Please note that the grouping of Satan with Eve in future blog posts IS NOT a commentary on the GENDER of Eve, just the implication of Satan’s lies had on the fall of man. In the Bible, both Adam and Eve share responsibility for the fall of mankind.
There are two passages in the Old Testament that most conservative scholars attribute to be talking about Satan himself: Isaiah 14:12-21 and Ezekiel 28:1-19. Even if these are not talking about Satan (which very few would argue) they still deal with the negative portrayal of someone driven by pride. Pride is the opposite of being poor in spirit, and as such the lessons are the same to us: this is what not to be and should not be our character.
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! (Isaiah 14:12, NKJV)
Lucifer means morning star in Hebrew and he was apparently a beautiful being. We see in this passage that Satan fell from heaven, his original domain, and the next two verses will document his sin: being proud and not being poor in spirit.
And you have said in your heart… (Isaiah 14:13, Amplified)
This is where sin always starts and the sin of pride is no exception to this rule. The heart means the heart, mind, or inner person. The primary usage of this word describes the entire disposition of the inner person that only God can discern. Satan’s sin started in his heart and that is where our sin starts too.
Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart… (Deuteronomy 15:9, HCSB)
For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and the greedy curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God.” (Psalm 10:3-4, NASB)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10, NKJV)
We need to protect and guard the heart so that sin does not grow out of it by taking every thought captive and allowing God to change our hearts and transform our lives into the life that is being built into the character of poor in spirit. We need to offer up our heart to the Loving Father so He can change it into what He desires it to be.
And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7, Amplified)
God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10, HCSB)
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, NASB)
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2, NKJV)
We can learn much from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. Satan was once a glorious angle who sat in the presence of God and yet sin began to form in his heart and he rebelled against the Lord. Let us not make the same mistake. As we continue the process of developing the character of becoming poor in spirit let us remember to guard our hearts and submit our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit.
Offer up your heart to the Loving Father so He can change it into what He desires it to be in prayer right now. In your quiet time with the Father meditate upon Philippians 4:7, Psalm 51:10, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, and Romans 12:1-2. Let the Spirit show you how to implement these Scriptures to your life as grow to become poor in spirit.