Rebelling Against Rest

Was there “Eden” before Eden?

One of the lessons we learned in the previous article was that the Sabbath is a remnant of Eden before the fall, a taste of that perfect world that God had created and declared “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Eden was not the first instance of such a place, however, and Adam and Eve were not the first order of beings that God had created. Neither were they the first to rebel against their Maker.

Before the curse of sin had wrecked the earthly Eden, it had already jolted the heavenly one (Ezekiel 28:14), piercing the heart of God and separating His angels into two irreconcilable groups: the good and the evil. It is inconceivable that those who joined the evil side actively desired to be evil. What is more likely is that they were deceived through clever insinuations that sounded reasonable and attractive. Someone must have been promising them a better version of heaven than the one created by their Maker. That someone was Satan.

Satan and his angels were on the losing side of the war in heaven and were subsequently cast out.

What was his name in heaven?

Lucifer (meaning “light-bearer”) was Satan’s name before his fall, for Jesus clearly identifies this fallen-from-heaven being: “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Lucifer was not merely an angel though, but a covering cherub. Ezekiel describes him under the symbolism of the king of Tyre:

What is a covering cherub?

When God spoke to Moses on top of Mount Sinai, He instructed him to build a sanctuary, so He could dwell among His people (Exodus 25:8). The sanctuary consisted of two compartments: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, and it was in the latter that the presence of God dwelt, above the Ark of the Covenant’s mercy seat, between the two cherubim.

As a covering cherub appointed by God Himself, Lucifer had the privilege to abide in God’s presence, a special honor that set him apart from the rest of the angels. His high position would have undoubtedly given him influence.

What happened to him?

Lucifer was created perfect, but eventually iniquity was found in him:

The fact that iniquity was found in him implies that there was a law for him to sin against, a standard of righteousness of which he fell short, for the apostle John describes sin as the transgression of God’s law:

The book of James gives another clue about sin: it is an informed, willful act.

When iniquity—transgression of God’s law—was found in Lucifer, he knew what he was doing; it was not an act of ignorance. He chose to rebel.

Why is a law needed?

Where there is no law there is only anarchy. Since God is not the author of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33), He has a law, and since He has a law, He must have a government (Isaiah 9:7). God’s government, like human government, is established upon law to secure order and peace for all its inhabitants.

His law is a law of peace.

When Lucifer rejected God’s law, he was rejecting the peace that comes with it. But that is not all, because he was also rejecting His government, built on His law. Considering his exalted position as a covering cherub, this was a high-handed betrayal of God’s trust. Unsurprisingly, his rejection, or transgression, of God’s law of peace could only bring unrest:

What did his rebellion disrupt?

Because the Sabbath was established on earth after creation, it did not exist in heaven, but heaven did have a permanent state of rest. In Hebrews 4:9, the Greek word for rest is sabbatismos, a derivative of sabbaton, the word for Sabbath. God’s promised rest in that verse is a perpetual Sabbath—the one Lucifer disrupted in heaven. God’s people can begin to experience it on a weekly basis now, but the time will soon come when they will experience it on a permanent basis in His heavenly kingdom (Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 32:17–18). The fulfillment of the Hebrews 4:9 promise is the purpose of the gospel as it seeks to restore God’s sabbatismos internally in us first (Luke 17:21) but eventually over all the earth (Revelation 21:1–54).

Why did Lucifer rebel?

Perhaps the loyal angels caught on, but the fact that Lucifer’s rebellion led to a war in heaven, where there had only been peace before, was the strongest evidence that the ideas he was selling about God, His law, and His government were tainted with the spirit of hatred and strife from the start. The rejection of God’s government of rest, by definition, could only bring unrest, but obviously, rational thinking was crushed by something more powerful.

Revelation 1:20 tells us that stars symbolically represent angels. Lucifer’s desire to exalt his throne above the stars of God and to be like the most High meant that he wanted to have God’s authority to rule over the angels. He craved to have His power, but not His character. Little did he realize that greatness in heaven does not come from power over others but from one’s willingness to sacrifice self for others (Matthew 20:25–28). In the final judgment, every knee will bow before Jesus because all will recognize that He chose to humble Himself to a shameful death on the cross (Philippians 2:8–10). Lucifer, on the other hand, sought to elevate himself even higher. Instead of being content with his already exalted position as a covering cherub, he wanted equality with God!

How did he persuade other angels to join him?

Lucifer’s sin was rebellion against God’s law, which was a law of rest that maintained a state of sabbatismos in heaven. Because he persuaded a third of the angels to join him (Revelation 12:4), his arguments must have seemed reasonable, noble even, for it is unlikely that any of the angels had a desire to be evil. In order to be effective, rebellion against God must appear attractive.

For example, when Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8–9), he probably did not show the invalid by the pool of Bethesda who had suffered for thirty-eight years, longing to be healed, or the demoniac of Gadara living in tombs and cutting himself, or John the Baptist unjustly beheaded by a cowardly king. Satan would have shown Him only pomp and glitter: “the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Matthew 4:8).

Similarly, when he tempted Eve (Genesis 3:1–5),^[1] he drew her into a discussion by asking a devious question (“Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”), and quickly sowing doubt about God’s character (“Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”). This swift twofold assault must have sent Eve’s mind spinning into an abyss of dissonance and perplexity: Was God not who she thought He was? Was He trying to scare her and Adam into obedience? Did He have their best interest in mind, or was He manipulating them? Was He preventing them from reaching a higher state of existence, and if so, why? And what was it like to be a god?

Lucifer likely presented similar questions before the angels. The Bible does not mention an off-limits tree in heaven, but, as we have seen, it offers evidence that there was a law Lucifer rebelled against—a clue that God’s law must have been the fulcrum of the heavenly controversy. Satan’s discourse with Eve insinuated that God was restricting her freedom by preventing her from reaching her fullest potential. If he felt that this assertion was strong enough to bring Eve to his side, he likely had prior success with the angels in heaven, and God’s law would have been the perfect freedom-restricting lever for him to use.

With all the clues put together, a clear picture emerges: Lucifer wanted to be like God (Isaiah 14:14), but on his own terms, without the law of God telling him how to do it. He wanted to rule and to be worshiped, but his rebellion proved that he did not possess the character needed to rule in a way that would bring a state of rest, because his pride led to a war. His disruption of God’s sabbatismos was already bearing fruit, and the final outcome—war—proved that the fruit was rotten.

Persuading a third of the angels to join his uprising against the Creator could not have been simple, but Lucifer’s position as a covering cherub would have given him credibility—and therefore influence over them—due to his supposed familiarity with His character. When they heard his propositions that God was not who He said He was, that He was using His law to restrict their freedom, to prevent them from ascending to a higher state of existence, it is easy to see how his words would have had an effect.

Sin was also a new intruder, because Lucifer was the first angel who had opened his heart to it (Ezekiel 28:15). Few, if any, of the angels, suspected how deep of a pit it would become. Only God would have known about the great sacrifice it would require of Him, and yet, he still chose to create Lucifer.

Why would He do that? Perhaps because He knew that only love could conquer hatred, and if love is to be genuine, it must be free to walk away. True love could never reign in His kingdom if the freedom to rebel was not extended to all. That freedom was worth it, even if it would cost Him everything, because in the end, He would have a universe inoculated against all future rebellion through the demonstration of His love on the cross.

Christ secured His throne as a King because He was willing to die on the cross as a Lamb.

What can rebellion against rest progress into?

Besides bringing unrest, rebellion against God’s sabbatismos can mature into something the rebel never expected. Sin is effective because it does not immediately reveal the horror and depths of its depravity, but the sweet-smelling, brightly-colored fruit always hides the sting of death underneath. Lucifer was the first to succumb to the deceptive power of sin. But before we examine the progression of his rebellion, we must first learn something about God’s law.

The Ten Commandments are far-reaching, but they can be summarized as loving God supremely and loving others as ourselves:

The core principle is love, which is His law in action.

Since God is love, it makes sense that His law, which is a reflection of His character, is also centered around love.

Iniquity was found in Lucifer was because he rebelled against God’s law of love: he failed to love God supremely and the other angels as himself. Love for self triumphed instead and brought an abundance of other sins with it, including having other gods (himself), Sabbath-breaking (he disrupted the heavenly sabbatismos), dishonoring parental authority (he rebelled against His Maker), theft (he stole a third of God’s angels), and covetousness (he wanted to be like God). Jesus, however, singled out one specific sin that all the others culminated in: murder. “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Murder would indeed qualify as the ultimate disruptor to heaven’s rest.

What does murder include?

In God’s eyes, it is not necessary to commit murder to be guilty of it. Hatred alone will do it. Wherever it appears, hatred obliterates the state of sabbatismos created by love, and when allowed to fully develop, it will always lead to war, which is nothing but the desire to kill the one you hate. And the desire to do so is enough for it to qualify as murder. Lucifer did not have the chance to carry out his act because he lost his war against God, but if he had had the power, he likely would have killed his Maker. What he failed to do in heaven, however, he would have another chance to do on earth, and this time, he would succeed.^[2]

Sin is a voracious beast, a bottomless pit that drags its victim lower and still lower, down to the lowest, most unimaginable depths of depravity. Christ’s death on the cross was the fully matured fruit of Lucifer’s hatred of Him that was born in heaven. He had rebelled against God’s law because he believed he could build a superior form of government without it. But it was doomed from the start. Because a government built on hatred is built on a foundation of sand that will buckle under its own weight. The Daniel 2 image foretold this truth and history confirms it.^[3] Ever since Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s slander of God’s character, the earth has been ravaged by conquest, hatred, and war—a continuation of what Lucifer started in heaven. On earth, he finally accomplished what he wanted to do in heaven. By murdering Christ on the cross, he demonstrated that hatred can mature into shocking, terrifying, unthinkable acts: the murder of the innocent. Crucified between two criminals was the Creator of the universe, who had nothing but love in His heart.

Killing their Maker is what Adam and Eve would have done eventually if God had not given them a way out, a second chance, by placing enmity in them toward evil (Genesis 3:15). The world would quickly turn into an eat-or-be-eaten jungle of humans behaving like animals. This, in fact, became reality in the pre-flood world, because the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit was continually resisted, so that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

Killing our Maker is what each of us would do if sin were given unrestrained rein in our lives. Our hatred of righteousness would become so fierce that we would crucify Jesus on that cross with our own hands.

Allowing sin to reach full maturity is not needed, however, because it only takes one sin to put Jesus on the cross. All of us have sinned and are guilty of murder. Jesus did not even resist, but submitted willingly. In fact, He asked His Father to forgive us (Luke 23:34).

What can the temptation in Eden teach us?

When Satan tempted Eve, he was attempting to infect her mind with his own. In heaven, he had declared: “I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). On earth, he presented the same mindset to Eve: “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). This is the mind of self: “Who is God to tell me how to live? I will decide for myself.” In rejecting God’s law, Satan had rejected God, and by implication, His rest. Now he was presenting the same offer to Eve. By disbelieving God’s word that she would surely die, Eve was declaring herself to be self-existent, independent of God, having inherent life in herself. But besides not realizing that all life flows from the Creator, she also believed herself to be capable of choosing what is best without Him. She believed rest could exist apart from Him—in the words of Satan.

Satan’s mind was the mind of self-exaltation and self-absorption. Note that the pronoun “I” is used five times in Isaiah 14:13–14. Ezekiel 28:17 is also revealing: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” He allowed his beauty to corrupt his heart with pride and to pervert his thinking so that his thoughts were no longer anchored in reality.

Because Adam and Eve were not around when God had created the earth and everything in it, they had to trust Him when He told them that He was their Creator (although He would have given them plenty of evidence, for He never asks for blind faith).^[4] Their trust, however, was shattered when Eve chose to engage with the serpent. Even though she was perfectly happy up until that point, the wily snake made her yearn for a fantasy that not only did not exist, but was far worse than her present reality.

What was Satan’s reply to Eve?

Satan’s reply implied that there is wisdom and life outside of God, but Adam and Eve later found that apart from Him there is only foolishness and death. Instead of ascending to a higher state of existence and finding greater happiness, they obtained the knowledge of evil and the reality of death. The serpent had successfully transferred his mindset of self-exaltation to humanity. Soon, Eve would watch in disbelief as his lofty promises disintegrated into pangs of disappointment and regret.

After his triumph over the first pair, the fallen angel had managed to replicate on earth what he had done in heaven: his self-exaltation had disrupted God’s sabbatismos there, and he caused Adam and Eve to do the same. The world that God had made for them and their offspring and declared very good was now corrupted by sin. Most of all, Adam and Eve’s relationship of peace with their Creator was replaced by warfare against Him. They were now at peace with the deceiver, for they had joined his rebellion.

As Lucifer became unhappy with the position God gave him and desired to ascend to a more exalted one, so did Eve. Both parties wanted to be like God. Christ, on the other hand, was willing to give up His exalted position to become a humble servant. Both Lucifer and the first pair chose to act independently and contrary to God’s revealed will; Jesus, on the other hand, prayed, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). The Bible, in fact, teaches that Jesus will continue to voluntarily subject Himself to His Father’s will even after sin is eradicated (1 Corinthians 11:3; 15:24–28).

Two opposite mindsets are still striving for the mastery in every person. Adam and Eve were initially made in God’s image, but lost it when they believed the serpent. Since then, we have all adopted the proud, selfish mindset of the tempter. But there is hope: God offers to reinstate the mind of Christ in us once more (Philippians 2:5); we can be remade in His image again (2 Corinthians 5:17).

What lesson does the Bible teach about the land of Canaan?

When God freed the Israelites out of Egypt, the land of their bondage, He led them into Canaan, the land of rest.

But they could remain in that land of rest on one condition only:

The Israelites could dwell in the promised land only if they did not walk contrary to God’s will, which was designed to maximize their happiness. If they rebelled, God would scatter them out of the land, so it could “enjoy her sabbaths” and rest from their evil ways. In fact, God drove the Canaanites out for this very reason.

When the Canaanites defiled themselves with their evil ways, their land was defiled, and because it could no longer enjoy its Sabbath rest, it “vomited” them out. This same principle applied to the next inhabitants, the Israelites. As long as they followed God’s will, the land rested from the defilement of sin, but if not, it would expel them. Why? Because the land of Canaan, a type of the heavenly promised land, was for righteous inhabitants only.

When Lucifer rebelled against God, the same principle applied to him. His iniquity disrupted heaven’s sabbatismos rest, so he, and his followers, had to go. The heavenly Canaan is for righteous inhabitants only, but Lucifer had rebelled against righteousness and chosen iniquity. He had refused to rest in God, choosing instead to find rest in himself, in the pursuit of his own will.^[5]

What was God’s solution to Adam and Eve’s predicament?

When Adam and Eve decided to join Lucifer’s rebellion against their Creator, He could have left them to the wretched consequences of their choice. Instead, He jumped into the black hole with them, for He knew that without His help they would never escape its gravitational pull. He would give them a second chance—at great expense to Himself.

He made a promise to Adam and Eve that illuminated their despairing minds with hope. The same day they fell, they also heard the first proclamation of the gospel’s good news. The same day they lost that state of sabbatismos, God provided a way to bring them back into it.

The entire gospel is summed up in this one verse. It declares that the power of sin is supernatural and could be overcome only by a greater supernatural power called grace. “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

God is the reason we feel remorse for sin or have a yearning for purity. Without His initiation, we would have no desire to even come to Him (John 6:44). He is the source of every good and perfect gift, of every virtuous act (James 1:17).

By placing enmity in us against Satan, God began the process of reconciling us back to Himself, and Christ completed it on the cross, making reconciliation available to all (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:3–6). But it is left for each of us to receive it personally. All can be reconciled to God, but only those who choose to will be. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely“ (Revelation 22:17).

Immediately after Adam and Eve’s fall, God put the gospel in operation to undo the rift that sin had created between us and Him, not because we deserve it, but because He does not give up on His creation, no matter the cost. If this is the depth of His love, who can separate us from it (Romans 8:35)? Who can prevent us from being saved? Only our own persistent refusal will.

What did Genesis 3:15 prophesy?

Genesis 3:15 is God’s promise of that future Deliverer who would bruise Satan’s head. Is it a coincidence, then, that Jesus was crucified at a place called Golgotha (“the place of the skull”), also known as Calvary (“cranium”), which was then shaken, or symbolically bruised, by an earthquake upon His death (Matthew 27:33, 51)? Even though Satan, working through human hands, pierced His body—including His heel—with literal nails, Jesus would recover by rising again, but Satan would never recover from the consequences of the cross. Jesus had delivered a symbolic, but mortal, wound to Satan’s head, because He showed what fully matured rebellion against God leads to: haughty, coldblooded murder of the One who created him.^[6] If the loyal angels had any lingering sympathy for Satan prior to the cross, they would have lost every last bit of it after.

Satan’s head likely “shattered” in another sense—with incomprehensible shock and unbelief that his Creator would willingly, and lovingly, absorb all the pain, suffering, shame, and mockery that he could throw at Him, and all for a people who had largely rejected Him. Such love and humility, clearly contrasted with his own hatred and pride, he could never comprehend.

Christ won the war in heaven, and then voluntarily came down to earth to win the war that Adam and Eve had lost in Eden. He won because He allowed Himself to be crucified on a cruel Roman cross on their—and our—behalf. In heaven He had triumphed over Lucifer through power, but on earth He did so through love. His apparent defeat on the cross became Satan’s death knell. In dying, He conquered.

As Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” the sound would have reached the courts of heaven and echoed in the ears of the loyal angels. The restoration of heaven’s sabbatismos that Lucifer had disrupted long ago was now guaranteed. Satan had four thousand years to prove that his government on earth could bring greater freedom than God’s, but he had failed.

Did rebellion bring freedom?

When the first pair turned their back on their Creator, they allied themselves with Satan and thus became God’s enemies.

Those who choose to separate from God inevitably become slaves of sin, because there is no genuine freedom, or rest, apart from Him. Satan’s motto, “do what thou wilt shall be the whole law,” sounds liberating on the surface, but in reality, it only brings bondage to our carnal nature. Any honest addict will admit that he is no longer in control of himself.

Any self-aware addict will also admit that he has no rest. Whatever the addiction, life often degrades into a never-ending pursuit of the next fix, followed by feelings of guilt and shame. Only one remedy can put a permanent stop to the cycle: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Is there rebellion against God’s law of rest today?

Instead of finding rest in God’s law, Satan sought to find rest and happiness in himself, independent of and apart from God. Instead of resting in God’s word, Adam and Eve chose to rest in Satan’s word, which turned out to be a lie. We are doing the same thing today when we try to find that sabbatismos rest in ourselves. Today it is popular to believe, “There is no such thing as absolute right and wrong; I can find happiness in living as I please. I don’t need God.” This is similar to what Eve would have thought: “I am my own god, capable of deciding what is best for me. I see no harm in eating the forbidden fruit. Why is God restricting my happiness?” A version of this can be found in Christianity: “Happiness is not found in following a law. In fact, the law of God was nailed to the cross and is no longer relevant.” Yet another version states: “I can sanctify myself; at the very least, my works can contribute to my salvation.”

All of these are different variations of the same tune the serpent sang in Eden. We cannot save or sanctify ourselves. Nor are we capable of deciding what is best for us. We need God to save us and sanctify us. We need Him to tell us what is sin, and what is not, which means we still need His law.^[7] Without it, we would call good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). Do we believe this? Satan planted unrest in the mind of Eve by sowing doubt: “Did God really say? Did He really mean what He said? Surely, His way cannot be the only right way.“

Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that the devil “abode not in the truth.“ Why? Because he decided to pursue his own version of truth. But how many versions of truth are there? Jesus was clear: “I am the way, the truth, and the life“ (John 14:6). Our own version of truth can only be a counterfeit, because there is only one truth, found in Him, for He is the Truth. Lucifer, on the other hand, abode not in Christ, but in himself—as did the fallen angels who joined him, as did Adam and Eve who believed him.

In wanting to be like God by pursuing their own truth, the first pair experienced the opposite: they turned to dust upon death (Genesis 3:19). The same thing will happen to Satan and the fallen angels (Isaiah 14:14–15; Ezekiel 28:18–19; Jude 6). Can we expect a different outcome if we repeat the same mistakes? We have the consequences of their decision recorded for our benefit.

Instead of being a law of bondage, God’s law is a “law of liberty” to those who are born again (James 1:25; 2:12). It points to the way of life that is free from shame, regret, guilt, pain, suffering, and bondage. Lucifer, the fallen angels, and the first pair thought they could determine what was best for them apart from God, but in the end they learned an important truth: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“ (Jeremiah 17:9). If we want a life of happiness and rest, let us trust our Creator, for that is what He wants for us as well.

What are the foundational principles of God’s government?

As Lucifer was free to turn his back on his Maker, so were Adam and Eve. As in the marriage covenant between husband and wife, God wants a willing, loving relationship with His creation, not a coercive one. The enemy is comfortable with coercion, because his government is built on selfish ambition, not self-sacrificing love. If he can gain subjects through force, he will do it, because the end result is the enlargement of his kingdom, no matter the means. God’s government, on the other hand, is built on love, which requires the freedom to walk away. Love will prove, in the end, to be the only foundation that can establish an everlasting kingdom, one secure from all future rebellion. On the cross, Christ opened the way to gather all, those in heaven (loyal angels) and on earth (redeemed humanity), into one united family.

As Lucifer was cast out of heaven for his rebellion, so Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden for theirs. The perfect place of rest that God had created for them to enjoy could no longer be their home, for they had refused to rest.^[8] They had refused to Sabbath.

Clearly, Sabbath rest encompasses far more than a 24-hour period of recuperation. It is the principle of God’s government. Lucifer’s rebellion has shown it cannot be found in himself, and Adam and Eve’s fall has shown that it cannot be found in us. It is found only in Him, and more specifically, in His character, and by implication, in His law, which is a reflection of His character, and in Jesus, who is “the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), the law lived out.

Sin, which is disobedience to His commandments, always brings unrest. When we fully yield ourselves to Christ and allow Him to keep the law in us, we experience rest from idolatry, blasphemy, overwork, dishonor, adultery, hatred, theft, lying, covetousness, and all the consequences these bring: shame, guilt, regret, stress, anxiety, pain, suffering, sorrow, and more. Truly then, His law is a law of rest, and His government is a government of peace. This experience can be ours today, for His kingdom is established spiritually in us before it is established literally (Luke 17:21).

The Sabbath is also a snapshot of the gospel, a weekly invitation to us: “Don’t rebel. Don’t try to save yourself. Rest in Me.” If we are willing, God can replace our carnal mind, which resists His will, with the born-again mind, which submits and rests in it, even when the “why” may not be fully understood (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2–3). Thus, the Sabbath becomes the ultimate sign of submission.^[9] Instead of working our way to heaven, it shows that we rest our way there. Instead of being a legalistic requirement, it is the ultimate antidote to legalism, a testament that we are resting from our own works (Hebrews 4:10), which are as “filthy rags,” because we have found rest in the works of Christ, which are free from every trace of sin (Isaiah 64:6; 1 John 3:5). This is why the gospel is good news: He is offering to exchange the unrest of sin for the rest of His perfect righteousness, to bring us back to heaven’s sabbatismos, where there is no rebellion and no sin—where all are at perfect rest in Him.

If we refuse to begin to Sabbath here, we will not be able to Sabbath in heaven. Have you been resisting His rest? Now is the time to cease our rebellion, to raise the white flag of surrender, and to enter into God’s blessed sabbatismos through Christ.^[10] He is waiting to give it to anyone who is willing to receive it.