Chaos
We read in I Corinthians 14:33 that God
is NOT the author of confusion." God is the author of peace.
God is the author of order and of law.
Why would He create it in disorder and
then have to straighten it out? That doesn't make sense! One scholar points out
that the Hebrew word for "created," bara, used in Genesis 1:1,
“implies that the creation was a perfect work." That very word
"created" implies a perfect and a beautiful order and system, not
chaos or confusion!
The book of Job shows God talking with Job
about the creation. God is saying to Job: "Where wast thou when I laid the
foundations of the earth?" There is the implication here that Job had
directed the building of some very great edifice -- such as the great pyramid
of
God continues, "Who hath laid the
measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened [margin, "sunk"]? or
who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7)
It is significant that the great pyramid
is a building where the corner stone is not laid in the foundation, but the
final stone to be laid -- at the pinnacle. The "morning stars" are
light- (truth-) bringing angels and archangels, according to biblical
interpretation of symbols. As creations of God, they also are referred to as
"all the sons of God." So this, too, implies a perfect and glorious
creation of the earth.
Then how did it become chaotic?
In Genesis 19:26, the same Hebrew word hayah
is used which is translated "was" in Genesis 1:2. (See also
Genesis 2:7 and
The Earth BECAME Chaotic
Plainly the word "was" (hayah)
here has the meaning of "became." The
In Jeremiah 4:23, Isaiah 34:11, and in
other places in the Bible, you find the same words, tohu and bohu, meaning
"chaotic" and "in confusion." In every case that condition
is a result of sin.
No Chaos Originally
Notice Isaiah 45:18. "Thus saith the
Eternal that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made
it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain." "In
vain" is an inappropriate translation. In your Bible, if you have the
marginal references, you will find in the margin a preferable translation,
"waste."
The original Hebrew word there is TOHU.
This Hebrew word is the identical word used in Genesis 1:2, meaning
"confusion," or "emptiness," or "waste" -- a
result of disorder, a result of violation of law. In Isaiah 45:18 we have the
plain statement that God created the earth NOT tohu, that is, not in
confusion, not in disorder. But in Genesis 1:2, the earth was (because
it had become) chaotic and in confusion!
Then it became that way after it was
created. Now, what could have caused that confusion -- that disorder? What sin
could have wrecked the earth and brought it into the condition in which it was
found in Genesis 1:2?
Life Before
Adam?
Now, what was the sin then that caused
this physical destruction to the earth? It was not a sin caused by
humanity, because there had been no man on the earth until the sixth day of
that re-creation or that remaking. So it was not a sin of man. Adam was the first
man. We find over in I Corinthians 15:45 that Adam is called the first man
on this earth. In Genesis, Eve is called the mother of all living human beings.
There was no other race prior to Adam and Eve.
So the sin which brought chaos was not
caused by man. And yet life must have populated the earth because a sin had
occurred on the earth that brought it into a condition of chaos and confusion
by breaking the laws of God.
What kind of life could it have been? It
wasn't human life. Then what kind of life had populated the earth prior to the
wee called "creation week"?
Next, let's turn to II Peter 2:4: ''For if
God spared not the angels that sinned. . . .'' Here is the sin of angels
mentioned.
Sin of Angels
Now read the next verse, "And spared
not the old world," between Adam and Noah, ''but saved Noah the eighth
person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of
the ungodly." There it mentions the sins from Adam to Noah, and it
mentions the physical destruction to the earth as a result of the flood,
a chaotic, physical condition brought about on the earth by the sins of those
men.
Was there a chaotic condition brought
about on the earth as a result of the sins of angels? The sin of
the angels is mentioned first, and it occurred first! There was a devil
already there in existence by the time Adam was created. So the sin of the
angels happened before the creation of man.
Now read II Peter 2:6. ''Turning the
cities of
Universal sin was in those two Canaanite
cities. Physical destruction came to the entire part of the surface of the
earth which those people occupied as a result of that sin. Then didn't such
destruction come to the earth as a result of the sins of the angels which
occurred before Adam?
Now quickly turn over to Jude. In the
sixth verse, you read this: "And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation [they had a place where they lived, a
habitation, an estate, and they left it], God hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Notice! It is the sinning
angels who are reserved in those chains under darkness, restrained from
light, restrained from truth until the judgment of the great day.
Angels Possess the Earth!
How plain! They had an estate which they
didn't keep. In Hebrews 2:5 we read this: ''For unto the angels hath God not
put in subjection the world to come of which we speak." In other words,
the World Tomorrow, the
How did they obtain their dominion? How
did they acquire their power? How did they maintain their control? Where did
the devil get the power to control and to lead and to rule this world?
The devil is the leader of fallen angels,
as you will find in a number of places (John
Turn to Isaiah 14, beginning with verse 4,
"'Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of
Here is a king of
This account continues to tell how he had
disrupted the earth. He was an invader, a conqueror. He was a war monger,
trying to take away from others and trying to acquire all he could. He had just
the opposite philosophy from that of God. In other words, he had the philosophy
of the devil.
He represented. the
devil. The king of
Rebellion of Lucifer
This "king of
Then in verse 12, the type -- this human
of
So continue, verse 12.
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground which didst
weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, 'I will ascend into
heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds. I will be like the most High" (Isaiah
Notice, this former archangel had been placed as ruler over the angels that
sinned. He had a throne. He said he would exalt his throne above the stars
(angels) of God. It already was exalted above the angels of earth -- the angels
that sinned with him. Now he was going to exalt it over GOD'S ANGELS in heaven.
He was going to invade God's heaven, knock God off the throne of the universe,
and rule the whole universe!
We learn much more about this cherub who
became Satan in Ezekiel 28. Here, beginning verse 1, the human prince of Tyre
is referred to, wealthy (chapter 27), surrounded by perfect beauty, said in his
vain heart, "I am a God," -- "I sit in the seat of God"
(verse 2) -- compare with II Thessalonians 2:3-4.
Compare also Ezekiel 27:7 with Revelation
18:16. All these refer to the same system. However, Ezekiel 26 refers to the ancient
"Son of man, take up a lamentation
[dirge] upon the king of Tyrus [
So, continue: ". . . And say unto
him, Thus saith the Lord Eternal. Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in
A Created Being
Notice, this is not speaking of a human,
but a CREATED being. God would never say of a human that he seals up the sum
total of wisdom, perfection and beauty. Then who was this great created being,
originally?
"Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so," answers God. In Exodus 25:17-20, you
will find the description of the very throne of God in heaven, from which He
rules the entire vast limitless universe. On this throne are two cherubim --
super archangels -- whose wings spread out and cover the throne. This
personage, then, is the former Lucifer, who was at the very throne of the
universe, thoroughly experienced in the Government of God over the universe.
But he had been, formerly, at the very throne of God, as the next words plainly
say:
". . . Thou wast upon the holy
Then God attributes to him violence, sin,
corruption of wisdom, perversion, saying he became proud -- his heart lifted up
because of his beauty. Then, in verse 17, the immortal spirit antitype descends
again to the human type, who will be a chief instrument in Satan's hands in the
tremendous world events just prior to, and leading to the coming of the Messiah
to establish the GOVERNMENT OF GOD over all earth's nations.
This human personage, claiming to be God,
sitting in his sanctuary (verse 18) showing that he is God (II Thessalonians
2:3-4), is to be destroyed by FIRE, brought to ashes (verse 18). Compare with
Revelation 19:20. In the latter, two human personages, instruments of Satan,
are pictured -- one a civil ruler over ten kings and their nations, the other
called a great "False Prophet" (Revelation
Lucifer Becomes the Devil
So, now, let's recapitulate thus far. the earth was a perfect creation. The angels shouted for
joy. From creation, it was populated by angels.
There was a throne, on which sat Lucifer,
a super archangel, a cherub. He had been thoroughly experienced in the
administration of the Government of God, having been at the very throne of God
in heaven. God had placed Lucifer on the throne on earth to administer THE
GOVERNMENT OF GOD over earth's angels.
There was happiness, peace, joy on earth.
Of Lucifer, the Moffatt translation reads: "From the day you were created,
you lived a perfect life, till you were discovered doing wrong" (Ezekiel
28:15). GOD DID NOT CREATE A DEVIL, but a beautiful, perfect superangel. But
God did give to His angels free moral agency -- minds that were free to think
and reason -- the right of free choice.
Lucifer had allowed his beauty and
perfection to fill him with vanity -- with SELF-glory, SELF-desire. He became
envious of God's power, resented authority over him. He plotted with his angels to marshal them
into an invading army, to invade the heaven of God, to knock God off the throne
of the Universe.
Lucifer was going to BE God. It is his
deceptive sway over the "Prince of Tyre" that will yet cause this
personage to claim that HE, a man, is God.
So Lucifer was no longer
"LIGHT-Bringer" but now an ADVERSARY -- an aggressor, a competitor,
an enemy. The name Satan means "Adversary." His angels now
became DEMONS.
How the Earth Became Chaotic
A third of the angels united with Satan in
the rebellion. That is what caused the chaos of this earth. The sin of
angels reached into the heavens and brought chaos on earth. What the geologists
and astronomers see is not an evolving universe, but the wreckage of a titanic
battle waged by spirits throughout space -- a battle fought before man's
creation.
The earth was created perfect. Then it
BECAME chaotic as a result of rebellion. And in six days, God re-made the
earth, reshaped, re-fashioned it, and created human beings upon it (Psalm
104:30).
He gave Adam a chance to take the place of
Satan the devil, sit on earth's throne, and restore the Government of
God on earth. Adam rejected the tremendous opportunity, yielded to Satan who to
this day remains on earth's throne as the god of this world. Christ, the second
Adam, will soon come to sit on that throne and restore the Government of
God (Acts
God placed the great cherub, Lucifer, to
carry out His government on the earth, but Lucifer refused to carry out God's
will, God's commands, God's government. He wanted to substitute his own. So
he disqualified himself.
Adam had the chance to supplant him. In
the contest to see if Adam would conquer, if he would obey God, he failed. He
obeyed the devil instead, and man became the property of the devil, and
the whole human race was sold down the river to the devil ever since.
Jesus Christ came 4000 years later and He
entered the great contest -- the contest of the temptation on the Mount. He
REFUSED to obey the devil. He quoted scripture correctly. He obeyed
God.
Finally, He turned to the devil, and He
gave Satan a command. He said, "Get away from me," and the devil
obeyed!
From that time on, the successor of Satan
has been qualified to take over the rule of the earth. But Jesus went to heaven
for 1900 years. He is soon coming again, and when He does, the devil will be
DISPLACED. Christ will rule the earth; God's laws will be restored. Order and
peace will come at last!
So God did NOT create a devil. He created
a cherub, Lucifer -- perfect in his ways, but with the power of free choice --
and Lucifer transformed himself into a devil by rebellion against the
Government of God!