Kerr - Rats and Squealers

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2013 Canary Press eBooks Limited

This 2013 edition published by Canary Press eBooks Limited

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ISBN: 9781907795640

Cover & internal design: Anthony Prudente

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Contents

PART ONE: ANCIENT TREACHERY

LUCIFER

From the beginning of time Christian mythology describes the continual fight between good and evil. Nothing depicts this better than Lucifers foolish attempt to overcome the power of God by leading a revolution against him. He can be seen as the first traitor of all time as his desire for power dramatically led him to turn against his own creator. However, he was not created evil and the meaning of the name Lucifer actually holds positive connotations and can be directly translated as Star of the morning and Light bearer. For many years this meaning was misunderstood and was wrongly translated by the fourth century scholar St. Jerome as Day star, star of the dawn. No one is really able to make assumptions about what actually happened when Lucifer rebelled against God in heaven, but we can only conclude that a betrayal so great would have been a real blow to his own creator. Some Christians think that by virtue of the evil displayed, Lucifer and Satan are one and the same being. They believe that if Lucifer functions as Satan then he is still able to influence people to behave wrongly, even today. Obviously there is no way of verifying any of these beliefs and they could be dismissed simply as made up stories with Satan a mere concept of evil, but not that he is necessarily a living being. Whether Lucifer was, or indeed still is, a true being can never really be proven, but if we are to believe the ideas of the Bible then he was the worlds first traitor and sought to betray God in an incredible way.

The Appointment of Jesus

As with many biblical topics there is wide discussion about the status of Lucifer; was he one of the highest archangels or even as some claim, Christs own brother? Lucifer, or Satan as many people will refer to him, was certainly held in great esteem by his creator. If he really was an archangel then he would have been one of only a select few whom God would trust and share confidences with. Lucifers plans for rebellion are shrouded in much mystery and speculation but many believe that it was Gods plan to appoint Jesus Christ as his equal which was really the starting point of his animosity and resentment towards his own creator. Jesus was effectively appointed as Gods right hand man and he was also there to play the part of co-creator of the Earth and all that roamed it.

Naturally Lucifer was not happy with this transition. He had considered himself to be a creature of great intelligence and the appointment of Jesus felt like a kick in the backside for him. He did not immediately approach God but, instead, harboured increasingly bad feeling towards him and he let his resentment of Jesus grow until it became a parasite within him. The simple principle that Lucifer had failed to understand was humility.

As God was enquiring who would be willing to act as a saviour and redeemer for the world that he was about to create, he was faced with two strong candidates. Believing himself to be the strongest contender, Lucifer came to plead his case first. Instead of stressing any sort of respect and devotion towards his father and creator, he emphasised his own desire for power. As if this wasnt making God aware enough of Lucifers greed and aspirations, he then went on to say that he would claim all the glory for his acts as redeemer as his own. The Bible tells how he wished to place his power and recognition above Gods and brazenly asked to have a throne raised for him above the stars of Gods creation. This ultimately shows the negative traits of greed, lust for power and covetousness which shaped his character to conspire towards an uprising against God.

Unlike Lucifer, Jesus had no intention of claiming Gods glory as his own and humbly bowed down to him, offering himself as the saviour and redeemer of the Earth. Jesus was then bestowed the honour of the sovereign of heaven and was given equal standing to God. Lucifer gradually began to raise an army of other dissenting angels to fight against those loyal to Jesus, and proposed a radical reformation of the government of heaven.

The War in Heaven

Unwilling to accept the limitations set against him, Lucifer decided to fight. This decision was only the first form of betrayal as he also persisted in rallying a large number of disloyal angels to fight with him for his cause. The archangel exploited their feelings of dissatisfaction and manipulated them into rebelling against God. The angels, who had remained consistent in their devotion to their creator, begged and pleaded with Lucifers growing army that they might reconsider their battle plans and return to the harmony which had once prevailed throughout Gods kingdom. Some of these dissenting beings admitted their own poor judgement and were again admitted into Gods close circle. The fate of the other angels was not so bright. After fixing their minds to side with Lucifer, God saw no other option than to bring his foes into battle.

As a continually just God, he made every effort to match the good and evil participants fairly. All that was ordered was that each angel mark himself clearly as to which side he was standing for; his own or Lucifers. The rebellious angel stood firm to the last, ridiculing Gods promise to throw all of the apostate beings out of heaven. Up to this point Lucifer had probably felt that he would rise triumphant from the battle, but he had not reckoned with the true extent of Gods power. He was easily suppressed and the consequences were harsh both for himself and his followers. They were faced with expulsion from the kingdom. Lucifer, who was responsible for so much of the disorder in heaven was finally gone. His treacherous acts were so serious that the finely balanced harmony in heaven was disrupted and the remaining angels wept at the loss of their friends.

Lucifers New Role

If the stories are to be believed, then Lucifer is still present within our society today, sent to tempt people and lead them away from God. He is just as disloyal as he has always been. If Lucifer really is Satan, then he has been planning the destruction of the human race ever since his expulsion from heaven. Satans first and possibly most notable intervention with humans came at the creation of Adam and Eve.

Satan was sent to tempt the pair to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In order to deceive them further he disguised himself as a snake and appealed to them to eat the delicious fruit. He gradually managed to persuade Eve to eat of the fruit and when he saw what she had done Adam chose to do the same. In effect, he encouraged them to commit the same crime as he had, betraying the will of God. This proved them to be traitors in the sense that they had failed to adhere to his commandments. Their punishment was fierce. When God found out what they had done he unclothed them and made them ashamed of their bodies, he made them endure hard labour and sent weeds and ferocious animals to stand in their way. Never again would they know perfection.