The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright 2021 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 97

Worship Me!

In the first temptation, Satan tempted a hungry Yeshua to turn rocks into bread.

In the second temptation, Satan dared Christ to test God the Father by jumping off a high place.

In the third temptation, Satan just got directly to the point –

“Worship me.”

Matt 4
8) Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
9) He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

Why did the devil think Yeshua would want to worship Heylel-Satan?

The scripture does not say so, but what if, for this temptation, Satan appeared in magnificent, glowing, angelic luminosity?

I guess the closest we have ever gotten to seeing angelic luminosity was in our daughter’s bedroom one night.

We built our own house 35 years ago without any building experience at all, so things did not always go perfectly. One dark night just after we had gone to bed, we heard our daughter’s somewhat plaintive plea –

“Mom???”

We roused up, not so much from what she said but from the way she said it.

“Mom?…”

“Yes, dear?”

“My light is glowing…”

Over the years, we heard many different remarks at night from our five kids. That was one we had not heard before or after.

We stepped across the hall into her room and sure enough, her ceiling light – that was turned off! – was glowing. It dimmed and glowed, dimmed and glowed, as if we were receiving some type of celestial message.

Well, it turned out that in the light switch, the ground wire was not on tight, thus the celestial glow in the light globe. And I guess that’s as close as we have come to seeing angelic luminosity.

Again, the scripture does not specifically say so, but it does make you wonder –

For this third temptation, when Yeshua was challenged to worship Satan, did the devil appear as an angel of light – literally? Brilliant and bright, glowing with angelic luminosity?

Yeshua was a guy. Yes, He was the only begotten Son of God, but at that time He was still a fleshly guy.

He didn’t glow.

Angels, on the other hand – even their eyes glow, like flaming torches.

Dan 10
4) In the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,
5) I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose thighs were adorned with pure gold of Uphaz:
6) his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7) I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me didn’t see the vision; but a great quaking fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves.

Body like beryl, face like lightning, eyes like torches –

Just the appearance of one of these angelic creatures nearly scared people to death.

Matt 28
1) Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2) Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it.
3) His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4) For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.

Originally, Satan-Heylel was no ugly duckling, either.

Ezek 28
13) You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared.

And Satan appears as an angel of light.

2Cor 11
14) …Satan masquerades as an angel of light.

So when Satan “showed him [Yeshua] all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory,” might the devil have been resplendent in angelic glory?

What a scene that could have been! An ordinary looking guy, with “no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him,” Isa 53:2, facing the incandescent, luminescent, iridescent fallen archangel. Wouldn’t most people fall down before such a being? Apparently, a third of the other angels do, (Rev. 12:4).

Now it may be that when Satan rebelled, she lost her luminescence. In Genesis the devil is a serpent and in Revelation she is called the great dragon and the fiery red dragon. Perhaps, then, Satan’s appearance is not luminous but reptilious, like a reptile.

Not very attractive.

Satan physically appears only two times in the Bible, as a snake in Eden and in an undescribed form before Yeshua. Those were the most important times for Satan; first to get humanity to follow her through Eve and Adam; and second, to try to kill humanity’s redeemer. For those two monumental times, Satan made a personal appearance.

We do know, though, that Satan still had some angelic powers –

Like high-speed transport.

“Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.”

So in an instant, they went from the top of the Temple to the top of the world, with super-speed angelic transport –

Antrak.

Look at what Satan originally had: beautiful appearance, ruler of this world, and perhaps one of only three archangels, Heylel, Gabriel and Michael.

And three times Christ called Satan the “prince of this world,” as in John 12.

John 12
28) Father, glorify your name!” Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
29) The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30) Yeshua answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes.
31) Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.

Paul called Satan “the god of this world.”

2Cor 4
4) in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.

And Paul called the devil and his helpers the world’s rulers of darkness.

Eph 6
11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Satan had all that but wanted more. The covering cherub who had been at the throne of Yahweh – one of only two such angelic positions – did not want to be a second class citizen. She wanted to be number one.

This is an enormous point to understand about Satan.

The devil is never satisfied.

As with people who spend their lives getting wealth, but never get enough.

Eccl 5
10) He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

Eccl 4
8) There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

Dissatisfaction is the ripened fruit of Satan’s spirit.

Or rather the rotten fruit of Satan’s spirit.

On the other hand, Paul said this.

Phil 4
11) Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.
12) I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.

Two contrasting spirits – contentment and dissatisfaction.

Even though Satan-Heylel was perfect in beauty and possessed great power, this angelic messenger of God did not want to be just a messenger of God. She wanted to be worshiped as God.

Other angelic messengers, the good ones, refused to be worshiped.

Rev 18
1) After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory.

Rev 19
10) I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Yeshua. Worship God, for the testimony of Yeshua is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

Rev 22
8) Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
9) He said to me, “See you don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Heavenly messengers, like the rest of His living creation, are to worship God the Father.

Neh 9
6) You are Yahweh, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.

Rev 7
11) All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God,
12) saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Ps 103
19) Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens. His kingdom rules over all.
20) Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.

The Jews, including some called Christians, were involved in angel worship, as is mentioned in Colossians and Hebrews.

In Colossians, the Christians mixed angel worship with asceticism.

Col 2
18) Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19) and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.

The letter to the Hebrews begins by ripping into angel worship.

Heb 1
3) His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
4) having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.
5) For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today have I become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”
6) Again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”
7) Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.”
8) But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
9) You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”
10) And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.
11) They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does.
12) As a mantle, you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years will not fail.”
13) But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”
14) Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit   salvation?

Ironically, some Christians were doing what Christ refused to do. They worshiped angels.

Wonder who was behind that idea?

Satan was blatantly blunt to demand that Christ worship her. Yeshua was also blunt in His reply – “Get behind me, Satan!”

Matt 4
10) Then Yeshua said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
11) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Yeshua did not accept Satan’s offer to worship an angel, even if the devil had been bright and shiny. Then after the third temptation the bad angel left – three strikes and you’re out – and obedient angels came and served the Messiah.

I suspect that included feeding Him. Angel food steak, maybe?

Satan had one of the highest positions in the universe, one of two covering cherubs at the throne of Yahweh, yet she wanted it all –

She wanted the very throne of Yahweh.

Yeshua had it all and was willing to give it all up.

Phil 2
3) doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
4) each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5) Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Yeshua,
6) who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7) but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.
8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
9) Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10) that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11) and that every tongue should confess that Yeshua Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So instead of Yeshua bowing down to Satan, Satan must bow the knee before Yeshua.

Satan took Yeshua to a high mountain and offered Him all the kingdoms of this world. Later John was also taken to a high mountain to view the coming kingdom of the world.

Rev 21
9) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb’s bride.”
10) He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11) having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Satan originally appeared much like this city, with gold and beautiful gem stones, as cited from Ezekiel 28.

Satan – “ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl, and gold.

New Jerusalem –

Rev 21
18) The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
19) The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20) the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.

How about that? The angel Heylel, a covering cherub, had much the same beautiful appearance as New Jerusalem and gave it up, because she didn’t like being a second-class citizen. She wanted to be NUMBER 1!

After refusing Satan’s offer – and because He refused Satan’s offer – Yeshua will rule over this New Jerusalem, under His Father. In the same way, if we overcome Satan’s temptations, then we will rule with the Father and Son in the Kingdom of God.

Rev 21
22) I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
23) The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24) The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
25) Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
26) and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.
27) There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Yeshua fasted 40 days – 40 DAYS! – before He faced the wiles of wily Satan.

How powerful are Satan’s traps of temptation?

The world will soon find out, when it – when we – face Satan at her wiliest. She still wants to be NUMBER 1.