Before the Flood:
The following took place before the flood;
1-Creation
2-Fall of Lucifer, with the first sins of Pride and Rebellion
3-Life in the Garden
4-Temptation of Eve and Adam
5-Threefold curse
6-Promise of Messiah
7-1st murder
8-Enoch
9-Angels and daughters of men
Creation:
Job says that the angels of God sang and shouted for joy at the creation of the world. Everything that God had created was perfect and good. The prophecies of the Bible assure us that all things will once again be perfect and good, without pain or suffering, when God creates a New Heaven and a New Earth filled with righteousness.
Fall of Lucifer, with the first sins of Pride and Rebellion:
Isaiah and Ezekiel give us some details about the fall of Satan from heaven. Satan, originally known as Lucifer, was created as a covering cherub. It seems that he was heaven’s choir director, which explains the lyrics of many rock and roll songs today. Lucifer was created in perfection, and seemed to be above all the other angels in heaven.
Then, pride was found in his heart, because of his beauty, and he began to exalt himself above God, with a goal of being worshiped as God. He introduced slander, by accusing God. Later, he would introduce violence, as he provoked Cain to kill Abel. Jesus says Satan kills, steals, and destroys whatever he touches.
Isaiah 14:12-15 “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 sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Because of his pride and rebellion, Lucifer was cast out of heaven with 1/3 of the angels who chose to listen to him. Some scholars believe that before his fall Lucifer was in charge of some planets, including the earth. When God judged him for his sin, Lucifer became known as Satan; and the earth somehow suffered because of his judgment.
The Old Testament tells us about the creation of the world as a Paradise brought out of chaos, signifying that Satan had something to do with this world before Adam stepped onto the scene. This was accomplished by the Word of Yahweh in Six Creative Days. God spoke, “Let there be light and there was light.” Jesus also spoke creative words of life and healing when He was on earth.
We don’t know for sure how long these “Creative Days” were in length. Scripture says that a thousand years is as one day with the Lord, so it could be saying that each Creative Day was a thousand years, or it could be saying that time with God is not the same as it is with man. We do know that God refers to days as being a thousand years long when dealing with the Church Age and with the Millennial reign of Christ.
Life in the Garden:
Adam
and Eve were naked in the garden, without shame. They were as little children in innocence. Jesus teaches us that we need to become as little children to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is peace, joy, and right living in the Holy Spirit. God’s Kingdom is one of Holiness and purity, without anything that defiles or makes unclean. This was the garden before the fall. Contrasting God’s Kingdom to this world under Satan’s dominion, filled with all manner of defilement and impurity, shows that the devil truly is full of darkness.
Adam and Eve had everything that they could desire, in total purity. Even Yahweh walked and conversed with them each day. They were in full fellowship with their Creator, without any feelings of guilt or condemnation or being found with disobedience.
Temptation of Eve and Adam:
Adam was given authority and dominion over the earth and the animal and plant kingdoms, only to lose that authority to Satan over the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Satan used a threefold approach to cheat Adam and Eve out of their birthright. The apostle John tells us in 1 John 2:16 about these three gates through which Satan seeks to enter, by his attacks and temptations to individuals. He tells us what is in the world system of which Satan is the god. It is called “this present evil world” from which Christ died to deliver us (Gal. 1:4).
1-Lust of the Flesh. Man is possessed by a nature that is characterized by its fleshliness: its appetite, desires, cravings and passions. Satan appeals to those desires of the flesh. With Eve, she saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food.
When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, his first proposal was that He make stones into bread to satisfy His hunger.
2-Lust of the Eye. The second sphere which characterizes the nature of man is indicated by the phrase “the lust of the eye”. Satan appeals to the sense of seeing; and awakens desires through the eye. What we see, we desire and covet; and then we attempt to obtain it for ourselves. By nature, man is basically covetous and selfish; and one way that Satan seeks to lead us into temptation, is through the lust of the eye. In the case of Eve, she saw that the forbidden tree and fruit was pleasant to the eyes.
The second temptation that the devil brought before the Lord, as given in the moral order presented in Luke’s Gospel, appealed to the eye. Satan took Jesus up into the high mountain; and offered to Him the power and glory of the kingdoms of the earth, if He would worship him.
3-Lust of the Pride of Life. The third gate, through which Satan seeks to enter into the life of an individual, is the realm designated as “the pride of life.” Pride is characteristic of human nature. Man is basically proud; and there are sins that appeal to pride. The fallen nature loves and strives for that which promotes, elevates, and pleases the individual. Eve, in the garden, saw that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, of which they were forbidden to eat, was “a tree to be desired to make one wise”. The appeal of Satan was to all three lusts; and then she took and ate of the forbidden fruit, in transgression against the commandment of God (Gen. 3:6).
In the case of the Lord, the third temptation of Satan was that Jesus should cast Himself down from a pinnacle (or high peak) of the temple to show that He was the Messiah and that nothing would happen to Him (Lk. 4:2-12). This would appeal to any pride of life; but there was no indwelling lust or sin in the Lord to respond to temptations of the devil. He met all the appeals of Satan by quoting the Word of God and acting in obedience to the will of God. Jesus defeated Satan and all his temptations by submission to the Holy Scriptures, in dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit. So Satan departed from the Lord in defeat.
Victory Over Temptation. We can get victory over Satan and his temptations the same way the Lord did: by using the Word of God and acting upon it. To the young men in the family of God, the apostle John wrote: “Ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 Jn. 2:14).
Threefold Curse:
Because of the sin of the garden, women suffer pain in childbirth, man has to fight the soil for food, and Satan is confined to this earth until he is cast into the Lake of Fire.
Promise of Messiah:
Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Satan has tried to prevent the coming of the Messiah ever since this promise was spoken in the garden. When Jesus was born, Satan inspired Herod to kill all the children two years and younger, hoping to kill Jesus; but God warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt.
When Jesus died on the cross, Satan thought he finally had prevented Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled; only to see Jesus appear to him in hell, asking for the keys of death, hell, and the grave. The resurrection upset his game plan to be the god of this world forever.
Now he spends his time persecuting anyone and anything to do with Christ. He also continues to persecute the Jewish people; trying to prevent the return of Christ to Jerusalem to rule the world, as also prophesied.
Satan believes in one God, and trembles. He also believes in the Bible, as shown by his ability to quote Scripture to Jesus Christ. He also knows that he will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity; and desires to take as many with him as possible. This is one reason that we see the continual increase of lawlessness in the Old Testament and in our society today. Satan’s threefold plan of deception is still being used to lead man to serve self instead of his creator.
First Murder:
In man’s fallen spiritual nature, Cain soon commits murder; and then Lamech commits another murder. Cain was sentenced to wander, without a permanent city to call home. Lamech marries two wives, starting the practice of Polygamy. There is a constant contrast between the seed of Cain and the seed of Seth. (Seth was born to Adam and Eve after Abel was killed by Cain). The offspring of Cain live in continual rebellion against God; while the offspring of Seth strive for obedience to God. As we watch the history of Israel play out, we also see many practices of the offspring of Cain accepted as normal; when they started out as totally of the devil. Today is no different, with the church incorporating New Age teachings into her lifestyle. Jesus called it the church of Laodicea; or the group of lukewarm believers that were neither hot nor cold. God is always looking for the ones who will choose to follow Him instead of what pleases our “self” and what is acceptable to the world.
Enoch:
Enoch seems to be one of the few who were able to walk with God without worshipping angels or other false gods. In fact, the Scripture says that Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. Scholars believe this means that Enoch was translated to heaven without seeing death. Enoch became the first human being to not have to die a physical death, because of his close walk with Yahweh.
Angels and the daughters of men:
Man began to worship the very angels who were sent to watch over them. It appears that the spirit world was visible to man before the flood; and angels interacted with man, helping him to establish the earth. Man, in his fallen spiritual state, likes to worship what he can see; and the angels (known as “Watchers”) took advantage of this weakness, with the encouragement of Satan.
The Flood was sent to cleanse the earth of this hybrid half-angel/half-man offspring. This is where all unnatural sex started between man and man, man and animal, woman and woman, and woman and animal; and where polygamy was encouraged.
Because of the sin of these “Watcher Angels”, they are cast into Tartarus until the end of time; when they will be loosed for a short season. (Revelation 9:1-12)
These hybrid offspring died, leaving their spirit beings trapped in the earth’s atmosphere. These trapped spirits became known as demonic spirits; and as men continued to worship them, they enabled man to create some strange things throughout the earth that are still visible today.
Jesus spoke of the end of times, or the last days, as being like the days of Noah; referring to the demonic activity among men, instigated by these fallen angels released from the bottomless pit for five months. As we watch the deterioration of our morals and the increase of lawlessness, with the loss of respect for the lives of our fellowman; we see the increasing influence of evil on our hearts, with less and less respect for the things of God and His Word. The earth is reeling to and fro like a drunken man. The Days of Noah are returning. We know this by the increase in violence and unnatural sexual relationships, as well as the increasing emphasis on exalting self over the Word of God. These ungodly practices have defiled our bodies and our relationships. The result is many broken relationships; and a world filled with independent, unconnected human beings wondering why they do not find self-worth without their Creator.