Page 95 - Foundations

covering cherubim were created to stand in the presence of the glory of God. As long as the cherubim
looked to the glory of God they would be filled with light. In the book of Revelation we read of four
living creatures that behold the glory of God at all times. They continually exclaim:

Revelation 4:8
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."

Had Satan maintained his focus upon God he would have been filled with the goodness and light of
Yahweh. Yet, the prophet Ezekiel reveals to us that this anointed cherub who covers began to set his
focus upon his own splendor, beauty, and wisdom. As he considered himself, he turned his focus
away from Yahweh. The result of turning away from the source of all light is darkness. Satan became
darkened in his understanding and began to worship the creature (his own magnificence) rather than
the Creator (Romans 1:25).

We observe a Biblical type of the fall of Satan in the life of Absalom, the son of King David. The
parallels are profound. Even as David was a sovereign ruler, so we see that Yahweh is THE sovereign
ruler. Yet even as David’s son sought to ascend to the throne, and to supplant his father, so too do we
read of Satan seeking to ascend above the position appointed to him.

Isaiah 14:12-15
“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! 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. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.”

Absalom, like Satan, was renowned for his physical beauty.

II Samuel 14:25-26
Now in all Israel was no one as handsome as Absalom, so highly praised; from the sole of his foot
to the crown of his head there was no defect in him. And when he cut the hair of his head (and it was
at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his
head at 200 shekels by the king's weight.

Add to this the fact that the sons of the king were arrayed in rich garments, and Absalom was truly
an impressive sight to behold. That Absalom paid too much attention to his own physical appearance
was evident in the spectacle he made annually of cutting his hair and weighing it. Absalom became
conceited, and began to desire for himself that which God had not appointed to him. Absalom surely
knew that the throne of his father David had been promised to Solomon, but he conspired to take the
throne for himself.